Magicstor 2.2GB CF Problem

[CanonUser]

I bought a Magicstor 2.2GB microdrive to use with a 300D/D-Rebel. From the first moment, I noticed that the CF compartment was warm to the touch after 5-10 minutes of operation. Then every time the camera shut down, either manually or automatically, the microdrive kept making a high frequency sound and prevented the camera from being operational. I had to physically removed the microdrive, or sometimes both the microdrive and the battery in order to reset the camera.

Am I experiencing the reported overheating problem I heard about with the microdrive? Do any of you having similiar experience and hod did you deal with it?

ComputerGeek gave me a RMA to return and have the microdrive exchanged for a new one. What the chance that the next one will exhibit the same problem? Have any of you succeeded in getting your money back from ComputerGeek?

I'd greatly appreciated any comment you can provide. Thanks in advance for your time and help.

Best Regards,
Alan

[CyberDyneSystems]

:(

I just got one of those in the mail this moring,.. form Computer geeks. (I have not had a chance to try it,. I am at work)

The good news is that the Computergekks.com has allways been very good to me. I can not recall ever having to get my money back from them, but I have RMA'd and gotten replacement items. I have also used store credit when a dead itam was no longer availble for replacement.

My vague recollaction of the instance was that they did try to press me into an equal replacement value,. but as I recall,. the refund was allways an option. In this instance I needed the part (a hard drive) and was more than willing to except the replacement over refund, as the replacement drive was better than the original damaged one.

Tonight i will get some photos in with the Magic store and see if I have a similar problem.

[CanonUser]

Thanks for the reply. I wish I've ordered a CF card instead. The read speed, during viewing taken pictures using the LCD screen, was very slow with this microdrive. A friend of mine uses an IBM 1GB microdrive and the performance seems to be much better than the Magicstor, though I did not do a direct comparison.
Please let me know your experience with the card you ordered.

Thanks,
Alan

[CyberDyneSystems]

Wow,. I had assued it would be on par with the IBM which isn't bad at all. I tell you if it sucks it is going back to the Geeks, they owe me!

Prior to this deal I had stuck with flash cards due there durability. But in many DPReveiw tests the IBM drive is as fast and in many cases faster than standard flash cards.

...and the effective 2.5 for the price of 1 gig was too much to pass up :)

[CanonUser]

I did have to wait for the Magicstor to finish writing before continue shooting pretty often. The replay is very slow for sure. I am thinking about getting the IBM 1GB inplace of the Magicstor and pay the difference ($187x2=374, difference of $120). It'll bring me the peace of mind I needed.

BTW, where did you see the comparison between the CF and microdrive?

Regards,
Alan

[CyberDyneSystems]

O-kay,. got home took 18 pics in two 9 shot bursts (after formatting in camera) All seemed good! No noise no heat and shooting speed was fine.

Did not think to veiw in camera...

...and now I am stuck in USB peripheral disconnect hell! :(

WinXP sees the Magicstore and files just fine through the card reader (USB2 X-Drive)

BUT!

Turns out this card is not happy in my X-drive. The X-drive will not allow it to be read, written to, or formatted.. :(

BUT!

I tried it in a new USB2 Card reader I happend to purchase along with the Magicstore (a generic one that cost $18.00)

And it now all seems to work just fine!

I could read the images straight from the Card via ACDsee,. and I transfered all 9 RAW files totalling 44 MegaBytes to the PCs hard drive in under 14 seconds!!!!

And the card is not getting hot.

Looks like you either have a bad card,. or you may be having a compatibility issue as I did with the X-drive as a reader.

P.S.

Don't get the IBM if you decide not to replace the MagicStore, for about $200.00 you should be able to find a CF card which is much less prone to damage and much more compatible. Spend the $20.00 bucks over the IBM and rest easier :)

www.newegg.com
currently has Sandisk 1 gigs for $207.00 and Transcend 30X 1gig cards for $218.00

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=20-160-115&depa=1

I have a transcend 30X and it has taken the bulk of the 14,000 images i have logged on the 10D :)

[CyberDyneSystems]

P.S.,. it does get "warm" but all hard drives do. It does not seem "hot" to me.

[CanonUser]

Sounds like you got a 10D. The Magicstor did not freeze your camera or continued to stay awake even when the camera is shut off? If not, then I probably have a bad drive. By the way, how's the speed of playing back pictures (specially if you have a few hundreds) un the camera's LCD screen?
Thanks for the earlier infos. I'm glad you have a drive in good working order.

Regards,
Alan

[CyberDyneSystems]

Alan,

I had a few hours to put this thing through the ringer today,. AND IT FAILED MISERABLY! :(

Last night I had done several full 9 shot bursts in RAW mode,.. and it seemed fine but today, while actaully working with the card it did not fair so well.

I shot smaller bursts of raw,. pauses single shgots pauses etc.. (I was taking picks of Herons and Ducks on the move in a salt marsh

I started getting "error 02" messages repeatedly,. which would lock up the camera untill I powered down,. This happened frequently,. (maybe one out of every 20 shots) and in each case the last shot was toast (surrupt data)

I even got two "error 99"

Needless to say when I put the 1gig flash card in all went back to normal.

Computer geeks gave me an RMA for a full refund.

I warned them that I was not alone and that they may want to look into the cards compatibility with the 10D.

If you have any trouble getting a refund with "the Geeks" let me know.

CDS

[CanonUser]

CDS,
I was afraid of that! Anyway, I'll call CG and see if I can get the X-Drive you raved about with another CF, not microdrive this time. The MC also gobles up your battery uneccessarily.
Thanks for the warning, and for the great tips in this forums.

Regards,
Alan

[CyberDyneSystems]

I know what you mean about the battery, I transfered the 40 or so images I got on it (thise that weren't currupt) to the X-drive in the field... and those 40 images in the transfer not only took a lot longer but they used up more battery power from the X-drive than a full one gig CF card does (about 140 RAW images) :(

Yeah,. I should have stuck with my own advice and not touched a microdrive...

//but damn it was nice to see "333" RAW images available on one card!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Just hammered my 10D and the Magicstor 2.2gig MicroDrive after performing the 2.0 firmware update.

Over 100 RAW shots in rapid succesion with two lenses and continually switching from "P", "TV", and "AV" just to make things more complex....

All seems to work fine!

I had read this line here;

This Firmware update (Version 2.0.0) incorporates the following changes:

PictBridge support*
Improvements or corrections to the following:
The release time lag when using Microdrives
C.Fn-04 AE lock operations
Exposure compensation display errors when using the Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 ......
This firmware update applies to cameras with firmware versions 1.0.0 or 1.0.1. It is not necessary to perform this update on cameras that already have version 2.0.0 firmware.

The mention of microdrives needless to say made me curious. Tpo me it seemed as if the 10D wanted to shut down the MD too soon to preserve batteries,. and thus the error 02 messages i kept getting.

Tomorow I have out of work and a sunny forecast. I intend to fill this card with raw images and see if anything goes wrong,..

I may just be cancelling my RMA :)

[antelopeslr5000]

That's good news to hear. I was getting Error 02 using a genuine Canon CF card. Updated the firmware to 2.0.0. but was still getting Error 02. Formatted the card twice in succession and haven't got a single error message since. Rather than formatting the card I just erase all files instead. I know it's not as quick as formatting when there are a large number of photos on the card but I'm worried that if I format it again I will get the dreaded Error 02 again.

I purchased a Magicstor 2.2GB Microdrive and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. I'm still a bit concerned due to the number of bad reports I've heard but I hope that the new firmware may have fixed the compatibility problem.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Well,. I spent a good part of Monday shooting with the Magic stor to confirm that all was well,...

:(

It IS better,. but it is not all well,. so It gets RMAed :(

Before the update ,. one out 15 or twenty shutter releases would result in an error.

Yesterday after the update out of about 200 RAW files I got one error 02,. and twice the camera just rebooted during shooting,. resulting a loss of a buffer full of shots that had yet to be written to the card.

This is AFTER the firmare 2.0 fix.

This may be typical MicroDrive behavior? I don't know. But the MD goes back.

[CanonUser]

CDS,
A friend of mine shots weddings with a Nikon D100 and the IBM 1GB MD, there wasn't any missed shot or problem that I know about. It must be the MD that wasn't working too well to start with. I was waiting for your finding before calling CG to either get a refund or replacement. It's gonna be a refund.

Thanks for the upgates.

Best Regards,
Alan

[midmadn]

That's a real downer. I had high hopes of getting one of those 2.2 gb. micro drives.

I all ready have a 1 gb. IBM MD. It works flawlessly in my 10D. No errors or reboots.

I guess I will be getting a couple of 1 gig CF's or 1 gb. MD's.

Thanks for saving me the expense and hassle.

Jack

[defordphoto]

CDS: Send that sucker back. It's flawed. I been using two IBM 1g MD's and have had not one issue with either of them.