HyperDeck Shuttle 2 - No SSD and no Video signals

Hi list,

I'm stuck and hope for good advices to get HyperDeck Shuttle 2 to get it to record from my Sony HDR-FX7E HDV camcorder over a HDMI connection.

First I ran the BM HyperDeck setup utility 4.4.1 on a Win8.1 laptop. Selected Record to DNxHD QT.
Didn't change the default "Trigger: Never" or the "Time code output: Off", as I was not sure what these settings should do.

Next I tried to follow the HyperDeck Getting started procedures as follows:

Prepared the SSD: Crucial M4 - 512 GB
I think it is a weakness that only the native Mac OS X HFS+ journal file system is supported, because it requires a commersial third party software on Windows and has read only support on Linux. By the way, I installed a free eval Paragon HFS+ on Windows. Yet I didn't find a HFS+ format tool(?), and had to format the SSD with HFS+ using GParted on Linux. Connecting the SSD on Windows told afterwards the SSD was fine.

However I was not able to find out (see) which Firmware version that was included on the SSD and did neither find a download to test for the previous supported FW version 009 at Crucial support.

Shuttle 2
Followed the attached getting started procedures as follows with reference to the Front and Back views:

Step 1
Turned on Shuttle (7)
The SSD indicator lights up strong Red (9)
A smaller, weak read light visible on the Video indicator (8)

Step 2
Inserted the HFS+ formatted SSD into the Shuttle tray
No difference: the SSD indicator still continues in strong Red (9)

Step 3
Connected a HDMI cable from Sony HDV camcorder HDMI out to HDMI in (12) on Shuttle
and another HDMI cable from HDMI out (13) to a HDMI in on my Sony HDTV
Tried both camera on and tape playback.
No difference: still no green light on the Video indicator (8) (no video source detected)
and no video image on my HDTV
The Record button (1) did neither work.

I testet the HDMI cable from HDMI out on the Sony FX7 camcorder which played ok on the HDTV.
I tested also a broadcast HDTV tuner signal on HDMI IN (8) on Shuttle,
but still no Green light for a video source detected.

I tested also Step 3 again after disconnecting the SSD from Shuttle.
But no difference, still strong Red on the SSD indicator and no Video signal detected.

The questions are now:

If the Crucial M4 SSD doesn't have the supported firmware version 009 or its HFS+ formatting isn't accepted, will nothing work as oulined above?

And cannot Shuttle detect HDMI Video in (and forward/loop it to HDMI out) without a SSD inserted?

Cheers,
Terje H.

You need to check what format is being output by the camera

According to Sony's operating guide, the HDR-FX7E camcorder adopts the HDV1080i50 format specification, video signal PAL color, CCIR standards, and records pictures at image bit rate of about 25 Mbps (on miniDV or HDV tapes).

And according to Steve Mullen's Handbook for HDR-FX7 (and HVR-V1) the HDV 1080i stream (HD2) of 1440x1080 pixels resolution, 8-bit, 8:2:0 color sampling is recorded as compressed, native HDV files (.M2T, MPEG-2 via Firewire).

However, when the camera is operating, the EIP works internally with 1920x1080 pixels and generates uncompressed 1440x1080i with 8-bit, 4:2:2 color space provided as digital output data via the HDMI port. Also playback of HDV tapes benefits of the HDMI connection, because after MPEG-2 decoding, croma upscales to 4:2:2 and 8-bit YCbCr uncompressed video is sent via the camcorder's HDMI port.

What I can confirm myself is that HDMI out from the camcorder is scaled perfectly on my Sony HDTV of full 1920x1080 resolution. But HDMI IN on this HDTV does also support everything from 480i/p to 1080i/p.

However I forgot to mentione that when I tried to test using a HD broadcast tuner signal over HDMI to Shuttle 2, I noticed that the tuner's display switched back to "No HDMI signal" (HDMI handshake). This is why I think Shuttle doesn't accept video input without a valid SSD inserted first !?

Terje H.

Yes, you need a valid drive in the Shuttle for it to work correctly. I will test this for you later today.

I have tried several "approved" Crucial drives, and had issues with most of them, dropped frames or drive not recognized by the Shuttle. The Crusical 512 you have is reported by BM: "Crucial 512 GB M4 (firmware 009 only) (CT512M4SSD2)" As being problematic and only works with this firmware version (009) on the Shuttle.

I would try a different hard drive, Digistor drives are excellent and were designed to,work,on BM recorders and cameras. I also have had good luck both SanDisk Extreme Pro and Kingston 240 GB SSD Now drives.
Cheers

When connected direct to the TV you need to check what the actual signal from the camera is. HDV should always look like it's 1920x1080, but if the camera is actually outputting and HDV signal out through the HDMI then the Shuttle won't see it as it's not a supported format.

As to the Broadcast signal, it is probably a protected signal (HDCP) if so then the Shuttle won't see that either

Thanks for the suggestions.

In the meantime I have also tried to format the Crucial M4 512 GB SSD with exFat on Windows, but still no success with Shuttle 2, as its SSD leds still continues to light Red.

How is it possible to verify its firmware version? On my Linux laptop I can read the firmware version of the laptop's internal Intel SSD system disk using standard disk tools, but not of the external, usb connected Crucial.

BM support says that the Video IN signal should light up also without a SSD present in Shuttle 2, in Record mode !? However, I doubt this can be true, as I'm not able to get light on the Record button with the SSD ejected (and not for the Crucial M4 entered when the SSD indicator lights Red).

I have also tested the video signal from my HDV FX7E camcorder via HDMI out connected to HDMI in on a computer monitor. Both the camera signal and HDV tape playback scales fine, as they did on the Sony HDTV, though I'm not able to verify if the signal is really 1440 or 1920....(?)

Another document reference of interest:
The Sony HDR-FX7 HDV camcorder model that I use, was used as a sample image on a previous product flyer for BM Intensity Pro. Though I know this was quite another product than the HyperDeck Shuttle 2 video recorder, I would assume the same is still true/valid regarding what was said regarding HDMI capture from a HDV camcorder.
http://www.smartdv.co.uk/pdf/BMD_IntensityPro.pdf

Beyond the Limits of HDV
Working in HDTV is exciting, however HDV’s heavy compression and limited 1440 x 1080 resolution can cause problems with video quality and editing. Intensity Pro eliminates these problems by using direct capture from the camera image sensor at full 1920 x 1080 HDTV resolution and uncompressed video quality.
Intensity Pro enables you to capture directly from the HD camera’s CCD, bypassing the video compression chip for true uncompressed video quality. HD format support: 1080 lines at 59.94i, 50i, 720 lines at 50p and 59.94p. SD format support: NTSC/PAL and S-Video.

So I prefer so far to believe that the reason for my problems is that the Crucial M4 disk's firmware is not supported, and that this cause the problem also for the Video signal to be detected (?)

Looks like I have to order a couple of new SSDs listed on the HyperDeck certified/recommended list. For me it looks like 480 GB HyperX/Savage or Sandisk Extreme Pro or Samsung 512 GB 850 Pro (what is "spacer required"?) are the most actual to get locally. An option would be a 960 GB model, but it is costly ........

Cheers,
Terje J. H

I would stay away from the new "slim" drives that require a spacer. Do yourself a favor, and just get the Digistor drives, B&H has them in sale. The Digistor drives, they are the correct size and do not require messing around with spacers. Also, they are the most reliable drives of the lot.

I just tested the Shuttle 2 signal inputs. With a valid SDI or HDMI signal present, the "Signal" led was green. This was tested without a SSD mounted in the Shuttle, so having a valid drive in the does not effect or prevent the Shuttle frim getting a valid signal.

The Shuttle accepts the following HD signals:
HD Format Support:
720p50, 720p59.94, 720p60, 1080i50, 1080i59.94, 1080i60, 1080PsF23.98, 1080PsF24, 1080PsF25,
1080PsF29.97, 1080PsF30, 1080p23.98, 1080p24, 1080p25, 1080p29.97, 1080p30
In addition to SD Format Support:
625/25 PAL and 525/29.97 NTSC. 480p60 and 576p50 via HDMI only.

So if your Shuttle's Signal indicator is not green, you do not have a valid signal above present on the HDMI or SDI inputs. Hope this helps...
Cheers

Thank you Denny for your information. I will try to follow your suggestion and get Digistor video SDD, and I agree spacers around the slim Samsung types seems unpractical.

So to clarify that my Shuttle 2 unit itself is not faulty:
Is it normal that all four battery indicators lights is on (Green) all the time for a full charged battery, as soon as the 12V power supply is connected and before the power button is pressed on?
Is it normal that the SSD led is on (Red) as soon as the Power button is pressed on (Green) without SSD inserted?

So to testing other video signal sources:

So far I have set up Shuttle 2 with DNxHD QT. As far as I know this codec supports only HD video.

Opt. 1
What happends if I try to test and record SD 625/25 PAL from a DVD player (my own recorded DVD) via HDMI connection to Shuttle 2:, should this video signal be accepted without a SSD inserted, and next will it be recorded usable for NLE on a valid SSD with DNxHD QT, possibly MXF, or do I need to change to ProRes HQ codec that supports SD?

Opt. 2
I have also a lot of older Hi8 tapes with 625/25 PAL S-video that I plan to record on Shuttle 2 via a BM Analog to SDI converter.
The same question as for Opt 1 above regarding codec for this, or possibly do I need uncompressed instead?

And lastly:
Is there possibly available units that can upscale possibly 1440x1080 from my HDV camcorder to a valid 1920x1080 signal for Shuttle 2 ?

Cheers,
Terje J. H

Finally I figured out what caused this issue.
There must be a bug in the HyperDeck 4.4.1 utility Setup of DNxHD codec for Shuttle 2, because both QT and MXF lock Shuttle with the SSD light on, included the other failures as No video signal detected and so on.

As soon as I tried Uncompressed 10-bit and next ProRes HQ, everything worked fine with green leds only. The HDMI video signal from my camcorder displayed nice, both from camera and from playback footages on HDV tapes. I was even able to record and playback a couple of clips using the Crucial M4 512 GB SSDs, one formatted HFS+ and the other exFat.

What I have not tested so far, is the Hi8 S-video to Analog to SDI to Shuttle 2.

I will report this results to BM support.

Cheers,
Terje J. H

Glad you got it sorted, I was just about to suggest trying ProRes codec, as this is,what my Shuttle is set for, And I could not duplicate your problem. To,answer,your question, will full,charge on the internal battery. You get a full,row,of,green lights for power indication, as battery drops, the row gets shorter, until you are down to one light, then it's time to recharge.

The signal present light should come on if a valid signal is present, regardless of SSD status.

While you can record a signal from a Hi8 tape deck, unless the deck has a time base corrector in it (Professional Hi decks designed for editing systems) you will need a TBC between the Hi8 deck and the analog to SDI converter, or the tape can drift out of sysc, or you will get dropped frames. The TBC I use converts the analog signal to SDI to feed the video to a video AJA video processor that embeds the audio with the video signal from the TBC in sync. With this BM analog to SDI mini converter, you can go from the deck,to TBC to Mini converter and feed the audio directly from the deck to the Mini Converter, then re-sync the video and audio in your NLE, if required.