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Author Topic: Upgrades for DTS-6 and DTS-6D Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-28-2003 09:53 PM                     I have two of the DTS-6 units and I want to upgrade them one last time before parts disappear. These little fellas have *never* had an upgrade. I thought I would replace the caddy drives with drawers like the 6D and I'm wondering if there are any other chips, boards, etc that should change out at the same time. Are the CD drive upgrade kits still available? As for the 6D units they are also the same as when I installed them. What, if anything, has been upgraded on those? Maybe this is why I cannot "trick" the 6D players into playing a disc without the film..? In either case -- Don't they put little stickers on the ROM chips to tell you what version it is? What is the latest revision for these two DTS types?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 10-28-2003 09:56 PM                     1.46 is the current version, and yes the drive upgrade kits are still available. With dts buying back people's dts6 units for $1000, they should have plenty of spare parts to continue to provide support for quite some time, so I wouldn't worry about upgrading anything except for the drives if they are giving you trouble. The firmware and everything you need comes in those kits. dts6 #9005E19300 dts6-D #9005E19400  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-28-2003 10:02 PM                     Thanks Brad -- how do I know if I've got the "good" drives in the DTS-6D? Weren't there two brands? One evil, one good?  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 10-28-2003 10:03 PM                    If your unit has never been upgraded you will have to update U14 chip to v1.46 and remove the U12 chip from the timecode board. You will also be replacing the SCSI card and adding a board to the unit. It is pretty straight forward. I just updated a DTS 6D last week with new drives and new SCSI card. the latest drives are CD-RW year I think was 2001 for production. most likely you have dated drives before that in the 6D Manny these will be the drives they send you.  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-28-2003 11:28 PM                     Why the hell would they put CD-RW drives in a DTS playback unit? The Toshibas were the crappy first drives in the 6D. The good ones are the Teac drives.  |  IP: Logged John Westlund Expert Film Handler Posts: 204 From: Burney, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 10-29-2003 12:27 AM                     I just upgraded our 6D a couple months ago and the drives in the upgrade kit were CD-RW. I don't understand why. Maybe the regular cd-roms are in short supply now.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-29-2003 02:00 AM                        You should still be able to get TEAC 32X CD-ROM drives on the net. The TCR IC v1.46 is, I think, available for free from dts. Of course, you have to check with them about that. It is only for timecode processing, but you should have this most recent version. Then you basically only need the SCSI board because the old one is too slow for the current drives. The board which holds the AQRM chip is only for compatibility with older movies. You may be able to get these components individually if you ask nicely. There is a technote from dts which explains step-by-step how you install these components and there are even pictures! In color!! I hear it is generally more and more difficult to get SCSI components these days. Some even say it`s on its way out. dts is working on an IDE upgrade. You might want to wait a little with upgrading your systems right now to see how this comes along. [ 10-29-2003, 03:50 AM: Message edited by: Michael Schaffer ]  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-29-2003 06:53 AM                     "dts is working on an IDE upgrade" ...for the DTS-6 or the 6D ? I'm not sure I understand fully why CD-RW is such a bad idea. I know the DTS units are playback-only and so it seems like a simple waste of money but I'm wondering if there is perhaps some other issue...are CD-RW drives inferior to CD-ROM drives in some way?  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-29-2003 07:24 AM                        CD-RW? Do you mean that DTS is mounting rewritable (burner) units on their units? I know that RW units are better to read also bad disks since they have the capability to increase laser power (since they are able to write...). But I also know that CDRW units are less reliable (MTBF) than CDR units since the laser head is heavier and more complex. Bye A  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-29-2003 08:20 AM                     DTS had to supply R/W CD ROMS while the dock workers strike was on. They had thousands of TEAC drives sitting on a boat for a couple of months. The original caddy drives were the best of the lot. There are still many in service. If you do the trade up to the new XD-10 keep your old TC reader and save another 750.00!! Just be sure the TC reader is still in GWO. A customer of ours just ordered 4 new XD units that way and saved even more. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Matthew Jaro Film Handler Posts: 74 From: Gaithersburg, MD, USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-29-2003 09:49 AM                        I believe the problem is that the maximum speed drives that will work are 4x. This is why you cannot take any newer SCSI drives and have them work. Greg Mueller is up on all the details and he could probably give you a more accurate answer than I can.  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-29-2003 11:17 AM                        matthew I knew that DTS forces CD rom speed to increase reliability and MTBF of the units. Mark, What GWO means? Bye A  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-29-2003 11:25 AM                        GWO = Good Working Order  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-29-2003 02:58 PM                        Thanks John! A  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-29-2003 04:15 PM                        The IDE kit is for the 6D. It will probably also work in the 6, but that remains to be seen. I understand it will be available sometime early next year. I would wait until then and see if it works with the 6. If it doesn`t, you can still get the classic upgrade kits.  |  IP: Logged

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