DSS200 Error connecting to Media Block

[Mike Qu]

One DSS200,during running,"Error connecting to Media Block" occurs.The Cat.862 is not show in "Theatre devices".
What I have done:
Reboot--not work;
replace the short outside cable between LinkData port and cat.862---not work;
use one cable direct link LinkData port and the port on Cat.862 mainboard(without the internal short cable)---not work;
downgrade/upgrade the system version --- not work;

The Cat.862 can be connected by Dolby software Update through USB.Software Info of Cat.862 is show correct.And also can do upgrade by "Dolby software Update". But after upgrade,still can not be connected.
Anything that I can try to save it?

[Marco Giustini]

Did you try "reinstalling all components" on the 862 via USB? (KDM will be required)

From the DSS terminal, can you ping the cat862? The default IP address is 169.254.1.2, the DSS200 should have one port set to 169.254.1.1. (try "ifconfig", it will give you all the interface IP addresses)
If not, is the DSS200 media block port showing any activity at the back?

Can you set your laptop to 169.254.1.1, then connect it to the 862 and try to ping 169.254.1.2? I am trying to understand if the network has gone on either the DSS or the media block.

Other thing which you have tested for sure is pull the plug from the DSS200 and leave it disconnected for a couple of minutes, then try again.

If all the above works, try an "unconfigure" or even better a full reinstall. BTW, what software are you on?

[Mike Qu]

Did you try "reinstalling all components" on the 862 via USB? (KDM will be required)

From the DSS terminal, can you ping the cat862? The default IP address is 169.254.1.2, the DSS200 should have one port set to 169.254.1.1. (try "ifconfig", it will give you all the interface IP addresses)
If not, is the DSS200 media block port showing any activity at the back?

Can you set your laptop to 169.254.1.1, then connect it to the 862 and try to ping 169.254.1.2? I am trying to understand if the network has gone on either the DSS or the media block.

Other thing which you have tested for sure is pull the plug from the DSS200 and leave it disconnected for a couple of minutes, then try again.

If all the above works, try an "unconfigure" or even better a full reinstall. BTW, what software are you on?

Yes,I have try "reinstalling all compents,not work.
I have ping 169.254.1.2 in DSS terminal,no response.
I will try to set my laptop to 169.254.1.1 and ping cat862.
Also unconfig have been made.I have try different system version like 4.5.4 4.8.8, just the same.

[Marco Giustini]

check if the DSS has an interface on 169.254.1.1 first and if an LED lights up when you plug the 862 into the media port on the motherboard!

[Ioannis Syrogiannis]

Edit: Since I wrote this, Marco has already responded and covered most of the ground.

Was the device working the day before and now doesn't, is that what you mean by "during running"? Or is it a "new" installation?
The reason I ask is: is there any chance that the configuration is set to Cat.745 instead of Cat.862? (probably covered this)
Another simple thing that you may or may not have done. You did reboot, did you try to keep the system, completely off power for a couple of minutes?
(Marco is also suggesting that.)

I am not sure whether the Ethernet cable between the media block and the connection slot at the back is a 1:1 adaptor. It certainly seems so.
The way you describe it, the USB cable and (probably) the d-sub ribbon are connected. So is power. Yet, whether there is a physical connection (ethernet cable) or other issue is not clear.
Did you find anything on the log package of the system? Did you upload them to the dolby log analyzer?
The Media Block Setup application might give you some more info on what the condition of the media block is. What the media block's IP is, if there is a totally unexpected one, etc. Don't use that along with SoftwareUpdater, if you intend to use it at all.

[Leo Enticknap]

Yet, whether there is a physical connection (ethernet cable) or other issue is not clear.

The only other thing I can think of that would explain USB connectivity being OK but no LAN connection is that the NIC on the cat862 has gone bad.

Mike - have you tried a straight shot patch cable from the ethernet jack on the actual cat862 board to your laptop, and then pinging 169.254.1.2 directly from the laptop? If you have and gotten no reply, I fear that a bad NIC on the cat862 is what you're dealing with. At this point, there would be nothing to lose by running Wireshark to see if there are any packets at all coming out of it.

As Marco points out, if the ethernet jacks on either the cat862 or your laptop have LEDs built into them (some do, some don't) and neither light up when the patch cable is connected, that definitely suggests a NIC failure.

[Steve Guttag]

If the Software Update utility sees the CAT862 and you can even perform the update without errors...that REALLY points to the "Link" NIC on the DSS' motherboard (since the has tried a direct cable between that NIC and the CAT862...skipping the go-betweens that can/have caused connectivity issues. Changing the motherboard (could be an X7 or X8, depending on vintage) would likely resolve the issue. You'd want the Dolby BIOS disc for the appropriate motherboard. But that would be something that Dolby should supply.

[Leo Enticknap]

So take a straight shot patch cable from a laptop into the DSS200 motherboard's data link NIC and ping 169.254.1.1. If it answers, the motherboard NIC is good; if not, it's bad. Then do the same thing into the cat862, and ping 169.254.1.2. Same deal. Those two tests should tell you if a bad NIC at either end is the cause of the trouble.

[Frank Cox]

Wouldn't you need a crossover cable for that?

[Steve Guttag]

Not for any 1G ports...they go either way.

[Mike Qu]

Thanks for your replies.
The server is normal in the morning,running shows with no problem,and suddenly come to the error.The user reboot the machine so I am not sure about the details.
I replaces the error cat.862 with a good one the day atfer the error occur and take the wrong one back,so the log is not reachale now.
I make more tests below:
direct connect my laptop to cat.862(without the small board that have usb/newwork/audio output),and ping 169.254.1.2 with Wiresharks running ----not any response from 169.254.1.2,both in cmd console and Wiresharks.
direct connect my laptop to LinkData port and ping 169.254.1.1----get stable response
If the cat.862 is connect to Dss200 motherboard,the LinkData's LED will Light-On.Same is my laptop Ethernet‘s LED lights if the cat.862 is connect to my laptop.
And in MediaBlock Setup,it seems OK.
dss200.png

[Leo Enticknap]

So is it still failing after a few hours' use with the replacement cat862 in it, or did swapping out the cat862s fix it, and the ping tests were done with the suspect cat862 back at your shop and in another server? If so, it does look to me like a fault with that cat862, sorry to say.

[Mike Qu]

So is it still failing after a few hours' use with the replacement cat862 in it, or did swapping out the cat862s fix it, and the ping tests were done with the suspect cat862 back at your shop and in another server? If so, it does look to me like a fault with that cat862, sorry to say.

Yes,Swapping out fix the server,it works good now.
I install the fault cat862 in another machine and make the tests that I have mentioned.

[Leo Enticknap]

My guess would be that heat cycling is causing a connection to go bad somewhere on that cat862's board, causing it to fail after a certain amount of time at operating temperature. If it's inside the FIPS enclosure, I'm afraid that it's not fixable - sorry.

[Marco Giustini]

some dry contact cleaner in the cat 862's ethernet socket maybe? Inspect the port for damage/corrosion?