DP-02CF problem with new CF card

[TD King]

The problem: I purchased a brand new Lexar Professional 1066x 64GB card for my DP-02CF. I inserted the card and started the unit. It recognized that the card was invalid and offered to format it for me. I hit the Yes/Enter button and off it went to do its thing. Days later - DAYS later, it still showed the "Make Partition" animated reel panel. It would not respond to any key presses, included the power button to power down. Being an ex-IT tech in my other life, it seemed logical, even though the manual says "don't do this", to pull the plug on the non-responsive process. I then inserted my original 1GB card that has material on it and the unit booted fine. So, I put the new Lexar card in my card reader in my Vista laptop, started the DISKPART utility, selected the Lexar card as the active disk and executed CLEAN ALL. After a few hours, the process finished. I then inserted the cleaned card into the recorder and started it. Again, the unit recognized the new card and offered to format it. That was 15 hours ago and it's still showing the "Make Partition" animation.

Question: Has anyone else had issues with 64GB cards in the DP-02CF? Am I doing something that is obviously (not to me) wrong?

When booted with the 1GB card in place, the following system information is displayed:
System version 1.00 0017
Partition:
1: 457M
2:
3:
4:
FAT: 512M

I have another card on order just in case the new 64GB card is FUBAR, but in the meantime, any help would be appreciated greatly.

Thanks,
TD

 

[TD King]

Update: The card is still in the DP-02CF and it's still on the Make Partition animation. The Access light is on, as are the Input A & B lights and the Monox2 light. In short, no change since unit startup. A new card should be arriving in the next day or so. Frustrating!

 

[TD King]

Update: New Lexar Professional 800x 128GB card arrived in the mail. So, I pulled the plug on the aforementioned failed attempt. I then updated the unit to release 1.02 as per the instructions from the TASCAM support site using the original 1GB card and the downloaded update file. I then started the unit using the 1GB card to confirm the update applied as expected, powered down gracefully, swapped in the new 128GB card and started the DP-02CF. The new card was recognized and formatted in under 10 minutes. The failed 64GB card is being returned for a replacement.

 

[jj554]

Can you send a link to the exact card that worked for you? I've been having trouble finding a larger capacity card that works. On one Lexar model, the unit powered up but remained in the 'power up' mode and didn't allow me to format the card on the unit. Other cards give me an 'error 20' message which, according to other users, signifies a defective card.

Thanks!

 

[TD King]

I took this number right from Tascam's "tested media" sheet. Part number LCF128CTBNA800. It's the Lexar Professional 800x 128GB UDMA7 card. I've purchased two of them and they've both formatted correctly in under 10 minutes from turning on the unit to ready to use. One thing to note is that the default format on these is four 16GB partitions. Once you initially format it, you'll need to reformat the partitions to 32GB to use the entire card. You'll get three 32GB partitions and a smaller one with the remaining space. A Google search should yield the results you're looking for but I got mine here: http://theimagingworld.com/products/lexar-128gb-compactflash-professional-800x-udma-memory-card-7494

 

[Brother]

Greetings TD. I just purchased the DP02CF, the previous owner did not have the original CF card or none for that matter. I cleaned it up and tried a Transcend I had on hand but as you experienced, the start up screen was locked in and I had to pull the power plug to power it down because the power button was not responsive. I quickly did some research and ordered a Lexar Professional 800x 8 GB and I'm watching two 32gb of the same card on eBay. My firmware version is 1.00 0032 so I'm hoping that the ordered card will format with the current firmware. I will not be able to perform any updates until I have usable card. Any suggestions?
Brother

 

[TD King]

Brother...
I don't KNOW for certain that the firmware upgrade was necessary, but it seemed like the prudent thing to do, since I had a bootable card. Since the Lexar Professional 800x is a supported card, I would expect it to format with the release you have installed. The upgrade did nothing to help with the card version that had previously failed, so I expect the previous failures had more to do with the card architecture. That said, I'd say when the card arrives, give it a shot. If it works, I'd go ahead and upgrade the firmware as per the site's instructions just to be current. Good luck. Let me know what happens.
TD

 

[Brother]

Sure, thanks for the input. I'm new to the product so there will be a learning curve. I was aware that the card I used was not supported per the Tascam list but thought I would try it. I never expected the unit to freeze up like that and you would think that it would return an error message and safely shut down with the power button but it is what it is. I'll let you know the outcome so that anyone else with the problem can see the attempts to resolve the issue. Brother

 

[Brother]

Update: Just because I needed to know if the DP02CF was working properly, I backed up a Kingston Elite Pro 1024MB from my Fostex and decided to see if I could format the disk with the DP02CF. I inserted, closed the door and powered up. The disk was recognized and formatted successfully. I understand that most users are interested in larger capacity cards but for me, I was able to format a card that will allow me to perform the firmware update which may have a bearing on the ability to use the higher capacity cards. I've also confirmed that the recorder is working as it should but will also need to put it through the motions to check overall functionality. I hope this tidbit helps someone searching for answers to a similar problem. Good day all.

 

[TD King]

Good information! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Brother]

Greetings, I thought I would attempt the firmware update but found that the instructional provided on Tascam's website states that by pressing the MENU button on either the DP02 or the DP02CF gives you the option to select USB from the menu and will then mount the recorder as an external drive on you desktop. I'm not finding the USB option in the menu as they instruct. I then pressed the USB button on the control panel and option to connect to the PC by pressing enter. The display states that there is a USB connection to the recorder but it does not show up on my Mac OSX Mavericks desktop. I then tried to mount to my Windows 10 PC and the recorder shows up as an external drive. My question is why are there no named folders as per the instructions? Has anyone had this experience when doing the firmware update? I considered creating folders and naming them MUSIC and UTILITY and then dragging the firmware file into the UTILITY folder and proceeding with the finishing the update but hesitated. I suppose that the only corruption would be to the CF card. Any thoughts?

 

[TD King]

The DP02CF should create a FAT32 partition on the card with three directories - UTILITY, WAVE and BACKUP. I used an external card reader on my Windows VISTA laptop to access the directories to drop the update software on the card. I have no experience with MACs.

 

[Brother]

Excellent. I'm surprised I didn't think of it myself, it worked perfectly. Tascam should include this method in their instructions for those who have a reader. I was fortunate to have the card reader and followed your method. I just received the 8gb card today so your timing is great. Thanks TD King!

 

[TD King]

Glad it worked out for you. The card reader just seemed to make sense to me. Fewer "moving parts" to deal with.

 

[Pambazuku Pete]

I just bought this Tascam02CF used. The card it came with was a 10 gig and I couldn't get it to record a thing. I went out and bought a 32gig Kingson , formatted it and tried again. The machine performed perfectly for one session. I came back the next day. I tried to record and again nothing went onto the card. I armed the track did the levels just the same as the night before and again not a sound appears on the card. I this machine always so temperamental?

 

[BazzBass]

No. Maybe your used one is kaput?

 

[Pambazuku Pete]

Yeah I have resigned myself to the fact that the processor is probably worn out. This model is old now. I sent it back to the guy on Ebay and am now awaiting delivery of a brand new DP 03 SD. I hope I get a better outcome with that - looks a good machine. I like the built in condenser microphones and reverb. I'm reminded of the old saying 'buy cheap, buy twice'.

 

[Pambazuku Pete]

As I await delivery of a new DP 03 SD it would be interesting to read comment from anybody who has used the 03sd as to how it compairs to other forms of home studio recording. I believe it has an on board cd burner. The built in reverb seems an advantage as well as condenser microphones.

 

[dctdct]

I believe it has an on board cd burner.

If you ordered the new DP-03SD, it will be without a CD tray.
Apart from that they have the best hands on UI of the small-footprint DP series.
It was also on my wish list, but the lack of battery operation directed me to the even smaller DP-008EX, with similar firmware and functions.

I have to add that I cannot compare digital multitrack devices against a DAW based solution, because I'm coming directly from tape multitracking several decades ago and I will remain in this contained domain here.

 

[spantini]

As I await delivery of a new DP 03 SD it would be interesting to read comment from anybody who has used the 03sd as to how it compairs to other forms of home studio recording. I believe it has an on board cd burner. The built in reverb seems an advantage as well as condenser microphones.

The DP-03SD makes very good recordings, and if you use XLR microphones with phantom power - and not the built-in mics - that will be excellent sound quality. Use the built-in microphones for capturing quick ideas and maybe some casual performances - they are noisey.

The next level up for home recording is, IMO, the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), which is professional quality software for use in your laptop or desktop, usually. These can be anywhere from FREE to hundreds of dollar/year subscriptions.

The DP-03SD has only a mere fraction and the barest of processing capabilities when compared to DAWs.