Barco S4 1.8.6 firmware released

[Steve Guttag]

I would think that the fix to the GPO toggling on power up would be important to those using them. There are also a collection of fixes to the ICP-D. ICMP is the same version as 1.8.5 but ICP-D has move to 1.2.1.12.

1 Release Notes

1.1 Version 1.8.6 (Service release)

This version includes the ICMP Software 1.4.4.20 and ICP-D software 1.2.1.12

New feature:

• ICP-D: New convergence pattern for MKII platforms

Bug fixes:

• Fix an issue where GPO’s of the cinema controller were toggling at startup
• ICP-D: Improve SP2K-xxC MKII support
• ICP-D: Fix an issue where some fast transitional effects were seen on screen
• ICP-D: Fix an issue where file can’t be created/edited on the Feb 29th.

1.2 Version 1.8.5 (Service release)

This version includes the ICMP Software 1.4.4.20 and ICP-D software 1.2.1.10

New feature:

• ICMP: New convergence pattern for MKII platforms
• ICMP: Implementation of an API way to retrieve the Video Mezzanine firmware version

Bug fixes:

• ICMP: Improve SP2K-xxC MKII support
• ICMP: Fix an issue where some fast transitional effects were seen on screen

1.3 Version 1.8.4 (Production release)

This version includes the ICMP Software 1.4.4.19 and ICP-D software 1.2.1.10

Bug fixes:

• ICMP: Fix an issue that could occurs while applying SCC file on SP2K-xxS

[Leo Enticknap]

I would think that the fix to the GPO toggling on power up would be important to those using them.

And safety critical, it they are being used for any fire alarm-related functions (though that would be more likely to be a GPI than a GPO).

[Magnus Eriksson]

Hm. "GPO's of the cinema controller"
How about the GPO's of the ICMP?

[Marco Giustini]

has the GPO toggling at start-up been going on since 2016 when I last heard of that??

[Carsten Kurz]

Don't know about the cinema controller GPOs, but the ICMP GPOs, yes. Big flaw.

[Manfred Fraberger]

I have found something interesting about ICMP-GPO in the releasenote from ICMP Software Version 1.1.5.16, released February 2015.:

Improved GPO behavior for the ICMP startup sequence. All GPOs are now in a "close state" while the ICMP is initializing and become "open" when the ICMP is booted.

The releasenote is inside the zip-file from the corresponding software, which can still be downloaded from mybarco.

Can someone imagine which improvement this "Improved GPO behavior" could be?
I have connected house lights to GPO and they are turning on and off a fiew times, while ICMP is booting.

[Carsten Kurz]

Hard to say why Barco used the term 'improved GPO behaviour' for this. They should have added some minimalistic logic to prevent any GPO actions until a steady state of the ICMP is reached after boot. Of course, you can add that externally, but it needs extra effort.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I have found something interesting about ICMP-GPO in the releasenote from ICMP Software Version 1.1.5.16, released February 2015.:



The releasenote is inside the zip-file from the corresponding software, which can still be downloaded from mybarco.

Can someone imagine which improvement this "Improved GPO behavior" could be?
I have connected house lights to GPO and they are turning on and off a fiew times, while ICMP is booting.

I've successfully deployed 1.8.6 this weekend. Version 1.8.5 has been skipped. On the GPO were some emergency lights, that also trigger during a fire alarm, no clue why those were routed separately from the rest of the automation, but those would usually trigger shortly during a boot-up. This is no longer happening after the update.

So, the good news is that ICMP software 1.4.4.20 seems to fix this, for now. This update should be available as separate update too via MyBarco.

[Manfred Fraberger]

So, the good news is that ICMP software 1.4.4.20 seems to fix this, for now.

No, I have already installed ICMP 1.4.4.20 since about two weeks ago and GPOs are still toggeling during startup.

On the GPO were some emergency lights, that
also trigger during a fire alarm, no clue why those were routed separately from the rest of the automation, but those would usually trigger shortly during a boot-up. This is no longer happening after the update.

According to the releasenote of 1.8.6, Cinemacontroller is fixed, nothing about ICMP. Are you sure, that your emergency ligts are connected to ICMP and not the cinema controller? The cinema controller is the smaller board which is installed directly above the ICMP in the projector card cage.

[Marcel Birgelen]

According to the releasenote of 1.8.6, Cinemacontroller is fixed, nothing about ICMP. Are you sure, that your emergency ligts are connected to ICMP and not the cinema controller? The cinema controller is the smaller board which is installed directly above the ICMP in the projector card cage.

I'm not entirely sure about the setup as it is not my own setup. But yes, those emergency lights are connected to one of the GPOs on the ICMP. Don't know which ones exactly though, but will make a note of it, next time I visit.

The reason why they are connected to the GPO is because of a hack they implemented. The emergency lights light up the aisles pretty well and don't really intrude on the screen. They often show a making off or other special attached to the original feature. They want to give the people who want to leave an opportunity to do so.

This obviously could've implemented on the cinema controller, but nobody has touched that thing in the last 15 or so years. It's like this religious object that cannot be touched, all changes to the program are implemented around it.

The flickering-light issue was a persistent one, ever since they switched form Christie to this Barco S4 machine a year or so ago. Maybe the LED driver/transformer has died on us after all those reboots.

Edit: some more useless background info.