Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Barco 2.5.54 has issues with maintenance counters

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-05-2017, 07:29 AM:

Just a heads up and Barco is aware of it (and has pulled this version) that if you have a copy of 2.5.54 (For all of the B and C series projectors), it will cause your maintenance counters to go wacky (add consumed hours to them and cause them to go over at a vastly accelerated rate. "A" maintenance will perpetually be over). This problem may only affect the original Cinema Controller Boards. I didn't check/confirm if the problem happens on the current version of the CCB.

In unrelated news, Christie has pulled 4.7.2 from release on their projectors. I don't know why on that one but no doubt they found a bug. Unlike Barco, Christie doesn't let one roll back to the previous, stable, version.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-05-2017, 01:57 PM:

Thanks Steve.

For everyone's info, this is the very recent update, published on September 12, and which I received the email notification about on September 28. The updates in this version were:

• CLO mode for Laser Phosphor projector series.
• Support for DP2K-17BLP.
• Fixed lens issues with not being able to set 4K projectors into focus with a Cinema Controller Board R7681222(K).
• Fixed flooding of 3D color wheel in/out errors: errors are now sticky when they occur and are only cleared when its causing condition has been resolved.
• Fixed aftercool mode in Laser Phosphor projector series: external cooler(s) didn’t remain in cooling mode after a light-off event.
• Fixed flooding of the projector log with laser phosphor related messages.

As all but two of them relate to laser phosphor, and the two that don't relate to specific pieces of hardware, I wasn't going to install this on any projector that wasn't affected by one of these anyways. As I don't currently service any laser phosphor Barcos and haven't encountered that model of CCB in the last week (I'm guessing that this R number is the older one), I was guessing that I'd be unlikely to need to install this version before another one comes out, which does include updates for the far more widespread B and C series models.

So I guess we're now back to 2.4.3, published on April 14, being the official, current version.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-05-2017, 04:27 PM:

R7655331K is Cinema Controller board that is in most pre-Laser-Phosphor projectors (essentialy mid 2016 and prior). Late 2016 and beyond were issued with R7681222K.

From the exterior the distinction is mostly in the labeling. Instead of Ethernet ports 1, 2 and 3, 3 is now called WAN, 1 and 2 are now called LAN. The silk screen is now more consistent with the ICMP look and feel. Feature wise, they are the same though internally they are different.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-06-2017, 07:56 AM:

Sounds to me like they were in such a rush to get an update out that addressed multiple issues with their new laser phosphor line that they didn't spot that some of the new code would break some features running on older B and C series hardware.

Might have been worth splitting the updaters and issuing separate ones the LP series.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-06-2017, 09:56 AM:

Possibly. I'm not sure it breaks the new CCB used in a xenon projector. When I brought the issue to Barco's attention, a question they asked was the model of CCB that was in use.

It is one of the issues of maintaining older equipment as well as current. I'd presume some sort of semiconductor obsolescence ended the run of the original CCB or perhaps they wanted more processing power to run the LP projectors. Either way, it is enough of a change that the software running on the two CCBs are different. If you poll an older CCB as to what software it is running while you are on 2.4.43, it will respond it is running 1.17. 2.1 will respond that is running 1.14. So externally, they all appear to have the same software but internally, they are clearly having to maintain two versions that do the same thing with their respective boards.

For a while, they were maintaining two different softwares for the vintage of CCBs but that would mean having techs in the filed to pick off a nuance different in product (an from a remote support standpoint it is even harder to tell the difference!). I agree with their decision to issue one package but the trick for them will be to always check it for backwards compatibleness. Picking off a maintenance counter is probably something they didn't think they were affecting, naturally.

I note Christie runs into this problem themselves too. They recently pulled 4.7.2, no doubt because of the right/wrong combination of components would cause an issue. I have it running on a handful of projectors and have had zero issues. Christie is worse though because their software, as issued, prohibits going back to the previous version. Barco (and NEC) allow roll backs. With Barco, you have to manually choose which modules you are rolling back (the software will tell you which ones) and you pick and choose which ones to roll back. NEC will just change anything different in the package.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-15-2017, 08:04 AM:

quote: Email from Barco, received just now
Dear Leo,

The following files have been updated or added to myBarco.
Software releases or updates:

• DP2K/DP4K sw package (v02.05.57.00 - 25 October 2017 - (23.65 MB))

I'm guessing that this fixes the maintenance minder bug, but there are no release notes with it, so that's just a guess.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-15-2017, 08:24 AM:

No release notes whatsoever (even inside the file...there is the usual HTML release notes but it is devoid of ANY information aside from what projectors it goes to).

I'll just rush out and update all of our projectors with this...NOT [Frown]

Note, Christie has not replaced 4.7.2 yet so 4.7.1 remains current.

NEC has released the long-awaited 4.220 package [Wink]

However, there are no release notes with it either. Only the "data" and DCC change with it so I suspect just additional lamp models are codified in there or perhaps the package applies more to a specific model projector that runs on the "series 2" software.

Posted by Tom Bert (Member # 5719) on 11-15-2017, 09:53 AM:

I'll be slapping the right people here [Smile]

Sorry for the inconvenience [Frown]

Posted by Stephan Shelley (Member # 8587) on 11-15-2017, 08:51 PM:

Christie has come out with 4.8.0

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-16-2017, 06:38 AM:

As with other Christie software, if it doesn't have some particular fix I'm looking for, I generally wait a month past the release before testing it since they make each release an "island" that you can't return from and there have been a significant number of releases that had to be pulled.

Unfortunately, I have two sites, in particular, that has been victim to the DVI/HDMI issues (blank screens or streaking in the image).

Christie 4.8.0.8 has the following improvements:

quote:
The following defects have been resolved:
• Significant stability improvements for PIB system startup.
• Reset of ILS on startup is now disabled on power interruption. To re-enable it:
1. On the projector touch panel controller, tap Advanced Setup > Lens Setup.
2. Select the Reset on Power Interruption checkbox.
• Added new EDID to support HDMI playback from Apple Computers at higher frame rates.

I wonder if the PIB improvements address the issue of PIBs dying on reboots. It isn't something has affected me so much but I have heard reports by others.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-17-2017, 01:01 AM:

AFAIK this is to address an issue where the PIB was booted, before the PSU was stable, since it ignored the "power ok" signal from the PSU (this seems to be a recurring issue in Christie's design).

I'm not sure if it better protects the PIB from premature failure, but it should improve boot-up reliability.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-17-2017, 06:28 AM:

So after Dr. Bert's threats of physical abuse, it would appear that release notes have been issued on 2.5.57. However, the notes only cover the Laser-Phosphor projectors and the big change in this version is that the 3D filter wheel software is reverted back to the 2.4.43 version to avoid a perpetual test mode.

Here is the interesting thing, the LP projectors can't use the 3D filter wheel! So that must apply to the xenon projectors. But the document doesn't apply to the xenon projectors, to begin with!

There is no mention of the maintenance counters being fixed from the 2.5.54 debacle.

So I'm not quite sure the target user this release is for.

"Oh Tom..."

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-17-2017, 08:09 AM:

Alchemy ICMP software version 1.3.1.7 was released just now. Only one update: "Fix a playout issue (wrong checksum) on encrypted SMPTE Test content (5.1 and 7.1) where sound issues were occurring (no sound)."

Posted by Tom Bert (Member # 5719) on 11-17-2017, 08:55 AM:

quote: Steve Guttag
There is no mention of the maintenance counters being fixed from the 2.5.54 debacle.

So I'm not quite sure the target user this release is for.

"Oh Tom..."

Exactly the topic of the meeting I attended this morning (also the defense tactic I will apply when the judge asks me about the beating): correction and clarification on its way.

I can already confirm that the runtime counter bug IS fixed.

quote: Leo Enticknap
Alchemy ICMP software version 1.3.1.7 was released just now. Only one update: "Fix a playout issue (wrong checksum) on encrypted SMPTE Test content (5.1 and 7.1) where sound issues were occurring (no sound)."

This was noticed when testing the latest version of the ISDCF test clip (apparently an updated version had been put online before the summer). I understood other server mfrs also had a recent fix for this.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-28-2017, 06:10 PM:

Okay. Following up on this a bit...

The Release Notes have been updated to reflect what changes apply to what projectors. It also now indicates that the projector's counter/maintenance counters have been fixed from the 2.5.54.

I have loaded 2.5.57 and noted that it also seems to have fixed the issue of using the file manager to add/remove lamps from the available list. Note, you can never delete a Barco made lamp file but you COULD/CAN transfer it. One can also, if the file conforms to the proper naming scheme, transfer custom lamp files in.

In other news that may affect quite a few people. Communication, starting with 5.9.0 will allow the MANUAL setting of the IP range of your projectors. So if you have a multiple-NIC computer system or devices that use Link-Local IPs that will confuse Communicator, you can now state where your projectors can be found rather than hoping Barco picks the right IP range if your computer has multiple choices.

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 11-29-2017, 05:14 PM:

that's a great new feature indeed!

Posted by Tom Bert (Member # 5719) on 12-01-2017, 09:34 AM:

quote: Steve Guttag
In other news that may affect quite a few people. Communication, starting with 5.9.0 will allow the MANUAL setting of the IP range of your projectors. So if you have a multiple-NIC computer system or devices that use Link-Local IPs that will confuse Communicator, you can now state where your projectors can be found rather than hoping Barco picks the right IP range if your computer has multiple choices.

Yes, that was whispered in our ears at CinemaCon 2017 by a certain US partner [Big Grin]

... just as Wesley Snipes walked by (no kidding)

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 12-01-2017, 09:40 AM:

I'm sad to say that manual IP range feature does not appear to work, at the moment. I've tried it in a couple of sites and it still won't find the projectors. So unless I've missed something, it is not functional yet (or not functional enough).

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 12-01-2017, 10:11 AM:

Same here.

I tried it earlier this week in an 11-plex that follows the old style Dolby IP scheme, i.e. on the management network, a Series 2 projector is 192.168.X.133 with subnet mask 255.255.255.128, where X is the auditorium number.

I set my LAN card's IPv4 address to 192.168.1.250, subnet mask 255.255.0.0, so it should have been able to see all of them. I could ping all of them, and if I entered an address into Communicator manually, it connected to all eleven projectors. But when I did the manual search from 192.168.1.133 to 192.168.11.133, it only found, and displayed an icon for, screen 1's projector.

Posted by Tom Bert (Member # 5719) on 12-13-2017, 03:47 AM:

quote: Steve Guttag
I'm sad to say that manual IP range feature does not appear to work, at the moment. I've tried it in a couple of sites and it still won't find the projectors. So unless I've missed something, it is not functional yet (or not functional enough).

Bug found and corrected. Going into to test now