Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTS-6D Playback System

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Posted by Thomas Moore (Member # 3427) on 01-19-2008, 09:46 PM:

does anyone know the AVERAGE life span of the original cd-roms. I've been running them 4-5 showtimes daily for 9 years and now having problems with them cutting in and out of DTS. Thanks.

Tom

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-19-2008, 10:06 PM:

With that much usage, 9 years is way higher than average from what I've seen.

BTW: If you purchase a replacement drive kit, it'll use a regular IDE DVDROM. So if those die, they could be replaced with any old IDE drive.

And there's also the option of using the same IDE-SCSI bridge as is used with the drive kit, plus purchasing your own drives. But in that case you'd have to find yourself replacement firmware for yourself (depending on which motherboard version you've got that would be the upgrade CD or an new ROM board chip).

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-19-2008, 10:24 PM:

I still have one DTS-6 running with the original caddy drives... tool'n along just fine. I think however you have seen a normal lifespan out of yours. I reccomend the latest upgrade kit that uses DVD drives... these are off the shelf IDE type DVD drives and if one fails just peel the SCSI bridge card off the failed unit and stick it on the new Wal-Mart DVD drive and keep on goin. At that age I also replace the AT style power supply at the same time. That many years is also pushin that a bit. BTW: The firmware on the ROM Card is different so you need that too. The card itself is however the same one .

Mark

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-20-2008, 02:56 AM:

(I've posted this before....) I found some APPLE SCSI drives on eBone, a good dozen of them for pennies, and with the V.1.46 ROM chip, these drives work like a charm..

Posted by Thomas Moore (Member # 3427) on 01-21-2008, 12:20 PM:

Thanks alot for the info. this will help my cause informing the higher ups that things do break. thanks again

Posted by Blaine Young (Member # 3992) on 01-23-2008, 12:34 PM:

I pulled the TEAC drives out of a DTS-6 and DTS-6D and replaced them with Pioneer DVD-305S slot load drives. They have performed flawlessly. The one "issue" that I've had is the speed of the drives. The TEAC drives are cut down to about 4x - or so it seems. I cannot determine if this is done by the DTS system (in the DTS.EXE or elsewhere in the firmware), or if they are 'slowed down' at the drive itself. These Pioneer drives run at full bore 40x all the time - and it's not really a problem, but they do have a tendency to whine a bit. They do spin down after about 30 minutes of inactivity.

As others have noted, you'll need all the other hardware from the upgrades (new SCSI board, firmware and DOS board).

[ 01-28-2008, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: Blaine Young ]

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 01-23-2008, 05:31 PM:

All the non-DTS drives tested on my 6D had problems. Sometime they go flawlessy for some time, then reading problems start. I hooked a monitor to the 6D, I know exactly what happens.
Many brands and type tested, even Toshiba 40x. I can say that many of them works apparently, but if you look constantly at DTS you'll note that drops occurs.

I solved the issue when I found on Internet the old original *brand new* XM-5401B. I was hoping that firmware was not an issue: it is recognized as the same version by the software and from then (May 07) NO, NEVER a drop in fallback format. I think that the firmware in the DTS is optimized only for the brands and models used by DTS.

The main issue is that that drives really suck, as on "review" section. One of it is already starting to have troubles with the loading mechanism after just 8 month and, say, 15 open/close cycle... [Frown]

Ciao
Marco

Posted by Blaine Young (Member # 3992) on 01-28-2008, 12:16 PM:

The reason I even started down this replacement drive path was a problem with a DTS-6 unit where it wouldn't read any of the single disc features. I was able to clean the lens and get it working, but for how long, I don't know.

The trouble you've had with the non-DTS drives - were you using the latest firmware, SCSI board and OS board? If the statement is true that once you've upgraded to the DVD drives (using the SCSI-IDE bridge) that any old Wal-Mart brand DVD drive will work, I'm not sure why there would be a problem. The only think I can think of is that there is a termination problem somewhere.

One of the things that is absolutely vital in SCSI is termination. For example, the documentation states that the termination should be set to "ON" on Drive C, and off for the other drives. When I first worked on my DTS-6 player, the SCSI cable went from the controller, to Drive B then to Drive A, with a bunch of excess cable lying about (clearly a cable for a DTS-6D unit). Drive B (per the documentation) was terminated. However it wasn't the device at the end of the cable - which is what is important.

I was also interested to read the original documentation for the DTS-6 Trailer Unit, which didn't discuss SCSI termination at all - except to say that it must be 'ON' on the trailer unit. However no where does the documentation state that you must REMOVE the terminators from the SCSI controller.

Improper termination can cause data read errors and that would absolutely result in the unit dropping out. I cannot fathom why TEAC drives would behave any differently. Termination must be done at the cable ends - any other place or on additional devices will put too much termination on the bus and result in problems. You may not see them right away, but they will surface.

I installed these Slot Load Pioneer Drives in the DTS-6 player the end of November, and in a DTS-6D in mid-December. Thus far, there have been zero problems. I'm so pleased in fact, I've purchased a dozen drives to have on hand for future use on other units.

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 01-28-2008, 06:33 PM:

I do not have SCSI/IDE bridge, I tried to replace the original XM5401B with other SCSI drives.

I know about termination, I tried all possible combination. The main issue was that drives was working, but they were not reliable.

Some days I had no drops, some days I had 2-3 drops, other days 20-30. That was not acceptable.

Since I replaced the XM5401B with XM5401B 10 months ago I had ONE drop with F4! [Smile]

Ciao
Marco

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-28-2008, 07:52 PM:

J.H.C., The proper rebuild kit doesn't cost all that much [Roll Eyes]

. And once converted it allows you to go to Wal-Mart for new drives, that should please the cheapskate bosses. FWIW: There is different software on the AQRM board for using the DVD drives with the SCSI bridge!! So if you use the bridge you also need that software, or the proper kit.

Mark