xxxiii
USING THE COMPACT FLASH
The Compact flash uses CF cards that are formatted using the Windows FAT16 file system.
Cards formatted using FAT32 will not work. You will get the error message “format error” if you
try to use the wrong type. When reformatting a card with your PC select “FAT” rather than
“FAT32” for the file system. This will format the card with FAT16. Card sizes up to 2G are
supported.
Not all manufacturers’ CF cards have been tested on the SD3. We recommend using San Disk
cards. They have been tested and work well. You don’t need a very large capacity card, the
SD3 files are not large. Long filenames (longer than 8 characters) and folders are not supported
on the card’s directory. All files must reside in the root directory to be accessible.
Since the cards are formatted using the Windows FAT16 file system they are also compatible
with your PC allowing you to make copies and download software updates and fixture profiles
from the Elation website.
All of the compact flash functions are run from the SD3 menu.
MEMORY BACKUP
Go to the menu function “Save memory file to CF”, the message “Press enter to save file to
disk” will appear on the top line of the display when you press “enter”. The default file name
will appear on the bottom line. You can use the data wheel or an external keyboard to enter a
new file name. Insert a CF card in the slot and press, “enter”. The message “File has been saved
to disk” will appear when finished. The entire contents of the Show Designer 3 memory are
backed up including all menu settings, fixture profiles, scenes, presets, chases and shows. The
disk file is a binary file and will have the DOS file extension .sdm and is compatible with
Windows as long as you adhere to Window’s file naming rules. The file name can use up to 8
characters. Show Designer 3 does not support long filenames (names with more than 8
characters).
NOTE: This file type is different than the text file type used to back up the memory using the
COM port as described in the next chapter. The two file types are not interchangeable even
though they are both used for the same purpose. You can’t take a memory file that you made
with a COM port backup and load it in using the CF. You must use the COM port to reload that
file.
MEMORY RESTORE
Insert the CF card with your memory backup file in the slot. Go to the menu “Load memory file
from CF” and press “enter”. The message “Select memory file, then press enter” will appear on
the top line of the display. The name of the first Show Designer 3 memory file on the CF card
will appear on the bottom line of the display. Use the + or - switch or data wheel 1 to select
the desired file if there is more than one memory file on the card. Press, “enter” to load the file.
You will get a warning that this will replace the entire memory. If you press “yes” to continue,
the entire memory will be overwritten. The Show Designer 3 will reboot after the file has
been successfully loaded.
FIRMWARE UPDATE
To update the firmware inside the SD3, download the latest version from elationlighting.com.
Copy the new firmware file to a CF card and then insert the CF card into the SD3. The file must
have the name SD3Vnnn.txt (nnn is the version number, for example SD3V115.txt). Go to the