MacBook Pro/Lexar 4gig Ingest Problem

[ANewman]

i..
I have news, second-generation, MacBook Pro and am having issues ingesting Lexar 133X, 4 Gig cards via a Lexar firewire reader.

Upon initial plugging in of firewire, booting up computer and first ingestion, no problem.

But if I immediately endeavor to ingest another disk, I run into serious file corruption problems for the images that move over to my MacBook. No previews. Images will not open because of a bad JPEG marker. Images can finally be opened after running them through Image Rescue.

Also, I discovered, but unplugging the reader and rebooting, I can ingests the images without any problem.

Any thoughts regarding the problem?

[Kirk Baker]

I have news, second-generation, MacBook Pro and am having issues ingesting Lexar 133X, 4 Gig cards via a Lexar firewire reader.

Upon initial plugging in of firewire, booting up computer and first ingestion, no problem.

But if I immediately endeavor to ingest another disk, I run into serious file corruption problems for the images that move over to my MacBook. No previews. Images will not open because of a bad JPEG marker. Images can finally be opened after running them through Image Rescue.

Also, I discovered, but unplugging the reader and rebooting, I can ingests the images without any problem.

Any thoughts regarding the problem?

Does the corruption happen when you copy the files with the Finder?
What happens if you unplug and plug the reader in again each time you Ingest?
What camera are you using to shoot the photos with?
What model is the Lexar reader?

Are you completely unmounting the first card before you mount the second card?  If you don't do this properly, Mac OS X will have cached directory information and even much of the file data from the first card even though the second card is in the reader (or even if you are using a single card and are reformatting, and shooting new photos in the interim, Mac OS X's disk cache if unflushed, can present stale data as current.)

-Kirk

[ANewman]

Does the corruption happen when you copy the files with the Finder?>>
I have not tried that yet.

What happens if you unplug and plug the reader in again each time you Ingest?
No problems with the first ingest after unplugging. But if I ingest again without unplugging, then I get corrupt files. Never had these problems with previous computer... a PowerBook G4.

What camera are you using to shoot the photos with?
Nikon D200.

What model is the Lexar reader?
Firewire CompactFlash Reader. RWD11?

[Kirk Baker]

Does the corruption happen when you copy the files with the Finder?>>
I have not tried that yet.

What happens if you unplug and plug the reader in again each time you Ingest?
No problems with the first ingest after unplugging. But if I ingest again without unplugging, then I get corrupt files. Never had these problems with previous computer... a PowerBook G4.

I would try unplugging the reader between Ingests then and see if things improve.

-Kirk

[ANewman]

<<I would try unplugging the reader between Ingests then and see if things improve.>>

Things do improve, but I don't believe you should have to do this. Is this a bug in the program, because of either the Intel chips or Rosetta. And, if so, will it be fixed in the next version?

[Kirk Baker]

<<I would try unplugging the reader between Ingests then and see if things improve.>>

Things do improve, but I don't believe you should have to do this. Is this a bug in the program, because of either the Intel chips or Rosetta. And, if so, will it be fixed in the next version?

If you're running version 4.4.3.3 then you are definitely running an Intel native version of Photo Mechanic.  The big issue here is that you *must* unmount the first card (watch its icon disappear from the desktop) before you insert the second card.  Otherwise Mac OS X does not realize that the card has changed and the disk cache in Mac OS X is not cleared.  This causes problems for programs like Photo Mechanic because we depend on the OS for services like disk I/O and if it gives us stale data, there is no way for us to tell that the data is bad during the copy process.

Are you certain that you are unmounting the first card before you insert the second card?

-Kirk

[ANewman]

It is possible that I might not have trashed the card, but I though I did. I'll pay more attention during the next round robin of card mounts.

[ANewman]

After another round robin of card exchanges I have come to the conclusion that I was not properly dragging the card icon to the trash and that was the root of my earlier problems with my new MacBook Pro and PM. For some crazy reason, I recall with my old Powerbook, that I simply clicked on the closed button after getting the "Ingest Complete" prompt and then I could eject the card without dragging it to the trash. Anyway, I apologize for the previous posts.

[roysmyth]

On the ingest window do you have the box checked for "Unmount Source Disk(s) After Ingest"? That's what makes Photo Mechanic unmount your card so you don't have to drag it to the trash or use the finder to unmount it. Works fine on my MacBook Pro with a Lexar CF reader.

[reefer]

On the ingest window do you have the box checked for "Unmount Source Disk(s) After Ingest"? That's what makes Photo Mechanic unmount your card so you don't have to drag it to the trash or use the finder to unmount it. Works fine on my MacBook Pro with a Lexar CF reader.

This is weird, I see several members here suggest that "Unmount Source Disk(s) After Ingest"? will work but not for me. Any thoughts on why ? I'm running a brand new Intel Macbook FYI.

[Kirk Baker]

On the ingest window do you have the box checked for "Unmount Source Disk(s) After Ingest"? That's what makes Photo Mechanic unmount your card so you don't have to drag it to the trash or use the finder to unmount it. Works fine on my MacBook Pro with a Lexar CF reader.

This is weird, I see several members here suggest that "Unmount Source Disk(s) After Ingest"? will work but not for me. Any thoughts on why ? I'm running a brand new Intel Macbook FYI.

Can you explain what you mean by "will work but not for me"?  Do any error messages appear at the completion of the Ingest?  Does the icon representing your card disappear from the desktop?

-Kirk

[reefer]

Sorry Kirk, what I meant by that phrase is that other members have suggested that using the option to unmount the disk after ingest does not cause them to have the 'corrupt' file problem. I have tried this method but I still have the issue.

During ingest yesterday I do recall seeing a message reporting two errors although I did not note down what they may have been due to working to a tight deadline.

As I say I am out again Tuesday night, I will pay attention to the CF icon to see if it goes away.

Thanks,

Marc