Jeff Wexler Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Yesterday I made one of the worst mistakes ever, could only have been worse if I had been on a job (but thankfully, or sadly, I was not). I was updating my Deva and it lost power and died right during the update. Well, it didn't actually lose power, I leaned down and pulled a breaker on my cart power supply but it was the wrong breaker! Really stupid and almost unexplainable considering the care and attention I have always given to updates in the past. The Deva had to go back to Zaxcom where it has been restored. The lesson, of course, is to really be mindful of the procedures, with your gear and your computers, to always have a good stable power source (and don't be "multi-tasking" during an update, switching anything on or off, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry long Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Jeff, Most fortunate however unfortunate. What firmware are you using? Imma scared to change anything. LL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 " the worst mistakes ever, could only have been worse if I had been on a job " In show business, timing is everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lightstone, CAS Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Jeff, What version were you on and upgrading to? I like to wait a long time before I upgrade so all the bugs and mysteries can be noted and solved. A good example is with v6.03u and the fix to v7.09. Glad you were not in production when the "lights went out". RL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Jeff, What version were you on and upgrading to? I like to wait a long time before I upgrade so all the bugs and mysteries can be noted and solved. A good example is with v6.03u and the fix to v7.09. RL I usually wait a long time also, I didn't need to upgrade, I just got stupid. I have been on 6.03 for a long time but had updated to 7.08 on one Deva. The mistake happened when I was (foolishly) updating 7.08 to 7.09. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I think the bottom line is, these things look like Cantars, Devas, Fostexes, Nagras, and Sound Devices on the outside, but they're really just evil computers on the inside. My advice is to do this: --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Milliken Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Hi Jeff I did this on a shoot in 2008, the way back to life was to load a new Hard drive into the Deva that had Deva software on it and press the menu button on Power Up, to this day I have current software loaded onto all of my Deva Drives, luckily for me the next few slates were MOS which gave me the time to get the drives from the van and reboot. It was a big Phew when the Deva sprang into life. Kindest Regards Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 A good tip, in general, is to never update while on the job. This lesson was learned by me when working for another mixer who updated during a show. A glitch caused clipping due to a voltage change on the recorder's input. At the time he was monitoring off the Cameo and sending AES to the recorder, figuring digital to digital would be problem free. The back-up (DAT at the time) saved him for the takes that clipped on the one day the dialog was very "hot" at times. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackHenry Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 I thought I was wrong once, but it turns out I was mistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 My best mistake!! Series of night shoots finishing 4am A wrap is called - at last! I press the power down button on Portadrive then the appropriate yes button Nothing happens so I fumble again. No power down so I look at the top display "Formatting Drive" !!!!!!!!! Decided not to say anything at 4am and cause chaos Phoned my son in Tokyo, got advice, downloaded software Connect laptop to Portadrive 5 hours later it's all back in one piece!! Wow a mistake to remember mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Stories like this give me shivers. Once learned, these kinds of lessons never have to be learned again. Painfully valuable. Glad it happened on your own dime. -- Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewest Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 My dear Jan, One is never too old to make mistakes and learn lessons! Loved you post about 3rd's - very well defined! Cheers mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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