Firestore stops recording
 

We use a Firestore FS-1 to record an hour of video each week. Have been doing it for a year. For the second time in a month, we've gone to stop recording and the buttons are unresponsive, the FS-1 timecode is still running but the disk light is not blinking as it normally does. After power cycling the FS-1, we've find that the FS-1 had stopped recording long ago and the last file it created is garbage. The disk is not full.

Any ideas? The FS-1 gets video from a Laird LTM-6000 A/D converter and is connected to a Macintosh G5.

Perhaps related, I have noticed that the Firestore won't record unless we follow a strict power on procedure of the LTM-6000, Firestore, and then the G5. Any other combination and the Firestore won't record.

TIA

I'm just curious, have you done a test capturing directly from a DV camera? I know that because this problem appears to not happen all the time, doing this test will not immediately prove that the problem is with the A/D converter.

I ask this because I have had periodic problems with my canopus ADVC 100 capturing directly to my G4 DP 1.42, and a power book. This wouldn't explain why the buttons are unresponsive on the FS-1 though.

How long is the last file, and what do the files befor the last "garbage" file look like?

I've moved your thread to the FS forum.

Have you tried contacting Focus Enhancements tech support
directly? I can imagine they may have a firmware upgrade for
the device for example (since it is the first generation). They
also may know about this "issue" already.

I reported the problem to Firestore in parallel with this thread. I checked the support section of the website but it offers no microcode for the FS-1.

We always do a test recording after formatting the drive. THat creates a usable file. Of the two times it has failed, once the FS-1 recorded 30 minutes worth of video and then left a 1GB file that could not be opened. THe other time it failed, the very first file in the series was the one that couldn't be opened. In both cases, the test recording worked fine.

Could be that your FS-1 is in need of a firmware update or something along those lines. Matt McEwen of Focus checks in here regularly; I'm sure he'll have some input for you shortly.

Just a followup to say that Focus Tech support is involved. Not clear which component could be causing this. If anyone else experiences this problem, it'd be helpful.