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Topic: Dead DSS100

Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 10-29-2017 04:42 AM

Steve and Stephan are right. However if you are confident the RAID is still there and you want to try and keep the content, you may want to try an upgrade first. Failing that, you'll have to use an INSTALL disk.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-29-2017 11:30 AM

This is VERY similar to a problem I had with a DSS-100 minus the won't boot up part. Because mine would boot Dolbly diagnosed the issue from the logs as a bad RAID Card... which of course they had none of even though this DSS-100 was a mere two yeas old and the DSS-200 had just been released aound this time. This really pissed the customer off and we replaced that server with a new GDC because we had to get the screen back up, pronto. This lack of parts on Dolbly's behest caused the customer to abandon all his Dolby's at all his sites when we did his full digital conversions, most weren't even five years old. I was always going to try to find the equivalent off the shelf RAID card which it for sure was... probably made by LSI I believe... or a company that was bought out by them, but what for and why bother? They all became door stops almost overnight.

Mark

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 10-29-2017 12:29 PM

Doesn't the DSS100 use a generic 3Ware card, available OTS (or at least, used on Ebay if that model is no longer in production)? The 200 certainly does, because I once replaced the one in a 200 with an 8-drive variant of the same model, a few years ago when I needed around 10TB of usable RAID space for a bunch of festivals in succession, and drives bigger than 2TB were eye-wateringly expensive. The installer reflashed the firmware in the new card after it went in, but after that everything worked perfectly, and, as far as I'm aware, still does.

Just one other thought on Steve's DSS100 install woes, adding more detail to Marco's point above: if you're trying to install the software on a system with more than one RAID drive problematic, are you sure that you're using a "clean install" version of the ISO, and not an updater? I'm not sure that an updater would work in that scenario. The updater ISOs are available for download from dolbycustomer.com, but you have to open a support ticket and ask them for a clean install ISO. I suspect that Dolby does this because the clean install doesn't give you any last chance "Are you sure you want to nuke your entire RAID, and your config script settings, and make your server as if it's new from the factory?" question. As soon as it starts to boot from the stick or disc, it's unstoppable. So Dolby probably want to check that anyone who receives a clean install ISO is made fully aware of what will happen if they use it.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-29-2017 05:32 PM

I suspect at least partial BS on Mark's part (he does it a lot). Dolby has ALWAYS supported their products, at least, 3-years past discontinuation. Since he identifies the DSS100 as under that time, Dolby would have had what it took to get him going again.

The reason I say partial BS is that there WAS a brief period where RX was reserved for just products under warranty. They then extended it to other "mission critical" products (like a server) but it would be a 2-step in that they would supply an advance replacement that works. You send yours in for a repair/return, you then send the loaner back. While certainly a cumbersome process, the end result would be a working server.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 10-29-2017 10:08 PM

Dolby is, sometimes at least, willing to be flexible on that. I had a cat745 go bad a couple of months ago. They shipped a loaner and we returned the deceased one: I asked if they'd be willing to keep that one after they fixed it and put it back into their loaner stock, to avoid the theater having to register new certificates with distributors a second time and re-KDM all their shows, and, kudos to Dolby, they agreed.

Incidentally, the one they sent us did not have the same battery arrangement as the one that went bad. Instead of the dual CR2477N/CR2032 battery holders, there was a single supercap on the same place on the board. Presumably they're modifying them as such whenever one goes back for repair.

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 10-30-2017 12:02 AM

I will verify the readability of the two CDs on a PC. Both have been used successfully in the past. .9 when I installed larger drives on the 200 and .13 after a Cat.862 replacement had newer software that would not work with .9.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-30-2017 02:12 PM

quote: Steve Guttag
Since he identifies the DSS100 as under that time, Dolby would have had what it took to get him going again.

Nope, unfortunately they did not have the board. Nor were they very interested in trying to find a substitute.

Mark

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-30-2017 03:37 PM

Again, Dolby supports their products for at least 3-years after discontinuation. What you say conflicts with that.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-30-2017 04:12 PM

Thats nice n all Steve, but sadly... this time they could not. I would not be one to set aside an expensive piece of my customers gear for no legitimate reason.

Here Steve is Norm's first reply to that issue.... Yes, I save many interesting emails.

"Hi Mark,

There are no logs attached to this email.

But what you describe appears to be a lack of through put of traffic via the raid controller card.

I would suspect this card also from not seeing the logs yet, though we don’t replace the Raid card in the DSS100. And you would mostly likely have to get the DSS100 RXO’d.

Send the logs and we will try to look at them sometime today.

Thanks,

Norm"

The logs were sent in the second email and they confirmed it was indeed the card. Now we could have send the unit in and they could have replaced it... That's just stupid. RAID cards are very easy to install. No one sends servers back for repair, it is done no site or replaced... which we did. How long would the theater have been off screen waiting on them? My customer chose not to wait as his site could not afford to be down a screen for a week to ten days.

Mark

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-30-2017 04:24 PM

That's YOUR claim.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-30-2017 07:21 PM

Not my claim. Norm's statement.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-30-2017 07:29 PM

I usually don't find myself agreeing with Mark and not with you but I had a similar issue at the same time frame with Dolby offering no solution but to send a loaner DSS200 all the way to Hobbs, NM, repair the original unit and return it. I got some higher up involved and they allowed the theatre to keep the loaner, but there was a time where the service was not as good as it once was and has significantly improved since that "dark" time.

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James Falloon
Film Handler

Posts: 72
From: Wigram, Christchurch, New Zealand
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 10-31-2017 06:17 AM

Boys, to get back to the topic, I had a similar problem on a Qube server (also a supermicro) - after it lost its CMOS settings it defaulted the SATA ports to IDE mode - instead of AHCI (needed for hot swapping of cru drive etc). after changing the settings in the BIOS back to AHCI we were back booting again.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-31-2017 06:48 AM

Hold on a second; Mark essentially backed up what I had said and showed that he twisted his response.

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
bad RAID Card... which of course they had none of even though this DSS-100 was a mere two yeas old

It isn't that Dolby couldn't repair the server or that they had no parts to repair the server, as implied, but that they had no parts for sale. Dolby has taken the policy what after EOL discontinuation to pull the parts and reserve them for repairs to ensure they can support the product for 3-years after discontinuation.

My response:

quote: Steve Guttag
I suspect at least partial BS on Mark's part (he does it a lot). Dolby has ALWAYS supported their products, at least, 3-years past discontinuation. Since he identifies the DSS100 as under that time, Dolby would have had what it took to get him going again.

The reason I say partial BS is that there WAS a brief period where RX was reserved for just products under warranty. They then extended it to other "mission critical" products (like a server) but it would be a 2-step in that they would supply an advance replacement that works. You send yours in for a repair/return, you then send the loaner back. While certainly a cumbersome process, the end result would be a working server.

Mark asserts:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Nope, unfortunately they did not have the board. Nor were they very interested in trying to find a substitute.

.

I reassert that Dolby supports discontinued products for 3-years but Mark counters that they could not.

I'll admit that I did not see (either it was added later or it didn't load on my browser the first time the cut/paste of Norm's contribution) but again, he backs my case and debunks Mark's.

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
The logs were sent in the second email and they confirmed it was indeed the card. Now we could have send the unit in and they could have replaced it.

Thereby admitting that the server could be sent back and repaired with the not-in-Dolby's-possession card.

I won't dispute the absurdity of sending back an entire server to replace one card and even noted the dark period where that was indeed the Dolby position and I'm one of (I presume many) that lobbied for "mission critical" devices to have advance replacements available. The fact remains, the server was repairable 2-years after it was discontinued. And since you are so fond of touting the value of Extended Warranties on servers, had he had an extended warranty on the DSS100, at the time (you could purchase warranty to extend it up to 5-years), the RXO program would have been in full force too.

Note too, Dolby techs will tell you which off-the-shelf parts are in the servers. I had a RAID card in a DSS200 become "questionable" in its performance. I sourced it through normal computer supply means. Rarely is a cinema manufacturer going to be the cheap source for standard parts. Furthermore, the RAID card I sourced was the older 3WARE to match what was in there (worked like a charm, by the way).

There is a big difference in the claim that Dolby didn't have the part or couldn't fix a 2-year old server and that they were not selling discrete parts for a discontinued product in order to ensure they had parts to fulfill their obligation for repairing units. There are people that keep spare systems, including servers and would prefer just shipping the whole thing back and getting it factory serviced. Our sites that had DSS100/DSP100s now use them as the emergency spare and are no longer using them 24/7.

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Stephan Shelley
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 854
From: castro valley, CA, usa
Registered: Nov 2014

posted 11-01-2017 04:44 PM

The RAID card are standard and available online.3ware 9550SXU-4LP card.Install or upgrade disk will install new firmware on it if needed.

BTW do not confuse the USB CD at the very bottom of the list with the IDE CD/DVD ROM Boot item 4.

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