Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Studio removable drive content not showing up in Dolby Showmanager

This is topic Studio removable drive content not showing up in Dolby Showmanager in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Karl Belter (Member # 10813) on 03-25-2019, 06:05 PM:

Issue: insert (different ones too) studio hard drives into DSS200 (running in TMS mode for our 2 screens) but nothing shows up in Show manager content (so we cannot copy to our array).

Disclaimer - new to this stuff. I am a IT guy who has done server, voice and network. While I know a lot, no one knows everything. I am helping our local Optimist Club that runs a 2 screen theater to raise money for local kids groups. So helping out has become a fun adventure for me. So if I miss something obvious - please just tell me.

Running Dolby DSS200 on version 4.9.1.22
I just did a fresh install on both servers with all new drives due to one having a punctured RAID 5 array (1 bad disk + a bad sector on another drive at the same time). Everything seems to work well. Yesterday manager calls me (my wife) to say she can't get content off the hard drives. She had tried 2 and re-inserted both. I could not find (in administrator login) any fstab not loaded. So I did a reboot (from the admin login). Once rebooted, the content showed up.

My question: Is there some other way to diagnose this? Something I can restart or a script to run?

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-25-2019, 06:14 PM:

Sometimes this simply happens when CRU drives are swapped to quickly. When you take out one drive, wait 10-20s before you insert the new one.

Give it a rest, and wait until it happens again. If you know it can be cured by rebooting, it's not critical.

- Carsten

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-25-2019, 08:38 PM:

It happens if the drive is removed while the red icon in the upper-right is flashing (reading the drive). If that happens, the only cure is reboot.

Posted by Karl Belter (Member # 10813) on 03-25-2019, 09:41 PM:

After comparing notes, manager suspects red flashing was still going and probably did an eject/insert way under the suggested 10-20 seconds. If/when it happens again, will see which it really was.

On a side note, the prior manager had a very convoluted "reboot" procedure that included hard booting the server with no proper shutdown. While I was lurking these forums, before I requested an account (and I have to say that this place is about the best and almost only active site I found with valid info so thanks all around) I did go over comments/posts about how to reboot. It looked like some (even Dolby) were suggesting just power cycling. The IT guy in me cringes at the thought of not doing a proper shutdown. So I have been doing the CTRL-ALT-F1,then logging in with administrator account, followed by using command reboot. With that I see the system shutting down database and I assume doing a clean file system flush/close. So if that fixes the issue, manager is much happier since this at least means they don't have to call for help.

Thanks again for the info!

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-25-2019, 11:01 PM:

A quicker way than logging on as administrator is Ctrl+Alt+F1 immediately followed by Ctrl+Alt+Del (thanks Steve, for that tip).

However, this will only reboot the server side of it. If you are using the cat862 (internal) media block, this will not be rebooted. To reboot this as well, pull the two power cords when you hear the fans surge during the reboot process, wait for power to drain well and truly (I'd suggest a minute or so), then plug them back in.

If the problem is just that it's got its knickers in a twist over a hastily pulled CRU drive, then rebooting the server side is all you need to do. However, if the media block has gotten glitchy (e.g. "Error connecting to media block" or "Error securing connection between Show Store and projector" for no obvious reason, or it won't recognize or process a known good KDM), you may need to reboot that as well.

Posted by Karl Belter (Member # 10813) on 03-26-2019, 08:03 AM:

There is a cat862. I did see a message about "Error securing connection between Show Store and projector" during reboot after some message about a network connection, but then once showmanager was fully up, this error cleared. Thanks for pointing that out. I was no aware of the fact that there was essentially a server inside a server.

So CTRL-ALT-F1 to get to console then CTRL-ALT-DEL does a clean reboot of the server except cat862, which only gets fully cleared by a full power disconnect.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-26-2019, 08:44 AM:

Still find it very weird that something as simple as 'shutdown -h now' or 'shutdown -P now' has not been implemented on the DSS in all these years.

I mean...

- Carsten

Posted by Karl Belter (Member # 10813) on 03-26-2019, 12:08 PM:

From my experience in the IT world, the more specialized, the more common sense is thrown to the wind. For the full power disconnect cycle I think that the simple solution is to look at the power feeds and put in the right combination of power distribution strips (PDU). That way instead of pulling cables, we do a reboot and see BIOS boot screen, we can just flip a switch to remove power. On a side not I found it annoying that to get to the little power button on the server I had to take off the face plate. Our unit configured at TMS had years of abused USB port from installing licenses. One front port was missing plastic and had bent pin. I straightened everything out, put tape across the bad port, and connected a USB extension cable to the working port. No all the USB license key work abuses a $10 cable which I can replace.

Posted by Greg Routenburg (Member # 1742) on 03-26-2019, 12:48 PM:

quote: Carsten Kurz
Still find it very weird that something as simple as 'shutdown -h now' or 'shutdown -P now' has not been implemented on the DSS in all these years.

The problem with doing a Halt or Powerdown command on a DSS is that there is no power button to fire it back up which would inevitably confuse someone. You can't rely on the notion that someone would have the wherewithal to think to pull the plug to turn it back on.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 03-26-2019, 01:47 PM:

There is a power button... it's just small, needs a pokey thing to press it, and is hidden behind the pretty front panel.
You can power down that way but it is just as abrupt as pulling the power cords.
I too dislike a hard powerdown, but that's what Dolby says to do so that's what I do.

Posted by Greg Routenburg (Member # 1742) on 03-26-2019, 01:57 PM:

I've only ever looked at a 200 at a glance but I believe you Dave. The 100 appears to be without that little pokey button feature though unless it's remarkably well hidden.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-26-2019, 02:53 PM:

And if I remember correctly, the BIOS is default configured such that poking the pokey button with a pokey thing executes a "sudden death" power off, i.e. you don't have to hold it for four seconds.

Posted by Karl Belter (Member # 10813) on 03-26-2019, 03:03 PM:

I will confirm that the tiny pen tip power button exists and when used, it resulted in a immediate power off. I prefer to execute the reboot command to get the OS/DB/Files closed first, then when BIOS comes up - hit the power button. That is the method I used when swapping drives.

When I did full cleaning, once it was off, I also pulled power cables, then slid unit out, opened it up, and vacuumed (IT safe type with attention to grounding) it out, pulled components like fans (yuck was that really butter?) wiped off things, and generally tried to remove years of dust.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-26-2019, 04:53 PM:

Oh yeah ... the gross and disgusting crud one finds inside computer cases after they've been left untouched for a few years is the stuff of horror movies. If it's just dry crud, I love my Datavac. $80 might seem steep, but after a dozen cans of compressed air that you don't need to buy, it's paid for itself. And it's an order of magnitude more powerful than a compressed air can, and doesn't squirt butane at sensitive electronics. Just take the PC or server case outside, and, literally, blast the crap out of it.

But if it's gooey crud, and especially it's popcorn oil or cigarette smoke deposits, you've got to get in there with brushes, rags, and lots of patience.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-27-2019, 07:21 AM:

The realities are, the DSS server just didn't care about sudden power offs. 99% of its life are "reads" not "writes" so data corruption is pretty slim. We have almost all of our DSS systems set up on weekly reboot via power interruption and don't get data corruption issues.

There is a fair amount of the DSS line that differs from other systems too. Like it can show a movie while ingesting/transferring at full speed. Up to three of them can integrate themselves on a common "Theatre Network" by designating one of them as the TMS so shows only need to be built once. By far, the best user interface in the business. Dolby has had Doremi now for years but still...if are on Cinelister's control screen, you have no idea of what movie is going to start if you hit the play button! You can play a clip (CPL) without first putting it into a show. From day-1, you can play a movie straight off of a CRU drive without first ingesting.

You may not like that rebooting it doesn't require a power button or proper shutdown command but it just doesn't need it. There is a reboot command for those that want to and yes it is as simple as CTL-ALT-F1 followed by CTL-ALT-DEL. About all that I see that benefits there is that the NTP drift gets properly logged.