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Topic: CP500 Diagnostics & Assorted Questions

Ari Nordström
Master Film Handler

Posts: 283
From: Göteborg, Sweden
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 07-04-2000 02:43 PM

There is a Dolby Diagnostics option in the Diagnostics menu that got me interested today. I tried it but nothing much happened, except for a message, "switching 5, 00". Later, I noticed that the User Manual's menu flow chart said it was for future use.

So is this menu option still for future use only, or is our CP500 breaking down? The software version is 1.61, without EX.

Another curiosity: The event log listed a "Cat 675A failed (slot J14)" message a dozen or so lines down, among the "Startup" and "Illegal Instruction" messages, which to me suggested that the EQ card wasn't feeling well. I then ran every conceivable format from Non-Sync to SRD, as well as the B-chain test, but couldn't see or hear anything wrong at all. In fact, everything worked perfectly. Is this another software glitch, or should I be worried?

And while we're discussing the event log, what is the time scale that is listed in the left column? It doesn't make sense to me.

And so one final question: Do I have too much time on my hands?

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 07-04-2000 05:59 PM

Mine says the same thing fails every time as well. I would ignore the diagnostics function. If your CP500 fails, it really won't help you anyway. Just replace the whole unit. That way you will eliminate the glitch or virus completely.

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Ken Jacquart
Film Handler

Posts: 82
From: San Francisco, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-05-2000 11:29 AM

The Diagnostics menu was indeed intended for some future diagnostics software implementation. It hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure if it will any time soon. The event log supposed errors should at times be taken lightly. There is an occasional glitch with communication which gets reported in the event log and has no audio effect. The startup times in the event log are not based on a real time clock. They are simply elapsed hours, minutes, and seconds.

ken

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Ari Nordström
Master Film Handler

Posts: 283
From: Göteborg, Sweden
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 07-05-2000 02:48 PM

Thanks, Ken. Our theatre has never sounded better than it does now, so it's good to know that I don't have to worry too much.

So one additional question: Elapsed hours, minutes, and seconds, from when? From the first time it was powered up?

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Rick Long
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 759
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-07-2000 07:01 PM

Is it true that the flash number seen on power-up is indicative of the number of times the unit was powered up? Does this re-set with a change of version?

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 07-08-2000 03:25 AM

Speaking of CP500's, sometimes when we boot up the unit in #16 in the morning, there will be no sound. The little level meters on the LCD screen will be bouncing up and down as normal, but there will be no sound output in any format. It appears to function fine otherwise. A reboot or two or three or sometimes even four solves the problem, which only occurs a couple of times per month. it has done this the entire two and a half years that we have owned it, and Russel Allen upgraded it to 1.61EX and still it continues to misbehave.

Cause? Is my CP500 infected with a virus?

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Ken Jacquart
Film Handler

Posts: 82
From: San Francisco, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-10-2000 05:25 PM

Ari, the event log time listings for example show startup times in hours, minutes and seconds. This time is accumulated power on time. If you subtract two startup times next to each other, then you would have the amount of time the processor was on for that particular time period... a little wierd I know.

Rick, the flash number simply indicates how many times any parameter settings have been saved. The reason it is displayed at all, is because the flash memory does have a finite ability to store settings, albeit very high... thousands before a need to replace.

Joe, the front panel level indicator bouncing around with no audio is a bug. Normally it is the subwoofer indicator the bobbles up and down. Sorry, no fix for it at this time...

ken

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Ken Jacquart
Film Handler

Posts: 82
From: San Francisco, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-12-2000 11:13 AM

Joe,

I didn't completely answer your question about loss of sound at boot-up. Although there is a bug with the front panel level indicator (subwoofer bobble), your problem with loss of sound at boot-up may very well be the Cat. No. 675 card in the B-Chain EQ slot position. Call your dealer for a replacement card and this should fix it...

ken

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-12-2000 02:38 PM

Ken,
I have had the subwoofer bobble on only a handful of CP-500's. A few early ones did it, and a few later ones as well. But not all seem to do it. Can you elaborate on the subwoofer bobble for us.
Thanks,
Mark

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Ari Nordström
Master Film Handler

Posts: 283
From: Göteborg, Sweden
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 07-19-2000 03:39 PM

We have the subwoofer bobble thing every now and then, so we're quite used to it. It's not that big a deal. But more seldom, we also get another interesting display bug: when playing mono films, the left and right surround indicators sometimes come to life. Of course, no sound actually reaches the auditorium in those channels, but the visual effct is quite amusing, especially when you KNOW that what you see is simply impossible. The extra projectionists not used to the display bugs sometimes worry about this.

And even more rarely, every channel is infected, in which case the movements of the indicator bars become jerky and, well, unnatural. This, btw, can happen with any sound format. If SRD is running, the indicators can become totally untrustworthy (at least I doubt that the subwoofer will go from -10 dB to +10 dB in a nanosecond or so ), something that is easily confirmed when comparing them with the meters we use after the power amps.

A simple reboot has fixed these problems every time, btw, so I'm pretty sure it's a software problem.

Will there be a new version (newer than 1.61) to fix these, and perhaps other, problems?

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-19-2000 04:40 PM

One has to wonder if the small microprocessor in the 500 is almost on overload??? It can only do so much stuff.
Mark

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 07-19-2000 06:16 PM

I never trust the "level meters" on the CP500 display. I've seen it do some pretty funky things, regardless of what is actually going on. So I have learned to ignore it. Later revisions of the CP500 software seem to improve the performance of this, but I don't really use the meters anyway.

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