Anyone know a workaround for the compact flash card drive on the dm4800, mines went out, and tascam doesn't have any in stock(shocker) can I use the tascam manager software to load and save projects and setups, anyone know where to get another drive
Compact Flash card reader
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Arjan P
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AFAIK, the TMC software allows you to transfer scenes to and from the computer, but it works with files that are on the CF-card in the board, not with an internal type of RAM memory. So that would mean you need a replacement card drive indeed - strange Tascam can't deliver...
Maybe someone can chime in with the shop that supplies the displays even when stock is zero, they may also get this drive?
Maybe someone can chime in with the shop that supplies the displays even when stock is zero, they may also get this drive?
Juzz
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Any CF card will work. Although it seems problematic when the card is larger than 2 gig. I use an 8 gig card (smallest capacity I could find) and just partition the card as a 2 gig and it works just fine.
Arjan P
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Jarno
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Hard to say. I thought it was about card itself, but now after your comment .... ???
Anyway... if it's about the card, Juzz gave the right answer. If it's about reader, it's TASCAM's (TEAC) own design, as can be seen here:
and in which case only source for replacement is TASCAM.
Arjan P
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Jarno
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Of course ... stupid me ... it's there in the topic title.
And as I said: the reader is TASCAM's own design. There's no 3rd party alternatives available. Sorry.
The card reader slot never worked reliably on either Dm4800 I used, always was wiggle technology. I would try a better card before I was sure it was the slot though.
My Flash card reader also seems to have died after being flakey over the last few weeks. Reformat of the card didn't help but I can read, save and format on a Windows PC without issue. Guess I will obtain another card to be sure before buying a replacement and tearing down my rig to open the beast up. SRAM init helped a few times, but not anymore.
From early on before I purchased, I was always leary of the Flash card as a weak point in the design. Such a Shame that Tascam relied solely on the card reader for loading and saving projects rather than developing TMCompanion as an option when you encounter Flash card issues or prefer to skip Flash.
From early on before I purchased, I was always leary of the Flash card as a weak point in the design. Such a Shame that Tascam relied solely on the card reader for loading and saving projects rather than developing TMCompanion as an option when you encounter Flash card issues or prefer to skip Flash.
Headroom
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I've also had lots of issues with the CF cards, even with new ones. I am not sure if the reader is the cause, but I guess it is.
- A card can only be used if it is formatted in the DM, not in the PC.
- Some cards are not recognized by the DM: 'CF card not available'.
- Some cards can't be formatted: 'Format failed'.
- Backup/restore only works with tpi files, not by copying files/banks on the PC.
- I've had 'Restore error: Failed' and 'Out of SRAM Range' errors.
I now have a small set of CF cards that work fine, using the TMC.
- A card can only be used if it is formatted in the DM, not in the PC.
- Some cards are not recognized by the DM: 'CF card not available'.
- Some cards can't be formatted: 'Format failed'.
- Backup/restore only works with tpi files, not by copying files/banks on the PC.
- I've had 'Restore error: Failed' and 'Out of SRAM Range' errors.
I now have a small set of CF cards that work fine, using the TMC.
captdan
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Knock on fake wood, I've never had an issue with my card reader. But it doesn't take much to cause them to malfunction - dirt, dust, or damaged card. Drumstruck is right - if you're having a problem, first try carefully cleaning the reader port and inspecting the card itself. Chances are good that's all it needs.
CaptDan
CaptDan
I did try blowing in from a can of compressed air as one of the first troubleshooting steps. While you must format the CF card in the DM mixer, inserting the CF card into a PC to read and format it is a valid troubleshooting step in checking the overall functionality of the CF card.
I do find that sometimes if I insert the card and press down on the card VERY firmly, it can be read and work normally for at least as long as I have the DM powered on.
If TMC had the ability to load the .tpi files directly into the DM, you could skip the CF card. Since TMC can copy files to and from the DM, it should very possible to load a .tpi file directly into the DM. Even if you had to manually load on every power up, it would still be worthwhile to users.
I do find that sometimes if I insert the card and press down on the card VERY firmly, it can be read and work normally for at least as long as I have the DM powered on.
If TMC had the ability to load the .tpi files directly into the DM, you could skip the CF card. Since TMC can copy files to and from the DM, it should very possible to load a .tpi file directly into the DM. Even if you had to manually load on every power up, it would still be worthwhile to users.
Curious, was replacing the CF PCB assembly difficult? And did it fix the problems you were having with that same CF card that was giving you a problem? Also, what did that PCB assembly cost you?
Arjan P
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I don't think the OP got to replacing the CF PCB; he says it isn't available even from Tascam.. From Jarno's picture, it doesn't look too hard to replace at all - once you get one.
No, it didn't fix the problem, it was not difficult to replace, just a cable to plug in and a couple screwws once you get the board open,but i will have to get look at by a pro audio shop at a later date,I can't figure outwhat's wrong with it, but everything else is fine i can still use the board
FWIW..We spoke with TASCAM Factory Service here in Los Angeles about the CF Reader and they state that the Card reader is available..They also mentioned that the Repair - failure rate of the CF Reader is very low and most times the problem is attributed to Bent Pins..David Ferrel is the chief tech and main person in regard to DM 4800
hope this helps
hope this helps
Very low failure rate can mean a lot of things and is pretty vague. 1-2 failures in a thousand? 300 in 5000? It just miffs me that there is an App and USB connection that is feature incomplete with having to rely solely on the CF card for project management. I'd even be satisfied with an old fashion SysEx dump that most other products that support MIDI have.
In my case the factory CF card has been in my DM-4800 for several years with no issue and then this past month has been getting worse and worse. Just rebooting or Factory Init can sometimes bring it back so bent pin issue is not very likely.
In my case the factory CF card has been in my DM-4800 for several years with no issue and then this past month has been getting worse and worse. Just rebooting or Factory Init can sometimes bring it back so bent pin issue is not very likely.
