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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 :)

Timecode (date) resets

Christoffer Glans

Christoffer Glans

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My timecode, or rather the date that it's referring to is reseting to Januari 2010 at 00:00:00:00 at random after the camera has been switched off for a while. Why is this happening? Is there a bug in the latest firmware?
 
I can confirm that If I leave the camera off for around three days, the date and timecode will reset to January 2010 at 00:00:00:00. Another thing is that the clips recorded will get the date 31-12-1999 when looking at the recorded card on my laptop.

I've contacted support but I hope this is a firmware issue because I'm getting tired of having to send in faulty gear. Not one of my orders from any company regarding my camera kit has been going smooth. Either I'm the most unlucky person in the world or there's some flaws in everyones QC.
 
Ugh, hopefully DSMC2 is different and it is just a firmware issue, but I've seen this happen on at least 33% of the DSMC1 cameras whose owners I know personally... It requires the $1 clock battery be replaced on DSMC1, which ends up being hundreds of dollars when you factor in labour, shipping, and time spent out of commission or on replacement rentals.

No need to panic yet (it sounds like the latest firmware is sketchy), but it's better to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Conversely, have you tried rolling back the firmware?
 
BTW if anyone has a DIY recipe for the DSMC1 battery replacement please share it here.

It's just poor design that the DSMC1 brain needs to be sent in to accomplish this. If DSMC2 has this same flaw I would be really surprised.
 
Med D said:
BTW if anyone has a DIY recipe for the DSMC1 battery replacement please share it here.
Click to expand...

I would love this too! However, the battery is internal (it might even be soldered down or rolled into a irremovable part), meaning at the very least you'd have to cut the "warranty void if removed" stickers. And while that may not be a big deal (as the cameras are all out of warranty anyway), my concern would be that RED would refuse to service the camera if something serious happened to it down the line and those stickers weren't intact...

Honestly, for me the cheapest solution (international shipper) is still to buy a timecode box and use external TC (something that you'd likely do anyway on set).

In any case, I'm interested to see what happens with Christoffer's Weapon... Could just be firmware gremlins running a muck.
 
Does external TC get used for the file structure dates? That would be cool but I doubt that is the case.
 
Nope, not a firmware problem. I got word back from Red that after looking through the log they confirm it to be a dead internal battery and I need to send my camera in. How this is the case with a rather brand new Weapon I don't know and it feels a bit like Apple to have to send my camera in through tedious fedexing to get something so basic fixed. Why can't Red just manage repair facilities in any country with someone who want that business? If they get certified as a Red repair company it would be much easier to manage simple things like these.

Med D said:
Does external TC get used for the file structure dates? That would be cool but I doubt that is the case.
Click to expand...

Yes, or at least, when the camera resets, the date on the files get December 31st 1999.
 
That's not quite what I meant. Mike seems to imply that an external TC box would allow the brain to have correct file dates. I don't think that would happen though. Internal time-of-day for file management is different from TC for footage -- I don't think they are connected. If they are then his idea is a good one.
 
That's a good point; I was baseing it on TC for footage, not file management (though I coulda sworn it held the last time I did it. You jam the camera and then disconnect the timeclock gen and it holds until reboot). Would love for someone to confirm this as well.

As for the OP; that absolutely sucks. I've got 20 year old mobos that still hold their time/settings... At the very least, you'd think they would've made it user replaceable with DSMC2. And I agree; local/authorized maintenance centres would be a good start.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
Nope, not a firmware problem. I got word back from Red that after looking through the log they confirm it to be a dead internal battery and I need to send my camera in. How this is the case with a rather brand new Weapon I don't know and it feels a bit like Apple to have to send my camera in through tedious fedexing to get something so basic fixed. Why can't Red just manage repair facilities in any country with someone who want that business? If they get certified as a Red repair company it would be much easier to manage simple things like these.



Yes, or at least, when the camera resets, the date on the files get December 31st 1999.
Click to expand...

Yuck. I have very similar serial numbers and the same problem. Bad batch of batteries? Perhaps. Making them not user-replaceable: not very smart.
 
Michael Tiemann said:
Yuck. I have very similar serial numbers and the same problem. Bad batch of batteries? Perhaps. Making them not user-replaceable: not very smart.
Click to expand...

Well they are doing the replacement for free so that's good, but I agree, these things should be user replaceable, there's no reason for it not to. I would suggest you send it in, otherwise anything with timecode is gonna suck.
 
Wow I don'e feel so bad anymore. I had the exact same problem and talked to RED. Just like you Christoffer, they had to change out some battery or what ever energy source in the camera that powers the time code system. I had to send it in to be fixed but its all good now.
Just kind of weird that after less than a year this shows its self on a Forged Weapon. Must have been a bad batch of batteries...:mad2:

I had to shoot for almost 4 months and every day we had to make a note to restripe the time code.
All good now.
 
Russ Fill said:
Wow I don'e feel so bad anymore. I had the exact same problem and talked to RED. Just like you Christoffer, they had to change out some battery or what ever energy source in the camera that powers the time code system. I had to send it in to be fixed but its all good now.
Just kind of weird that after less than a year this shows its self on a Forged Weapon. Must have been a bad batch of batteries...:mad2:

I had to shoot for almost 4 months and every day we had to make a note to restripe the time code.
All good now.
Click to expand...

It's been happening since the DSMC1 days (both MX and Dragon), and now continues in Weapon/DSMC2... That's be a pretty large, multi-generational, bad batch. : )
 
Christoffer Glans said:
Well they are doing the replacement for free so that's good, but I agree, these things should be user replaceable, there's no reason for it not to. I would suggest you send it in, otherwise anything with timecode is gonna suck.
Click to expand...


I had this happen TWICE, in relatively rapid succession, with my DSMC1 body. A royal pain and I only live a few hundred miles away, not across the world. I feel for you. Would love to hear that this is getting handled and won't happen as frequently.
 
My camera (Epic-M Dragon) has just developped the same problem. After 7 years, I guess it doesn't seem too bad, but still a nuisance. Does anyone know if the fix can be done in NYC?
 
You can bring it to the Red store NYC. Although they can't repair it locally, they will handle all the shipping details.
 
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