Thursday, August 21, 2014

The Lost Images

From a recent night ride
The replacement camera had a problem. My computer wouldn't recognize it when I plugged it into the USB port. It was as if I hadn't plugged anything in at all, which is weird since the computer recognizes everything else that I have that I plug into the USB ports on the CPU.

Well, having spent a sizable sum, (for me), on this new camera, to say that I was alarmed was a gross understatement. I tried everything, from contacting Olympus support to reaching out to friends via social media. Nothing I could research or find was helping at all.

I had a revelation on one point though the other day. My old, ancient card reader was recognized by the computer, but I couldn't communicate with it to download anything. Then I realized- new card technology + old card reader = kaput. New card reader time!

Well, after I got that here, plugged in the SD card, and plugged into the computer? BAM! Instantly worked as if nothing was wrong. Downloaded images, and all is good. Now.....what the heck is going on with the camera when I plug it in? I think it has a bad cable or a bad USB port. Since I cannot get another cable for it without dinking around on the net to find one, I think I will just live with using the card reader for the time being.

Humid August gravel riding.
Petrie Road's B Maintenance Level section.
So, it would appear that I have at least a workable solution to the camera downloading situation for the short term, at least. Now I will have to spend some time getting to know this beast and working up some more good imagery. Stay tuned......

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Is the USB port on the camera powered by your computer, or the camera itself? I have a couple of different USB transfer devices that must be powered on for them to be recognized.

Guitar Ted said...

@Warren Kurtz: I did not see in the manual where there were any specific instructions for turning on the USB or what have you. Only a bit about configuring it, (Mass Storage, MTP, Auto), and I did try all those settings. Interestingly, the camera will recharge through the USB cable, but it will not communicate with the computer. (Or any other computer I've plugged it into)

Unknown said...

Did you try turning the camera on while plugged into the USB port?

Guitar Ted said...

@George Williamson: Multiple times. Didn't work.

Tyler Loewens said...

Sometimes the cable itself is the problem. I have an old USB cable that will charge the camera just fine, but not transfer images over. Got a new cable and presto/changeo it all works.

shiggy person said...

GT you can get cheap cables via Amazon or eBay. I lost mine on a trip and payed ~$8 shipped vs $20something for the branded cable.

IIRC my Oly required choosing a connection mode on the camera screen before it would show up on the computer.