Hello, So Engine Prime nearly every time i plug my External Lacie Hard Drive it comes up with the message Database Corrupt re build your drive I then have to rebuild my prime library EVERYTIME!
I am now using serato because Prime is simply not good enough! I choose my prime 4 thinking it would be better than the Pioneer XDJ XZ but because of engine prime it isnt.
My hard drive is formatted correctly to exFAT (i have also tried formatting to Fat32). I have taken both my hard drive and laptop to a computer repair shop to see if there is anything wrong with them there isnt. I brought a new hard drive to see if that would work and no.
And i also make sure i ALWAYS eject my drives before taking them out of the prime 4 or my laptop.
Has anyone else had similar problems? And can anyone at Denon advise me on what to do? As this has happened more times then i can count and i have only had my Prime 4 for 2 Months
In my comment in this thread I’ve explained how you can backup and restore an Engine Prime collection database
On the support TeamViewer sessions I had, I’ve seen a lot of Prime 4 users swtich between “Computer mode” and “Stand alone mode” without
Quiting Engine Prime (and for Windows users: Quit is Alt+F4, or choosing “quit” from the file menu, not closing a window)
Unmounting (ejecting) the Prime 4 internal drive from their computer.
Both of these steps needs to been performed in that order before you switch the Prime 4 to Stand alone (or before you power it off). Failing will lead to database corruption.
I have one PC that has SSD with the system and a HDD for file storage.
I have recently installed Engine prime on it and give it a 40000 track library to analyse.
Testing so far, no corruption/major errors. At leasat nothing related to data base.
But you don’t actually eject the HDD in this PC right? From previous posts, I think database corruption happens with removable HDD (and this includes using a mechanical HDD in the Prime 4 bay)
this is exactly when corruption occurs. While ejecting in Engine Prime seems to be a safe way, in reality other processes (file sharing, spotlight indexing, Rekordbox locking the drive in case of FAT formatted) can prevent a drive from being ejected/unmounted.
Therefor:
Quit engine Prime, this is where the database writing happens and while EP is active it can result in corrupt databases if the drive is simply removed midst writing. EP’s quit procedure is intelligent and won’t allow you to simply quit if it’s still active but give you choices how to proceed: suggestion select “Quit when finished” from the pull down menu and don’t click “yes”.
then unmount/eject the drive (even if ejecting fails here, there is nothing writing to the databases anymore, so less change of that specific corruption, however general drive corruption may occur if removed while not properly ejected)
Hello. Thank you really handy to have a back up i would just like to find out why it is doing it in the first place. I imagine its because its a 1TB HDD. I am looking into it. Thank you!
the 1TB HDD is not likely the cause. For over 2 years my Prime performance drives used to be 2TB ExFAT formatted HDD, just last year replaced by 2Tb SSD’s. In the over 3 years I use Prime and with a prime collection grown from 92K to over 112K of tracks, I’ve yet to experience a database corruption, besides the ones I initiated on purpose to demonstrate how to restore a back’d up database.
I have been reading a lot about HDD and Software like this. On Paper it should work! But i think some how i am just losing power to the HDD either from engine prime or my computer. Once this lockdown is over i will get them both tested. In the mean time i am going to switch over to USB Sticks and Possible a TB SSD to be installed in the Prime 4 unit.
If Denon can maybe confirm this could be an issue? Maybe with Engine? If not i will go and re check all my USB ports on my laptop as if i am losing power all of a sudden to my HDD then it would most likely corrupt. It just doesn’t ever do this on RekordBox that is why its so annoying.
mmm you got a point there. Power loss (due to mall functioning USB ports) could most certainly result in database corruption.
I’m using SC5000’s. To connect drives I only use the lower back USB port. The USB3 ports on my computer are powerful enough to power anything I throw at it. You could think about throwing a powered usb hub in the chain to avoid usb power issues.
But if you say that at times your drives power down due to lack of power from USB, that most likely is your issue.
Yet again. if Engine Prime is not active, then the database should not be affected, tho a general drive corruption may occur.
If it’s windows perhaps you may find this helpful. It’s not for Engine but it’s worth a shot.
Mac
I use a 4TB Samsung evo SSD in an eBay generic type c enclosure with my MacBook and 5000s , no database corruption yet. I’m extra careful with this unit.
My other prime drive is a 500gb Sandisk Portable SSD, no corruption yet as well. This one gets manhandled and abused regularly eg not ejecting etc
So you will get more stability with SSD (on paper)
I have just vented a similar frustration in the hope of getting some workable solutions. I realise that there are issues with not ejecting the drive properly and have been very mindful of that…but still it happens. No other system has an issue with the drive and it just makes the system unreliable and therefore unusable in a commercial environment as I don’t have time or patience to constantly rebuild the database every time.
Denon should address this issue as a priority as it is seriously detracting from great hardware.
I feel your pain and if I find a workable solution will let you know.
Another whole topic on engine prime database corruption. Maybe a mod should start the long process of merging all the different topics about corrupt databases into one so any common acts can be established.
The feeling that I’m left with, after reading other people’s posts about corruption of the database is that the engine prime database is modelled virtually on the wooden block tower game of Jenga. Every turn could bring the whole damn lot crashing down around you, with a few bits ending up under the TV cabinet.
Joking aside, I will be going ballistic and probably dumped the whole prime movement if I was experiencing this issue but I haven’t since 2017 (touch wood)
Maybe I had once, when testing the gear in the shop. Preownership. I created a engine drive on a 500gb HDD (portable) and took that to the shop.
I plugged in to the demo units and when I tried to network them I got the error. I didn’t fret though as I thought perhaps it’s an old firmware on the shops unit or even mismatched firmware between the two units.
I think the most common denominator in corrupt database posts is
So far I see this only commonly on the Prime 4, never had issues with SC5000/5000M units.
Also with multiple usb sticks and usb hard drives - nothin bad happened yet
it corrupted my database on my C drive which was ssd and my external 2.5 inch drive as well. One after The other. I honestly dont know what to do, I’ve had the unit 3 days and have spent more time in the forums looking for support than actually using my prime 4 for what it was purchased for, Mixing tunes! (which i"ve yet to successfully do by the way)
