> NOTICE -It has come to our attention that many others selling on
> eBay are offering bare 4GB Hitachi Microdrives that were actually
> removed from OEM equipment such as the Creative 4GB Muvo2,
> Samsung's 4GB YEPP or pre-release versions of Apple's mini-ipod.
> The version of the Hitachi 4GB Microdrive found in these OEM
> devices is NOT generic and these modified drives will NOT reliably
> work in most other CF based equipment despite the claims of these
> sellers. The reason for this is that many OEMs using Hitachi 4GB
> drives in their products are doing so with proprietary firmware
> written to their specialized OEM hardware implementation . In the
> case of Creative's Muvo2 product it not only has proprietary
> firmware, but it also uses a different CF connector pin out and
> operating voltage than the CF industry standard supports. Any
> unknowing buyer who purchases and uses one of these hybrid
> Muvo2/Hitachi 4G microdrives in their CF equipment for prolonged
> periods of time will destroy both the Hitachi 4GB drive and their
> CF based equipment. For other OEMs using proprietary firmware in
> their Hitachi 4Gb Microdrives, you will experience intermittent
> read/write problems if you use their hybrid 4GB Microdrive in other
> CF devices. If buying elsewhere on eBay, please be sure to ask the
> seller the origin of their 4GB Hitachi Microdrive before buying or
> you may be making a costly mistake! In contrast, all our Hitachi
> Microdrives are guaranteed fresh OEM product direct from Hitachi
> and have not been modified in any way from the Hitachi supplied
> specifications stated below. If you have any doubts about our
> special OEM warning statement above feel fee to contact us and we
> will gladly provide legitimate buyers with our Hitachi OEM reseller
> ID so you can call Hitachi OEM and verify our statement as well as
> our reseller status or you can contact Hitachi Storage Technologies
> OEM directly @ 1-800-801-4618 to verify anything we have stated in
> our warning statement above. Buying a OEM drive removed from any of
> the OEM equipment stated with proprietary firmware will ruin your
> Hitachi Microdrive as well as CF based equipment.
I see that on their website. But I'm also holding an invoice for "Creative Labs Nomad MuVo 4 GB MP3 Player" in my hands...
After viewing the guts of this device, I think they would have a tough time changing production to a soldered device. It's not just Creative changing production, it would be Hitachi also. About the only thing they might be able to do in order to thwart removal would be to epoxy the device in place -- but that would prevent servicing by them in the event of failure.
Maybe they'll just follow Apple's lead (iPod) and make the thing non-serviceable.
Glasdriver,
Those write times - did you format the card in FAT32 with 32K blocks (clusters)? Others at DPR have found this improves the speed by about the same as the difference you see between the Hitachi and Lexar. (I think the default is 4K blocks) I'm curious, since the 10D is one of the slower wrters, no matter what speed card used (see Galbraith's database)
AKA Did you just put it in the camera and format/use it for those times?
Thanks
Andy
AJSJones wrote:
Glasdriver,
Those write times - did you format the card in FAT32 with 32K blocks (clusters)? Others at DPR have found this improves the speed by about the same as the difference you see between the Hitachi and Lexar. (I think the default is 4K blocks) I'm curious, since the 10D is one of the slower wrters, no matter what speed card used (see Galbraith's database)
AKA Did you just put it in the camera and format/use it for those times?
Thanks
Andy
I formatted the hard drive with the PC, 32K blocks, rather than let the 10D do it. Hmmm, wonder if the flash card is formatted 32K?
glasdriver wrote:
I formatted the hard drive with the PC, 32K blocks, rather than let the 10D do it. Hmmm, wonder if the flash card is formatted 32K?
Thanks !
One last question
If you now tell the camera to format it, does it revert to smaller blocks (and, presumably, slow down again)? Guess I don't know exactly what happens when the 10D "formats" a disk
I use a Mac so I'd have to find out how to format it if I need to do it more than once (at a friend's PC!)
AJSJones wrote:
Thanks !
One last question
If you now tell the camera to format it, does it revert to smaller blocks (and, presumably, slow down again)?
Andy
Can't tell you, because I've done enough messing around for one day -- I'm happy with the 4gb drive and while I don't think I'll EVER fill it up, it's the cheapest storage option around for my typical shoots -- 100-150 images.
Good luck with yours... Get a set of mini-screwdrivers and your reading glasses ready.
Yepp...if You format the preformated MD in the cam, the PC 32K blocks are lost. So I try to get used to "delete all pictures" on the 10D instead of the camera format function. If You want, just write a textfile with this content:
format ?: /A:32K /FS:FAT32 /V:MICRODRIVE /Q
*?* is the driveletter, chance it to your actual microdrive directory (f,g or k). Save the textfile with the suffix *.BAT - now You can format the MD with just one mouseclick. (PC)
I first formated the MD on the camera and it worked fine. But after reading a few posts, i formated it on my PC (windows XP) with 32 k. It took hours, but it looks good also, although i see no noticeable diference.
There's one thing i notice between CF card and this MD : the speed when turning the cam on. It is slower with the MD. Is this only my impression, or is it a fact ?
I just called Creative Labs, and the gal said they have been out of stock for about two weeks, and should be getting some any time. I gave her my number, and she is supposed to call me when they get them back in stock.
Amazon just raised their price by a buck to $200.99. They will allow you to order it even though they say it hasn't yet been released; it's on backorder.
After reading that bit where they say that the MD drive in the MuVo mp3 player can actually damage the camera because of proprietary firmware and different wiring configurations, I'm a bit wary to use in my 10D. Has anyone heard more new on this, other that what is posted earlier in this thread (taken from a dpreview forum)?
Is this just a scare tactic or is there really a chance that this MD will damage my 10D in the long run?
Is there really a difference between the retail version of the MD and the one I yanked out of my little MuVo mp3 player?
