AARRGGH! This is doing my absolute nut in ["HDD Full!" error messages]

[Super 8]

Hi! You may (or may not!) have noticed my absence from my lack of activity on here of late. Reason being: I haven't been able to do any music for some time now which is extremely annoying as I was/am in the middle of an album project. THe crux of my issues? I'm having some real technical problems with my BR1600 - it's been really playing up of late! It's a Version 2 80GB capacity model (so one of the later ones made before they were discontinued) but the capacity I'm getting is nowhere near 80GB (or even 40GB, read on ...)

Here's my problem(s):

Starting with a fresh slate ie: a clean, freshly initialised HD that's showing an available REM time of approximately 130 hrs, I start recording to SONG 001 (NB: the only song project on the drive!) and within about 30 minutes of 'real time' recording I've laid down 8 mono tracks and two stereo tracks then "BOOM!"' I get a "HDD Full!" error message! How can it possibly be full? There's only one song project on the drive to which I've only recorded 10 tracks to it? Obviously there's something wrong here (not great for the creative flow!)

After having backed up said SONG 001 I then run another (!) hard drive initialisation and import (recover) said song project back onto freshly wiped drive = no joy! "HDD Full!" message again. Then I try recording to the other partion of this 80GB drive (I'm pretty sure the BR1600 OS can't see the full 80GBs and automatically partions 80GB HDs in two). Still no joy - switching to the other partion hasn't worked either! SO ..... I think to myself: "It MUST be a duffer HD!" I start scouring the web but I can't find a replacement 80GB drive so I end up ordering a (said to be) compatible 40GB one. It (eventually!) turns up in the post and I quickly install it (remember, I'm trying to record an album here so all this is REALLY bad timing!) I then run an initialisation just so as I'm starting with a clean slate again.

With said new (to me!) 40GB HD now installed I recover my SONG 001 project to this newly installed drive and, guess what??? EXACTLY THE SAME ISSUE I WAS HAVING WITH THE 80GB DRIVE (now TWO weeks down the line!) Exasperated this hasn't seemed to work I then think to myself: "OK, it could be some sort of corrupted file in SONG 001 that I've been loading back in perhaps?" So I wipe the drive again and set about recording some new information. This time I'm just nine tracks in and ... "HDD Full!" = "AARRGGGHHH!"

From my conclusive tests I'm now beginning to think this could be something more than a hard drive issue ie: there's actually something wrong with my machine itself?? The thing is, it appears to be all working perfectly fine on every other functional level! I'm pretty much all out of ideas as to where to go next with this to be honest! The way I see it I have three (possibly four!) options left to me:

1. Cut my losses, sell this machine on for spares and look to get another unit. (Thing is, I'm REALLY familiar with the BR1600 and I don't think I have the time nor the patience to start learning another system!)

2. Source another HD to try (but having extensively tried two drives already now, surely I can't have got TWO duffers?)   

3. Look into getting some kind of SD card system hooked up to this unit?? (NB: I know very little about this - I don't even know whether it would even be possible as, as much as I love the BR1600 (when it's working properly!), I'm aware this type of long discontinued recording technology is now old and, sadly, out-dated now .... like myself!)

4. I'm aware there's ONE last thing I haven't tried on the initialisation front and that is 'SURFACE SCAN'. To date I've been reformatting these drives in 'NORMAL SCAN' mode.

Any ideas where I might go next with this folks? I'm not the world's most technical guy (but I can write a decent song or two!) I just wanna get this sorted so I can get back to making music and continuing with my album project. This whole situation this end is terrible timing (not to mention REALLY frustrating!). ANy thoughts/advice/HELP greatly appreciated!     

[bruno]

Does the same thing happen if you re-import a different song - or record a new track onto the blank unit?
I'm wondering if you have a corrupt file/song - not sure why it should behave in that way. However if you try it with a different backup'd tune, and it behaves okay - then it would suggest that its the backup at fault (possibly)
B

[Super 8]

Thanks for the input Bruno. I've tried SO many things now I've lost count. Pretty sure I've tried recovering different song back-ups (good suggestion by the way!) but I'll go try again as I REALLY need to get to the bottom of this. I have an entire w/e free to myself to record but I'm stuck in a technical quagmire this end!

Just thinking on re: back-ups. The last initialisation I performed, I didn't import anything back onto the machine. After defragging it (HD 'clean slate' or it should be!) I just started recording to the song project that is automatically generated when you perform a HD initialisation (ie: Track 1 flashing red and 'Loops'; 'Bass' and 'Drums' engaged for tracks 11/12; 13/14 and 15/16). I got as far as laying down 8 mono parts (ie: Tracks 1-8) then when I went to lay down a stereo keyboard part on Tracks 11/12 (after first switching it to an 'AUDIO' track) I got a few bars in and, yep .... that "HDD Full!" message (AGAIN!) It makes absolutely no sense! As I'm recording I can actually see the REM time counter (bottom left hand corner of display) counting down in a ridiculous manner! Just recording the nine tracks above I went from an REM of something like '132 hrs 20 mins' available space to absolutely 'ZERO' in the space of one short 20 minute (real time!) test recording session! Like I say, this is an 80GB capacity machine as well! I really wish I'd kept hold of my 40GB machine now. (I sold it to buy this newer model with more capacity! Thing is, I never even got anywhere near full capacity on my old (40GB) deck and, at one point, it must have had at least 30 song projects stored on it!) I don't understand this! Other than the rapidly decreasing hard drive space issue the machine is working absolutely flawlessly in every other respect. (Oh, and I forgot to mention! Yesterday I took the original, factory-fitted 80GB HD that came in the machine to my local computer store where they ran a diagnostics check on it. For a mere £25 I discovered that ... it's fully functional! The Tech Guy mentioned that there were no clusters (=BAD apparently!) and that, having tested it extensively, he couldn't fault the drive! I'm literally pulling my hair out this end ... so desperately want/need to just get recording again "AARRGGGHH!!!"     

[Speed Demon]

Try this solution. Install a two terabyte drive. They are fairly cheap and your limited space problem should go away.

I have three terabytes of drive space in my computer. Never had a low space warning.

[bruno]

Try this solution. Install a two terabyte drive. They are fairly cheap and your limited space problem should go away.

I have three terabytes of drive space in my computer. Never had a low space warning.

The BR1600 works in 40G partitions - you will end up with a mountain of 40G partitions - which in theory should work :-)

[bruno]

Thanks for the input Bruno. I've tried SO many things now I've lost count. Pretty sure I've tried recovering different song back-ups (good suggestion by the way!) but I'll go try again as I REALLY need to get to the bottom of this. I have an entire w/e free to myself to record but I'm stuck in a technical quagmire this end!

Just thinking on re: back-ups. The last initialisation I performed, I didn't import anything back onto the machine. After defragging it (HD 'clean slate' or it should be!) I just started recording to the song project that is automatically generated when you perform a HD initialisation (ie: Track 1 flashing red and 'Loops'; 'Bass' and 'Drums' engaged for tracks 11/12; 13/14 and 15/16). I got as far as laying down 8 mono parts (ie: Tracks 1-8) then when I went to lay down a stereo keyboard part on Tracks 11/12 (after first switching it to an 'AUDIO' track) I got a few bars in and, yep .... that "HDD Full!" message (AGAIN!) It makes absolutely no sense! As I'm recording I can actually see the REM time counter (bottom left hand corner of display) counting down in a ridiculous manner! Just recording the nine tracks above I went from an REM of something like '132 hrs 20 mins' available space to absolutely 'ZERO' in the space of one short 20 minute (real time!) test recording session! Like I say, this is an 80GB capacity machine as well! I really wish I'd kept hold of my 40GB machine now. (I sold it to buy this newer model with more capacity! Thing is, I never even got anywhere near full capacity on my old (40GB) deck and, at one point, it must have had at least 30 song projects stored on it!) I don't understand this! Other than the rapidly decreasing hard drive space issue the machine is working absolutely flawlessly in every other respect. (Oh, and I forgot to mention! Yesterday I took the original, factory-fitted 80GB HD that came in the machine to my local computer store where they ran a diagnostics check on it. For a mere £25 I discovered that ... it's fully functional! The Tech Guy mentioned that there were no clusters (=BAD apparently!) and that, having tested it extensively, he couldn't fault the drive! I'm literally pulling my hair out this end ... so desperately want/need to just get recording again "AARRGGGHH!!!"     

So with any debugging, get a cup of tea, and take a deep breath .....

So, I'd go back to first principles.
Wipe the machine.
Record a track, anything ....
Back it up...
wipe the machine
restore

If that doesn't work, then you have a problem with the machine.

If that works, then see if you can import a single track of what you've back'd up (which you should be able to do). If that works , then add some more tracks until you hit a brick wall.....

worth a try

B

[Speed Demon]

Sorry, I thought you were having problems with a PC. My suggestion is no help to you.

[Super 8]

Sorry, I thought you were having problems with a PC. My suggestion is no help to you.

NO, BUT THANKS FOR TRYING DUDE!

[64Guitars]

How many song projects are currently on the BR-1600? Judging from what you've said so far, I assume there's only one song project since you haven't been able to get any further.

Follow the procedure on page 67 of the Owner's Manual - "Displaying song details (Song Information)". You should see a screen like this:



What size does it report for the song?


Follow the procedure on page 269 of the Owner's Manual - "Viewing information about the hard disk (Hard Disk Information)". You should see a screen something like this:



How many partitions does it report and what are their sizes? Note that if there are more than 4 partitions, you'll have to scroll the list to see all of them.