How to induce write errors

[jaapv]

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I managed this weekend to get the "blinking light LCD black"error.

What happened was that I used a not very full battery in the cold that started to die on me suddenly.

Plus I had, using gloves, set the dial between S and C by mistake.

That resulted in confusing the camera into the following behavior: Continuously blinking red LED, no shuttertime etc in the VF, LCD blackout. It had to reinsert the new battery two times to revive the camera, first it came on with "Bottom cover removed"(whilst the cover was fitted) and then a renewed blink and blackout, then, at the second reinsertion it came back to life and was functioning normally. I feel that this combination of factors threw the firmware into a loop. I reloaded it at home, just to make sure. And it was not a real write error - amazingly I found the image on the card.

Edited December 13, 2010 by jaapv

[christakis]

I managed this weekend to get the "blinking light LCD black"error.

What happened was that I used a not very full battery in the cold that started to die on me suddenly.

Plus I had, using gloves, set the dial between S and C by mistake.

That resulted in confusing the camera into the following behavior: Continuously blinking red LED, no shuttertime etc in the VF, LCD blackout. It had to reinsert the new battery two times to revive the camera, first it came on with "Bottom cover removed"(whilst the cover was fitted) and then a renewed blink and blackout, then, at the second reinsertion it came back to life and was functioning normally. I feel that this combination of factors threw the firmware into a loop. I reloaded it at home, just to make sure. And it was not a real write error - amazingly I found the image on the card.

 

Happened to me with the M8. Ended up taking the battery out for 30 sec turning the switch to off then putting the battery back, turning on. Then repeated same process once more. First time it said bottom cover removed, which was lies and caused me to panic even further. Second time everything went back to normal and like you, the image was actually on the sd card.

 

What amazed me with what you said before is that you manage to use the camera with gloves :-) I bought some fingerless mittens which work great for me but gloves no, can't do it....

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[BillCB]

Happened to me with the M8. Ended up taking the battery out for 30 sec turning the switch to off then putting the battery back, turning on. Then repeated same process once more. First time it said bottom cover removed, which was lies and caused me to panic even further. Second time everything went back to normal and like you, the image was actually on the sd card.

 

What amazed me with what you said before is that you manage to use the camera with gloves :-) I bought some fingerless mittens which work great for me but gloves no, can't do it....

 

Interesting - the M9 seems to have a long memory. When I get the signal "Battery low, turn off camera", I of course swap the battery. When I turn the camera back on, I get the same message!

 

Turning the camera off and on again cures the problem. I guess it has a long memory for the previous battery!

 

Bill

[hoppyman]

From the internal battery that preserves information (like settings) when the camera is powered off, presumably. Then the system is being rebooted by power off/on cycles

[menos I M6]

I managed this weekend to get the "blinking light LCD black"error.

What happened was that I used a not very full battery in the cold that started to die on me suddenly.

Plus I had, using gloves, set the dial between S and C by mistake.

That resulted in confusing the camera into the following behavior: Continuously blinking red LED, no shuttertime etc in the VF, LCD blackout. It had to reinsert the new battery two times to revive the camera, first it came on with "Bottom cover removed"(whilst the cover was fitted) and then a renewed blink and blackout, then, at the second reinsertion it came back to life and was functioning normally. I feel that this combination of factors threw the firmware into a loop. I reloaded it at home, just to make sure. And it was not a real write error - amazingly I found the image on the card.

 

Thanks Jaap for sharing this experience this detailed, so others, who run into this weirdness might know, what is going on.

 

… wasn't it you, who couldn't follow my complaint about the faulty designed on/off switch/mode dial thing, Leica uses since the M8

 

The in between or just wrong position adjustment of that thing happened a few times too often (back then sometimes in locking the camera), so I figured early on, it is better, to use some duct tape on the multi thousand EUR camera, to limit it's functionality for a better and more secure operation (Leica engineer listening ?).

 

I have only one concern though, recently having visited the Leica shop in the IFC mall in Hong Kong:

Leica clearly markets it's brand firmly into the luxury/ jewelry niche (just watch the surrounding brands and shops), and I seriously doubt, that not many customers of this niche will run into troubles about a mode dial not being adequate for abusive use.

[jaapv]

I bought some thinner gloves. Prefer that to sticking tape to my camera

About the Hong Kong thing, I think this sounds like a good move from Leica This is an exploding economy with millions upon millions of nouveau riche customers, looking for anything expensive from the old world. A customer base where functionality comes second by a long margin and image comes first, be it BMW cars, Rolex watches or Leica cameras. Leica would be unwise to neglect that source of income.

Edited December 14, 2010 by jaapv