IMB error

[Armand Daiguillon]

The errors I was getting were different from yours, although I got IMB marriage errors, they were always followed by 2 other errors as well.
In my case the issue was a small network cable (3rd one down) on the back plane module needed to be replaced - that fixed it.
Per what you have above it seems to indicate that "586" is front or side cover.
Personally i'd remove those switches (not completely, just so you can access them) spray some deoxit in them and see if that helps.
But it does seem to indicate its a switch issue for you.

[James Gardiner]

IMB, Side, Front tamper switches have been exercised. This has not cleared the error.
It looks like I will have to get a service visit and have the tampers tested and likely replaced.

But I cannot be sure.

The fact, the error cannot identify exactly which tamper could be faulty, and the error is nebulous in its cause. Makes me a little annoyed with the engineering in this projector.

[Armand Daiguillon]

IMB, Side, Front tamper switches have been exercised. This has not cleared the error.
It looks like I will have to get a service visit and have the tampers tested and likely replaced.

But I cannot be sure.

The fact, the error cannot identify exactly which tamper could be faulty, and the error is nebulous in its cause. Makes me a little annoyed with the engineering in this projector.

Not that this makes much sense, but when ive seen tamper errors apear in the log they don not have the switch number at first ....however if i looked at the log the next day you would see them in parenthesis after the error. But for some reason it didnt show them at the time. Check the logs and see if you can get any more info.

[James Gardiner]

@Armand, No nothing else has shown up. Have been doing a few log downloads after each attempt to repair. Nothing other then the 586 error is in the logs.

[Steve Guttag]

NEC seems to use both the NC and NO portions of their switches. So, you could get into a situation where a switch isn't claiming to have tripped...causing it to show a door tamper but isn't showing as cleared because the NO contact isn't making contact or has too much resistance for the minute current involved. It is a problem with using electromechanical switches in a RoHS (cadmium is no longer allowed) world while also working with extremely small current as used with microprocessors.

[Harold Hallikainen]

Yes, dry switching is difficult! I like using bifurcated gold cross point contacts. The low current in tamper switches is because the current has to be provided by the battery. In the later usl cms units, we ran higher current through the switches as a sealing current when main power was present and very low current when it was not. Even then, you have to use very low leakage diodes so the diode leakage does not drain the battery. Fun stuff!

[Leo Enticknap]

It's coincidental that this thread should be resurrected just now, because I've got a call tomorrow to an NC3240S that is playing silly buggers in a similar vein.

The story began in early December, when I went to this site to replace a DSS200/cat745 with an IMS3000. This is an arthouse, where they insist on powering off (as in, flipping the card cage power rocker switch to off) at the end of each night, and the projector is likely only on for 10-20 hours a week. The cat745 battery (pre-modification, CR2477N) was last replaced just before covid. I had advised them of the very high failure rate for battery replacement attempts, and the fact that Dolby can no longer re-cert this model of IMB, and successfully persuaded them to upgrade.

The IMS3000 simply would not marry to the projector. At the first call, I established the following (behavior after clearing the service door tamper, and configuring an entry for the projector in the IMS3000 and ensuring that "Certainty" appeared in the device manager after saving).

• If I deliberately entered an incorrect marriage username and password, DCC replied "Login failed," instantaneously.
• If I entered the correct marriage username and password, DCC thought about it for 10-15 seconds, then replied "Marriage attempt failed."

This says to me that the projector is accepting the username and password as being OK, but that it can't persuade the IMS3000 to accept whatever credentials it passes along.

When I put the old cat745 back in, it re-married first time without any problems or issues.

I worked this with Dolby and NEC, each of whom pointed their finger at the other (surprise surprise). It's been difficult to get back to the site, because both I and the customer have wanted a day in which the theatre is dark and we're not fighting a deadline to showtime. Thankfully, we have such a day tomorrow. Another stroke of good luck is that I have another IMS3000 to try. About a week after the first service call, the boot flash drive in the residence theater of a multi-millionaire bit the dust. Dolby were back ordered on replacements at that time (it was out of warranty, and so the part would have been a cash purchase), and so rather than wait an indeterminate time, the customer opted simply to buy a new IMS3000, which we had in stock. We gave this customer a trade-in discount on the old one, which was OK apart from the bad boot drive, which gave me the old one to use as a test unit, albeit one that will only boot from a USB.

I'm going to take it with me to the site tomorrow. If it marries to the NEC without argument, that will be pretty conclusive proof that we had a DOA IMS3000 last month. If it doesn't, and from the reports above, elsewhere, and from personal experience of Series 2 NECs not co-operating when it comes to tamper clearing and marrying, I have a nagging fear that it won't, I'm not sure where to go at that point. Just wondering if anyone has encountered anything similar, and can share a fix...

[Steve Guttag]

I have, on occasion had the issue where NEC refuses to marry an IMB. Don't ask me why...but the act of removing and reinstalling it has, on multiple occasions "fixed" the problem permanently (for that projector). Naturally, the IMB/IMS has to be configured properly for the NEC projector and all so that it speaks to it properly (right IPs and right make/model/resolution).

I've also had where the little nub of the face plate that presses in on the switch to not be sufficient and had to build it out (thinking it was on NC900s with the original NEC baged IMS1000s during the "Ticket to Digital" campaign). It was in perpetual door tamper. And that's it...both the projector and the IMB/IMS can claim door tamper. Also, if there is an Enigma still in there that can be the thing causing a marriage tamper even if the IMB/IMS is all married up.

[Leo Enticknap]

If there is an Enigma in the other option slot, the red tail light will remain if you don't marry it as well, but the tamper for the IMS will clear, you'll get four green SM lights, and it will play.

Anyways, thankfully, no marriage and family therapy was needed by the second IMS3000: it married to the projector first time and without a fight. So there is something wrong with the one this site received last month, and it's going back to Dolby.

Another gotcha with the NC3200 and 3240 card cage is that a wire for one of the tamper switches runs across the ceiling of the bottom option slot. There is one model of GDC (can't remember which: possibly the SX-4000) that will catch it and rip it on its way in if you're not super careful.