Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTS CD-Rom Drive Replacement

This is topic DTS CD-Rom Drive Replacement - Brands? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 02-15-2004, 11:27 PM:

I have been having problems lately with the bottom drive on our 2-Drive DTS6 unit. DTS seems to drop out intermittantly, yet pretty regular, when it is time for the movie to access content on the 2nd drive. Sometimes if I eject both disks and put them back in I can get it running again, and sometimes I can cycle power and when it comes back up it works, but most of the time it either refuses to eject the bottom disk, or I have to hit the eject button 20 or 30 times and wait up to 5 minutes for the disk to come out. I am pretty comfortable the drive has taken a dump.

Question is now, can I go out and purchase any good quality CD-ROm drive and slap it in this unit, or do I have to have a special one? I am thinking along the lines of whether or not todays modern EIDE interface drives are backward compatible with the "original" format interface that is on the unit... I haven't opened up the case yet and looked either, but the other possibility is that they are SCSI CD-Rom drives, which will really suck becaue those are still more expensive. The ones that are in there are caddy-style drives. I would probably replace the drive with a tray style just because that caddies are a pain in the ass. Our other DTS6 unit has tray-based CD-Rom drives.

I am sure it isn't the disks, and I have cleaned the heads.

Any information whould be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 02-15-2004, 11:56 PM:

As far as I know the drives are scsi drives and TEAC. I would see if you could obtain an upgrade kit from DTS. I don't know if they still offer the two drive up grade but I know they still have three drive kits. That way you can get all the required upgrades for you unit if it has not been upgraded. I don't advise mixing the drives.

Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 02-16-2004, 02:52 AM:

Darryl is quite correct in that the drives are scsi....

As with everything in the computer world you should be able to mix different manufactured drives built to the same standards.... but its not always that simple.

I would suggest that your other drive could well be approaching the same fate. In fact the top drive which is usually used the most will have done more hours than the bottom.

So save yourself the hassle and get the parts from DTS, if they still supply them. If not they will tell you what to source yourself.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-16-2004, 03:07 AM:

quote:
As with everything in the computer world you should be able to mix different manufactured drives built to the same standards.... but its not always that simple.

No. The DTS unit runs a DOS-based program. It reads the parameters of the first drive when it boots and uses it for all drives. So you might run into problems when you mix drives.

Rather wait just a little. DTS are working on an upgrade kit which will allow you to use any IDE CD-ROM drives. I don`t know when exactly it will come out, but it could be very soon.

Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 02-16-2004, 10:17 AM:

quote

================================================================
No. The DTS unit runs a DOS-based program. It reads the parameters of the first drive when it boots and uses it for all drives. So you might run into problems when you mix drives.
================================================================
YES!
The scsi card is in fact the cotroller which the drives talk to and intertaces with the motherboard and system bios. You can mix and match drives but as I've said while scsi is a standard as with all things computer some things are more equal than others. It has nothing to do with the operating system. Some drives will work fine togther some won't.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-16-2004, 04:53 PM:

No. That`s what the development engineers at DTS told me. I think they know better than you.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-16-2004, 04:53 PM:

Oops

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-16-2004, 05:37 PM:

I thought the original DTS-6 drives were 2X industrial units made by Toshiba.

At any rate, my understanding is you cannot simply swap out a SCSI CD-ROM drive for another. It just won't work (and that's provided if you can even find a SCSI-based CD-ROM drive at any retailer). I'm pretty sure you have to purchase a DTS CD-ROM upgrade kit from DTS or a DTS products supplier.

If DTS comes out with an IDE upgrade kit that might be pretty good (particularly if it has a significantly lower price). But wouldn't you have to replace all the CD-ROM drives to make them all IDE?

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-16-2004, 06:04 PM:

Yes, but most exhibitors have several units, so you could upgrade a number of units to IDE, then use the free SCSI drives to repair other units, then slowly go to IDE when these drives fail.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-16-2004, 06:38 PM:

Why would anyone want to switch from SCSI to IDE? Is it just a cost-saving issue or is there actually some advantage to IDE interfaces?

I have no idea if they work with DTS units, but Plextor is generally considered to be the best brand of SCSI CD drives. I've had nothing but good experiences with their products.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-16-2004, 06:59 PM:

Don,
Thats an ancient DTS unit that I installed for Jurassic Park! You need to do a complete upgrade on it for newer drives to work. The original caddy drives are either 2X or 4X drives and the new ones will be at least 32X drives. There are extra new PCB's included with the upgrade that are ecessary to de-clock the data comming into the computer to the 4X rate. If these cards are not installed you will have no playback at all and I doubt the computer will even recognize the drives are there. Other things such as the Time Code firmware get upgraded at the same time.

One last thing you need to do is to take the cover off the front of the Time Code reader(4 small allen head screws) and verify that there is a little adjustment potentiometer in there. If there isn't you should also do a reader repair/exchange at the same time. This will ensure probably another 5 or more years of operation from the unit.

Its also advisable to check the power supply fan and my SOP is to install a new fan in the power supply at the same time. These are less than 10 bucks. A dead fan over time will cause the supply to run VERY hot and you'll end up with a dead unit. This indeed could be causing your very problem!!

The DTS upgrade kit is worth the very reasonable price that dts charges for it!! Since they will only be supporting these units till June the upgrade is a good idea. After that you'd have to buy a three drive upgrade or order the parts seperately....Natasha hates getting those seperate parts orders [thumbsdown]

.

Mark @ CLACO

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 02-17-2004, 12:22 PM:

To go along with Mark G's post, It's possible/probable that the DTS vent holes are full of dirt.
Fan is caked as well, so no ventilation is occuring and causing overheating. I'd vote for a fan replacement as well while your at it.