Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Question about dolby ims 2000

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Posted by Ricardo David (Member # 9308) on 11-17-2019, 08:41 AM:

Hi guys,
Its normal for this server to have some distortion in the sound if we keap him on for some time?
Its better to
Restart every day?

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-17-2019, 11:19 AM:

I have not, personally, heard of an issue with the IMS2000 audio. That said, I don't think any of our sites run 24/7 on the server and they are indeed cycled daily.

Are you on the most current Software, Firmware and Security manager?

Software 2.8.25-0
Firmware 4.6.7-D
SM: 6.1.134-0

There was an audio fix on 4.6.7-D that involved ticking from a specific authoring software.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-17-2019, 12:55 PM:

Like Steve mentioned, powercycling/resetting your IMB/server and other equipent isn't all that bad.

This professional stuff should ideally run forever, until it's phased out, but we're living in an imperfect world with imperfect hardware and software.

Which begs the question in your case: Is the problem gone after you reboot the IMB?

Maybe, also tell us what audio processor you're using.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-17-2019, 01:35 PM:

Also, please report the issue to Dolby...it is the best way to get a fix, if there is indeed a problem and who knows, they might just be able to diagnose what was causing it.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-18-2019, 08:56 AM:

quote: Marcel Birgelen
we're living in an imperfect world with imperfect hardware and software.

Since Ray left us it's all done by the Accounting Department.

Posted by Ricardo David (Member # 9308) on 11-23-2019, 07:26 AM:

Hello guys,
after reboot all was fine, i think i will do reboot from time to time.
thanks for the answer.
the sound processor is a ap20 datasat.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-23-2019, 05:32 PM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Since Ray left us it's all done by the Accounting Department.

Neither accurate nor helpful.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 11-24-2019, 11:05 AM:

What else would you expect from the "Resident Trollmaster"? [Roll Eyes]

On topic and somewhat more helpful, I recall a few sites with DSS200 and CP750 setups having a rare instance of audio glitching (usually IIRC noise in the surrounds) that was cured with a reboot.

I think things like this are just something we have to live with in the digital age (even though we had less hardware issues in the old film days...).

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-24-2019, 11:53 AM:

quote: Steve Guttag
...it is the best way to get a fix, if there is indeed a problem and who knows, they might just be able to diagnose what was causing it.

In many ways, Dolby's technical support is superb; but one of my few grouses with them is that I have found that they tend not to give priority to coming up with bug fixes for user-reported software issues. I have encountered this three times in the last year.

Case 1 - Dolby TMS running on DSL200 hardware - the tms.exe service crashes when a DSS220 connected to it on the theater LAN is rebuilding a RAID. When I reported this, it was quickly escalated to their development team. Someone spent about two hours on Teamviewer to the affected installation and eventually figured out that this was the cause of the tms.exe crashes. Sure enough, when I disconnected the DSS220 in which I had just replaced a RAID drive, the problem went away. Dolby told me that they were working on a bug fix and would let me know when the patch was issued. No patch so far.

Case 2 - TMS again, same installation, same hardware. If a SPL on any of the connected DSS220s contains the & character, the TMS cannot see any content on that server, or push to or pull from it (so Hobbs & Shaw FUBAR-ed the whole setup). Same process again - Dolby techs went in on Teamviewer, established what the bug was, but so far, no patch. Incidentally, this place consists of 11 screens, ten of which have DSS220s and the other one an IMS2000. The TMS continued to be able to communicate with the IMS, thereby establishing that this was a specific bug affecting interaction between the TMS and DSS220s.

Admittedly the DSS220 is now considered EOL, and so this might be why they are not prioritizing this. But the TMS is still current and they are still accepting money for license renewals. Given that this bug affects currently supported software as well as legacy equipment (in fact, it doesn't affect the operation of the legacy equipment, only the TMS), I am a little disappointed that these bugs have not yet been fixed.

Case 3 - bug in Show Manager version 4.9.4 (5) that affects the DSS220 when ingesting via eSATA. You connect a drive, it reads the contents, you select CPL(s) to ingest, hit the right arrow button, and then it says "There was a problem with the Show Manager server - please try again later." Trying again later doesn't help, and neither does rebooting the thing. The only workarounds that I was able to come up with are a clean reinstall of 4.9.4 (5), in which case it's only a matter of time before the bug happens again, or downgrading to 4.9.1. Once again, reported to Dolby, once again, they confirmed that they were able to reproduce the fault, but so far, no bug fix. This time, I was actually told that because the DSS220 is now out of active support, this won't be at the top of their in-tray. So fair enough, I suppose. It does mean that 4.9.4 (5) is not reliably usable on the DSS220, though, unless ingestion is only done over the wire and/or by USB (no eSATA).

So actually, Steve is right - it seems that they are able to diagnose what is causing these bugs, but not, so far, to come up with fixes for them.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-24-2019, 05:30 PM:

I have no "Dolby TMS" systems so I haven't encountered the problems you have mentioned.

Dolby TMS, I believe, is in a state of limbo. It is current and I completely agree, it should be supported with timely updates for discovered bugs.

The DSS servers are beyond EOL, they are EOS however, they continue to bring out new software for it. 4.9.4.5 is indeed problematic for any system running Show Manager in TMS mode. It is downright dangerous for anyone running a CAT745 system too. I know that they have worked on beta updates for it but no word on a release. 4.9.4.5 cannot also deal with a full trailmix (1TB drive) where all of the content is in the root directory (not put into folders by title).

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-25-2019, 07:47 AM:

Interesting - I have three DSS200 (not 220) / cat745 systems running 4.9.4.5, and their owners have not reported any problems to me thus far.

However, one of the 220s did start to exhibit the bug immediately after a trail mix drive was mounted. I'm guessing that the underlying cause of the bug is related to the software RAID in the 220, with the three drives (presumably) being connected to the same SATA controller as the eSATA jack hosting the content drive. Just a guess, though.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-25-2019, 09:29 AM:

The first systems I encountered the full trailmix were DSS200s.

The first CAT745 issue with 4.9.4.5 was on a DSS220...it could midshow crash.

We do have some sites with DSS220/CAT745 systems that have a 3rd party TMS (the TCC) and zero incidents have been reported but they never ingest locally and, in fact, they have DCDC so trailers are ingested at the LMS.

Posted by Stephan Shelley (Member # 8587) on 11-27-2019, 08:23 PM:

The full trailmix issue happens with DSS 200s with cat 862s as well. There is a couple of beta software's out there 4.9.4.7 clears up the trailmix issue. There is one beyond that that updates the mediablock as well.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-27-2019, 09:37 PM:

Nothing beyond 4.9.4.5 is on dolbycustomer.com as of 2-3 minutes ago. If they have fixed these bugs I guess my criticism above was too hasty. If so, I hope the bug fix version is actually published soon.

Posted by Stephan Shelley (Member # 8587) on 11-27-2019, 09:58 PM:

These ar beta software and you have to ask for it. 4.9.4.7 was out a few weeks ago and two locations I take care of I had them install as they were having issues. I was at the San Francisco office yesterday and talked with the tech support guys there and they said there is an even newer beta 4.9.5.2 I think and it updates the mediablocks as well. So cat 862s will need upgrade keys.