:ph34r:  Well, after just 9 months I killed my first TR – or perhaps it was an environmental disaster – as the death nail was trying to upload images from my Canon D300 to the TR1 hard drive whilst also using the laptop as a lap-warmer on Mt. Everest.  See, I was at base camp last week with the Himalayan Enfielders of Nepal on the last leg of a 15-day motorbike ride thru Tibet when disaster struck. The laptop had been safely stored in the land cruiser (albeit this Toyota had no realizable shock absorbers) and was also nestled in a heavy-duty laptop backpack made by Targus (TSB-312).  This protection scheme worked all the way from Kathmandu to Lhasa and beyond, where I would nightly upload all the pics from the camera to make room on my flash cards (by the time I reached Everest I had over 600 publishable pics). So, it was day 13 of the trip and then I get ERROR READING DRIV then NO OPERATING SYSTEM FOUND.  Unlike Groovy-one I would not consider tearing the TR1 apart at Everest Base Camp, -5c with wind-chill, no tools but a leather man, etc so I waited till I got back home in the K-doo to dissect the beast to see it was just a loose connection.  No, it was not.  The little hard drive rattles on the inside (but it sure was fun taking it apart groovy-one!).

So what I did was to go to my local Sony shop here in KTM – Digitek of Durbar Marg – and lo and behold they had a Tr3 for sale – I was amazed and in a fit of happiness I just bought it, regardless of it’s high price 170,000 NRS.  All it took was a backup up copy from Backup MyPC and about 3 days to reconstruct my old system and all is as good as it was before I left on the trip EXCEPT for the loss of the 600+ pics of Tibet. 

Now I have a TR1 with a dead harddrive that I would like reconstructed – the pics are worth money to me as I get 5 rupees a word for travel articles and this article is a great one – would hate to use stock photos of Tibet! Also, the dead thang is covered under compusa warranty where the spacky teenager salesperson named Nick told me I could run it over with a truck and they would give me a replacement (anyone want to buy a new TR1 next month?)

So your comments are welcome in regards to getting my pics back from a dead drive (can it be done here by nepali techs? – they are good but no clean room in this country!  I bet ya just do something “simple” like take the platter out of the bad drive and put it in a good drive – without screwing up the drive in the process – eh?

Also, any info on the Tr3 PCG-4a1p would be appreciated – I guess it’s the same as the TR1a except bigger hard drive and faster processor.

RECOMMNEDATION
The next time u go to everst don’t take ur TR, get this gizmo instead which I bought AFTER the fact:
Prestigo Externo 40GB portable drive, USB2, w/card slots for auto copy without computer, case, etc.  This GREAT product is made in Singapore and not sure if on the western markets yet – see http://www.prestigio.com.sg/Product.asp?category=7&ID=41 for more info on this must for photographers on the (rough) road – although this device will NOT keep u warm in ur tent at base camp.

Yours in the Adventure,
Jiggy
http://www.extreme-nepal.com

reckon you’ll have to send the drive away. I have had some adventuresd with hard drive recovery but it’s usually best to leave it to the experts. These guys can get stuff back from just about any disaster. The uS is the best place i’ve found as they are kinda leading the world in disaster recovery for computers.

well, i have to go stateside next month, and i even got a recommendation from Yuni @ icube about a place in Irvine, but we are talking hundreds maybe thousands of USD.  there’s gotta be a cheaper way. the problem with the drive seems to be 1 - no power, it makes no noise and does not even get warm.  bios sees nothing.  the actual drive has a shaky part in it (i guess i should not be shaking it, but who could resist?) maybe the head just broke off?  i dont havbe a clue but 20 years ago i worked in a hard drive factory and know what they look like inside - albiet i was just a clerk at IBM.

did you turn your TR on for almost 24/7?

uh, what do u mean?  on or off? both cases are always true. i even had the problem with the TR1 that for some reason, if left in hibernation, it would automatically reboot at 6am and stay on till i noticed it or untill the bat died, but that is another (and now dead) issue.
jiggles

uh, what do u mean?  on or off? both cases are always true. i even had the problem with the TR1 that for some reason, if left in hibernation, it would automatically reboot at 6am and stay on till i noticed it or untill the bat died, but that is another (and now dead) issue.
jiggles

oh what about the warranty? will my accidential damage warranty cover something like this if it happens to my tR?

uh, what do u mean?  on or off? both cases are always true. i even had the problem with the TR1 that for some reason, if left in hibernation, it would automatically reboot at 6am and stay on till i noticed it or untill the bat died, but that is another (and now dead) issue.
jiggles

oh what about the warranty? will my accidential damage warranty cover something like this if it happens to my tR?

what are u talking about fly?  :shock:  the extended warrenty i have by compuse is this: 3 years, covers accidental truck tires running over the top of the cover and everything else inbetween.  so they say.  have not tried it yet - but it was an international warrenty that costs over 300 USD.  i plan to test this theory next month, i’ll get back to u here… :D
jig

if your warranty holds true, i wonder if you’ll be getting a tr1a or a tr3a, since they’re discontinued at compusa.  that’d be great to get a tr3, then you could sell it and it would lessen the blow from the heavy price tag you found in tibet.

Can’t help you man, but I can express my condolences as well as offer a token quote of good luck…

~nox

cool news, and i think i had the spacky kid SPEAK INTO THE IPOD when he said, “It’s even covered if u run it over with a truck.”  Maybe I’ll do that before I bring it in, then they won’t notice the scratch marks on all the screw heads and my ineptness at saving all the little bits when checking out the hard drive.

:drool: jig

Man - unlucky! I had my Tr1 around africa for 3 months and it survived (including climbing Kili - technically a higher climb as measured from the center of the earths core…)

All I can say is get a pro to look at it - there are plenty of good places to send it; I have used OnTrack http://www.ontrack.com/ before and they sorted out a drive for me. I think it cost me about 500 GBP.

If there is no power then that it s a good thing as it sounds like the rattle *could* be the heads floating around which is not good news…...

Hope it all sorts itself out

BTW - what do you think to the 300d? I have mine with a couple of L lenes and was very suprised at the top of killi; the only other camera that worked on the summit (-12) was mine and an old AE-1. all the others had real issues with the cold and their batteries.

[quote author=“TobyAnscombe”]
BTW - what do you think to the 300d? I have mine with a couple of L lenes and was very suprised at the top of killi; the only other camera that worked on the summit (-12) was mine and an old AE-1. all the others had real issues with the cold and their batteries.

thanks for the support! i dragged that tr1 everwhere without a problem till the everest thing, the only thing i can think of is that over 5,600 meters it may not work - like cameras - the d300 is a most amazing camera i have ever owned, and i have had lots, it’s basically a canon rebel (not bad) and can take all my eos lenses saved from the old film camera rusting away in the closet. if i had known it was such a great camera, i would have gotten the big brother the d10 (?) which is a replica of my old film camera. anyway, it worked flawlessly on everest, but then again so did my friends canon s400 ixus thingee. batteries are not an issue on the d300 - they seem to last forever - but i have 3.

see ya!
jiggy

Give ontracks quote service a try - esp. if you are heading back to US at some point. Think that its worth the money…...but only you can decide.

I have a LeClie 40gb external that i was ghosting images of my data drive to while I was away and that saved me as i “left” my tr1 in Zimbabwie for a couple of weeks by accident. I was soo shocked to get it nback when i went back but not as shocked as the bunch of god squad who were holding a meeting in the hotel…..