Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Sound Sync Issues on Doremi

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Posted by Steve Moore (Member # 4753) on 08-12-2013, 02:27 PM:

Sorry guys to keep asking questions (having used 35mm for years and never having a problem i could not resolve myself)vI have been having a couple of issues (well twice in the last three weeks) with my old model black DCP-2000 connected to a Christie CP-2000sb and dolby CP750.

Two different film titles during the show have suddenly, during the show, gone out of sync, where the audio is late (as much as two seconds after the picture) Of course there is a delay in the CP750 to delay the audio, but not pull it back and i tried during a show to adjust the doremi Audio setting to see if i could pull it closer during the show but no change.

I tried to pause the show the first time and restart a second later to see if it "put it right" but no change. On both occasions I have had to reboot the server, which has put it right again.

As a matter of habit i have rebooted my server once a week as someone suggested to me, so I'm a bit miffed with this one.

Has anyone else had any issues in the past or recently with this?

As far as i can tell the software and SM versions on the server are up to date, i think with software at 2.4.2-0 and SM version 2.0.15-0

Anyone any suggestions at all?

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 08-12-2013, 02:39 PM:

Hi,

What about the firmware of your Dolphin card?

Current SM is 2.0.17, but I doubt that that is causing trouble, I would concentrate on the firmware.

Posted by Steve Moore (Member # 4753) on 08-12-2013, 02:54 PM:

I will have to look at the FW version and see what that is, not sure!
Cheers
Anyone actually had the same problem though?

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 08-12-2013, 08:07 PM:

Check your RAID status and performance. I find it hard to believe that any software issue would cause this in the middle of a show. Intermittent RAID issues would be my guess. Maybe time to swap the drives/cables.

- Carsten

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 08-13-2013, 02:39 AM:

Particularly the colour of the internal data cables. They should have been changed to orange ones years ago, but I have found a lot of servers where it didn't happen.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 08-13-2013, 12:10 PM:

Pause and resume doesn't fix much of any problems. Probably noting the time in clip, stopping the playlist, pressing pause, then after the security checks finish jumping to the noted clip and time will fix a sync issue. It's faster than rebooting, at least - and reloading the show resets the server's internal audio delay.
I would get the system upgraded to current software, firmware, and SM. Assuming it's all a bit old, there are a lot of assorted bugs fixed through the various update versions.
I don't see how a drive issue would get it out of sync. Sync is handled in the media block, and I think bad data would cause the SM to choke. Still a good idea to make sure those upgraded SATA cables have been installed.
Getting a diagnostic package while it's "bad" will help a lot to diagnose what's happening. Doremi tech support is very helpful if you email them a description of what is wrong and a diags package taken with the problem happening. I know that's not easy with a show gone wonky but it only takes a minute or two.

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 08-13-2013, 02:58 PM:

While checking the RAID and the cables is always a good idea, I'm with Dave here, I doubt a bad RAID could cause sync issues.

BTW, if it's a very old unit, it may be worth reinitialising the RAID. The way the RAID is handled has changed radically over time and it may be recommended to reinitialise the RAID with the new software. Again, I don't think this is your problem, but since you're doing spring cleaning... [Smile]

Why not extracting a sets of logs and upload it on the doremi log analyser? You don't need a login for it.

Posted by Steve Moore (Member # 4753) on 08-14-2013, 08:33 AM:

Thank you everyone.

I have uploaded the system log to the doremi site, and that has shown many errors, mostly before we purchased the unit. A few motherboard to HD errors and the SM and Firmware out of date (though warning me not to update the FW on the dolphin 1.2 as the latest release is not compatible with series 1 projectors. It looks like doremi us support is better than europe, as europe wont give me support (when I email and did a support ticket too) as I am not an installer (though it was me that installed!)

I will do a clean up and also replace the sata leads (they are red ones) and possibly the original drives before i rebuild the raid (when I get a moment)

I doubt i will be able to do a SM update, as I understand that although I can download it, you cant install it (or active) without a licence, which doremi look like they wont supply me. Looks like I might have to take out a support contract with someone afterall. I don't want to be defeated by this digital, as I've always done the 35mm stuff myself for the last 25 years!

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 08-14-2013, 01:35 PM:

Hi Steve,

A service contract is always useful.
The license can be downloaded from the Doremi support website. The username and password can be found on the doremi website itself, where the support web is linked!!

If your projector is a series 1, it does not mean that it's not TLS capable, it can be seen from the logs. You may be able to upgrade anyway.
But you did not mention your firmware revision, that may help.

Also: you do not need to replace the red cables, if you want you can reseat them, but they won't cause you trouble. If the HDDs do not have bad sectors and the transfer speeds are still ok, I would not replace them. You may want to reinitialise the RAID, but I would not replace the HDDs unless there is a reason for it. Clean the inside up and reseat everything.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 08-14-2013, 04:26 PM:

By any means, check with Doremi and projector manufacturer before you upgrade the software/firmware if you operate a series 1 projector.

- Carsten