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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Problem with R3D Data Manager

Andrew clemson

Andrew clemson

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Hi all,

Been having a problem with R3D Data Manager on my MBP. When I Run checksums on footage shot on 16GB CF cards, the computer crashes and I have to restart.

This happens EVERY time I run CF cards, Ive tried different cards, FW cables, CF readers ( I use FW800 Sandisk ones) and so on. The problem only arises during the checksum process, copy runs fine, and I dont get the problem from RED Drives or RED Rams.

Any Ideas?
 
Ive heard of a few reports of this. This only happens with the 16Gb cards, not the 8Gb ones, and not any other Red Media. In addition, the reports have been sporadic. Not all 16Gb cards exhibit this behavior, and its hard to pinpoint if it was just the upgraded cards or all 16Gb cards. Because of this, its definitely a hardware issue.

Others have solved it by trying different readers, cables, or computers. You havent specified if youve been able to try a different computer. Also some have solved it by ensuring that their cards and readers were in cool environment and had cooled down from other reads/writes. Since you are in the UAE, this may be the issue for you.

Some have solved it by using the "save master checksums to alternate folder" option in R3D Data Manager.

One thing that just occurred to me that you might want to try is to zero out the cards. Make sure all the media is safely backed up, then erase it using disk utility with the security option to zero out data. Then format it on the Red again.
 
R3D Data said:
Ive heard of a few reports of this. This only happens with the 16Gb cards, not the 8Gb ones, and not any other Red Media.
Click to expand...

I had this happen on my tower with the 8GB cards.
It stopped when I replaced the reader and fw800 cable.
 
Thanks for your quick reply conrad.

In terms of CF Readers, It even happens on the first card of the day, inside airconditioned rooms, so I dont think I can peg it down to overheating. Is it the brand do you think? What CF Reader do you recommend?

Ill give the zero out thing a go, and test them on a few more computers. Although Im pretty sure its just the MBP that it happens on. (which is unlucky, it being my main onset kit!) Maybe its time for a new computer....
 
warm compact flash card in reader

warm compact flash card in reader

R3D Data said:
...some have solved it by ensuring that their cards and readers were in cool environment and had cooled down from other reads/writes.
Click to expand...

The 'hot card' issue is interesting. I had some copy errors (per R3D Manager) on my last shoot which disappeared on making another pass. On the first pass the cards were decidedly warm coming from the camera. I'll try to be more scientific about hot versus cold Flash cards next time and see if there is any correlation.

After reading about card reader issues I was wondering if there was any way to tell if copy errors/checksum errors were due to the reader itself. In the case of the 'bad' copies mentioned above I was able to render out a MOV from the .r3d copies, so they couldn't have been really bad. Or could they?

Nelson
 
Hi all. i have exactly the same issue with sandisk usb reader and with lexar fw800.

who knows.

regards
 
It seems R3d data doesn't work with build 30. When a new version will be available?
 
R3D Data said:
Ive done extensive testing of using R3D Data Manager to copy and build 30. There are no issues.
Click to expand...
Really? Conrad I'm using version 5.4 and I can't make a copy of 4k HD clips shot with build 30.5
 
Ive specificially done 4kHD on real shows, and had no issues. In fact, I was demoing R3D Data Manager with build 30 footage at the RedUser party.

The program does not look at the footage, and is pretty much build agnostic. It really doesnt matter what build you shoot on, because the file system is consistent. In fact, the only time there has EVER been an issue with a build was back around build 12, when Red DID change the file structure.

There is something else going on here, but it has nothing to do with build 30. Are you sure your sources and destinations are setup correctly?
 
Thanks, I'll try again tomorrow and I'll let you know.
 
I am using R3D data manager on build 30 as I write this. No issues. Addonics makes an esata cf card reader for around $60. I used it on a dual cam 200gb/day film for two months. No issues with that either. The card reader does have a weird thing where when you unmount a cf card the mac tries to initialize the reader itself. Addonics tech support said "ya we know, sorry, just hit ignore"
 
I've had the issue with 16 gig cards. two different MPB's, 4 different Lexar readers, different cables, etc. The awful part is that whenever the crash has happened to me, I have corrupted bits of footage on the CF card!
Conrad spent an awful lot of time on the email with me trying to solve it. I tried putting the checksum folder on the MBP, instead of the default back to the card. I tried zeroing the cards. Temperature did not seem to matter (I tried waiting a long time to process the cards so they would cool down) Our conclusion is that it must be something about the custom 16-gig CF cards.
I think Red should consider a physical "safe" slide on new media, like the P2 cards have (but that is another topic) so at least if there is a computer issue, the footage is safe on the media.
Drag and drop works fine.
I have taken to just doing a drag and drop first, then spot checking the proxies, and then running the card through R3D. I know that sounds totally inefficient, but the drag and drop is quick, it's insurance, and then you can try to do the official professional thing with checksum.
Actually, I mostly use the Red Raid Drives, so I rarely have to face this problem.
Hopefully the 64 gig cards work fine! ;)
Cheers,
Harry
 
I'm using the latest build now, with 10 different 16GB cards, and for the most part have no problems. I've used windows and MBPs. The only thing I've encountered a couple of times in the past two weeks is, during the verification of the destination, the program seems to lag. It might take 10 minutes to copy the card, but it takes another hour to verify. I usually end up force quitting or restarting.
 
I am using build 30 and crashing with 16CF cards...when programs is working, its quite great and automated but is it suppose to take so long? Just making sure I am not doing anything wrong, I feel like a loaded 16GB card can take up to 20 minutes to dump to 2 drives and verify. The drag and drop method is much faster for now.
 
Well - in your sentence you mention why it will take longer to transfer with R3D Data Manager: verify. Finder doesnt verify the footage actually made it to each destination. R3D Data Manager does.

In addition, I dont know your setup, but it sounds like its not optimized for fast transfers. The biggest thing is to put sources and destinations on different buses. No sharing, no daisy-chaining. That is by far the biggest slowdown Ive seen on different sets. In fact, if a producer hands me a firewire drive, I hand it back. Its not worth my time.
 
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