Keeping the equipment going during a shutdown

[Marcel Birgelen]

Dolby furnished the instructions for using the DSP100 in place of the Cat.862, were that to fail. Actually it's more like the DSS200 substitutes for the DSS100 but potato potahto.

Great to know you managed to get this even going. I agree with Mark, but maybe you should first ask Dolby if you're allowed to shared their instructions, even though this is hardly a supported configuration...

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Atta Boy Steve! You should post the video...

[Steve Kraus]

Dolby furnished the instructions for using the DSP100 in place of the Cat.862, were that to fail. Actually it's more like the DSS200 substitutes for the DSS100 but potato potahto.

First, I put in an alt set of drives for the DSS200 and loaded the system, just in case I messed things up. Connected up the DSP100 and followed the directions. Instead of "Searching for Showstore" the DSP said "connecting." But it hung on that. I played around with config and rebooting but no change. I thought the issue was the connection between boxes. Then I noticed that the DSP100 could see content on the DSS200 and other 200-related info I realized it was the projector connection it was referring to. More rebooting and general fooling around and in the end, given that I had a nearly empty RAID and thus nothing to lose, I reloaded the system again. Didn't think that would help since it seemed to make no change to the DSP100. Probably unnecessary but in the end everything connected and I could play content. So I do have a working backup for the Cat.862. Now to get the DSS100 running again and I will have a full backup server. One less concern.

[Leo Enticknap]

The biggest problem I've had with the SX-3000 has been when end users try the battery swapout themselves, and the rubber plugs are stuck hard both to the top of the batteries and the bar holding them in place. They undo the screws holding the bar down, pull the bar up, both batteries come with it, and then it's time for some R-rated language (especially if the SX-3000 is not in warranty). After hearing the second report of this I have always pressed down on both batteries with my fingers as I remove the bar, and have emphasized as strongly as I can to any end user who wants to try replacing the batteries, that they need to do likewise.

All of the incidents I've heard about where this has happened have been with the Tadiran batteries. Dunno if this is also a risk with the GDC IMBs that take CR2354s: I've never encountered one in the flesh.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

The funny thing was I had that SX-3000 fail before GDC even knew what the battery life was. They covered that one under warranty anyway. I always went by 3 years once we all knew about it, because some theaters only got one visit per year and that might take it a little beyond the three year point. Never had one brick after that first unit did... They told me they were going to build a battery level meter into the SR-1000, but it does not look like that ever happened. ...

[Leo Enticknap]

Also, I'm interested in how one would use a DSP100 in place of the Cat.862.

Dolby have a cheat sheet to walk you through it. It has "Confidential - do not pass it around" footers on it, so I don't feel comfortable uploading it here; but I'm sure they would send it to you if you emailed them. Essentially, you either need to configure the DSS200 to use whatever is the DSP100's existing IP address for the link data NIC (i.e. override the cat862 default), or configure the DSP100 to use whatever is the DSS200 to cat862 default. And of course, you'll also be limited to 24 frames per second CPLs, because that is the only frame rate that the DSP100 can play.

Mark - it's in GDC tech bulletin #126. It cites a "reasonable usage" life of 3.5 years, and a "shelf life" of 1.5 years (i.e. 18 months). Given that during the shutdown, it is essentially on the shelf, I put the 18-month figure in that table put together around this time last year.

[Steve Kraus]

Given how things were going even before the pandemic, the business may never return! We had a good run.

[Carsten Kurz]

Steve, I think the CAT 862 is safe if you power up the whole system once a month for 2 days (two days for the enigma board). The CAT862 batteries are not at risk so quickly. They WILL die at some time though, wether or not you power the server 24/7 or not. But that could be another 5 years or so. Every battery will die a natural death at some time, be it rechargeable or not.

Yes, the projector has more than one battery. Currently, only the rechargeable Enigma cert battery is critical.


You probably will lose one or more of these boards within the next 5 years. Battery, or some other component failure.

I don't think it's necessary to keep everything powered 24/7. That said, I guess you'll be back in business within the next 1-2 months anyway.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Thanks Elia. For ease of reference, here is an updated version in table form:

Barco Alchemy ICMP (all variants)	CR2477N	Manufacturer recommends every five years.	No software nag when change is due.
Dolby DSP100	Rechargeable	Unknown; recommend powering up for 24 hours monthly	Battery is on the board; not field replaceable.
Dolby cat862	Rechargeable	Unknown; recommend powering up for 24 hours monthly	Battery is on the board; not field replaceable.
Dolby cat745	CR2477N & CR2032	Manufacturer recommends every eight years.	If IMB has been repaired by Dolby, it may have an AA-sized lithium battery soldered on the board. This has a design life of 10 years and is not user replaceable. Software nag on later Show Manager versions, based on voltage.
Dolby IMS2000/3000	Rechargeable	Manufacturer recommends powering up for 60 hours every six months if the IMS is unused and in storage.	Battery is on the board; not field replaceable.
Doremi Dolphin (older Doremi servers)	CR1220	Manufacturer recommends every four years.	Software nag, but only accurate if the last battery swapout was entered into the log.
Doremi IMB	BR3032	Manufacturer recommends every four years.	Software nag, but only accurate if the last battery swapout was entered into the log.
Enigma board	Rechargeable	Unknown; recommend powering up for 24 hours monthly	No software nag.
GDC SX-3000	2 x Tadiran TL-2450	Manufacturer recommends every 18 months.	GDC will ship you a battery set free of charge on request if the unit is in warranty. No software nag.
Series 2 ICP Real Time Clock	BR2330	Manufacturer recommends every five years. The ICP will not be bricked if it dies, but you will not be able to play DCI content until you replace it and reset the clock.	The certificate battery has a design life of 10 years and is not field replaceable. When it dies, you need a new ICP.
USL CML-2200 IMS	CR2477N and CR2032	Unknown, but board chassis (and replacement procedure) is the same as Dolby cat745.	Unknown if there is any software nag.

Leo, When did GDC switch changing SX-3000 batteries to every 18 Months? I did them every three years. I had one unit brick at 4 years and three days. So I switched to three years to play it safe.

[Steve Kraus]

Just to clarify, I power the projector several hours each week, not per month. It was the DSS200 that I was doing a month on a couple months off. What do you think of pulling the HDs (while powered down), then powering up to keep the Cat862 powered? I presume whatever horror story the BIOS says can be ignored. Then in the future power down, pop the drives back in, and reboot. Hopefully even a weak batter can cover 20-30 seconds without power.

I'm a little confused. Are there TWO things in the projector or just one?

Also, I'm interested in how one would use a DSP100 in place of the Cat.862. Some years back I purchased a DSS/DSP100 to keep around as a backup. I tested it and it ran fine and I even made a tiny encrypted DCP & key to test that aspect and it was good. Then after a long time the DSS would no longer boot. This was the subject of a separate thread but in short, it was the motherboard battery. After repair I could not get it to run. I tried blanking all HDs & the SSD and reloading the system but it never got it to load the system. Tested the optical drive; verified the CD, etc. I believe it's just the BIOS settings that are wrong. Eventually I put it aside.

So as a media block, how would that work? Ethernet from DSS200 to DSP100 and dual link SDI to projector obviously. Does one reload the system and hope it sees the new media block? I'd be willing to pop in four different drives to try this out. But maybe the 100 has lost its cert by now.

[Leo Enticknap]

If the Enigma dies, it can be replaced; if the cat862 dies, it likely can't. A six-year old battery will likely not be able to hold as much charge as a new one. That having been said, I recently powered up a DSS200 that was originally purchased and installed in 2013, and had been off for 11 months (March 2020 to February 2021). The cat862 was OK, but the Enigma in the projector was bricked.

My advice would be to budget to replace the DSS200 and Enigma card with an IMS as soon as you are able, and to leave both the server and projector (with the lamp off, obviously) powered up 24/7 until then. You have two single points of failure in your system, one of which (the cat862) is completely unsupported, and very likely irreplaceable. We occasionally get DSS200s (and DSP100s, which can be used as the media block component for a DSS200 in place of the cat862) in part exchange for an upgrade deal and are able to refurbish them and sell them on, but obviously cannot guarantee that we'd have one when you need one. Doubtless other cinema equipment dealers are in the same boat.

[Carsten Kurz]

If you follow Dolbys guidelines, you should be okay. The battery setup for the CAT862 seems to be able to survive prolonged shutdowns.
https://dolby.app.box.com/v/Dolby-Pr...uring-Shutdown


The biggest risk in your setup currently probably is the Enigma/LD board in the projector.
https://desk.zoho.com/portal/totalci...nce-sheet-ver1

Note that the enigma/LD board needs about 48hrs to be fully charged - so, a few hours every month is not sufficient. And for old equipment, I wouldn't count on the initial 6months capacity.


For the ICP cert battery, there is not much you can do currently. It will probably live another 2-4 years I guess.

[Steve Kraus]

Resurrecting this threat as we approach the one year mark. Still nearly closed.

Screening room with NEC1200C. Dolby DSS200 with Cat. 862 media block. Dual link SDI.

When the pandemic started I laboriously installed a relay setup to get power to the projector electronics and a contactor to feed power to the lamp supply, both controlled by one of those internet remote outlets so I could get power to the projector remotely. The idea was to be able to remote in weekly and power up the projector (sans lamp) for a few hours. In actuality, after the first few months I've been stopping by weekly or every other week and watching something off Blu-ray or streaming.

Back in the day while the projector was run as needed the server stayed on 24/7 as that's better for the drives (plus I was uploading keys and setting up shows from home). With the pandemic, I shut it down but would occasionally power it up for a few weeks at a time. I had to do a repair / exchange on the Cat. 862 in July 2014. I would presume Dolby puts new batteries on them. So they are now 6.5 years old. Now that these units are not supported at all, what is my best course of action? Leave it powered all the time other than for the every-few-months reboot (hopefully even waning batteries can cover it for 30 seconds)? Power cost is not a factor.

Could I pull the drives and leave the hardware powered for the sake of the Cat.862 batteries?

Also, I still have not done the ICMP battery. I suppose I should. Projector was built in 2012.

[Peter Foyster]

Thanks Mike.

I changed settings as per your advice and had them talking to each other in less than ten minutes.

I did get an NTP WARNING on Server 1 when I changed it to TMS. I previously set 192.168.1.2 as the configured NTP server on server two and it now syncs to Server one.

Server one has always shown the NTP configured server as 192.168.241.2 but I don't know what address that refers to. There is no NTP connected server. There is no external NTP server as I do not have a permanent internet connection. So I assume that I need to manually set the NTP server address to the Theatre interface address of server 1.

Prior to setting up the second DSS100, Server 1's current secure time display in the auditorium tab was accurate to the exact second and secure time update was enabled. I have no idea where it got the exact time from as I never set it or connected it to an external NTP server. it would be interesting to know where it got the time from. After connecting the second server the current secure time on server 1 became unavailable.

[Mike Renlund]

Sounds like a good plan.

As to the second server being set to 192.168.241.100, that is probably because the default base address has been changed. Run the config script and move through until you get to the networking settings section.

You should see that you are in AUTO for most of these settings. Scroll down to "13 Advanced configuration" and press enter. On the advanced page check the following to ensure they are at default:

2 Internal base address [192.168.0.0] <this is where I think someone might have put an incorrect value>
4 External base address [192.168.241.0] <this is where I think someone might have put an incorrect value of 192.168.241.100, which is why you are seeing that address>

These two values tell the AUTO setting where to start. The number here would be the first value for auditorium 1, then auditorium 2's IP addresses would increment up by 1.

If you have 2 and 4 correctly set as I've shown above, then you know what the IP addresses are going to be. You could also just change from AUTO to manually set addresses which would not use the base address info at all

Our team is able to help if you need it. CinemaSupport@dolby.com or 1-415-645-4900.

Mike