Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Upgrades for DTS-6 and DTS-6D

This is topic Upgrades for DTS-6 and DTS-6D in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 10-28-2003, 09:53 PM:

I have two of the DTS-6 units and I want to upgrade them one last time before parts disappear. These little fellas have *never* had an upgrade. I thought I would replace the caddy drives with drawers like the 6D and I'm wondering if there are any other chips, boards, etc that should change out at the same time. Are the CD drive upgrade kits still available?

As for the 6D units they are also the same as when I installed them. What, if anything, has been upgraded on those? Maybe this is why I cannot "trick" the 6D players into playing a disc without the film..?

In either case -- Don't they put little stickers on the ROM chips to tell you what version it is? What is the latest revision for these two DTS types?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-28-2003, 09:56 PM:

1.46 is the current version, and yes the drive upgrade kits are still available. With dts buying back people's dts6 units for $1000, they should have plenty of spare parts to continue to provide support for quite some time, so I wouldn't worry about upgrading anything except for the drives if they are giving you trouble. The firmware and everything you need comes in those kits.

dts6 #9005E19300
dts6-D #9005E19400

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 10-28-2003, 10:02 PM:

Thanks Brad -- how do I know if I've got the "good" drives in the DTS-6D? Weren't there two brands? One evil, one good?

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 10-28-2003, 10:03 PM:

If your unit has never been upgraded you will have to update U14 chip to v1.46 and remove the U12 chip from the timecode board. You will also be replacing the SCSI card and adding a board to the unit. It is pretty straight forward. I just updated a DTS 6D last week with new drives and new SCSI card.

the latest drives are CD-RW year I think was 2001 for production. most likely you have dated drives before that in the 6D

Manny these will be the drives they send you.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 10-28-2003, 11:28 PM:

Why the hell would they put CD-RW drives in a DTS playback unit?

The Toshibas were the crappy first drives in the 6D. The good ones are the Teac drives.

Posted by John Westlund (Member # 913) on 10-29-2003, 12:27 AM:

I just upgraded our 6D a couple months ago and the drives in the upgrade kit were CD-RW. I don't understand why. Maybe the regular cd-roms are in short supply now. [Confused]

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 10-29-2003, 02:00 AM:

You should still be able to get TEAC 32X CD-ROM drives on the net. The TCR IC v1.46 is, I think, available for free from dts. Of course, you have to check with them about that. It is only for timecode processing, but you should have this most recent version. Then you basically only need the SCSI board because the old one is too slow for the current drives. The board which holds the AQRM chip is only for compatibility with older movies. You may be able to get these components individually if you ask nicely.
There is a technote from dts which explains step-by-step how you install these components and there are even pictures! In color!!

I hear it is generally more and more difficult to get SCSI components these days. Some even say it`s on its way out. dts is working on an IDE upgrade. You might want to wait a little with upgrading your systems right now to see how this comes along.

[ 10-29-2003, 03:50 AM: Message edited by: Michael Schaffer ]

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 10-29-2003, 06:53 AM:

"dts is working on an IDE upgrade"

...for the DTS-6 or the 6D ?

I'm not sure I understand fully why CD-RW is such a bad idea. I know the DTS units are playback-only and so it seems like a simple waste of money but I'm wondering if there is perhaps some other issue...are CD-RW drives inferior to CD-ROM drives in some way? [Confused]

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 10-29-2003, 07:24 AM:

CD-RW? Do you mean that DTS is mounting rewritable (burner) units on their units?

I know that RW units are better to read also bad disks since they have the capability to increase laser power (since they are able to write...). But I also know that CDRW units are less reliable (MTBF) than CDR units since the laser head is heavier and more complex.

Bye
A

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-29-2003, 08:20 AM:

DTS had to supply R/W CD ROMS while the dock workers strike was on. They had thousands of TEAC drives sitting on a boat for a couple of months. The original caddy drives were the best of the lot. There are still many in service.

If you do the trade up to the new XD-10 keep your old TC reader and save another 750.00!! Just be sure the TC reader is still in GWO. A customer of ours just ordered 4 new XD units that way and saved even more.

Mark @ CLACO

Posted by Matthew Jaro (Member # 1786) on 10-29-2003, 09:49 AM:

I believe the problem is that the maximum speed drives that will work are 4x. This is why you cannot take any newer SCSI drives and have them work. Greg Mueller is up on all the details and he could probably give you a more accurate answer than I can.

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 10-29-2003, 11:17 AM:

matthew

I knew that DTS forces CD rom speed to increase reliability and MTBF of the units.

Mark,
What GWO means?

Bye
A

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-29-2003, 11:25 AM:

GWO = Good Working Order

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 10-29-2003, 02:58 PM:

Thanks John!
A

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 10-29-2003, 04:15 PM:

The IDE kit is for the 6D. It will probably also work in the 6, but that remains to be seen. I understand it will be available sometime early next year. I would wait until then and see if it works with the 6. If it doesn`t, you can still get the classic upgrade kits.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-29-2003, 06:51 PM:

Now I see what you were talking (in chat) about SCSI disappearing Mike.

SCSI CD-ROM drives are sometimes difficult to obtain since there are very few people that actually use them. Aside from the high end server market that doesn't support IDE devices, SCSI CD-ROM drives are the ill-conceived high priced alternative from the past.

With the data rates available from today's IDE devices, there's no disadvantage from a technical standpoint in DTS using IDE CR-ROM drives. Of course the cost is higher to convert existing units from SCSI to IDE than to just replace a SCSI drive with another SCSI drive, but manufacturing new DTS-6D units with IDE drives should be possible at less cost and hassle than using SCSI drives.

CD-RW drives were probably used because they are the most readily available drive, don't cost much more than straight CD-ROM drives, and have lower reading speeds which translates to a slower rotational speed, thus increasing disc readability.