mikefilosa Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 I hope this is the right section to post this in... I'd like it to not get buried as some posts can in the group - I hope the thread can stay afloat long enough to save a few brethren and sistren (?) from the sinking feeling I felt for a few minutes last week..... I am sad to report that for the first time in over TEN years, I have to send a machine back to Zaxcom. On a recent set, the FireWire output of my Deva 5 apparently went out. This was a 2nd Unit day of a show that does dailies, and there was little room for this kind of problem. I am not sure what happened, beyond age and my incredibly-good-luck-and happiness with my Deva so far. The only variable of the day was a different brand of CF card that was supplied to me by production for media. I have been as faithful to the SanDisk Extreme CF as I had been to Maxell in the days of DAT and then DVD-RAM - never an issue with either of those brands. I have used the same Lexar CF reader/writer since the disc went out-of-vogue. I think it's been about three years since I turned one in to a client. (BTW, my backup Lexar would not work either...) Anyway - thank the stars that I have always carried a pair of DVD-RAM disks tucked deep in the kit. I was able to mirror to disk, and then use my Lexar to receive the data to the supplied CF cards via my MacBook Pro, and thus survive the day. I did not have my Zaxcom H2-USB with me, and now that will never happen again either. I strongly recommend some sort of backup plan in hand for the russian-roulette day that this might occur to you. At the VERY LEAST, might I suggest having a change of shorts around for that less-than-fun feeling that you might be cooked for delivering data at day's end.... MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 That's what Pro's do, work around problems. Way to go Mike. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted November 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 Thanks Crew. My post is certainly about a survival story, but more along the line of hoping that my similarly equipped compadres be sure that they have a couple of good, trusty, and re-usable DVD-RAMs tucked away for what might someday be the inevitable... Without them I would have been somewhat dead for their dailies - Hours between driving home, getting out some disks, re-mirroring, and then the subsequent delivery trip. With a job scheduled for the next day - a less than fun prospect. I think I saw some DVD-RAMs for sale on this group not too long ago - people, go and get some! MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 If you use a CF card as the Deva's internal drive, you can pop it into the computer and mirror the files to another CF card with Zaxconvert. NOTE: It can actually be quicker to send the Zaxconvert output to the computer's hard drive and copy from there to a CF for delivery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 I still do enough film jobs that I keep a large supply of DVD Rams handy. I can never have too much gear IMO. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P Clark Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 Hey Mike, good thing you were prepared. I have the USB/SATA cable so you can burn from hard drive. If you have a computer, via Zaxconvert, it'll download much faster. Well worth the price tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted November 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 MC - Yeah, I got that device too, but didn't have it with me at the time... only used in the past for archiving. I bought one of the Zaxcom HD2-USB devices early on, and yes, they are great - and FAST. You are absolutely right - well worth the money as insurance AND an archiving time-saver. I will NOT leave home without it ever again, that's for sure. So between DVD-RAMs and / or the HD2-USB, I hope that everyone can get prepared for the distinct possibility that their firewire output will eventually wear out or fail someday. It's one component in the chain that we just take for granted, and it's aging and functionality is not measureable. MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT Groove Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 I do like the fact I can pull the the Primary CF card off a Fusion and mirror on a computer if necessary. I feel the Primary CF card is more robust than a spinning hard drive. I also carry a Lexar FW400 CF card reader/writer for the unexpected failures. Those readers are hard to find these days and I regret I didn't but more than 1. Sammy Huen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 I have to admit that I'm puzzled why more people don't use a CF card as the Primary drive in their Devas. Maybe the cost of a $12.99 adapter is a deal breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ao Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 an ssd uses a "wear leveling algorithm" which tries to use the entire storage capacity equally. a compact flash card, filled to the same amount everyday, uses the same part of the card, accellerating the wear, and the potential for failure. that's why I use an ssd for my primary recording and a compact flash card for mirroring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 " I am not sure what happened, " CRAP has been happening asd long as I have been in this business (maybe longer!), and Murphy has always been there lurking. It is the same today, and will probably not be changing anytime soon... Plan B... don't leave home without one. and I also prefer "no moving parts" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 I have to admit that I'm puzzled why more people don't use a CF card as the Primary drive in their Devas. Maybe the cost of a $12.99 adapter is a deal breaker. As a Fusion owner, that's what I have. There is part of me that would sometimes like the security of a big "whole project" internal drive. That said, with narrative, I can often fit about a week on a 32gb primary card and rotate them. I like to do it on the off chance there is a mirroring issue or something.... And it's an easy way to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted November 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 I have to admit that I'm puzzled why more people don't use a CF card as the Primary drive in their Devas. John - thanks for the reminder - I hope to join the club soon - thus a three-level defense from the vulnerability! Thanks to Glen Trew and Company - Now Coming soon to a Deva near me: MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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