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Topic: Verifying IMB marrying on Barco Communicator

Lars Goldschlager
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Registered: Jan 2015

posted 02-14-2017 02:02 PM

Good evening.

We're helping an independent theater with their DCI equipment problems, the media server is not connecting with the IMB, (Dolby DSS 220 and Cat 745), but cabling has been verified and from logs from the media server we're pretty sure the RTC on the IMB has lost its date and time (ouch). Visually the IMB is showing all the proper "all's ok" lights, but just to verify, I'd like to know if anyone could please tell me the proper way to verify the IMB's marriage to the Barco projector using Barco Communicator (this is a screen less DP2K-12C)

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 02-14-2017 03:37 PM

So what is actually happening is that when you turn the projector on, Dolby Show Manager continues to say "Transport not available - error connecting to cat745?" If you have ruled out the cat6 cable linking the DSS200 and the cat745, then the loss of secure clock data would be a possibility, I guess. What can you see if you go to the system > theatre devices tab in Show Manager? Anything at all for the cat745?

The only Barco Communicator I have here is connected to a projector with an Alchemy in it, so I can't use that to figure out precisely where the IMB marriage settings are, but my guess would be under Installation > Advanced. You'll have to log in as a service technician to enable that button, though.

If the cat745 spends long periods of time powered down, the secure clock battery draining could be a possibility. In any case, if you've ruled everything out besides a cat745 hardware fault, then the cat745 will have to go back to Dolby for repair. From Venezuela, that could be tricky, expensive and/or time-consuming to organize, I guess - sorry!

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-14-2017 04:47 PM

The Barco Communicator will not tell you anything about the CAT745, per-say. If you have a marriage issue, please note it may not be the CAT745 even though the message is IMB physical marriage tamper.

The IMB (anybody's) and the Enigma are the "Security Manager" (SM). It is THEIR duty to report ANY tampers. Even door tampers go through the SM of the system. If you were to pull the SM (IMB in this case) and power up the projector, you'll get a green tail light, even with all of the covers open because nothing is there to report otherwise. The Cinema Controller will be telling the non-existent SM that it has a door tamper but nothing is there listening for it.

So it is important to know what is setting the tamper off and Communicator in the "Diagnostics>Actual" will show what errors there are. The way to re-marry the IMB is with the beloved (not really) Dallas Key. Note, the DSS220 need not be connected at all to clear a marriage tamper (or door tamper).

Just remember, most of the cards in the card cage can set up a marriage tamper (I don't believe the fan controller can but the Cinema Controller and the ICP sure can). All of the door switches can set off a door tamper. Each tamper normally requires a separate pass with the Dallas key to clear. The marriage tamper can take upwards of a minute to clear.

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Kris Verhanneman
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 182
From: Belgium
Registered: Dec 2009

posted 02-14-2017 05:37 PM

Hello Lars,

If there is an mariage issue between the IMB and the projector the taillight of the projector will be red. It will be also red if you need to use the dallas key like mentioned above due to a tamper switch. If the taillight is Green, yellow or blue the mariage should be okay.

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Lars Goldschlager
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Registered: Jan 2015

posted 02-14-2017 06:01 PM

Kris:

The tail light is yellow, so by that standard then the marriage of the projector to the IMB must be ok, only there's one other trouble with the projector, right? (The only log entry in from the projector in Communicator is that the most regular maintenance procedure hasn't been performed/logged, not strange considering this thing was turned off for a long while.).

Leo:

It's most surely the RTC inside the IMB:

quote:

Thu Feb 2 18:12:49 2017: 2017-02-02 18:12:49,704 INFO [-1222224144] sstfst.main - Getting the secure time from the IMB
Thu Feb 2 18:12:49 2017: 2017-02-02 18:12:49,715 ERROR [-1222224144] sstfst.main - IMBConnect failed with error code = 0x4000000a
Thu Feb 2 18:12:49 2017: 2017-02-02 18:12:49,715 ERROR [-1222224144] sstfst.main - getSecureTimeImpl() called after failure with error code = 0x4000000a
Thu Feb 2 18:12:49 2017: 2017-02-02 18:12:49,715 INFO [-1222224144] sstfst.main - Secure time from IMB = 0
Thu Feb 2 18:12:49 2017: 2017-02-02 18:12:49,715 INFO [-1222224144] sstfst.main - The current secure time call failed. Current time is set to zero.

And yes, processing this from .ve might be going to be a real uphill.

Steve:
If I get you right, then, the security manager role is performed both by the projector and the IMB? Or solely by the IMB/ICMP? And in either case, I guess then from what you explain, that ANY tampering on the projector would be reported to the IMB if one is married and the response of the IMB is to stop operations until the warnings are cleared, am I reading this correctly?

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 02-14-2017 06:54 PM

This says to me pretty definitively the battery drained in the cat745 while it was powered down, it lost the secure certificate and clock and that the only fix for this is to swap in another cat745 (if you have one or could borrow one temporarily), and then send yours back to Dolby to have the secure data rewritten and a new battery installed.

As a get out of trouble, if you have an Enigma board and a pair of long enough HD-SDI wires, you could try using the server's built-in cat862 media block while your 745 is away being repaired.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-15-2017 07:52 AM

A yellow tail light almost always means that you have a problem that is not an outright show-stopper but COULD be if not corrected.

Again, using communicator, you can either click on the yellow icon in the lower right corner next to the clock or go to Diagnostics>Actual and see what it is complaining about. A yellow tail light can mean that something is getting too hot, a fan is out of range, a lens file didn't execute right...etc. See what it is before trying to fix it.

As for the time. The time of the IMB is set via the DSS220 (sorry Leo, no CAT862 in this system and relatively few CAT745 systems are upgrades from CAT862 systems). You would do that via: System>Auditorium: Secure Time. If the projector is booted up and the theatre number icon is orange, then you should be able to click on the "enable secure time update" box and attempt to set to the time. If the time is out of range (as it likely is), you will need to seek out the administrative means to reset the secure clock time to be within the 6-minute allowable range.

But what if Leo is correct that you may have lost its certificate? If that is the case, I'd think that the Dolby server would be yelling at you.

Go to the Service>Theatre Devices on the DSS200 and make sure that the CAT745 handle is open so you can see its status. Scroll down and you see its status as "ok" and further down that the battery is not "low" and that the "marriage" is active.

As to the security manager. The IMB, Enigma (and by extension the ICMP since it is an IMB with an ICP) are what does the reporting to the projector of a security issue. This is not to say that the Cinema Controller isn't trying to complain about things like door tampers but the Cinema Controller complains to the SM and the SM is what broadcasts the issue to everyone. I mention it because the status according to Communicator may be that the IMB is saying something but it may not be the IMB that has the issue, it is merely reporting an issue. You have to see what the specific issue is. There is normally a blue dot with a white "i" in the middle that will open a virtual manual to discuss what the error means.

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Lars Goldschlager
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Registered: Jan 2015

posted 02-15-2017 09:57 AM

Steve,

Thanks for the comments on the enigma and IMB/ICMP work cycle, the idea of using an enigma and SDI to the projector is a good suggestion, and I would have to check that we do actually have an enigma, and that the DSS220 has SDI outs (I do know the projector does have SDI).

Regarding the Cat, it is not listed on the DSS, other than the failure to connect error in the logs it's not aknowledged in System (Theater devices) at all, yet the contacts on both end's RJ-45s have been cleaned, several cables have been tested, and both ports (A and B) in both the DSS and the Cat have been tested, plus, for all cabling, the used port in the Cat shows both link (Though I've seen before in networks where a bad cable, sometimes a bad equipment, and sometimes a bad negotiation will establish a link but fail to transfer data), and we see periodical bursts of activity on the port in the Cat.

Also the Cat's IP address responds to pings, but I'm wary of trusting this as the MS->IMB link exists on a separate set of ports and I notice the DSS creates a proxy for all connected devices including the IMB and the sound processor, I'm pretty sure (I should've done this) that if I had checked the arp for the IMB's IP it would've shown me the same mac address for the DSS and I was actually hitting the DSS's proxy.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-15-2017 10:53 AM

It was Leo that was suggesting the CAT862/HDSDI...you do NOT have a CAT862 with a DSS220.

If the DSS220 does not find the CAT745 then something is up. Please note, the DSS220 has to be told the IP of your projector and the DSS220's auditorium network NIC has to be on the same network as the projector and in the same IP range or it will not work.

You should have two Ethernet cables coming out of the DSS220. One from the Auditorium NIC and that could be plugged into a switch that the projector is also plugged into or it could be plugged directly into the projector (Barco brings three ports out). You'd also have to have the IMB NIC plugged into the Ethernet A NIC on the IMB itself. Again, you also have to have the projector and server on the same IP range with the server told what the IP address of the projector is. A stock factory DSS220 using a Dolby IP scheme will presume that the projector is at 192.168.1.133 (and the server's IP is 192.168.1.129). The IMB's network is completely separate and should NOT be plugged into anything other than itself (a single cable without any switches between).

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Lars Goldschlager
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Registered: Jan 2015

posted 02-15-2017 12:28 PM

Correct, the Cat is connected directly to the DSS dedicated media block port (port A on both), the DSS correctly sees the Projector and the Audio Processor (a 650) which are all on the same network space, even the theater interface works well if connected (the nonexistant NTP server is configured on the network space of the theater interface rather than the auditorium/screen one). When I say the IMB ip responds to ping I'm pretty sure it's the proxy on the DSS responding, as I'm sure the interfaces are not bridged inside the media server, (it wouldn't make sense) neither packet forwarding (the DSS would have to proxy arp for the IMB in that case anyhow.)

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 02-15-2017 02:33 PM

Sorry - didn't notice in skim reading haste that he has a 220, not a 200.

quote: Steve Guttag
Please note, the DSS220 has to be told the IP of your projector and the DSS220's auditorium network NIC has to be on the same network as the projector and in the same IP range or it will not work.

If none of these settings were touched/changed since the IMB last worked, then surely this can't be the problem?

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