Bug - Occasional SMPTE loss on Full Boar after 3.2.0

Hi Ryan,

Sorry to hear about the problem. This is the built-in SMPTE input correct and not an external USB widget?

Hi Chris,

Yes it is the built-in SMPTE connector.

Ryan,

Is the FB running all day/night? Is there an opportunity to power cycle the console once a day or at least before show time? I am not sure what your use or routine with the console but I am running four different consoles in our lab trying to catch this issue right now and I am suspicious it only effects long uptime machines. That is why I am asking.

Yes the console is run 24/7. We can definitely restart the console before each show however it seems odd that it would be necessary to do so since with the previous software running on the console (3.1.7) we never had a problem.

This being said, I guess the issue could have been caused by modifications from version 3.1.8 or 3.1.9 as well.

That's very interesting because v3.1.8 is when we re-wrote our drivers to be 64-bit compatible and it is possible that something in the driver re-write or in the application level changes to accommodate the new drivers caused a long uptime stability issue. Knowing whether or not this problem will reproduce in shot term console operation will also be key for us in testing and resolving the problem. Thanks for the info and patience Ryan.

Hey Chris

Reading along in this thread, i see you asked if this was an internal SMPTE or external USB Widget. Are you finding some issues with the USB widget running 3.2.0?

Just curious since I use this setup a lot via H3 surfaces having a USB SMPTE widget plugged in.

Keith

The Linux driver for the Wholehog 3 Console would be a different driver than the FB but it is possible the issue could span across both platforms depending on where the problem actually lies.

Hey Chris, now that i am at the gig that I have the H3 and USB SMPTE widget, i have to reset (unplug and replug) the Widget almost every time i start & re-start SMPTE. This is rough during programming a show since we shuttle back and forth the show tape to stamp the cues. especially since we are programming movers as well as media servers. so much time is lost unplugging and re-plugging this widget. we are in 3.20 OS. so frustrating that it makes me really hate this setup.

any thoughts?
keith

it is like the USB goes to sleep as soon as we shuttle the show tape and sit for a minute or two before we are ready to run it again. should not have and in the past have not had to do this with a widget. this is the first desk we have updated with 3.20. Hopefully i will have my spare desk in 3 days so i can test it as well against this H3 surface control.
keith

Is the timecode generator actually spitting out noise during shuttling or is it a clean break, dead silent shuttle back to an early point in the timecode track? I am curious if the LTC noise during shuttle could be causing problems.

One other thing I would like you to check for me is if you unscrew the end plates on the LTC widget and check the board inside, you should see a plastic jumper (like you would on a hard drive) that goes across two of the three pins located on the board. Do you see this jumper and on which pins is it set?

Also can you describe the SMPTE format you are sending? Is it 30fps?

I know these are a lot of questions but since reproducibility here in the test lab is not occurring I need to look at all the possible variables so I can get this to occur here in the lab and get some ideas on how to fix it for you. Thanks for your patience with this issue.

hey chris

it is a 30fps, i have a new SMPTE tape being done - hopefully tonight i will have it for programming. i will let you know about what i hear and see. i do know that it is a clean recording this new one, since i did the transfer from Radar to HD tape and then it is being flown into Final Cut and they are putting the audio & SMPTE to the video today. so we will see tonight. as for the jumper, i will open it up tonight and look at it and let you know, what should I be looking for? as far as placement of the jumpers? i do know that this old clip i was feeding to the SMPTE unit is the bleed from audio versus the SMPTE. it was WAY bad, lots of bleed, so i know it was not good for it. so i we quit using the SMPTE to stamp as of now. but that puts us behind as far as stamping the show. we go in at 11.30p EST tonight.

let you know shorting after that,
keith