Exporting stereo mix hangs

[Jeff Parsons]

I have a song loaded on the Model 24 and want to export a stereo mix. All goes well until the writing reaches 93%, at which point it hangs. The swirling dots indicating it is writing just freeze and I can't exit the screen. I have to cycle the power to get out of it. The 2G SD card is less than half full (between 800 and 900 MB used). I tried deleting a couple of tracks I didn't use in the final mixdown, which freed up about 10% more memory, but the export still freezes at 93%.

 

[-mjk-]

There hasn't been a 2GB SD card made in years. That mostly likely means that you are not using an approved SD card. With very rare exceptions, these types of errors fall into 2 categories: 1: Operator Error. 2: SD Card Fault.

 

[Jeff Parsons]

Okay here's the whole story. The Model 24 came into my possession with no SD card. I went to the website, printed out the list of compatible SD cards, and bought one at Office Depot. The Model 24 wouldn't accept it. I ordered another card from the list online - it will be another week before it's delivered. Meanwhile, there was a Tascam DP-08 handy, with an old 2GB card. I put that card in the Model 24, and it was accepted. I reformatted it, added the Model 24 system file, recorded a song with a dozen tracks, one at a time, and did a final mixdown pass. Finally, I try to export the stereo mix, and all of a sudden the card is not compatible?

 

[Logrinn]

My guess is that it’s a memory card capacity problem. Many machines that utilise memory cards actually need much more to handle its job, like undos and such. So while it may say that it has 8-900 mb left - which sounds pretty much - it could well be that it’s very close to its handling limit. It might need a large cluster of sectors (if that’s a thing in memory cards like it is in hard discs) to be able to do its operation.
I’m pretty sure it will work with a bigger card.

 

[Mark Richards]

Rule #1.
Assure you have the most recent firmware update installed.

Rule #2.
See rule #1

Rule #3.
Introduce yourself to the stickies pinned to the top of the forum. They can help you avoid grief, improve effective production, etc.

 

[-mjk-]

all of a sudden the card is not compatible?

Yup. Just like a Lambo. You push it hard and it's great until it breaks free with no warning. The SD card is perfect until it hits the wall and then it's not. There are dozens of testimonials to this fact in the Digit Portastudio forum.

I do no know what you mean by the Model 24 "wouldn't accept" a card though.

 

[Jeff Parsons]

I have all the tracks backed up on computer, so I actually hope it is the card and not the device. As I said, one store-bought card didn't work even though it was on the list, hoping the one I ordered online from the top of the list will do better. Using the 2GB card was just an any-port-in-a-storm move because I didn't want to wait.

As for rule #1, I'm 1 version behind in the firmware and have the newest one on the computer backup - I'll be updating the device ASAP.

 

[Jeff Parsons]

By "wouldn't accept" I mean that the error message was "invalid card". I was unable to format it or do anything else with it. Maybe it was defective, who knows. At least I was able to return it for a refund.

 

[Jeff Parsons]

And BTW, it would have been nice, and would have obviated this thread, if the device had output an error message rather than just freezing up. I hope the firmware update will fix that.

 

[Londinium Pete]

I just hit the same problem on the Model 12:

- Working at 44/24.
- Did a stereo mix of a song, about 11'30" in duration.
- Went straight to Stereo Mix Export and started exporting, and it just froze at 99%. Unable to do anything else but power cycle.
- Have power cycled and retried the export three times - same error: freezes mid-way through the export with only option to power cycle.

I have a 64GB 'approved compatible list' SD card installed.
It has 3 Songs stored on it (including the 11'30" one I'm working on) - <2GB in total + 2 mix downs (<200MB). So about 2.2GB used, masses of space left on it.

My theories about this bug:
- Could be due to trying to export without having saved first? Surely that wouldn't break the file outright?
- write error during mixdown?
- problem with the SD card? Unlikely - it's recording tracks and playing back just fine, was bought solely for use with this machine and has been inserted/extracted just a couple of times.

Annoying issue as I was really pleased with my 'live' mixdown. I'm going to try a dummy mixdown to test things out, but any tips welcome!

 

[Jeff Parsons]

I ordered another SD card from the list of approved ones - a Sony at the top of the list. That solved the problem.

 

[Londinium Pete]

Update: I have 'fixed' my problem.

Here is the troubleshooting I performed:

Attempt 1) Recorded another mixdown. This time saved the Song before attempting Stereo Mix Export. UNSUCCESSFUL (same error - export stalled at 99%).

Attempt 2) Backed up all my data to computer. Reformatted the SD card using the recommended ERASE option. Went back to the computer and restored only the Song I'm working on. Did a new mixdown. SUCCESSFUL (Stereo Mix Export worked first time).

Most probable is that the reformatting did the trick. As said, I had plenty of capacity on the card to start with. Going forward, I'll probably reformat as a matter of course between projects.

 

[-mjk-]

The DP users have found that over time, routinely backing up, reformatting and restoring the contents of the SD card heads off many issues. We use the machine's reformat utility for that. Also, we reformat after every firmware upgrade. I would guess that those practices are good for the Model series as well. Thanks for posting your updates to the forum @Londinium Pete and @Jeff Parsons.