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We are getting a lot of support questions asking if there are issues with shutting down JNIORs for any extended period. This has come up here in a couple of places but I thought that I would bring the topic to the surface to maybe be more helpful. I get it why we here in cinema are very sensitive to the state of batteries. We have not gotten this question from any other direction. Rest assured that generally the JNIOR can be powered off for an extended period without an issue, however, there are a couple of things to mention. There are also some general recommendations.
Note
If you are using the original Series 3 JNIOR (310, 312 or 314), the last was produced in 2014 and the majority of those units likely have dead batteries already. In that context a 2 second power outage and a 3 month power outage would have the same impact. I suspect that you have already experienced short power outages. The JNIOR3 can be identified as the front label has the white background where inputs and outputs are listed. The JNIOR4 (410, 412, 414 and 412DMX) labels are all black. Also, the power LED on the JNIOR3 is green. It is blue for JNIOR4.
Concerns
The battery is there to maintain the SRAM memory content and to keep the realtime clock running through loss of power.
The JNIOR4 stores any and all security information (accounts, passwords, certificates) in hidden non-volatile storage. These certificates are not media related and not subject to restrictions on storage. This supports only secure access using SSL/TLS with protocols like HTTPS, secure FTP and even Telnet. The JNIOR3 cannot make secure connections. The JNIOR3 login usernames and passwords rely on the battery as stated above.
Recommendations
We strongly recommend that you take the time to use the Support Tool and take a Snapshot of each of your JNIORs before shutting down. This is actually worth doing periodically during the normal times. If for some unknown reason a unit does not come back up, goes missing, or otherwise exhibits a problem of which you weren't originally aware, you will have the configuration details safely tucked away. INTEG is always happy to review your snapshots (no charge). We can look them over to see if you were having any issues that have not been detected. Just contact us via the support email address.
If you have altered any passwords, write them down someplace secure but that you will be able to find later. Our batteries cannot help with information stored in your head.
Battery Replacement
The JNIOR3 batteries are soldered in place. I sincerely apologize for that. These can be replaced if you are good with the soldering iron. The batteries are available inexpensively through DigiKey (they are staying open through the pandemic). Running with a dead battery is not a big problem. So I would not recommend battery replacement. If you do, it will be easier if you cut/wiggle the battery off of the board first before trying to desolder the holes. Obviously this cannot be done with the unit powered.
The JNIOR4 uses a standard 3V CR2032 coin cell. These are available practically everywhere. You can swap the battery with the unit powered. There is no real need to do that though since losing the logs and later resetting the clock is no big deal. The 412DMX uses a slightly different coin cell. Most of those should be good to go for the duration. They are new.
For More Information
Search the Knowledge Base at integpg.com or jnior.com (same destination). There is a broad range of topics in there and we are struggling ourselves to get it organized. So feel free to ask us via chat or support email address any question that you have. We are even happy to fulfill your curiosities.
Our offices are currently closed. We have stopped production. We are accepting orders but are not shipping on terms until we reopen and have a chance to reassess financial status. We will endeavor to get any pre-paid orders out as long as inventories last and we can make arrangements with shippers. We continue to fully support our products as best as we can considering our stay-at-home and work-from-home edicts.
I would appreciate it if you help us stay engaged and focused through these difficult times. We can work together on that. Our plan is to not miss a beat when we are released back into the wild. I know it is going to be tough for all of us.
Note
If you are using the original Series 3 JNIOR (310, 312 or 314), the last was produced in 2014 and the majority of those units likely have dead batteries already. In that context a 2 second power outage and a 3 month power outage would have the same impact. I suspect that you have already experienced short power outages. The JNIOR3 can be identified as the front label has the white background where inputs and outputs are listed. The JNIOR4 (410, 412, 414 and 412DMX) labels are all black. Also, the power LED on the JNIOR3 is green. It is blue for JNIOR4.
Concerns
- With the JNIOR3 if power is removed and the battery is dead, the login credentials will return to the defaults. This would only be of concern to those who have altered the login accounts and passwords. It is likely that only a few of you have done so. Of those, the impact would really only be noticeable if your media systems used the custom login in some automated fashion.
- With the JNIOR3 if power is removed and the battery is dead, you will lose the /www folder. This folder initially contains the applet based web page that you could reach with your browser. Today's browsers cannot actually open those pages as support for Java applets has been removed. You actually have to open those pages through the Support Tool which uses its own local copy of the site anyway. So this is only an issue if somehow you had an old browser and were used to using the web page configuration directly.
The battery is there to maintain the SRAM memory content and to keep the realtime clock running through loss of power.
- The file system is based in SRAM except that the /flash folder is located in a non-volatile Flash memory component. All of the JNIOR's application programming and configuration for those programs is stored in Flash. Those therefore are not affected by the battery condition. Operation should be restored when power returns.
- Data that changes often such as log files, the dynamic parts of the Registry, and the MODBUS Store are maintained in the SRAM to limit wear on the Flash components. These are subject to the battery condition. The loss of this information generally only impacts debugging.
- It is recommended that you configure an NTP server so the JNIOR can synchronize its clock and also define a timezone. However the time is only generally used for logging and an accurate timestamp is helpful in comparing logs to external experience. If you are using some form of scheduling on the JNIOR then the clock is critical. In that case you have likely already insured that the clock was synchronizing with the rest of the world.
The JNIOR4 stores any and all security information (accounts, passwords, certificates) in hidden non-volatile storage. These certificates are not media related and not subject to restrictions on storage. This supports only secure access using SSL/TLS with protocols like HTTPS, secure FTP and even Telnet. The JNIOR3 cannot make secure connections. The JNIOR3 login usernames and passwords rely on the battery as stated above.
Recommendations
We strongly recommend that you take the time to use the Support Tool and take a Snapshot of each of your JNIORs before shutting down. This is actually worth doing periodically during the normal times. If for some unknown reason a unit does not come back up, goes missing, or otherwise exhibits a problem of which you weren't originally aware, you will have the configuration details safely tucked away. INTEG is always happy to review your snapshots (no charge). We can look them over to see if you were having any issues that have not been detected. Just contact us via the support email address.
If you have altered any passwords, write them down someplace secure but that you will be able to find later. Our batteries cannot help with information stored in your head.
Battery Replacement
The JNIOR3 batteries are soldered in place. I sincerely apologize for that. These can be replaced if you are good with the soldering iron. The batteries are available inexpensively through DigiKey (they are staying open through the pandemic). Running with a dead battery is not a big problem. So I would not recommend battery replacement. If you do, it will be easier if you cut/wiggle the battery off of the board first before trying to desolder the holes. Obviously this cannot be done with the unit powered.
The JNIOR4 uses a standard 3V CR2032 coin cell. These are available practically everywhere. You can swap the battery with the unit powered. There is no real need to do that though since losing the logs and later resetting the clock is no big deal. The 412DMX uses a slightly different coin cell. Most of those should be good to go for the duration. They are new.
For More Information
Search the Knowledge Base at integpg.com or jnior.com (same destination). There is a broad range of topics in there and we are struggling ourselves to get it organized. So feel free to ask us via chat or support email address any question that you have. We are even happy to fulfill your curiosities.
Our offices are currently closed. We have stopped production. We are accepting orders but are not shipping on terms until we reopen and have a chance to reassess financial status. We will endeavor to get any pre-paid orders out as long as inventories last and we can make arrangements with shippers. We continue to fully support our products as best as we can considering our stay-at-home and work-from-home edicts.
I would appreciate it if you help us stay engaged and focused through these difficult times. We can work together on that. Our plan is to not miss a beat when we are released back into the wild. I know it is going to be tough for all of us.