Microdrive failed! What should I replace it with?

[Mike Price]

I have seen 3 MDs wrecked in use by Sandisk Imagemates.

Microdrives when not running are very shock proof. When running they are more vulnerable.

I presume that like most modern disk drives, when you power them down, they "park" the heads. When the heads are parked they are shock resistant.

With a card reader like a sandisk imagemate, there is no mechanism for switching off the microdrive before removing. The power is suddenly removed rather without the drive being given the power down signal. There is a danger, therefore, that the MD will be removed without "parking" the heads.

[Some of this is supposition - anyone who knows for sure, please confirm!]

 

[Richard Goulden]

Hi Rozanne,

I occasionally get an 02 error on a couple of my CF cards but it is dead easy to clear. I just turn the D60 off and back on again.

I wonder if you did more harm than good to your MD by pulling it out and pushing it back in without turning the camera off first. Hard drives don't like being treated roughly at all and pulling it out would cut the power to it without spinning it down and parking the heads. Pushing it straight back in immediately to restart it may have added to the problem.

I don't trust Microdrives at all and won't use them. Two many moving parts and too fragile and like all hard drives it is not a matter of if they breakdown but when.

I find the D60 very fussy with the CF cards that it likes and Fuji are favourite for me. I have a couple of cards that will not function in my D60 at all yet I pop them in either of my E10s and they are perfect. Just my experience and pov.

Regards,

Richard

Hi Chris,

My morning started by me taking a single shot of my husband as he
was prepping for the triathlon. I turned the camera off, and then
got into position so that I could take pictures as he finished the
swim. When I turned the camera back on, I got an "Err 02" message
in the LCD panel. According to the D60's manual, this means there's
a problem with the storage media. I pulled the microdrive out and
re-inserted it, but the error wouldn't go away.

When I got home, I tried to read the microdrive using my USB
reader. No luck. I couldn't even see the microdrive in Canon's Zoom
Browser. I also tried to access it through Windows Explorer--same
problem. Given that I had only one shot on it, I didn't care if I
reformatted it. I tried reformatting it in the camera, but I still
got an error message. I could even hear this high-pitched whine as
the camera was attempting to format the microdrive. So, I figure it
just died.

My mistake on Saturday was to not have any form of backup storage
media with me. My microdrive had worked perfectly up to this point:
Not a single error message or corrupted picture. So, I had no
warning. Had I brought an extra microdrive or CF card with me, I
would have at least been able to take pictures of the triathlon.
That being said, I also could have finished shooting the triathlon
and then had the microdrive fail. I'm not sure I would have been
able to recover the pictures if that had been the case.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I've decided I don't want to take a
chance with a microdrive again. I figure I'm better off using CF
cards because they don't have any moving parts.

-Rozanne

 

[Tom Boucher]

Did it fail after you've used it for years? Or have you had it for a month or so and it broke?

Just curious.

Personally, I'd buy another one.

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi Richard,

You're right about hard disks being very fragile. The good news is that I didn't pull the MD out and reinsert it while the camera was on. I'm sure that would have added to the problem.

Thanks for your words of wisdom--

-Rozanne

 

[Rozanne Whalen]

Hi Tom,

I had used my MD for a year and a half. I was very happy with it. I guess my only reluctance to using it again is that I had no warning before it failed.

-Rozanne

 

[gpb11]

Are you sure about this? With my microdrive, albeit with a Microtech reader not Sandisk, I right-click the drive and select "Eject", either from "My Computer" or Explorer. In a couple seconds the computer tells me "it's safe to remove the drive". I wait 'til I get that before I eject the drive from the reader.

Note -- you can't have any folders on the drive open when ejecting -- it'll tell you it's in use. Gotta close 'em down.

With a card reader like a sandisk imagemate, there is no mechanism
for switching off the microdrive before removing. The power is
suddenly removed rather without the drive being given the power
down signal. There is a danger, therefore, that the MD will be
removed without "parking" the heads.

[Some of this is supposition - anyone who knows for sure, please
confirm!]

 

[Newk]

I really like this idea. While I shoot mostly everything on a 1-gig microdrive, I always breathe a small sigh of relief when I get the images transferred to my computer. I also have a 256-meg CF card that I try to use at big shoots (weddings) so I don't have ALL my eggs in one basket, but having half in one basket is still scary. knock on wood I've not had a problem with either in my first 3,000 D60 images, but I've had a couple cards fail in another camera (not CF, but same principle) and I've had a couple hard drives fail on my computer. It WILL happen eventually, no matter which media is used. I think I'll start shopping for a good deal on some 128/256 CF cards.

Hi,

I have used CF from day 1. I have had a card fail. The issue
continues to be (for me) not having all my images on a single
"roll".

With my d60, 128mb CF cards hold around 50 images (large fine) avg.
Thats 2 rolls of film. Compact flash are so small, I usually carry
6 128mb, and 6 256mb.

The key to finding reasonable deals is to not be in a pinch. I
found the 6 128mb cards for $36us each shipped. The 256mb cards
were approx. $75us each shipped.

Microdrives are nice (I do have one) in that you do not have to
change "rolls" as often, if ever. However, when you have a failure
(I never have), it could be a total loss.

Call me anal, but I like the security blanket of having my "eggs"
in a number of different baskets ( like many retirement portfolios
).

Deals on CF cards have been found at dealcatcher.com, with rebates
and the like.

Happy Shooting,

sean

 

[Richard L. Stuart]

Hi Tom,

I had used my MD for a year and a half. I was very happy with it. I
guess my only reluctance to using it again is that I had no warning
before it failed.

-Rozanne

Rozanne, I am a Newbie to Digcam, I am on my third however. I have a MD 1G. Love, it. Also have a number of CF. They fail also. They do NOT give you any warning!! I am in Com Stds work. We distribute, in meetings, the documents for the meeting on CF cards. (Use Laptops) Believe me they do fail and without any warning. As suggested, by others, it is helpful to have backups, like several CFs or whatever but I am sure you know this.

--
Richard - D7i Newbie

 

[Richard L. Stuart]

While attempting to shoot my husband and one of his friends at a
triathlon this weekend, my microdrive crashed. I had no warning at
all. So here I am with my nice D60 and no storage media.

So, I'm just wondering if any of you have any recommendations for
what I should buy to replace it. Is everyone still happy with their
microdrives? Or have you found something better?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

-Rozanne

--See Above, Rozanne, don't shoot your husband, He probably has some very redeeming attributes. I suggest you too seek some help. Shooting him is such a tuff way of dealing with any situation. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.) All the best to you too.
Richard - D7i Newbie