Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Odd DTS behaviour?

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Posted by James Waite (Member # 4536) on 03-27-2010, 07:25 PM:

I had a problem with my analog sound last night (see seperate post) so naturally the DTS decided to act up as well. Normally I'd chalk it up to a damaged disk but it seemed to do a couple odd things. I'm not sure of the model number but it's a 2 disc unit at least 10 years old.

The DTS kept kicking off every couple minutes, I would eject one of the discs then inject it again and let the machine reset. It usually came back on and played for another couple minutes then kicked off again. These are the odd things.

It did this for the first 45 minutes of Valentine's Day then played the rest of the film fine and two other, different films.

I cleaned the discs but that didn't help. there's some small marks on them but nothing I would think would normally cause so many problems.
Some times when I put the disc back in the machine would just sit there with one of the red LEDs on but nothing else happening. This only seemed to fix when I actually turned the unit off with the power switch.

At one point last night all the lights on the unit and the drvies went off for a second, the same as it if it lost power. After a couple seconds it came back on, that kinda freaked me out as it looked like something it's not supposed to do.

Any help with figuring out whether there is actually anything wrong with the unit is much appreciated.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 03-27-2010, 09:07 PM:

For this issue, it is most likely the power supply going bad in the DTS processor. Depending on processor model, they are common computer power supplies and can be had form a local computer repair shop.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 03-28-2010, 12:58 PM:

Make sure that the power cord is fully inserted in the back of the unit. Make sure that the fan is working.

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 03-28-2010, 02:08 PM:

Or if you can afford it exchange it for an XD20 unit. You must have the white version DTS6 (original DTS units). I concur regarding the power supply.
Demetris

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-28-2010, 03:49 PM:

Even though it's a standard AT power supply, there are some that doesn't have purist of DC output - just like a switcher that has slight DC ripple on the output.

Find one that might cost more and the DTS unit will like you better.

-Monte

Posted by Greg Routenburg (Member # 1742) on 03-30-2010, 11:41 AM:

This sounds more like a drive issue rather then a power supply issue to me. In my experience with these units, they tend to become flaky as the drives start to fail. My working theory is that the laser pickup in the drives looses intensity over time and if the discs are not pressed properly then they may have trouble in the older drives. This explains why one set of discs will work just fine on one unit and not another. It also explains why two other features would work on the same unit without issue. The fact that it became stable after 45 minutes suggests that it might have switched from one drive to another half way through the show. Did you note what drive it was polling when it was flaky and when it was stable?

I would try switching the discs between the drives to see if the problem follows the discs. If you had Disc A in the top drive, try playing it in the bottom drive to see if it continues to drop out. Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to request new discs. It will give you a trouble shooting tool and allow you to rule the discs out. You can contact either Deluxe or Technicolor depending on the studio and have them sent with your next regular film delivery.

It's not uncommon for this unit to hang after the discs are changed without the unit being power cycled. It's always good practice to switch it off after the discs are changed and allow it to do a cold boot with the new discs.

As a side note on these units, the power supply fan will probably fail sooner then later if it hasn't already. If the back of the DTS player is accessable, routinely check to make sure that there is airflow into the power supply. If they start to overheat they will cause issues but typically towards the end of the first show, not the beginning.