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Multibridge Extreme – installation woe!
Hi all,
I just bought a brand new Multibridge Extreme and am having a devil of a job trying to get it to come to life in playback/capture mode. I’m hoping the brain trust here can kick me in the right direction.
I have two potential target machines – a DELL 670 (2x 2.8 dual core, 3 Gig, NVidia FX4500) and a DELL 690 (2 x dual 3.7, 3Gig Ram, Nvidia FX4500). I know DELL isn;t officially supported – but I bought the machines in advance of the multibridge and only discovered the support issue while trying to figure out how to getthe PCIe connectivity to work. Based on the evidence, I’m pretty sure the problems I’m having are NOT related to the workstation type.
Both machines exhibit the same problem – a lack of detection of the multibridge in PCIe mode. The MBE works fine via USB…but is undetected by the machines. I keep swapping PCIe slots and tightening, reaffixing the cable – and every so often – it springs into life for a few seconds – before either hanging the machine or disappearing again.
Could it be the PCIe cable? Can I swap in a Dual-Link DVI cable nd try that – or is it wired differently? Is there any utility that will poll the pCIe bus and report what it finds?
What suggestions do people have? Should I downgrade drivers and firmware and try that…?
H-E-L-P!!!
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2 Replies
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Hi
Having a few issues in finding the specifications for this machine on the Dell website.
However – you probably have the PCI16x and PCIe8x model.Have you tried both ? the 16x and 8x PCIe connections.
Usb2.0 and PCIe cables should be connected and the MBX should be powered on before the Workstation.
Check the BIOS firmware is updated from the Dell website – if this is possible ?
The problem we are facing here is that the dell machine is off specification and has not been verified.
Making it impossible to test or to get assist from Dell in this matter.Intel, Supermicro and HP on the other hand have always assisted in verifiying hardware and solving issues. This makes a huge difference to all of us.
email – pcsupport@blackmagic-design.com – if you need further assistance.
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a) Link to Dell 690:
https://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/precn_690?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&~section=specs#tabtopb) Bios has been updated.
c) The card is sitting in a PCI-ex8 slot wired as x4.
d) The USB, PCIe and DVI cables are connected.
e) The dual-link DVI cable is connected to a Dell 30″ LCD.
f) a 1080i signal is being provided to the analog YPrPb inputs.
In stand-alone mode the 1080i signal is beautifully redirected to the 30″ DVI. Scaling works, interlacing works etc…
After many hours of jiggling, wiggling, reseating and powering things on and off, the PCIe connection has come to sporadic life (I also downgraded the drivers back a revision, to force a firmware downgrade).
Now, I can get the thing to boot, recognize the MBE (RS422, Dsplay and Audio drivers show up) – and the Control panel is no longer greyed out.
If, under display settings, I do NOT select the MBE monitor – then I can get the deck control utility to fire up and it shows (sometimes) the incoming video, for a minute or two. It then, mostly goes blank and won;t come back until a reboot is done.
When it shows the video in the Control window – the Dell 30″ comes to life and shows the same image (but when I lose the feed, I lose it on the Dell monitor too).
If, under display settings, i DO select the MBE monitor, then either:
a) NOTHING happens or
b) Sometimes the desktop wallpaper now shows on the Dell 30″ – but then the machine freezes.
c) Now – I’m not quite sure what should happen in this mode…:)When you say the Dell is off spec- in what way? It is about as full featured as can be..!!!
Thanks in advance,
Suresh
Anyway – would love to get this up and running.
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