IMS2000: no CPU lights at all, no web interface connection

[Andrew Thomas]

I have two IMS 2000 units with this same behavior. No CPU lights, no ability to see the device on the network. All the other lights (Eth and SM) are functioning as normal and green, ex pet for SM3 after I pulled the board and reseated.

I did call Dolby and the guy thinks it is the SSDs that are bad on both and didn’t offer any other suggestions. Does this seem most likely an SSD issue, or might there be some other thing to look into while I wait for the warranty replacement parts?

[John Thomas]

Likely the OS SSD, yes. Make sure when you're booting up there is nothing plugged into the USB ports.

Also if you have a mini-displayport adapter, you can use that to plug a monitor into the "console out" port to see what's going on when the server fails to boot.

[Leo Enticknap]

The manual doesn't mention both LEDs being out at all:

IMS2000_CPU_LEDs.JPG
If the SSD were NFG, I would expect to see it hang on green + off (booting), or go to red + off (cannot play due to nonspecific error). No lights at all would suggest a power supply problem to me. Have you been trying both of these units in the same projector? Do you get the same behavior in different projectors? Also, it strikes me as a big coincidence that the SSDs failed in two separate IMS2000s at the same time.

[James Gardiner]

Yes, I would go for a plug into the Console out adaptor. Test it on a working unit, and watch the typical BIOS boot process, in the end it's just a computer running linux..
Then try the broken units and see if you get anything at all. If its a OS-Drive, you should get an error indicating as such. If you get nothing. Likely much worse..

[Marcel Birgelen]

Will indeed be interesting what you'll be able to see on the console out, if anything at all appears.

If both CPU LEDs remain dark, to me that looks like a power failure to the "CPU board". The fact that you have two units with the same behavior only makes the stuff more interesting. How likely would it be that two IMS2000s suffer the same, unlisted failure mode about the same time, without a common cause?

Maybe you can give us some insights on how those two systems are related with each other?

[Elia Orselli]

Do you have any USB connected to the IMS? Even an empty CRU bay could interfere during boot

[Andrew Thomas]

I received the replacement SSD chips and both units roared back to life immediately. So if you have the same thing, zero CPU light activity, it would appear the most likely culprit are the OS SSD chips.

Fortunately both units just squeaked by as warranty repairs so was not out anything other than a little time.

[Leo Enticknap]

Many thanks. Interesting that the same fault presented in two separate units at the same time. Presumably that boot flash drive contains the code that controls those two indicator lights, and without being able to read from the drive and execute that code, no lights.

[Andrew Thomas]

Many thanks. Interesting that the same fault presented in two separate units at the same time. Presumably that boot flash drive contains the code that controls those two indicator lights, and without being able to read from the drive and execute that code, no lights.

They were fairly close serial number wise, so maybe a bad batch of the SSD chips?

[Leo Enticknap]

Definitely a possibility. Per Meadow's Law (once is an accident, twice is suspicious but should be given the benefit of the doubt unless foul play is proven, but three times is murder unless proven otherwise), I'd be surprised if there weren't a common cause. Maybe as simple as heat cycling working the header connection loose? Anyways, good to hear that the 2000s are fixed.

[Randy Stankey]

They were fairly close serial number wise, so maybe a bad batch of the SSD chips?

I was thinking the same thing.

Beside the serial numbers, is there a date code or CAGE code on them?
(CAGE = "Commercial and Government Entity" Which is required for any business that supplies goods or services to the US Government.)

At the place where I work, parts aren't serialized but we do use a laser machine to burn date codes onto parts.

Something like: "0D3H-2224"

Where the first four characters are the plant number and the last four stand for the 24th week of the year 2022.

I agree with Leo. Two incidents don't necessarily make a pattern but, still, due diligence is warranted. If you can see a common thread between things, it is worthwhile to store that information in your memory banks for future reference.

[John Thomas]

We've seen an unexpectedly high rate of early failure of OS SSD's on new IMS3000's. We don't have many (any?) IMS2000's that we service, but everything back to the ShowVault uses the same type of drop-in chip that I wouldn't call bulletproof, but they're pretty good. Considering that Dolby has a video on their customer site specifically about replacing the OS SSD, I would guess that there was a bad batch or a switch to a different manufacturer that didn't pan out.

The EB-USB feature is a great thing to have in a pinch, but I find that not a lot of techs/customers know about it or attempt to use it.

[Ioannis Syrogiannis]

...
The EB-USB feature is a great thing to have in a pinch, but I find that not a lot of techs/customers know about it or attempt to use it.

During a short period that I was dealing with one Doremi SV3, I had a dd copy of the system SSD made on a USB drive after each software update (yes, that long ago).
Yet, for those DCP2Ks and SVs, there is the "USB 6" port to stick the drive into.
Does one have such an alternative on the IMS series?
Or, can you take advantage of an external USB port? (That, I don't know if I could count on, since they are supposedly rated 0.5 A)

[Adrian Avram]

On IMS2000 you can use an external usb drive (4Gb or more, with the bootable operating system on it) inserted on the available USB ports, and the unit will boot just fine. The internal DOM module should be removed.
Tested and it works 100%

IMS2000 external USB.jpeg

[Ioannis Syrogiannis]

Great.
Maybe the 0.5A rating stated on the manuals is not exactly the case then.

One issue I came upon with (I think it was a DCP2000) was that the system was complaining about the certificates.
(Could not find cert.sha256.pem on this server)
Yet, if you have any detailed report from the past, you can find them on
/doremi/etc/certs/mine
and ingest them.