Help Scarlet Broken! Middle of 48 Hour Film Race - Can't Format or Upgrade Firmware

[Ryan Sauve]

I'm in the middle of a 48 hour film race and getting the following distortion on my LCD

I can't format any RED mags or force upgrade the firmware. This is a new Scarlet (my 3rd - have done 4 RMAs) and this same issue happened on the first RMA with my first camera. Any ideas. We're pretty much hooped right now.

 

[Louis Maddalena]

Did you try a different cable?

Does it record this way?

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Different cables yes, can't record, it often just automatically turns off.

 

[Tehben Dean]

Did you try holding down the power button for 30sec?

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Tried holding for 30 seconds, didn't work, camera doesn't recognize the media when I try to record. This is exactly what happened for my first RMA.

 

[Martin Weiss]

I'd get in touch with RED, usually they are fast to reply. Of course this being a Sunday and NAB might delay things. http://www.red.com/contact_us

 

[Martin Weiss]

Can you read/write from the SSD when it is plugged into a PC/Mac? Have you tried formatting the media on a PC/Mac? Is this new media, or the same one that gave you trouble earlier on? Do you have other media there?

 

[Martin Weiss]

Also, try removing all cables (including power and batteries), then push the power button for 30 seconds. Re-connect power and see if that helps. Good luck; must feel crap to be in your shoes right now...

 

[Ryan Sauve]

I'd get in touch with RED, usually they are fast to reply. Of course this being a Sunday and NAB might delay things. http://www.red.com/contact_us

I emailed them 2 hours ago and still no response.

Can you read/write from the SSD when it is plugged into a PC/Mac? Have you tried formatting the media on a PC/Mac? Is this new media, or the same one that gave you trouble earlier on? Do you have other media there?

Both SSDs have files with weird characters. I tried to delete files/folder but couldn't. I'm afraid to format from my PC, is there any risk to the redmag if I do so?

Also, try removing all cables (including power and batteries), then push the power button for 30 seconds. Re-connect power and see if that helps. Good luck; must feel crap to be in your shoes right now...

Did this, didn't work.

 

[Ryan Sauve]

On another note, when you get a warranty replacement camera with Red, is it new or refurbished?

 

[ericyoung]

... I'm afraid to format from my PC, is there any risk to the redmag if I do so? ...

There is no risk to the media by formatting on a PC/Mac. Make sure to format as FAT32 (not NTFS or Mac HFS)

 

[Björn Benckert]

My guess is that your power source is poor. As you had the same issue with several cameras it seams to be related to something else than the camera body. I have experienced strange camera errors when using multiple modules and our own AC (not red) power source. So if possible make a test where you replace the battery, with a red AC adaptor. If you allready run of a red AC adaptor try another one. Also run the camera without the touchscreen.

Also, format the mag on your computer and reinstall the firmware.

When doing the above tests remove all that can be removed i.e side handle, touch screen, evf, redmote and so on so you eliminate as many sources of errors as possible and try narrowing down whats the faulty part.

 

[ericyoung]

...Did this, didn't work.

From this thread and your "Footage Distortion" thread, you need to eliminate possibilities. What lens mount are you using? What batteries? Are they 3rd Party ones? Did you remove ALL cables and accessories including the Side Handle and Rear Modules when doing the hold down Power Button for "30secs" hard reboot?

I know you are frustrated, stressed and under time pressure, but stay cool and don't rush when doing the following!!
Please note before proceeding: THE SIDE HANDLE, SIDE SSD MODULE, REAR MODULES AND LENS MOUNT ARE NOT HOT SWAPPABLE – MEANING YOU CANNOT REMOVE OR INSTALL THEM WHILE THE CAMERA IS POWERED ON. BEFORE INSTALLING OR REMOVING ANY OF THESE ACCESSORIES, YOU MUST POWER DOWN THE CAMERA. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY RESULT IN DAMAGE TO THE ACCESSORY AND / OR CAMERA BRAIN THAT WILL NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY.

1) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source), remove all accessories and cables including the LCD & Side Handle, and possibly the Lens Mount IF you are technically competent and have the right hex driver (or leave it alone if not competent handling static sensitve electronic components). If removing the Lens Mount, cover the exposed sensor to prevent dust entering - tape a bit of paper over the front of the camera.

2) Connect power, preferably a Red AC Mains Adapter. Press the Power Button for at least 15 secs, 30 secs to be sure (you may hear the fan cycle on/off a few times, but wait until the fans go at Full speed, then let go the Power Button).

3) Attach the LCD and LCD cable (this is OK to Hot Swap) - does the display look OK? (Of course there won't be a picture if the Lens Mount is removed, but the Menus are up and undistorted?). If OK, proceed to next step. If not, try a different LCD cable and display if you have another LCD or EVF. If still bad, you've eliminated everything except the camera body, Side SSD Module display port (and possibly the LCD/LCD cable if unable to swap) as faulty.

4) Put in an SSD (formatted on PC/Mac as FAT32) - is the SSD recognised as unformatted media? Format on camera.

5) Try Recording and Playback of a few clips (if Lens Mount removed, just check clip name increments, timecode is running, playback progress bar moving, no corrupted picture etc).

6) If OK, proceed to next step? If not, it indicates a faulty Side SSD Module card writer/reader, or less likely both SSD cards might be faulty too.

7) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source)

8) Reinstall your Lens Mount.

9) Repower and Repeat Step 5 above. If OK, proceed to next step. If not, it indicates a faulty Lens Mount - check contacts are clean, undamaged & untarnished.

10) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source)

11) Reinstall your Side Handle (with no Redvolt inside)

12) Repower and Repeat Step 5 above. If OK, proceed to the next step. If not, it indicates a faulty Side Handle - check contacts are clean, undamaged & untarnished.

13) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source)

14) Reinstall each Rear DSMC modules one at a time and test. Remember to Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source) every time between each Rear DSMC module installation!

15) If OK, proceed to next step. If not, you've found a dodgy Rear DSMC module - check contacts are clean, undamaged & untarnished.

16) Take SSD recording which played back OK on the camera, and try playing back on computer through Redcine-X Pro. If OK, check files copy over to another hard drive and playback OK from there. If not, swap cables and/or SSD card reader, and try again.

Hopefully this troubleshooting will narrow down where your problems lie, although it's possible there is more than one fault which can be very tricky to diagnose.

 

[paul schefz]

On another note, when you get a warranty replacement camera with Red, is it new or refurbished?

i had to turn my BT scarlet in for repair after a couple of weeks and ended up getting a new one...maybe it depends on if they have any refurbs? they had mine for quite a while and i guess it was beyond repair....so if they could not repair it for me, i am sure they would not keep working on it and ship it out to the next guy as replacement....
either way, good luck....hope it will work out for you...

 

[Ryan Sauve]

There is no risk to the media by formatting on a PC/Mac. Make sure to format as FAT32 (not NTFS or Mac HFS)

Strange, it only provides the option to format as NTFS.

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Thanks for the suggestions Eric,

I was able to reproduce the issue with the following scenarios:

1. Power off camera and disconnect everything (except for lens mount) then reconnect and power on - issue persists
2. Press power button for 30 seconds (heard the fan change speed) via AC adapter for power - issue persists
3. Don't have another LCD cable so unplugged and plugged back in - issue persists
4. Can't seem to format the SSD to FAT32, only gives me NTFS option
5. If I try to record, it says it doesn't recognize any media, if I try to format the card, I get a format failed message

Seems like it may be the side SSD module. Weird though that absolutely nothing changed between the day it worked and the day the issue happened. I left it sitting on the tripod in the room overnight. Tried turning it on, and BAM, distortion city!

Sucks that I have 2 corporate gigs this week where I need my camera. I'm going to try to re-seat the SSD module.

From this thread and your "Footage Distortion" thread, you need to eliminate possibilities. What lens mount are you using? What batteries? Are they 3rd Party ones? Did you remove ALL cables and accessories including the Side Handle and Rear Modules when doing the hold down Power Button for "30secs" hard reboot?

I know you are frustrated, stressed and under time pressure, but stay cool and don't rush when doing the following!!
Please note before proceeding: THE SIDE HANDLE, SIDE SSD MODULE, REAR MODULES AND LENS MOUNT ARE NOT HOT SWAPPABLE – MEANING YOU CANNOT REMOVE OR INSTALL THEM WHILE THE CAMERA IS POWERED ON. BEFORE INSTALLING OR REMOVING ANY OF THESE ACCESSORIES, YOU MUST POWER DOWN THE CAMERA. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY RESULT IN DAMAGE TO THE ACCESSORY AND / OR CAMERA BRAIN THAT WILL NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY.

1) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source), remove all accessories and cables including the LCD & Side Handle, and possibly the Lens Mount IF you are technically competent and have the right hex driver (or leave it alone if not competent handling static sensitve electronic components). If removing the Lens Mount, cover the exposed sensor to prevent dust entering - tape a bit of paper over the front of the camera.

2) Connect power, preferably a Red AC Mains Adapter. Press the Power Button for at least 15 secs, 30 secs to be sure (you may hear the fan cycle on/off a few times, but wait until the fans go at Full speed, then let go the Power Button).

3) Attach the LCD and LCD cable (this is OK to Hot Swap) - does the display look OK? (Of course there won't be a picture if the Lens Mount is removed, but the Menus are up and undistorted?). If OK, proceed to next step. If not, try a different LCD cable and display if you have another LCD or EVF. If still bad, you've eliminated everything except the camera body, Side SSD Module display port (and possibly the LCD/LCD cable if unable to swap) as faulty.

4) Put in an SSD (formatted on PC/Mac as FAT32) - is the SSD recognised as unformatted media? Format on camera.

5) Try Recording and Playback of a few clips (if Lens Mount removed, just check clip name increments, timecode is running, playback progress bar moving, no corrupted picture etc).

6) If OK, proceed to next step? If not, it indicates a faulty Side SSD Module card writer/reader, or less likely both SSD cards might be faulty too.

7) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source)

8) Reinstall your Lens Mount.

9) Repower and Repeat Step 5 above. If OK, proceed to next step. If not, it indicates a faulty Lens Mount - check contacts are clean, undamaged & untarnished.

10) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source)

11) Reinstall your Side Handle (with no Redvolt inside)

12) Repower and Repeat Step 5 above. If OK, proceed to the next step. If not, it indicates a faulty Side Handle - check contacts are clean, undamaged & untarnished.

13) Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source)

14) Reinstall each Rear DSMC modules one at a time and test. Remember to Power OFF camera (and ideally remove/disconnect power source) every time between each Rear DSMC module installation!

15) If OK, proceed to next step. If not, you've found a dodgy Rear DSMC module - check contacts are clean, undamaged & untarnished.

16) Take SSD recording which played back OK on the camera, and try playing back on computer through Redcine-X Pro. If OK, check files copy over to another hard drive and playback OK from there. If not, swap cables and/or SSD card reader, and try again.

Hopefully this troubleshooting will narrow down where your problems lie, although it's possible there is more than one fault which can be very tricky to diagnose.

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Re seated SSD side module and still messed up.

 

[ericyoung]

Strange, it only provides the option to format as NTFS.

Been on Mac and not used Windows since Windows XP, so forgot that Windows 7 onwards got rid of the option to format FAT or FAT32.

Not sure of the best solution, but googling found this you could try - see post #8:
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...t-my-external-hd-drive-into-fat32-format.html

Also, have you contacted Red Support about this yet?

 

[Mike Lary]

if I try to format the card, I get a format failed message

Have you tried to Secure Format the media on camera? I've had that work when a normal format didn't.

 

[Andy White]

Just curious...

In terms of the RMA's you've had, has that involved sending back the body only - or the body & side SSD?

Also, how many SSD mags are you using? As it could also be a dodgy mag.