DTS TCR/ROM Questions

[David Ferguson]

I've got a couple of questions about the TCR ROM found in DTS-6 and DTS-6D players.

Firstly, I've seen references to the fact that you need a certain version or higher in order to play the encrypted AUE files, rather than the AUDs that were originally used. What version is needed for this? Is it 1.46, the latest one?

My other question is about how to easily identify what version a player is on. I'm looking at buying a DTS-6 unit, but the seller doesn't know the version (1.28 is written on the back, but I suspect this could be outdated). One clue is that the unit has been upgraded to use DVD drives rather than the original CD drives, and I've seen a few discussions saying that an upgrade to the TCR was necessary for this to be supported. Does this mean that this unit will have 1.46 installed? Is there any other things to look for that indicate the version (preferably that I can ask the seller to easily look for!)?

[Brad Miller]

1.46 is the final version. Just remove the top cover and look inside for the chip that has it printed on it (white sticker label on top of the chip).

[David Ferguson]

Thanks for that Brad, I ended up getting it and it does have 1.46 installed - great!

The bad news is that it doesn't seem to work - or at least it doesn't do what I expect. I'm yet to hook it up to an actual projector/reader/sound processor, but when switching it on, it either shows the Timecode LED on, and doesn't do anything else, or initially has Timecode, CD-ROM, and System LEDs on, and about a second later Timecode goes out, and then it stays like that.

I downloaded the DS3 ISO file from the Warehouse and burnt it to a CD-R, but the player does the exact same with this in the drive.

Are there any troubleshooting tips I should try? I've gone through the basic steps of reseating the cards, etc. and I'm currently trying to hunt down an ISA VGA card to see what (if anything) it's outputting. Are there any other status LEDs on the motherboard/boards that should be on?

[Gordon McLeod]

Dependig on the vintage it can take up to a minuet for the cd to load. Also what speed did you burn the disk at many of the drives cant read anything burned faster than 4x and the caddy style is 2x

[David Ferguson]

I burned it at 10x which was the lowest my MacBook could do. This unit has had the DVD drive upgrade so I would have hoped it could read that.

I should also clarify what exactly the status lights should be on it. Can someone with a DTS-6 or DTS-6D tell me what the expected light sequence is on power up? Is not having a reader connected stopping it from continuing to boot?

[Brad Miller]

It's been too many years and I don't have a DTS-6 or DTS-6D handy to check the normal boot sequence, but when you burned the disc, did you make sure to set the disc as finalized, so no further data could be written to it? That can cause some of the older players to reject the disc.

[Don Furr]

David on my DTS-6 with both trays loaded with disc, the bottom light (System) will blink. If you remove the discs from the trays the CD ROM light will come on and the System light will go off. It doesn't matter if the reader is hooked up or not.

[David Ferguson]

Brad - I double checked the CD and it was finalised (and can be read on other computers fine).

Don - thanks for that. I guess there is something wrong with mine then, as it does the same no matter if the disc is in the drive or not. The Systsem LED staying on also seems to contradict the normal behaviour.

I haven't had any luck in finding an ISA VGA card yet, but hopefully I'll be able to get one and this will help diagnose the issue. But if anyone has any ideas for me to try, please let me know!

[Gordon McLeod]

check and make sure that the IDE to SCSI adapter boards on the back of the drives are tightly seated and the ID is set correctly

[Jim Cassedy]

If the unit was shipped to you, double check that all the internal cables, and any chips that
are mounted in sockets are firmly seated. I troubleshat a DTS unit for a buddy that had been
shipped to him and pulling out the main ROM chip & re-seating it solved his problem. Just be
sure you follow proper chip handling procedures. (but you probably already knew to do that)

On another (non-DTS) processor that was 'dead' after shipping, I found that one of the
power transformers must have bounced around enough a bit due to rough handling to
lift one of its' solder connections, which looks like wasn't done well in the first place.

I found it using bright light & going over the whole circuit board with a magnifying glass
looking for broken traces or bad connections. If you don't have a magnifier handy, just
take one of your flat cinema lenses & look through it 'backwards' They make great
magnifiers if you need one in a pinch. (but you probably knew that too!)

[David Ferguson]

If you don't have a magnifier handy, just take one of your flat cinema lenses & look through it 'backwards' They make great magnifiers if you need one in a pinch. (but you probably knew that too!)

Haha, I've used this to inspect a SRD track that was misbehaving before!

Thanks for the advice Jim - I pulled out the motherboard and found the problem - the BIOS battery has leaked over one section and corroded away all the traces - drat! This seems to be a particular complaint about this battery/motherboard - so if you have a DTS-6 or DTS-6D unit in operation, I would suggest you go and pull the battery out before it destroys it! I've attached a picture of the damage it's done to some of the traces.

I guess it's going to be a long weekend of me trying to rewire these traces - although I've done a fair bit of soldering before, I've never done something quite like this, so it'll be a miracle if it actually works! If not... I guess I'll be making a post in Equipment Wanted about a DTS player...

[Jim Cassedy]

Glad to hear you may have discovered the problem. Yes, I vaguely remember reading about an
issue with those motherboards a couple of years ago. Good luck with your repair- - hope it works.
I know somebody who has several DTS players just sitting around after being pulled out during a
D-Cinema conversion. Not sure if he wants to get rid of them or how much he''d want, but if you
wind up needing one, I'll ask. I don't know what vers operating system they have in them, but
I do recall doing the upgrade to the DVD type drives for him some years back.

[David Ferguson]

Looks like it wasn't to be... I cleaned all the corrosion off, repaired a couple dozen traces, but it still does exactly the same as before. There must be a trace I missed, or maybe a component has gone bad. But it seems to be beyond my level of repair, so I guess I'm looking for a replacement now.

Jim - unless you can do miracles with the postal service I would think that shipping from USA to UK would be a bit of a killer, sadly. I have the luxury of just being a hobbyist in this, so I can wait for one to come up at the right price (this one was only £40 on ebay!). But if anyone in the UK has a DTS player they're wanting rid of... I'm looking

[Marco Giustini]

Did you burn your CD using UDF file system? Burning it using ISO9660 does not work on my DTS6.
The battery was going to destroy your MB anyways so well done. Don't forget to neutralise the battery leak using some vinegar.

Failing that, you may want to find an old ISA video card and see what happens when it boots up.

[David Ferguson]

I burned the CD from the D3 ISO that's available in the Warehouse section, so the filesystem is what's on the disk ISO (so it should be what's correct).

Yep, I did the whole vinegar neutralisation and the cleaning, and then trace repair but it's the same as it was. I've messaged a friend who has ISA video cards, but I'm yet to hear back. I'm reluctant to buy one because they're about half the price of what a working DTS player on ebay is!