DR-40 SD included memory cards

R

Ronbert

Member
There might only be one other person in the world using the DR-40 but here goes-

Bought mine just before Christmas last year. Have been using it fairly steadily (recording guitar is an occasional hobby - not my day job) with an 8 Gb memory card I put into it upon initial use. Has been working perfectly (+/- operator ignorance)

It came with 2 unbranded 2 Gb cards.

This past weekend I decided to use the 2 Gb cards to carry my tracks back and forth to my computer.
Rather than carrying the recorder.

I could record onto the 2 Gb cards but on ending the recording (press STOP) would get FILE ERROR -PRESS ENTER about 1 in 4 times. After the FILE ERROR - PRESS ENTER message I'd press ENTER and the unit wouldn't be usable until I power cycled it (and it took a noticeably longer time to shut off). The recording was still there on powerup so this so far is just an annoyance. There were other instances of WRITE FAILED but I'm not as clear on when they happened.

Symptoms occur on battery or adapter power. Formatting the cards (full format) didn't change the behavior. I've double-checked the write protect tab on the cards is not in the lock position. Internal or external mics make no diference. Seems to occur with files larger than 45 seconds (SECONDS).

This did not , and does not, happen with the 8 Gb card.
I'll probably just buy another 8 or 16 Gb card and consider the issue in the past.

I dropped an email to Tascam support last night asking if they had a run of bad cards.
I'll post their response when I get it.

This post might be useful to someone else someday. It's not the unit.
 
Hmm.
Honestly I don't know, but I have had that happen to me before.
The only thing I can think of is I have one 16gb high speed card and a few el-cheapo 1/2gb cards knocking around.
I wasn't aware of high speed cards until I bought this unit and the 16gb one came with it.

Is there any chance it's related to read/write speeds?
Does tascam have any specs on what type of card is required?
 
Steenamaroo said:
Is there any chance it's related to read/write speeds?
Does tascam have any specs on what type of card is required?
Click to expand...

I suspect that's it. My 8Gb card says it's Class 4. The 2 Gb cards have no brand or Class info.
Tascam provides a list of known-tested-good cards.
I haven't studied on it very deeply - a Gb card is practically a consumable now in terms of price.
 
Ronbert said:
I suspect that's it. My 8Gb card says it's Class 4. The 2 Gb cards have no brand or Class info.
Tascam provides a list of known-tested-good cards.
I haven't studied on it very deeply - a Gb card is practically a consumable now in terms of price.
Click to expand...

If Tascam provides a list then I suppose it's a reasonable guess but do keep that in mind - It's a guess.
Maybe someone else can give a definitely answer. I hope so. :)

I know there's some cheap ass portable storage out there and there's a good reason why good USB flash drives are relatively expensive.
I bought a few cheap ones and ended up binning them due to criminally low transfer speeds.

Edit: I'll do a speed bench test between my two cards later and post the results.
 
Ronbert said:
I'd toss you my 2Gb cards if you were near but...... that should be an interesting test.
Click to expand...

The testing software is crashing towards the end of the 16gb card test (it's a really old program), but the results up until that point were pretty different between the two cards.
Whether it's enough to cause your problem or not, I can't say for sure.
 
I did some experiments with the "bad" cards. Changed formats and sample rates. Most formats and sample rates failed in about 5 tries. I thought sample rate might have an effect on speed of storage to the card but now I doubt it.
I received an acknowledgement email from Tascam that they got my complaint but no info yet.
 
That's a good thought, if it is related to access speeds.
Sample rate and bit depth both affect file size a lot!

I'd be keen to hear what you get back from Tascam, if you don't mind sharing. :)
 
Well, I received an answer from TEAC's Auto-Infuriorator.

"If you want us to service your product send it here......"

I replied that I want to know if they know of problems with the cards.
I expect the Auto-Infuriorator to repeat itself.

I think I'm just wasting my time over 2 2Gb cards.
 
Good news! Check your firmware version and update if possible. :)
(Top right "During recording with certain SD cards, a FILE ERROR would occur.")

If this image isn't clear, the pdf is here.

Screen Shot 2015-03-04 at 02.19.18.JPG
 
It was a good thought but my firmware is 1.30. I checked their website and that's the latest.
Plus the recorder shipped with those cards in the box. Should have worked.

I wonder how many units were returned because of bad cards?
 
Ronbert said:
It was a good thought but my firmware is 1.30. I checked their website and that's the latest.
Plus the recorder shipped with those cards in the box. Should have worked.
Click to expand...

From the factory? Oh....I didn't realise. That's no good.
Mine was bought used so I don't know if any of the cards were factory or added afterwards.
 
I bought a Class 4 SanDisk 16 Gb card yesterday, formatted it and tested it. No issues.
The 2GB cards are now in my wife's possession to be used or sold on eBay as she chooses.

again, my posting is a warning to others who might having the same issue.

Tascam DR-40 factory supplied 2Gb cards around December 2014 give FILE ERROR. It's the cards.
 
Ronbert said:
I bought a Class 4 SanDisk 16 Gb card yesterday, formatted it and tested it. No issues.
The 2GB cards are now in my wife's possession to be used or sold on eBay as she chooses.

again, my posting is a warning to others who might having the same issue.

Tascam DR-40 factory supplied 2Gb cards around December 2014 give FILE ERROR. It's the cards.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. :)
Hope this helps others in future.
 
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