Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTS defaulting

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-12-2001, 06:22 PM:

I don't know if this has been previously addressed or not, but here goes:

The DTS logo and previews run fine, but DTS defaulted into SRA at the start of Harry Potter. It could not be brought back manually to DTS mode unless the disks were removed and re-inserted into the drives. This happened twice, once on me, and today it happened to the owner when he was acting like a projectionist.

The DTS is reading the time code as observed on the status window, and has nice bright steady green light on the reader head.

Bad drive? Bad disks? (DTS-AD unit.)

Any other thoughts?

Thanks

Paul

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 12-12-2001, 07:05 PM:

What model DTS player?

Is it a new player or been in service for a while?

Try moving the discs to different drives and see if the problem follows the disc or the drive. The SYSTEM light must be blinking or the DTS player will never play.

Be sure no audio cues are added to the film within timecode = that will screw us up.

Make sure automation does not switch us out by mistake. The DTS player sends one pluse to the CP to go to the DTS format. It does not poll the CP to see what format it is in.

Make sure to not cut off timecode at the beginning or at the end when splicing film together. If using leader, be sure to add in only black leader (that does not have timecode) doing otherwise can cause the DTS player to misplay.

Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-12-2001, 07:35 PM:

Thanks, Karen. I will verify your suggestions. It is a DTS6-AD unit. About 1 year old.

Posted by Keith Peticolas (Member # 971) on 12-12-2001, 09:33 PM:

Paul, I had pretty the same problem with Monsters Inc. Ended up being a bad disc. Technicolor replace within 2 days, problem went away. Good luck.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-12-2001, 09:46 PM:

Out of curiosity and for further clarification, is there anything (policy or sound logo) in between the attached trailer and the feature? Are there any cues, and where are they placed (beginning of policy, end of policy, etc)? It sounds to me like a drive is dying or there is an automation cue right at the point where the dts unit would normally pulse the processor to dts.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-12-2001, 11:36 PM:

Brad, it only did it twice. Once on Sunday, and once yesterday. Nothing else has changed, as far as previews or anything like that. It did not do it today, it functioned normally.

I'll have to check the unit (probably Saturday) and see what kind of drives are in that thing, as it is an older DTS6-AD unit.

I might use Karen's trick she discribed, and force the disks to run. Except for the two glitches, the DTS unit has been running almost perfectly.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-13-2001, 12:05 AM:

Did I miss something? Where did Karen tell of a way to "force the discs to run"???

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-13-2001, 12:37 AM:

Brad, it was in the tread "Tricking A DTS Unit"

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-13-2001, 03:10 AM:

Paul, that trick Karen told us of in the other thread won't help you determine the cause of your problem because it is forcing the discs to play without running film. (Unless I am still missing something.) Moving the discs around between drives and checking on your automation cues are definitely the first thing to try.

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 12-13-2001, 11:44 AM:

Paul,

Since it is a DTS-6AD, then please check the VERSIONS screen. If you have anything lower than:

CPU Version 1.06
DSP Controller 1.03
DSP Firmware 1.10

(CPU being the most important for your probl;em). Please let me know and I'll send you a free system upgrade disc. There was an bug on old 6AD software that would not allow the feature to play in DTS after trailers played in DTS.

If you do need the disc, please send me an email with shipping address and I'll send the disc.

Thanks, Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-13-2001, 06:44 PM:

Hi, Brad.

Oh, I don't know....if I can force it to run using Karen's method, maybe I can determine if I have a bad drive or disk, hopefully. It is just a shot in the dark.

I have the theater owner checking what version of firmware is in that unit now.

Paul

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 12-13-2001, 09:10 PM:

HMMM

"My" Potter drops out constantly the last 10 min's before intermission ( = last 10 mins of reel 5) - every second or so show !!
Timecode reader blinks all wild.
Same print - other screen - no trouble. -But it's this now and then business that confuses me.... Some shows running off platter, some off tower - and that's not the answer..

-------
Something quite different: Brad, if Your watching here. -You started helping me some few days ago with SRD beep-question - but now the topic has disappeared. -Would have liked to read Your wise words. -Topics normally doesn't go away like dts sound , do they...

(sorry, Karen - just kidding - i think You know how much i appreciate DTS)

Per

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-13-2001, 11:42 PM:

Karen, we are obsolete. Ours is CPU-1.04, DSP Controller 1.03, and DSP Firmware is 1.09.

I'll email you as to our shipping address.

Thank you.

Paul

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 12-14-2001, 12:10 AM:

Per - Your other topic is down on page 2 right now.

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 12-14-2001, 12:54 PM:

Per,

If one reel is having problems in one theater and not another - then it sounds to me that the reader is in need of recalibration.

You can try to turn the lateral adjustment on the reader (in the middle of the largest roller). Be careful when doing this though, you do not want to calibrate for one feature only to mess up the readibility of the next. The current readers have a "DO NOT REMOVE" sticker on them. This was done because we changed the design of the reader so that the len's slit was exactly the width of the alotted timecode area on the film. It is factory adjusted for that space. If the slit moves too far one way - it will hit picture, and if it is moved too far the other way - it will hit soundtrack. Either way, it will saturate the signal and you'll get drop-outs.

The green light on the reader should be bright and steady. It should not blinking "wildly" (as you menitoned it did for you). A blinking green LED is an unhappy LED. Keep your LED happy! ;-)

Seriously, though, a blinking LED is telling you something is wrong. Try adjusting the reader's lateral adjustment first. If that does not work and all films are having timecode reading problems (on this reader), then do a repair/exchange on the reader. If you choose to do this, contact your local DTS dealer.

Karen at DTS

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-15-2001, 03:19 PM:

Karen, as soon as I get the disk, I'll update the system.

I checked a couple of things today, and the DTS-6AD is equipped with TEAC drives. I swapped the Hairy Potter and the preview Disks around, and the DTS still flops back to SRA, so it is definately not a drive problem.

It would not pop back into digital when I tried manually. It only comes back into digital format when the disks are ejected and reloaded. Then, it will switch to the digital format automatically, and will remain in the correct format for the rest of the show.

This leads me to think it is not a disk problem.

The thing that bothers me is that this started recently. Since it started having this only recently, I am wondering if the update disk will correct the problem. Are there any other things I can check while I am waiting for the update disk?

Comments, anyone?

Paul

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 12-17-2001, 12:59 PM:

Paul,

You should be getting the System Disc at any time now and I believe it will fix the problem (unless your automation is switching back to SR - check that).

Karen at DTS

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-19-2001, 11:02 PM:

We kicked Harry Potter out of the theater, and now running Lord of the Rings, in DTS. We are not having any problems with the DTS defaulting.

The problem we were having with Harry Potter defaulting might have been caused by the disks.

Karen, the DTS upgrade software has not arrived as of today.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 12-20-2001, 09:08 AM:

A couple of suggestions....
Keep a can of "Dust-Off" (the compressed air stuff that they use for cleaning computers) around and blast the reader every once in a while to make sure there's no accumulated stuff in there.
If you have trouble with the disks, try burning a copy of them and try the copy. Sometimes it seems as though the originals are "weak" (?) Your computer cd burner may be more sensitive than the DTS drives and may write a more "potent" copy than the originals

------------------
Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut http://www.muellersatomics.com/

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 12-20-2001, 07:53 PM:

Your disc is coming Paul. If you do not get if by Friday, please call the office and speak to Stacey in customer service. Our telephone number toll free in USA is (800) 959-4109, or (818) 706-3525.

I'm on vacation starting now and will return Jan 2nd.

Karen at DTS

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-18-2002, 04:15 PM:

Karen, I installed the update you sent, and after a couple of weeks,it started to do the same thing. Any other suggestions?

Since it is a DTS-6AD, I have to install an analog sound system processor in order to pull the unit and have it serviced. In this theater, it is a big job.

Paul

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 02-19-2002, 01:21 PM:

Paul,

It is not necessary to send back the whole unit at this time. What I would do is get a DTS setup disc and check the switching of the unit. Check that it switches into digital and out to the various analog formats. Use a DS3 disc. If the disc works, then something external is switching out the DTS unit.

If you do not have a DS3 disc, please send me an email with your shipping address and I'll send you one free.

Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-19-2002, 04:15 PM:

Thank you, Karen. Your assistance is beyond reproach. The email has been sent.

Paul

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 02-19-2002, 07:26 PM:

Hi Paul,

I got your email but for some odd reason, my email back to you keeps getting kicked back. Any-who, I'm sending the disc. Please let me know what happens. I want to get your system running correctly.

And, thank you for the kind words! I appreciate it!

Karen at DTS

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-19-2002, 07:37 PM:

Karen, use shuttershaft@aol.com until I can figure out what the heck is going on. The other one should have worked as of today.

shuttershaft@aol.com will work for everyone on these forms. The others I use are for selected members only.