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Author Topic: Doremi IMB connection issue
Kirk Futrell
Film Handler

Posts: 95
From: Nashville, TN / U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2008


 - posted 03-27-2018 04:21 PM      Profile for Kirk Futrell   Author's Homepage   Email Kirk Futrell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Recently we have had an issue where when we boot up our projection system as normal the server has a security manager error and cannot see content or even macros we have made. Re-booting either or both the projector and server did not correct. The only way I was able to correct the problem was to shut down both and remove and reseat the IMB. The problem seemed to occur every other day last week for a total of 3 times before I started leaving the server on all the time.

We are using a Barco 4K-23B with IMB and a Doremi ShowVault. We have the exact same setup in another auditorium with all the same firmware versions and no issues.

Our startup procedure is to start the projector and let it boot for about 30 seconds and then start the Doremi booting up.

I checked the Doremi's IMB battery and the voltage was at around 2.8 to 2.9. I went ahead and replaced the battery just to be safe, not sure if this will have any effect.

Anyone have any ideas what may be causing this to keep occuring?

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

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


 - posted 03-27-2018 04:42 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It's not the battery: if the battery had died and the secure certificate had been lost, no amount of rebooting or reseating would have persuaded it to work again, until it had been sent back to Dolby for reprogramming.

When you saw the SM error reported by the ShowVault, was there a logical or physical tamper alarm on the projector (red tail light) as well? If so, my guess is that the problem is in the projector. A loose tamper switch and heat cycling breaking something on the backplane are both possibilities, with the removal and reseating temporarily restoring the connection.

If there is no red tail light on the projector (the projector thinks that the marriage is still good), then I'd look at the connections. The Security Manager needs a connection from the IMB to the ICP both through the backplane of the projector, and via IP, through the PCI cable to ShowVault and thence through the LAN to the projector. You will have pulled and reseated the IMB to ShowVault cable when you pulled out the IMB, I'm guessing, but try also looking at the Ethernet patch cable from the ShowVault to the management network switch, the switch itself, and the cable from the switch to the projector.

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Chris Markiewicz
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 209
From: Glenaviegh, County Tipperary, Ireland
Registered: Aug 2002


 - posted 03-27-2018 05:47 PM      Profile for Chris Markiewicz   Email Chris Markiewicz   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
When rebooting the projector wait until the TEST PATTERN button on the control panel turns green before starting the Showvault. Also, did you reseat the PCI cable on the back of the Showvault?

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Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 03-28-2018 08:05 AM      Profile for Dave Macaulay   Email Dave Macaulay   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Server macros are stored in the SSD "flash drive" in a Showvault server. Something beyond any IMB issue is happening if you lose those. All server content - playlists, clips, patterns, and macros should show up whether there's an IMB connected or not.
The errors differ, I think, between a network comms loss and a lost PCe cable connection. I don't remember the exact error wordings.
My first step for this type of problem is reseating everything - network cables, PCIe plugs, the PCIe card inside the chassis, the IMB, ICP, and CCB, plus rebooting the network switch.
Checking a detailed report with the Dolby online analyzer may give some clues. I generally send the report to Dolby for deeper analysis.
In theory you can start up the system in any order that works for you. There are opinions for either fully booting the server first then starting the projector, for the opposite way, and for not caring. The server won't pop any errors if the projector is up first, at least with the IMB "ready" - that takes less time to boot than the projector itself so waiting for the format buttons to be normal isn't necessary but is a good clue that everything is ON. Starting the server first or alone gets you the battery warning because the secure clock is in the IMB plus other errors, but the system will connect to the IMB once that boots up and then there are no actual errors. You can reboot either projector or server any time with no lasting errors or problems. Very early server software/firmware was picky about this on Showvault systems, but not now.

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Kirk Futrell
Film Handler

Posts: 95
From: Nashville, TN / U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2008


 - posted 03-28-2018 10:08 AM      Profile for Kirk Futrell   Author's Homepage   Email Kirk Futrell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
There was no red tail light and no errors where showing up on the projector. I actually swapped a known good PCIe cable while it was booted up and it still didn't make the connection. On the back of the doremi's PCIe card there are two lights. One says PWR and one says CBL. The PWR one is always on but the CBL light does not come on when this problem is happening even with a known good cable.
A couple of weeks back we did get an error saying that the projector could not find the ICP. A reboot seemed to fix that.

As far as error messages go, I don't recall seeing any that were related. When ever the issue happened, ALL of the errors from the beginning of time would show up in the notification bar at the bottom. There were only about 3 or 4 items in cinelister including the built in firealarm macro and the BLACK bump creation macro.

I am about to go on a reseating frenzy and hit all the areas Leo and Dave mentioned. Also, I'll reboot the switch and check all the cables.

Do you have to have a login for Dolby to use the analyzer? They denied me a site login, but maybe I can get Reneh to put in a good word for me. I sent a detailed report AFTER it happened to Doremi and they said that everything looked normal and asked for a report while it was happening. I haven't been able to provide them with that yet.

Thanks for all the info. If you don't hear back that probably means it isn't happening any more. [Cool]

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Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 03-28-2018 10:18 AM      Profile for Dave Macaulay   Email Dave Macaulay   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
No login to use the analyzer:
http://loganalyzer.dolbycustomer.com

Losing the macros is a bad sign, but I can't guess what's doing that. Like I said, these are saved in the server's boot SDD - in the /doremi/etc/macros.xml file

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Kirk Futrell
Film Handler

Posts: 95
From: Nashville, TN / U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2008


 - posted 03-28-2018 02:59 PM      Profile for Kirk Futrell   Author's Homepage   Email Kirk Futrell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
UPDATE: I reseated all the cards in the Barco and now the security tamper error won't clear.
I ran tests and it says that the ICP fails the ping and ethernet communications tests.

Barco is sending a new backplane and ICP... BLAH!!!

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

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


 - posted 03-28-2018 11:47 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My commiserations: the backplane is a bugger to swap out. It's probably the most time consuming of the major components in a Series 2 Barco to replace. Even the light engine is easier, because you don't have to touch anything in front of the card cage (apart from taking the lens out).

However, a bad backplane does make sense, given the symptoms described. If you were getting erratic IMB errors and now the projector is reporting ICP communications problems after pulling and reseating everything, the backplane is the one common denominator for all the components involved.

I had a DP2K-20C last fall that presented with similar symptoms. DSS220 would not connect to cat745; cat745 log indicated nothing wrong with it; tail light on projector remained green and no tamper alert registered, even after I'd pulled and reseated the cat745. Barco's tech spotted evidence of wackiness in the diagnostic package, none of which had caused a red tail light, and from that diagnosed a bad backplane. They also sent me both an ICP and a backplane, but in the event I didn't even need to take the ICP out of its box: after the backplane was replaced, the IMB remarried using the Dallas key, and all was good.

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Ioannis Syrogiannis
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 147
From: Reykjavík, Iceland
Registered: Jun 2005


 - posted 03-30-2018 09:22 AM      Profile for Ioannis Syrogiannis   Email Ioannis Syrogiannis   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Just for the sake of suggesting possible culprits, I would add possible humidity and/or dirt on the connectors of the cards.
That would explain why a re-seating of the board did the trick (the first time) and the ICP issue. Bad connection can be a result of permanent or not permanent conditions in the ELectronics Compartment (A) box.

A cleaning and drying of the connections and re-seating of the boards would be among the first things to try.

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