Christie PIB board

[Phil Ranucci]

Trying to wake up a Christie CP 2220 and it won't boot fully and gives a PIB error on the touch screen.
Anybody run into this?
It was working fine until it was shut off a few weeks ago. Or at least I think so, the theatre was closed but everything was powered up.
There is a battery on this board, but wondering if it's too late for that and the board is bricked.
TIA

[Marcel Birgelen]

Have you started with the obvious first thing to do: Remove the board from the cage and reseat it into the same cage? Please notice: You need to re-marry the board after removal and re-insertion.

[Dave Macaulay]

Well... the PIB is notorious for just dying. It seems to always go out on a powerup, and I have had to replace quite a few. On a service trip to a Christie site we always take a PIB "just in case". During service the projector has to be powered down at least once.
I have been told that the current software reduces the risk of failure but have seen an up to date one go bad.
You can try reseating the boards.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Many S2 Christie are known for just suddenly crapping out with the Christie IMB being at the top of the list.... If possible trade it in on a Barco or NEC and live happily ever after.

[Phil Ranucci]

Reseated the boards, no joy. I'll try it again anyway.
This is a S1 machine using the 292A inputs. Enigma board.
Christie service didn't believe me that the board has a battery on it.
I guess the NOC doesn't deal with many older machines.
We're not even open, so investing in a Barco/NEC probably won't happen.

[Carsten Kurz]

A Christie 2220 is a series 2 machine, still in production.

[Phil Ranucci]

Good to know, I thought the IMB was Series 2.

[Carsten Kurz]

Series 2 can either work HD-SDI/Enigma based, or using an IMS/IMB. Series 1 is HD-SDI only.

[Dave Macaulay]

There is a battery, beside the Enigma module. Replacing it is an idea as it should be done every 5 years or so. Without seeing what the projector is doing, I can't tell whether that's the issue or if the PIB has gone completely dead. Not really sure what this battery does, but there aren't any onerous precautions in the replacement instructions (as found in IMB or other media block battery change procedures). They do say to first save a full backup, so maybe it powers memory that holds some settings?

Ask the Christie tech to look at:
Replacing the PIB Battery Technical Bulletin
020-200314-01 Rev. 1 (02-2015)

.. there may be a newer version by now?

[Marcel Birgelen]

I guess there's a real-time clock in there that needs to be kept alive. There are also some certificate components in there, like the marriage component with the rest of the system, but this could also be stored on some NVRAM part instead of dynamic memory that needs to be kept alive.

[Steve Guttag]

I was recently working on a CP4230 (Changing a LVPS) and due to the age of things, I replaced the ICP battery and the one on the PIB (plain Jane CR-2032, as I recall) just as a precaution. The projector didn't blow up or anything.

I have heard that the PIB is a known source of failure and though I've tried to blame it a few times, it has yet to be the culprit, with me. I've had TPC, Ballast, Igniter and LVPS supplies all go multiple times (not in the same projector but in various ones).

I don't understand Mark's unhelpful comments about buying an NEC or Barco to fix a single board problem. The IMBS2 is a server, independent of the projector and not even the source of the complaint on the OP. The PIB is not an onerous thing to change either. Plus, how Christie backs up their files in three spots, upon changing a component like the PIB...the projector will immediately ask who's serial number is the correct one and upon identifying that the TPC has the correct serial number the PIB will be appropriately updated with the right serial number and configs. In many ways, it is a slick system. Or, instead of changing a plug-in module, you can rip out a projector, buy and truck in a new one, rewire things and then get a whole new slew of potentially different issues. We all have our favorites and least favorites but fixing a flat tire by changing the entire car seems a bit of a stretch.

[Dave Macaulay]

Barco and NEC also have problems, all DC projectors do - mostly from the rigorous security model. All are generally reliable. All need preventative maintenance following the maker's schedules.
The PIB is not cheap (no replacement board is!) but it's much cheaper than a replacement projector.
I do like the Christie board replacement procedure but it is easy to tell it to copy the wrong way. Barco and NEC are not difficult, but you do need a recent clone/backup to reinstall the data on the replacement board. And that, of course, would be done on your regular scheduled maintenance.
I'm not so keen on the Christie TPC, I like the Barco and NEC way with all the works all inside the projector. You can swap a TPC from a different projector into one with a dead TPC and at least get it started - but that's a workaround to solve the problem of that little Windows PC being a critical component.

Form what I recall, a Christie engineer told us there is a race condition in the PIB startup processes, and if the wrong process wins... then the board is corrupted and won't work afterwards. I can't verify this. Later production boards or software supposedly fixed that?

[Marcel Birgelen]

Form what I recall, a Christie engineer told us there is a race condition in the PIB startup processes, and if the wrong process wins... then the board is corrupted and won't work afterwards. I can't verify this. Later production boards or software supposedly fixed that?

If that's true and this bricks PIBs, I'd say that Christie should replace all affected boards for free. It's one thing that stuff breaks due to wear and tear, but a race condition in software is clearly a design fault that should be repaired by the manufacturer for free.