Super strange problem with Cfast cards VS reader

After my last topic on "ghost files" issue, I guess my great luck gets me again into a technically odd problem, that does not make any sense

I am shooting with the Ursa Mini 4.6K Pro, latest firmware.

I have 2 Lexar 256GB Cards (lets call them card A and card B).

I also have 2 Lexar card readers - the CR1 and the CR2.

Ok so here is the super strange problem:

- All cards record and play without problems in camera.
- Card A works fine on both CR1 and CR2 reader.
- Card B cannot be read by the CR2 reader, but works fine on the CR1 reader.
- I tried several other Cfast cards on the CR2 reader and these also worked fine.

So usually, in order to identify a problem, I replace each part of the setup until I find the bad one. But here, all items work on their own. It is ONLY the combination between "Card B" + CR2 reader, that is not working.

Type of error: windows cannot read the card, tha card needs to be formatted.
Do you want to format now?
If I say "yes", then the windows format options appear, but windows is not able to format the card.

Actually at that moment windows sees the card as a "0.99 GB" instead of "256 GB"

I tried to format the card in camera (EX FAT) as well as on PC (with the CR1 reader). It did the format, but the error in CR2 stayed.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Tolerances in one device and marginal function on another can add up to such an effect.

1. Uli Plank already commented about tolerances. The reader 1 is possibly just marginally better. I'd replace both.

2. I just don't understand why do you want any kind of reader since CFast is electrically SATA and so you could use a passive adapter to attach the card directly to the computer without any USB. Only the power is to be regulated separately. Such adapters are sold on EBay. I don't know whether they are supported by the Graphical Malware Loader mentioned in p.4.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CFAST-to-SAT ... SwPv9XMKcu

3. Maybe a Frankenstein monster consisting of said passive adapter and a 3.5" USB3 rack would work better just because of it's size and external power source. The USB is too low power, and I have seen lots of problems because of it.

4. When I read about the program that cannot recognize a hardware ("windows cannot read the card, the card needs to be formatted. Do you want to format now?"), cannot differentiate between hardware error and absence of formatting and advises the user to destroy data that are possibly present on it - I believe that this program is produced by idiots for consumers and you should be as far from this program as possible.

I also have 2 CFAST 256 from Lexar.
I was going to buy the CR1 or CR2 reader from Lexar but i read that a lot of people had problem with their CFast card. The card was unable to read, ghosting files, file corrupted,...
If you look around the web, you will find people complaining about that (Some say that the CR2 was made to correct this default).

I finally choose to go with ProGrade. It's some guys from Lexar that built their own company and they have a CFast/SD UHS-II cheaper than the lexar one and incredibly fast. I have 2 of them and never had a problems at the moment.

4. When I read about the program that cannot recognize a hardware ("windows cannot read the card, the card needs to be formatted. Do you want to format now?"), cannot differentiate between hardware error and absence of formatting and advises the user to destroy data that are possibly present on it - I believe that this program is produced by idiots for consumers and you should be as far from this program as possible.

Unfortunately Anatoly this happened under Windows and under MacOsX, when os not recognize for someone reason a disk, offer directly to format it.
I have a docking station powered that if connect my ssd by esata to computer offer me to format it, but not recognize, if i connect by usb 3.0 recognize immediately. At same configuration mechanical disk like seagate 8tb (which i use for rought backup) are recognized correctly on both connection...
this happend under win and under mac, for some reason the internal controller chipset of docking station allow me to work under esata only with mechanical disk, it don't like ssd (san disk extreme pro, samsung, crucial and more)...
like Uli told is a strange hardware tolerance between tools

Do you know that there are different eSATa levels?
I have an enclosure here for eSATA that is only erratically reading a SSD while another, slightly more expensive one, is reading all of them all the time.

Do you know that there are different eSATa levels?
I have an enclosure here for eSATA that is only erratically reading a SSD while another, slightly more expensive one, is reading all of them all the time.

No Uli, i don't know that there are different esata levels. are related about speed like sata3/sata6?
i only know about esata and esataP that can power disk by a single cable.

Thanks for the info!

I replaced the Lexar reader with a cheap one from Transcend and it works fine so far.

The biggest thing on the Lexar CR2 is the thunderbolt port.

I wonder is there another brand that offers thunderbolt reading for Cfast 2.0 cards?

There is one from sonnettech, but it is 200 usd (around 400 in local store).

That Sonnet SF3 Pro is Thunderbolt 3 and only $170 at B&H Photo. ‘Only’ is still expensive but if you have a Thunderbolt 3 laptop (or desktop), it may be worth it given the higher performance can save you time on set.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1338301-REG

“As the industry’s first CFast 2.0 card reader for Thunderbolt 3, the SF3 Series - CFast 2.0 Pro Card Reader employs its dual card slots to take advantage of the tremendous bandwidth offered by Thunderbolt 3. Capable of ingesting files simultaneously from two cards at concurrent data transfer speeds up to 1000+ MB/s—more than double the average ingest speed of USB 3.0 card readers—using the Sonnet reader makes for a significantly more convenient and efficient workflow.”

It’s unfortunate that Lexar CR2 may have problems after it was designed to replace the problematic CR1. I would expect Sonnet to be reliable at that price.



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