For all D-Box enthusiasts ! - Page 160

Originally Posted by sanderdvd

And to be sure sure: with left you mean going DOWN to the left side and not UP?

Originally Posted by drvais

You'll have to let us know how that title*Green Lantern* turns out.

Originally Posted by thxman

Rented Warrior from Blockbuster, no sync. This is the 2nd Loinsgate movie to do this recently, and very frustrating.

Originally Posted by sanderdvd

After waiting for four months my new custom duo seating handcrafted by Starline Cinema Seating finally was delivered yesterday!

The installation of the SRP side modules directly onto the custom steel frame went very well and Starline Cinema made the drilling holes exactly on the right spot which was a challenge for them because they don t own D-Box equipment. I immediately noticed two things I was hoping for with this new seating with a first test:

1. Much better side-to-side motion due to the reduced length of the seating
2. Better vibration transfer

The only thing I also hoped for was less rumbling noise of the seating+d-box system. But I m not satisfied with this yet. Especially with a particular scene in '2012' (where the family is driving in the car and a lot of action is going on) I hear a lot of rumbling (of course with my movie sound turned down). I have to do some more intensive testing tonight but it really looks like the sound is comming from the side modules and not from my new seating (this seating is one piece of thick steel frame and is as ridged as could be possible!). My D-box setup is without the plastic housing of the side modules so they can t be it. So it really looks like it s comming from the 4 actuators itself or the middle 'computer' module that is located in the middle of a side module.

Originally Posted by sanderdvd

strange, it syncs fine here.....

I have problems with Scream 4. Can someone check if this one syncs?

Does it sound like bass or more like a rattle? When D-Box actuators vibrate, they are always going to make a bass note at the frequency they are vibrating at and distribute this sound to the seating, floor and in your case, the SRP metal frame (part holding actuators, not talking about the bars). This vibration sound is normal with any type of tactical transducer.
Now, if you are hearing a rattle, my suspicion is that it is coming from inside the controller hub that each actuator connects to. Since your cover is already, off, you should be able to take a peak to see if anything is loose in there. Chances are, nothing is loose as I remember mine making a lot of sound too and that was part of the reason I moved mine to the inside of my arm rests. Also make sure the cables that connect the actuators to this same control hub are not bumping against the metal housing. The rest of the metal housing should be solid.

Are yours rentals too?

Originally Posted by sanderdvd

Maybe I ll try to record some of the sound I m hearing in high quality audio and upload it so you can hear it.

Originally Posted by sanderdvd

Also note that I don t use the bar frame from D-Box anymore. The side modules are directly installed on the heavy metal steel frame of the seating.

Originally Posted by sanderdvd

Can I remove the ''controller hub housing'' without any risk of damaging anything? And is it dangerous (high voltage?) with the controller hub housing removed? I think it might be this housing and/or cables from the housing running to the actuators that are causing the rumbling. IF thats true, I could modify the middle hub housing with foam or something so it will make less noise. Also could put something around the cables running from the hub to the actuators to prevent them from rattling to the d-box module.

Originally Posted by xhonzi

Any ideas for what I need to do with it when I get home?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by thxman

Post more details of the issue. Exact error messages, etc.

Originally Posted by sanderdvd


strange, it syncs fine here.....

I have problems with Scream 4. Can someone check if this one syncs?

They should add to their to-do/currently working on list:

Drive
The Ring
Ring 2
Shark Night
In Time
Puss in Boots
Paranormal Activity 3

Originally Posted by xhonzi

Just got back from the in-laws. I powered all of my home theatre down and unplugged it from the mains to make sure there were no power issues while I was gone. My 340c has been unplugged for 8 days. When plugging the d-box controller back in, I get the standard "Powered Off, Press the Power Button then Stand By to Stand By" or whatever it says.

I pressed power and waited an hour- nuffin'. I push the power button a few more times and wait 30 minutes. Still nuffin'.

I removed DC power again and then replaced. The first time I push power, some extra lights come on and some hard drive whirring takes place. Half hour later- nuffin'.

In my office (through the wall of the HT) I have a VGA monitor and keyboard still plugged in (too lazy to unplug them) to the 340c, so I walk over there and switch on the monitor. It's at a boot option menu that says "Boot to option 2?" or something like that. I hit enter on the keyboard and get the motherboard boot screen. It goes to black for a couple of seconds, and then the monitor reports no video signal for a couple of seconds. Then the picture comes back and it's the motherboard screen again. This repeats several times.

Eventually I hold down and enter the mobo setup menu. I see the HDD is there, which is my first concern. Not knowing what else to look for (and having some success with this in the past) I just save and exit. It goes back to the mobo screen/reboot process.

I leave it plugged in all night on a lark that the clock battery needs to recharge or something like that (I did see the correct day/time in the mobo setup screen, now that I'm thinking about that). I try to turn it on this morning before I run out the door for work... no action. Didn't even see the VGA monitor synch anything.

Any ideas for what I need to do with it when I get home?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by xhonzi

The exact text on the screen is:
- System Offline -
Press POWER
to resume
then standy...

As I said, this is the standard "there's power, but it's not on screen" that I'm sure we've all seen at some point in time. I don't think it's an actual "error".

The error itself, however...

I'm pretty sure it's a basic computer problem. Not only can I get into the CMOS setup, I can hold F8 and get into the OS boot menu. However, nothing will boot. Safe Mode, Safe Mode Command prompt, etc...

Once I did get a blue screen of death (usually it just reboots with no indication) and it told me I needed to do a scndsk on f:. But that was it.

Could it be the RAM? Does anyone know how many modular components are on the 340c? The HDD is obviously its own unit, but is the CPU, the RAM, the video card, etc. all integrated onto the mobo?

Originally Posted by mv038856

Hi,

the 340C originally holds a VIA Epia ML-5000EA Mini-ITX motherboard. After a couple of years in operation the electrolytic capacitors wear out (especially if not disconnected from power completely). I have replaced them on three ML-5000AE boards so far and this restored operation on the units.

The issue with electrolytic capacitors is not unique to D-Box controllers, it is a general problem of the limted lifetime of electrolytic capacitors. The lifetime is specified as hours of operation at a given operating temperature. Having no active cooling, the 340c is running at a higher temperature, shortening the lifetime of the capacitors. If you take a look into the controller you might be able to see whether the top of the capacitors is slightly domed, which is a sign that they are worn out. I have seen pictures from other mainboards where the capacitors have even exploded...

The effect of broken capacitors generally is irratic behavior, i.e. blue screens, not booting reliably, hanging during boot. I had one 340c that booted just fine worked for hours and the next day it wouldn't boot anymore, but it did a last time the day after that...

Long story short: Check your mainboard. If it is the capacitors, you can replace them (if you can handle a soldering iron) or have them replaced by someone who's proficient in soldering. You can exchange the mainboard yourself with another Mini-ITX board (I have done so with a VIA Epia LN-10000EG - you need to change some plugs and use adapters for the HD and DVD drive since the LN-10000EG doesn't have P-ATA ports or replace the drives) or have it fixed by D-Box. The cost of the different options varies... The capacitors are a few bucks, the mainboard is appr. $150 (plus new drives?) and someone reported that D-Box charges around $1,000 for upgrading your 340c to a 4-series controller, if memory serves me right.

If it is not the mainboard... then I don't know.

Good luck!

Cheers!

Markus

Originally Posted by Tedd

scandisk/f points to the hard drive having damaged sectors (and makes perfect sense).

Originally Posted by xhonzi

Alright, I'm not getting anywhere. Man, getting that drive out of there was quite a challenge! (For those of you that go through this later, I first removed the DVD drive, but that didn't help. So I put it back and used a security bit (5/64 hexagon) without a driver (just the bit) and a pair of pliers to release the screws in the drive and get it out.

Anywhow-

I have a USB to IDE adaptor that I am using with my laptop. I have the drive attached right now.

Unfortunately, I can't see the drive when it's attached. It possible the drive is keyed to the motherboard. What do you think?

Originally Posted by thxman

I have to assume you gave it external power too?

Originally Posted by Petedwitt

Did you also rub the harddrive 4 times to the left and 7 times to the right?.

Originally Posted by thxman

My best gues is that the HD is what is dead then. Do you have anything other than your laptop to test it on?

The issues I have seen here, really make me glad I went with the PC controler.

Originally Posted by xhonzi


Does anyone know if I can connect the USB on the daughter board to my laptop and run D-Box that way?

Originally Posted by xhonzi

Does anyone know if I can connect the USB on the daughter board to my laptop and run D-Box that way?

Originally Posted by thxman

Not a bad idea as long as the controler still gets power to the ports.

Originally Posted by xhonzi

Okay, as I said in my edit, I was able to mount the drive on my desktop. Not sure what's up with my laptop, but that's no longer the issue at hand.

I ran the windows Check for Errors routine and it came back clean. I also ran "Chkdsk /f" at the command prompt and it likewise came back clean.

I do have some domed caps on the mobo next to the CPU. Here's a picture:



Does this look bad enough to be my problem?

Does anyone know if I can connect the USB on the daughter board to my laptop and run D-Box that way?

Originally Posted by filkingian

I recently resurrected my EPIA by exchanging the swollen caps. Had to change one on the power supply board also. It would not work properly even after that, so I removed the heatsinks, cleaned the surfaces and applied new thermal grease. Works like a charm now

I managed to get the daughter board to work on one of my other computers, but it took a whole lot of editing in regedit and experimenting with the software. One downside of having it on a computer is that it will probably fill the hard drive as the pc software does not compress the motioncodes(not a 100% sure of this) like the 340c controller does.