Ever had your IM5 system not functional with a new memory stick?

General Discussions
#1

The other day I drove 1.5 hrs to my appointment in Boston, only to have the system not fire up. After a bit of examination, I found I left my thumb drive home for the 1st time in years of use. The one I use is very slim and metallic so there is no plastic encasement of any kind.

I ran all over the area and purchased thumb drives at Best Buy and Target, but neither of them worked. They went in OK but no connection apparently. That I couldn’t be sure of so I spoke with tech support twice with no definitive conclusion. After leaving the job with apologies and a lost day of work I went back to troubleshoot the system and realized that although it seemed to fit well into the USB slot, there indeed was no connection.

So after an expensive learning lesson and discovering the IM5 had a design flaw on the connection, I ordered a short USB Male-Female cable. I installed this and now could connect any USB thumb drive you can put your hands on.

So hopefully my lesson and loss will be a fix for others with concerns for special USB thumb drives to work in the system. It is not the electronic data issue, but rather the mechanical connection.

#2

You can buy five of the USB’s that Planitar uses for under $40. Here’s a link on Amazon.ca
SanDisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0 130MB/S (SDCZ73-016G-G46) pack of 5
by ABCTech
Learn more: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06X6HXGN6/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_GGD516E3SWA1902TSZ97

I cut a slot in the foam of the camera case with an exacto knife and stick them all in there. Best investment ever.

#3

All that driving for nothing would be disappointing. I’ve always been paranoid about that when I’ve done out of town shoots. (My farthest iGuide shoot was over 10 hours of driving to a remote area one province over.)

But I wouldn’t call the issue a “design flaw” because a USB drive’s case or enclosure physically prevents contact. I’ve had several laptops over the years with USB ports close together which prevented non-slim USB drives from being plugged in together. Some things pair well and some don’t.

Tom’s suggestion of having backup flash drives with you is the way to go. I have a couple of spares with me at all times, because 1) they can and will eventually fail, 2) during busy season they can fill up without me noticing, and 3) when you forgot the drive at home you don’t have to panic.