Hard reset SDDS D3000

[Frank Raia]

Is there a way to hard reset the D3000? I can't find any info in the manuals.

I can't connect to it with a pc. It tries and fails. I ran film and I get nothing.

[Marco Giustini]

it's a serial connection, you probably need a serial adaptor which the DFP likes. Not all of them work. Also you'll have to set up the RS232 parameters correctly. Resetting the DFP won't help

If you have an old laptop with a real serial port, it's even better.

[Frank Raia]

IMG_20260227_194444.jpg Thanks Marco, I ordered an new null modem cable. Im starting to think the unit is bad. I noticed on the DEC-102 board one of the chips is missing. I dont know if it supposed to be or not. I pulled the whole board and the unit acted the same with the board in place.

[Marco Giustini]

Did Sony require a straight or swapped cable? "Modern" Sony machines required the swapped one, I always had an adaptor in my toolbox.

It's not the cable though, it's the adaptor. Some were just not working with the CP500/CP650 and others. The one which always worked for me was the Tripp-Lite one (though at some point they changed something and one I had would not connect to a JSD processor).

Try what you have, you don't need a special one. Just be aware that some won't work. And some will require its own FTDI driver
Test different baud rates - the other RS232 parameters should be ok. 9600 could work, then move up.

BTW, the manual says a null-modem cable.

SCR-20260228-jksh.png

[Steve Guttag]

Sony was bastards about about it. It has to be a null modem...but with the wrong gender! I believe a standard null modem is F/F and you need a M/F...so if you buy a null modem cable, also get a gender-bender too. Or, make your own cable (9-pin) and I believe Sony used them all.

I want to say that Win98SE was a preferred OS for that software too. Stuff back then could be fussy about the UART you were using. The latest PC I used was a Windows XP Thinkpad and I used a "Socketcom" RS232 adapter (used the PCMICA slot) and that worked as good as a hardware port. SDDS had no issues with that on the DFP-D2500 and DFP-D3000.

[Frank Raia]

Sony was bastards about about it. It has to be a null modem...but with the wrong gender! I believe a standard null modem is F/F and you need a M/F...so if you buy a null modem cable, also get a gender-bender too. Or, make your own cable (9-pin) and I believe Sony used them all.

I want to say that Win98SE was a preferred OS for that software too. Stuff back then could be fussy about the UART you were using. The latest PC I used was a Windows XP Thinkpad and I used a "Socketcom" RS232 adapter (used the PCMICA slot) and that worked as good as a hardware port. SDDS had no issues with that on the DFP-D2500 and DFP-D3000.

Thank you Steve, I did order a null modem cable and gender changer.

Can I message you for more help?

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

Here's the preferred hard reset procedure for all Sony SDDS products:

1. Power down the unit.
2. Unplug the reader, output, automation and power cables.
3. Remove the processor from the equipment rack.
4. Take processor outdoors and place on a flat, hard surface. (Concrete road or parking pad preferred.)
5. Obtain a suitable large vehicle with reinforced tires or better yet, steel tracks. (Excavator, dozer, etc.)
6. Drive said vehicle repeatedly over the processor until flattened. Continue until the processor cannot be flattened anymore.
7. Take flattened processor to nearest recycling center and cash in. (You'll get more money for it than it's was worth when new.)
8. Enjoy your home screening room with it's better performing Dolby and/or DTS processors.

I'm not joking. The SDDS, while I will concede the sound quality (IN Digital) was better than the rest, had serious reliability issues. The SDDS tracks are on the highest wear part of the prints and far too many prints are unreadable at worst, or suffer very frequent reversions at best. The Analog sound, Dolby emulation and matrix decoding (in the earlier models) was horrid, almost as bad as the DTS processor that tried it. Further, it never had good tech support and Sony will not even bother to help you out with it. (Dolby can still sometimes help out with legacy hardware if you know who to contact.)

Finally, good luck on getting that missing chip. (That all of the other's replies above seem to have overlooked.) Without that chip you have a paperweight, and that processor isn't even good at doing that.

Best advice is just scrap it and call it a day.

[Frank Raia]

Here's the preferred hard reset procedure for all Sony SDDS products:

1. Power down the unit.
2. Unplug the reader, output, automation and power cables.
3. Remove the processor from the equipment rack.
4. Take processor outdoors and place on a flat, hard surface. (Concrete road or parking pad preferred.)
5. Obtain a suitable large vehicle with reinforced tires or better yet, steel tracks. (Excavator, dozer, etc.)
6. Drive said vehicle repeatedly over the processor until flattened. Continue until the processor cannot be flattened anymore.
7. Take flattened processor to nearest recycling center and cash in. (You'll get more money for it than it's was worth when new.)
8. Enjoy your home screening room with it's better performing Dolby and/or DTS processors.

.

Lol, it might just end up being flattened!

So that chip should be there, correct?

[Marco Giustini]

I did run the Sony SDDS software a few years ago, I think it was on my small Windows 7 Netbook. I'm confident I didn't have to go to earlier versions than what I had.

the chip is missing on my board too

[Frank Raia]

I did run the Sony SDDS software a few years ago, I think it was on my small Windows 7 Netbook. I'm confident I didn't have to go to earlier versions than what I had.

the chip is missing on my board too

Thank you for looking on your board about the chip. I guess I can rule that out. There is a number that comes up on the screen at boot up. Mine gets to 840 or something like that. What does yours get to. Also do the led lights stay on all the time on your reader? I thought they were supposed to go off if there is no film movement. Mine stay on. I hope that's not bad also.

[Marco Giustini]

Wait, do yours doesn't fully boot? I cannot check now but I remember a quick sequence of numbers and then it comes alive.

LED is only on when the sprocket moves. The head is a stand-alone mini-computer, I guess something is not completing the booting process and hangs there. I was never an SDDS person simply because I didn't have one besides some short spells.

There are all sort of diagnostic LEDs inside the DFP if memory serves, if you can record a clear, steady video and post it somewhere, we can compare our units? I've been looking for a spare one myself, I know mine one day will bite the dust...

[Frank Raia]

Wait, do yours doesn't fully boot? I cannot check now but I remember a quick sequence of numbers and then it comes alive.

LED is only on when the sprocket moves. The head is a stand-alone mini-computer, I guess something is not completing the booting process and hangs there. I was never an SDDS person simply because I didn't have one besides some short spells.

There are all sort of diagnostic LEDs inside the DFP if memory serves, if you can record a clear, steady video and post it somewhere, we can compare our units? I've been looking for a spare one myself, I know mine one day will bite the dust...

Marco I will take video later but can post here. The files are to big. I can send in email or Facebook messenger if you would like. I will private message you my email

[Marco Giustini]

Onedrive, Dropbox or even Youtube as "unlisted".

[Marcel Birgelen]

There are all sort of diagnostic LEDs inside the DFP if memory serves, if you can record a clear, steady video and post it somewhere, we can compare our units? I've been looking for a spare one myself, I know mine one day will bite the dust...

Yes, there are at the very edge of the DEC-102 board and the Sony Pro support could tell you what they were. I've never found a document describing the meaning of them. It usually came down to a replacement of said board.

Thank you for looking on your board about the chip. I guess I can rule that out. There is a number that comes up on the screen at boot up. Mine gets to 840 or something like that. What does yours get to. Also do the led lights stay on all the time on your reader? I thought they were supposed to go off if there is no film movement. Mine stay on. I hope that's not bad also.

I guess there are multiple versions of the DEC-102 board, because I don't ever remember an empty socket, but it has been years since I last saw a D3000 up close.

Furthermore, I have to agree with Tony... SDDS was an interesting system, but it was too little too late and way too unreliable, that's also why it eventually lost the race. I vaguely remember them having some deal with AMC that kept the system alive for longer than you'd otherwise expected.

[Marco Giustini]

Maybe my memory is playing tricks but I believe I have the service manual of the dfp3000. I remember seeing schematics and I remember doing an adjustment on one of my boards.

I’ll have a look when I can.