jawharp Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Hey Guys, Sorry this is kind of long, but i think you need all the info to make an assessment. I use a 788T as my main recorder on my cart. It is fed by my Cooper 106+1. Input 1 gets a line level out from the Mix L on the mixer. I skip input 2. Inputs 3-8 get the discrete tracks from the inserts on each channel, line level. I keep the limiter off on the mix track, and enabled on each discrete track. Output 1 feeds the client comtek transmitter. TC out goes to my 702T. Clink to 702 as well. Power comes from my Meon V2. That's everything that's connected to it. A while back, it was intermittently refusing to format CF cards. It would hang, and occasionally give a Media IO error while recording. I found this to be related to cheap CF cards. I switched to Lexar ones recommended on the SD site, and that problem has been gone since. I also updated the firmware which drastically reduced formatting times. First thing in the morning, it wouldn't jam my slate. The slate red "Sync Error 25." All my settings were correct. After 3 or 4 more attempts to jam it, the slate jammed fine. Not sure what caused this. After that, I was doing a scene with 3 actors in it. I had my mix track, boom track, and 3 discretes for the wires. I wired everyone and saw all inputs coming in on the meters. We did 2 or 3 takes and I noticed the last discrete track, track #5, was not moving at all. When the fader was up, it'd go through to the mix, but nothing came in on the discrete. I checked the discrete cable, it was working. I checked the discrete out from the mixer on another input, it was working. Track 5 stopped receiving sound. I powered down, restarted, still nothing. Upon switching the inputs around to test, inputs 6 and 7 stopped working, and 5 started working for no reason. All i was touching at this point was the mini XLR connectors as i disconnected and reconnected everything. A blur of sweat and cables followed, and I got a combination working. I finished the scene. Gotham recommended a factory reset as a last resort. I did it, and everything started working fine. After lunch I film broke, and reloaded my CF card. The card I loaded was a previously formatted roll from another day that I was planning on reformatting. The time left on it read "0:00" when i inserted it, which i know was incorrect. I tried formatting it, and the machine hung. I pulled all power and reset it. I switched the card with another old roll and it did the same thing. I repeated the process and it worked for no reason. At the same time, input #5 went out again. I returned to my makeshift configuration for the rest of the day and skipped input 5 all together. I just got everything home and tested. I tested all my discrete cables, and they all work. I wiggled em just in case. Input # 5 is working correctly, cards are formatting, and I can record with all 8 tracks armed with audio coming in without an issue. Is this a "just send it to Sound Devices" situation, or is there something I'm missing? I'm stumped (and tired). Thanks, Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afewmoreyears Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 It is a "Call Sound Devices situation" It is SO HARD to try to even process another persons on set situation and have anything to add... There are things you did I may not have and things I may have done that you did not.... Impossible to help out in that regard... There has been MANY situations covered on this forum though that may be of some help.... I don't know how old your machine is, if the drive has been replaced yet... They recommend every couple of years depending on use.. Your media may STILL be an issue.... your firmware..... on and on... sounds like its up to date... The newer firmware formats in about 1.6 seconds.... as you know...If yours is taking longer... who knows.... but not good... I would REINSTALL the firmware... I also do not hot swap cards... many people do... I do not... I power down, insert.... power up.... always have... Cards get old.... cards get strange.... I just replaced a 90mbs Sandisk Extreme card for a 160.... newer cards seem to of course handle higher track count better... they are faster... your cards ...who knows.. Again, I would first reinstall the firmware... get back all your settings to normal... double check everything... use a NEW card... make sure your power is good.... unplug everything but power and one mic... and start going through everything... It may be that easy... if this does not do it... Call the mothership, get it in for service.... Crap happens.... That's why we have service centers... Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I also wonder if maybe there were some bad cables involved. Swap out the cables and see what happens. Got no advice on card formatting issues except that I usually format a couple the night before and to a "TEST-1" recording on all tracks, play it back, and make sure something stuck. The TC slate thing could possibly have been a connector not quite making contact, a bad solder joint, or a bad cable. Lots of potential causes. Looks to me like you just had three or four unrelated problems all happen at one time. Crap happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Sorry if I missed it but did you power cycle the machine at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afewmoreyears Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I don't know.... All those Unrelated problems at once.... one yes, two maybe... but three or more I would think was more line with a system failure causing problems all over the place rather than 3 or more separate issues at once, then going away at once.. Just saying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkautzsch Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Moisture inside? I had the HDD button hang once when we came in from pouring rain to continue inside a heated building after lunch. After loading factory settings it did LED disco lights. Used a backup machine for that day. Next day everything worked fine again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pindrop Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Hmm nasty and painful I imagine. What about taking the lid off and making sure there's nothing obvious (like fried insects!) and checking / re-seating all internal ribbon cables etc. that's probably what I'd do as a last resort with problems that serious, before sending it off to the manufacturer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 Joe: " Is this a "just send it to Sound Devices" situation, " you might start with a phone call... probably would have taken less time than you spent typing.... after calling the dealer, calling the manufacturer is actually a part of troubleshooting... CRAP happens, is part of the job, and equipment failures are included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 +1 firmware for this kind of weirdness--just takes a moment. Still weird? Call SD and deploy your backup. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Hmm nasty and painful I imagine. What about taking the lid off and making sure there's nothing obvious (like fried insects!) and checking / re-seating all internal ribbon cables etc. that's probably what I'd do as a last resort with problems that serious, before sending it off to the manufacturer? That's a good assessment -- re-seating the internal ribbon cables is a possible solution. But not easy to do in a hurry in the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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