Applies to:
ShortCut models SC-180 and SC-182
Warnings and Notices:
CAUTION: Use of this information may cause loss of data or operation of the system. Make sure all data is backed up prior to proceeding.
Symptom:
1. The system no longer boots up and sees the internal hard drive.
2. Clips only play partially or do not play at all even though they show on the system.
3. Clips skip around or play the incorrect clip.
4. The hard drive has been replaced.
Possible Reason(s):
After years of use, the file system may be corrupted or the data structure is not longer valid.
The main internal hard drive was replaced and requires formatting.
Solution(s):
The following utilities in the hidden menu can be used to repair or format the internal hard drive. Use with caution.
Accessing the Hidden Menu
Shortcut firmware ROM versions[1] 2.1, 3.1 and 4.0 and higher have diagnostic routines that check and repair the file structure, check the disk media surface, and do an extended format that performs extra verify cycles. All of these features are accessed through the Special Startup menu by holding the Stop key during power up. In the event an error message is encountered, release Stop and press Exit to bypass it. Note that these features operate only on the Internal hard drive. Before performing the operations described below, be sure that all important data is backed up.
[1] * As this code executes at boot-up, it is not installable via Softcode.
Check File System
Check File System goes through and verifies the integrity of all Directories and Files on the hard drive. Select this item with the Scrub Wheel and press Enter. The Display shows “Repair Any Found Problems? Press ’Y’ or ‘N’ ”. Normally, respond to this by pressing Y. You can press N then repeat the process to repair any errors, but this does not make the initial check significantly faster. The N option is mainly for specialized diagnostics and factory testing.
When the process is complete, the display will report the number of errors corrected or display “No Errors Found”. In some cases when errors are recoverable, files or directories that had been inaccessible will be repaired, or space on the hard drive may be reclaimed.
In SC-180 models, software versions earlier than 4.2 cannot perform a File System Check on drives larger than 3.2 Gb. Upgrade to 4.2 or higher.
Check Media Surface
Check Media Surface reads any data that exists on the drive, stores it, and tests the ability of the disk media to store various test patterns before putting the data back on the drive. It does this on a block by block basis. At the end of the process it will report the number of bad blocks. This operation can normally be performed on a drive without disturbing its contents. However, we recommend that backups of important data always be kept current.
In the event that bad blocks are found, the Low Level Format described in the next section should be performed and then the Check Media Surface routine run again. If the number of bad blocks decreases and is less than ten, the low level format and Check Media Surface operations can be repeated. If the number of bad blocks is not zero, the disk should be replaced.
In cases where intermittent operation is suspected, the Check Media Surface routine can be run repeatedly. If the number of bad blocks varies by more than three over a series of operations, especially if an increase is noted from one pass to the next, it indicates that the problem is not with the media surface, but with the hard drive or main board electronics.
Low Level Format Option
When performing the Format Internal Drive command, when the final confirmationscreen is displayed, press Erase to perform the standard Format or hold Altand Erase to perform the new Low Level Format. This takes considerably longer than the standard format as it is performing multiple write-verify operations. This ensures that sectors with “soft” errors are identified and remapped by the drive’s internal diagnostics.
Link(s):
None