MBP will not recognize SxS cards
 

I have a MBP17. I usually use SDHC cards. MBP always sees the SDHC cards in the MxR adapters. Until today the MBP has also seen my SxS cards. But today it will not see the SxS cards. It still sees the SDHC cards. We switched to the clients MBP15 and his recognized both SxS cards. So it's not the cards.

What gives?

If you have DiscWarrior run it on your disc. Your system disc may have problems. REpair permissions.

Did you just update system or anything else?

If it still does not work after DW, reinstall all the Sony drivers and apps.

Sometimes creating a new user and login is as that user will work.

If all else fails back up all important files and reformat disc and reinstall everything. You can do this on a new disk, it is a good opportunity to install a larger faster internal HD. Look at the bright side.

This sounds like an OS, driver, or corrupt HD directories malfunction.

Have not done any updates lately.

Everything else you posted is goobeldy gook to me.

I thought these sorts of things were PC problems? So far my Mac experience has sucked royally. Much worse than my Win XP experiences over the last 3 years.

Quote of the day...

Ed,

I feel your pain.

Give me a call and maybe I can help ease it. I have been using Macs since 1988. I even worked for Apple for a while in the 90's.

I would be the last person on this planet to claim Macs are perfect. But they are tools that can be used. And like any tool they sometimes need some tweaking.

Sorry if I sounded to technical.

Really call me, I will give you some help.
603.383.9283

Olaf

Thanks for the generous offer. I clicked on one of my bookmarks that led to a Sony XDCAM page. It had SxS drivers there, so I installed the driver (reinstalled?) and it fixed the problem. Yea!!!!

But this brings up another question. Why did the SxS driver fail but I could still upload clips from my SDHC cards? Are SDHC a MORE reliable medium?!!

I'd hate to think where I'd be if the client didn't have a MBP on hand. He is on an airplane right now. He would not have liked having to have his clips sent on later, after I figured out the problem.

SDHC uses a USB interface, slower and different than SxS that uses the full speed of Express 34.

I don't know exactly what went wrong on your Mac.

There are things you can do to prevent this from haunting you in the future.

A simple thing to do is to have a second FW disc with you at all times that is a clone (an exact copy) of your disc in perfect working order with you on the road. You can use CarbonCopy to make this (Carbon Copy Cloner - Home). Make sure you select make volume bootable when you make the clone.

This disc can also be used to store files (a risk but a very small one) like your BPAV files on the road.

I always carry all the installers I need on the road and a clone of my system disc.

DiscWarrier is a fantastic repair tool for Macs and it is very easy to use. I really recommend all Mac users have a copy and know how to use it.
DiskWarrior 4

Another great tool is Cocktail, it helps your Mac run smoothly and fast.
Cocktail - Overview

If you are not comfortable using these, you should develop a relationship with someone who is. At least if you are seriously using a Mac to make a living.

I know PC's are perfect, but Macs are sort of human.

I concur - Disk Warrior has saved my ass many many times and no Mac user should be without it.

I also use Carbon Copy Cloner

Olof, What exactly does Cocktail do that Disk Warrior doesn't? It seems cheap enough. Convince me.

Cocktail does a bunch of Unix maintenance tasks that may not happen if your Mac is not on 24/7. It also empties your cashes and clears your logs.

It also puts a nice gui on viewing invisible files, and some other finder options.

I don't use it automatically, but it is great if Safari slows down etc.

It will also repair permissions.

None of this is stuff you can't do in terminal. But this makes it really easy and quick.

The first 10 uses are free, or used to be. I have been using it for years.

Thanks,
i've found recently with my Intel Macbook Pro that repair permissions in the standard Disk Utility sees to take forever so i always cancel it. It would be nice to have a tool that would do that.

I'm relatively Mac savvy but don't even know what you mean by Unix maintenance tasks.

There are daily, weekly and monthly (I think) routines that run on Unix machines. It is mostly clearing caches and similar tasks.

If your Mac is not on or awake at 4AM (I think that is when it used to be, I don't know if it still is) those tasks never get done so your Mac will slow down. DW does not deal with this it only repairs (rebuilds) directories.

It is a little like Windows temp files that never clear. Eventually you have to do it or the computer crawls.

Thanks, I'll get it.
Do you need to keep your machine on all the time for those Unix tasks to be accomplished though, or can you just leave it on overnight say once a week?

Lenny

Olaf

If you have the time; perhaps you could write up a brief tutorial on maintaining a mac and post it on the mac forum?
It would be a huge help.

thanks

Ed

I will do a writeup about basic Mac maintenance, when i get a chance.

Here is a site that is very good to check out to learn more about your Mac:
MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

Just don't get to paranoid. Remember the people who write in are the ones having problems, not the ones whose machines run fine.

When a new update comes out, I always keep an eye on this site. You get a very good idea of how well it works and what conflicts may arise.

They also have very good articles about how to best update, back up and maintain a healthy Mac.

Remember to make it a nice little PDF with a PayPal donate button for at least the price of a beer or two.

So often would like to buy a beer for individuals who've shared a lovely little insight.