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Author Topic: Dolby DSS-200 power supplies Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-22-2017 07:31 AM                        I've got a bit of a puzzler on my hands. Customer emailed me yesterday, reporting that attempting to ingest into his DSS200 repeatedly fails when doing so through the front panel (cat915Z) USB jacks, or the CRU bay, but is OK and reliable using a CRU to USB sleeve adapter hooked to one of the USB jacks at the back. That same adapter hooked to a front USB jack ingests glitchily. He further reports that cold rebooting the server makes front end USB ingestion (CRU or USB) OK "for two or three times," then the failures to see a drive, or seeing the drive but the ingest stalling midway or failing verification, start again. My first thought was heat cycling breaking connections (given that the SATA cable for the CRU reader and the USB header cable are cable tied together and take the same route through the middle of the case), but it would be a big coincidence for both to work loose at the exact same moment. However, this thread has me wondering about the PSUs, given that the USB jacks at the back are directly on the motherboard, whereas the SATA and extension USB jacks presumably take their power from another rail. When I can finally get there, I think I'll test the voltage that these two components are receiving. I wonder if the cold rebooting making things OK for a little while is because that recharges a capacitor in the PSU that is just starting to fail. I've known both 5.25" SATA CRU bays, and cat915Z boards to go bad, but not both at the same time.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-22-2017 08:16 AM                     IF the USB or CRU are removed while it is "reading" with the red flashing icon, then that port will cease to read until a reboot. Furthermore, the CRU driver in the DSS line is a bit wanting. It can "quit" and refuse to see any CRU drives until rebooted. I've tried working with Dolby on it but it is so random that it has proven to be very elusive. The same has not been experienced with the USB. I wonder if the USB port(s) have been damaged at all. We've changed MANY out due to people breaking things off in them.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-24-2017 03:11 PM                        Also, if you unlatch and pull a CRU without pressing the dismount button and waiting until the blue light goes out, that can also lock up the CRU driver until the server is rebooted, too. I think this is something to do with whatever driver is in the Dolby software package that makes the SATA interface plug-and-play for the CRU reader. The plug-and-play function only works reliably if you plug and unplug following the exact procedure. The problem my customer is experiencing is that ingests through the CRU or cat915Z boards will suddenly say "failed" midway through the ingest, or during the verification afterwards. He is certain that this behavior started on both interfaces at the same time, but that ingestion through the rear USB jacks remains unaffected. Hoping to get there within the next week or two to check it out, if he decides to book a service call. I suspect that they might decide to live with it until we're next there for planned maintenance, though (unless ingestion through the rear end goes flaky, too).  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 12-24-2017 04:03 PM                    I popped a drive in the DSS200 "oven" the other day and despite various flashing lights on the bay, the drive was never recognized. I thought maybe I'd been sent a bad drive but I got out the cap, P/S, and cables and connected via USB (front panel) and it was fine. Tried a known good CRU drive and again, not recognized. I started worrying that my ingest bay was failing. I rebooted the server and then it was fine. I don't recall anything about the prior use of the bay that could have caused it to lock up. I do not push any button to remove a drive; I make sure all copying has completely before pulling it. It has not been an issue before.  |  IP: Logged Ioannis Syrogiannis Expert Film Handler Posts: 147 From: Reykjavík, Iceland Registered: Jun 2005 posted 01-02-2018 02:51 PM                     quote: Leo Enticknap The problem my customer is experiencing is that ingests through the CRU or cat915Z boards will suddenly say "failed" midway through the ingest, or during the verification afterwards. If the failure takes place during the verification, the issue doesn't have to do with the USB or CRU connectivity, since no connection to the DCP source is needed for it. It might be a mistake in an overzealous report you received, but it might indicate another problem source as well...  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-03-2018 04:37 PM                     The front USB port on many aging servers may have experienced a lot of mechanical stress and thus may show spurious connection problems. Replacing these sockets, or using the back ports, is advisable. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-04-2018 10:52 PM                        quote: Ioannis Syrogiannis It might be a mistake in an overzealous report you received... Ordinarily I'd agree, but I've known the guy in question for several years, and he doesn't tend to make that sort of mistake. Anyways, he must have decided to live with it until either we're there for planned maintenance, or rear end ingestion goes flaky, too, because I haven't heard anything from him since.  |  IP: Logged Peter Fagan Film Handler Posts: 17 From: Letterkenny, donegal, Ireland Registered: Aug 2012 posted 01-08-2018 05:10 AM                        I have 4 DSS200 with the original power supplies still working away.Thankfully none have gone down on me yet. The cp750 on the other hand i had one power supply go on me within 8 months of it being installed. Before we upgraded the back 4 screens to cp750 i was using DMA8's in the screens. The Dma8 has the same power supply as the cp750 so it was only a matter of a quick swap to get it back up & running again.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-08-2018 07:56 AM                        The CP750 power supply unit is a known issue. Dolby issued a service bulletin a couple of years ago. The problem is a variable resistor, that is pretty easy to replace. There is a document with full instructions on the CP750 page on dolbycustomer.com, and I'll email it to Brad to put in the warehouse. EDIT - just looked at it (after emailing Brad) and seen that it's labeled confidential, do not duplicate without permission, etc. Presumably Dolby only want registered users of their support site to have access to it. Brad's call as to whether he thinks it would be a problem to post it here: if not, you'll need to register on dolbycustomer.com.  |  IP: Logged

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