As long as the microdrive is not in use at the moment, it can take a drop. If you want to get more speed out of the microdrive and have a card reader and Win XP, stick the card in the reader, go to control panel, performance and maintenance, administrative tools, computer management. On the left bar select disk management. Righ click on the drive with the microdrive in it and select format, and format it for FAT with default cluster size. This will give you 64k clusters.
Richard
As long as the microdrive is not in use at the moment, it can take a drop. If you want to get more speed out of the microdrive and have a card reader and Win XP, stick the card in the reader, go to control panel, performance and maintenance, administrative tools, computer management. On the left bar select disk management. Righ click on the drive with the microdrive in it and select format, and format it for FAT with default cluster size. This will give you 64k clusters.
Richard
Won't this change the next time you format it in-camera?
Ian
Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
For the record the microdrive is rated for a 2000G shock of that type.
You mean 200G....still, that's amazing for a spinny thing. In fact, I think that's 4x greater than the shock specs for a 4gb CF card.
I stand corrected for my "idiocy".
"Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
You mean 200G....still, that's amazing for a spinny thing. In fact, I think that's 4x greater than the shock specs for a 4gb CF card.
I stand corrected for my "idiocy".
Sorry I really thought you were joking.
Believe it or not I mean 2000 G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
200 G is when operating and is perhaps even more astounding when you consider that the 200G is with the heads out on the spinning platter. Course if you can get 200G on it in the camera than the card is the least of your problems, as the camera probably had to get hit with 2,000G to get 200G on the internally mounted CF device.
Charles Richmond IT & Security Consultant
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
Since I am only familiar with larger drives, not microdrives, I asked a friend of mine (a quite brilliant and experienced semiconductor engineer w/ advanced degree who shall remain namelss, but was one of the primary designers of the SPARC processor) about the reliability of microdrives versus flash. Here is his response:
Dear Smart Guy,
Can you help me understand how an Hitachi 4GB microdrive has a shock
spec of 200G while a Lexar 4GB CF card is only rated at 50G?
Intuitively, I would think the drive with it's spinny and flying bits
would be much more susceptible to shock than a static chip.
The shock damage for the Lexar CF card would probably only be from
electrical connections coming loose, due to shock. Or maybe the case
would deform enough to actually crack the silicon?
There are lots more opportunities for shock damage to a microdrive --
not just connections, but disk warpage/breakage, head-touches-spinning-disk damage, etc.
I'd suggest reading those specs very, very carefully. My guess is that
the CF spec is for both operating *and* non-operating conditions.
Maybe the shock spec for the Hitachi is only for *non*-operating
conditions, when the head is parked. When the head is parked, it can
withstand a lot more shock than when operating, because head-parking
eliminates the possibility of head-touches-spinning-disk damage.
Note that any shock that would damage either a CF card or a microdrive
while it's operating would probably cause serious damage (or total
destruction) to your 20D, too. Not to mention "bye-bye" to any lens
attached. The shock we have to worry about (esp for microdrives) is the
non-operating shock, when it's *out of* the camera -- for example, that
little 4' drop to a concrete floor, which can generate serious peak
deceleration ("G") forces.
"Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Since I am only familiar with larger drives, not microdrives, I asked a friend of mine (a quite brilliant and experienced semiconductor engineer w/ advanced degree who shall remain namelss, but was one of the primary designers of the SPARC processor) about the reliability of microdrives versus flash. Here is his response:
Fish;
Operating shock from impact in camera . 200 G
NON-operating shock from a drop is really 2000 G
Full sine (paint shaker) type shock is a lot less, but your camera will still be the first to go.
These are the published numbers that Hitachi has to live up to, but a million (guessed number) Ipods confirm the reliability
Charles Richmond IT & Security Consultant
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
FWIW I was always a CF guy as I thought that solid state had to be more reliable than a spinning disk like your friend, Fish. But CMR is right that any shock that will destroy a MD will absolutely hammer a 20D!
I have had 2 1Gb CF chips go south for no discernable reason. Sandisk apparently knew something because they replaced one of them for me. Lexar replaced the other.
CF WILL tolerate humidity and freezing temperatures better than Microdrives.. Hard drives do not take well to condensation so I limit use in the winter time outdoors for short periods.
I have used a 4Gb MD exclusively in my 1DMkll since last spring - I never need to change chips in the field because the MD lasts all day long even at an air show where I was shooting high speed frame rates.
I think both media are pretty good and don't choose what I use on that basis but let size needed and external temperature and humidity decide for me. When the 4GB CF chips are available for less than $100 it will be a no brainer. Until then, I will continue to use my MD and CF almost interchangeably.
head disk interfaces
many moons ago, as a young lad starting out at ibm, i was asked to deliver a 3340 disk drive to a very important client. ibm had just performed some service on it, had spent countless hours recovering lost data due to head crashes (excuse me .. "head-disk interfaces" was what the ibm managers told us to call them ... anyhow, it was snowing, icy, cold in ny that day. i get into the data center ("glass house" in those days) and if anyone recalls those old data centers, the raised floor was made of shiny, slippery bakelite tiles. well, you guessed it, in i walk, wearing a new pair of florsheims, and whoooooooooooops i go ass over teakettle as my old man likes to say. needless to say, the 3340 removable disk drive went up in the air, about 10 feet, hit one of the water cooling units for the mainframe system, and crashed to the floor. it remained in tact, but sadly, needed to go back to ibm for "recovery services." someone else returned it to the customer
many moons ago, as a young lad starting out at ibm, i was asked to deliver a 3340 disk drive to a very important client. ibm had just performed some service on it, had spent countless hours recovering lost data due to head crashes (excuse me .. "head-disk interfaces" was what the ibm managers told us to call them ... anyhow, it was snowing, icy, cold in ny that day. i get into the data center ("glass house" in those days) and if anyone recalls those old data centers, the raised floor was made of shiny, slippery bakelite tiles. well, you guessed it, in i walk, wearing a new pair of florsheims, and whoooooooooooops i go ass over teakettle as my old man likes to say. needless to say, the 3340 removable disk drive went up in the air, about 10 feet, hit one of the water cooling units for the mainframe system, and crashed to the floor. it remained in tact, but sadly, needed to go back to ibm for "recovery services." someone else returned it to the customer
In one of the first DC's I worked in, an old DEC RP05 walked off the ramp.
No recovering the platters in that pack
ian
Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
Comments
For the record the microdrive is rated for a 2000G shock of that type.
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
Richard
Ian
You mean 200G....still, that's amazing for a spinny thing. In fact, I think that's 4x greater than the shock specs for a 4gb CF card.
I stand corrected for my "idiocy".
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Believe it or not I mean 2000 G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
200 G is when operating and is perhaps even more astounding when you consider that the 200G is with the heads out on the spinning platter. Course if you can get 200G on it in the camera than the card is the least of your problems, as the camera probably had to get hit with 2,000G to get 200G on the internally mounted CF device.
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Operating shock from impact in camera . 200 G
NON-operating shock from a drop is really 2000 G
Full sine (paint shaker) type shock is a lot less, but your camera will still be the first to go.
These are the published numbers that Hitachi has to live up to, but a million (guessed number) Ipods confirm the reliability
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
I have had 2 1Gb CF chips go south for no discernable reason. Sandisk apparently knew something because they replaced one of them for me. Lexar replaced the other.
CF WILL tolerate humidity and freezing temperatures better than Microdrives.. Hard drives do not take well to condensation so I limit use in the winter time outdoors for short periods.
I have used a 4Gb MD exclusively in my 1DMkll since last spring - I never need to change chips in the field because the MD lasts all day long even at an air show where I was shooting high speed frame rates.
I think both media are pretty good and don't choose what I use on that basis but let size needed and external temperature and humidity decide for me. When the 4GB CF chips are available for less than $100 it will be a no brainer. Until then, I will continue to use my MD and CF almost interchangeably.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Richard
many moons ago, as a young lad starting out at ibm, i was asked to deliver a 3340 disk drive to a very important client. ibm had just performed some service on it, had spent countless hours recovering lost data due to head crashes (excuse me .. "head-disk interfaces" was what the ibm managers told us to call them
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In one of the first DC's I worked in, an old DEC RP05 walked off the ramp.
No recovering the platters in that pack
ian