My GDC SA2100 Won't boot

[Marcel Birgelen]

This whole thread is why theater owners need to amortize their digital equipment off over ten to 12 years tops. Those who do not are very foolish. I have several customers that took this heed in the beginning of digital.

Did you already find the time and decency to explain what bullsh*t you actually accuse me of bringing forward?

Bruce, what is this Dolby/Doremi password bug you are speaking of? I guess it's never bit me.

It is detailed in another thread...It has to do with how the Doremi integrated JNIOR device handles the password to the JNIOR.

It's in this particular topic.

So we don't feel the pain of any real cost. We have a lot of recurring issues like the Dolby/Doremi password bug which are quick to diagnose and resolve

It's pretty honorable to still actively support those 15 year old devices in the field. But, I guess that your product is also being used mostly by knowledgeable people. You probably don't have to deal very much with direct end-users, so there is already a big filter. Also, if you make a good, reliable product, the amount of service calls will usually be less. I guess, you're lucky you can check most of those boxes. But imagine yourself in a situation, where you hadn't just to deal with the "Doremi password bug", but also all kinds of other issues that take up your time and resources. Now, if those are self-inflicted, because your product is crappy (disclaimer: I'm just pretending for arguments sake here ), then I guess you better just deal with it. But what if someone else breaks stuff all the time with their crappy products and loads up your helpdesk with endless service calls? Where do you start to draw the line?

Unfortunately, like Steve also hinted ad, much of the IT world operates in this way. It's a stack of a lot of half-baked products that are in constant flux of changes, security updates and self-inflicted instability. If you offer services in this field, you're often stuck in-the-middle, yet you can't solve other people's problems all the time for free.

However, it should be a bit better spelled out. One of the larger server companies is pretty good about announcing a product end of life and how long they indeed to support it with parts/tech support beyond that so people can reasonably prepare and know where they stand (and the support time from isn't some silly 6-month or 1-year...it is measured in years)

I agree, manufacturers should be transparent about their product life-cycles. Some companies do this better than others, in many cases also because they're "big enough" not to fear competition. Clearly spelling out the life-cycle of a product may expose the real cost of ownership of those products, something some companies rather choose to hide behind a curtain of smoke and mirrors.

[Marco Giustini]

Some have taken the approach I would have taken, if I was in charge of the product line: Software and tech support are included in the product for the life of the product. Others have taken a bit more aggressive approach but a bit more sneaky. They charge less for a product, but put a finite support time frame on the product before you have to pay for the mere support (or really, the possible need for support...more of an insurance model). And, as an added middle-finger to the customer/service company, they encrypt their logs to prevent self-help.

If GDC had asked for money to repair the server - either in form of support fee or for a new HDD - I wouldn't be here pointing fingers at them. But I believe the OP said that GDC would be able to support the server IF the server was running a later software version. I call this "planned obsolescence". While I appreciate this is what companies like Apple do when they stop supporting older machines - giving them the ability to focus on new tech instead of investing resources in keeping old ones alive - it is plain wrong.

And yes, the encrypted log thing is another one I shall not get started on

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Had he had the password to access the recovery console that too would have repaired the problem. What he ended up doing is essentially what the recovery console would have done. Or it could have restored it to an even earlier version of firmware. All the old firmware is also still on GDC's FTP site. So it all gets back to the password issue again. And he shouldn't get the high level passwords unless he goes to training like everyone else did. Note that there are five partitions on the GDC OS Drive.

[Marco Giustini]

You're completely missing the point, Mark.

He contacted GDC. They said "we cannot help, you need a new server".

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I suspected he contacted the wrong office then. I know I have not had that happen when I've needed an OS drive. But then all mine are on Build 8.01. Had he been able to access the recovery console we wouldn't even be discussing this.

[Paul Gabriel]

Had he had the password to access the recovery console that too would have repaired the problem. What he ended up doing is essentially what the recovery console would have done. Or it could have restored it to an even earlier version of firmware. All the old firmware is also still on GDC's FTP site. So it all gets back to the password issue again. And he shouldn't get the high level passwords unless he goes to training like everyone else did. Note that there are five partitions on the GDC OS Drive.

I think it three(3)

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Depends on the firmware you are running.... I have not worked with a server running 7.8 since about 2011.

[Paul Gabriel]

Now I need to upgrade to 8.01 build 300, I have all the upgrade file but I can't run a back up of the OS because the OS drive pretty old. If I go ahead with the upgrade and it fails my server will be dead, if i don't upgrade before April, the server certificate expires.

[Paul Gabriel]

If I clone the OS drive with an SSD, will it fix my backup issue?

[Carsten Kurz]

Can you tell us the type of the existing OS drive? I would first try to find a similar drive. SSD is not always better. Though, once you performed the upgrade successfully, you may try to migrate to an SSD finally.
You may also want to create another independent backup, so you can always go back to that version if your transition fails at some point. Using software tools, you can create an image as a file on any computer with a decent size general system disc. For an older server like this, I suppose the OS drive is rather small?

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I considered doing that but never had issues getting a new OS drive. You have to copy all the partitions and somehow be sure the certificate is also copied over. Where ever they hide that at. If you don't get the certificate it will only boot so far and stop.

[Brad Miller]

It's just cloning the drive Mark. These days you can use little $40 drive dock USB duplicators. It makes a bit for bit exact copy of the ENTIRE drive, exactly as it is.

Having a cloned OS drive has saved us many times on the older GDC servers. We would get the server configured, then make 2 backups of it. One got mounted inside the chassis, the second got filed at our office. When the first OS drive failed, the manager popped the lid and moved the SATA cable, then we cloned another off of the one at the office and shipped to them.

[Paul Gabriel]

It's just cloning the drive Mark. These days you can use little $40 drive dock USB duplicators. It makes a bit for bit exact copy of the ENTIRE drive, exactly as it is.

Having a cloned OS drive has saved us many times on the older GDC servers. We would get the server configured, then make 2 backups of it. One got mounted inside the chassis, the second got filed at our office. When the first OS drive failed, the manager popped the lid and moved the SATA cable, then we cloned another off of the one at the office and shipped to them.

thank you. I will proceed with cloning then. hopefully software can do same?

[Carsten Kurz]

I would try both - get a USB/SATA duplicator dock, they can usually also connect these drives to a computer for file access (mode switch). The good thing about them is, you have to understand/learn little before you can use it (again, only the source/master slot selection is important). I would create a 1:1 backup an a similar disc using such a clone dock. Once this is done, test the cloned disc in the server.
You may then create another clone using the software mentioned by some here and create a clone file on a common computer. These can be copied, compressed, ZIPed, etc. using standard methods, so you have an actual independent backup. Only then would I try to update the system software on the cloned OS drive. Keep the original GDC drive for later. Better play safe, if you don't have the money for a new server.

- Carsten

[Paul Gabriel]

I would try both - get a USB/SATA duplicator dock, they can usually also connect these drives to a computer for file access (mode switch). The good thing about them is, you have to understand/learn little before you can use it (again, only the source/master slot selection is important). I would create a 1:1 backup an a similar disc using such a clone dock. Once this is done, test the cloned disc in the server.
You may then create another clone using the software mentioned by some here and create a clone file on a common computer. These can be copied, compressed, ZIPed, etc. using standard methods, so you have an actual independent backup. Only then would I try to update the system software on the cloned OS drive. Keep the original GDC drive for later. Better play safe, if you don't have the money for a new server.

- Carsten

It is a Hitachi HDD