HELP! MTRX Studio Power Cycling, Not Connecting with DADman

[Deadly Mix Studios]

Aside from losing 2 output channels on the second Line Out DB25 port within the first year (which I unfortunately assumed was caused by a faulty cable and didn’t realize my warranty was only 1yr, unlike most devices in its price range, so Avid basically told me to go f— myself on getting any customer support whatsoever), the MTRX Studio has been pretty much rock-solid for nearly 3 years.

That is, it WAS rock-solid, until 2 days ago. It was running fine when I closed up for the night. Then, I walked in to open up the next day and it was clear a brown-out had occurred. The displays, computers, and some active PMC monitors that always need to be manually reset when not turned off properly were all off; so it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.

I booted up the computers and noticed DADman (which we’d configured to automatically open when the main PC is booted up) still hadn’t discovered the MTRX Studio. That was odd because it usually takes about 2 seconds. Dante Controller always seems to take a long time to show all the devices on the Dante network and even it was showing the MTRX Studio on the same PC as DADman.

I started to panic because it then cycled itself off and back on, but I thought that maybe it was just doing that because it still hadn’t connected to DADman and it was just something it was supposed to do that i hadn’t noticed before because it usually connects with DADman right away.

Then, it power cycled again. So, I closed DADman and reopened it…. Same thing. DADman was searching but couldn’t find it and MTRX Studio was power cycling about every 10 minutes or so. I haven’t timed the intervals to say for sure if the same amount of time passes between each power cycle, but it seemed to be roughly the same amount of time between cycles. That has given me a small amount of hope that this might be a networking or software issue, maybe not a hardware issue.

I downloaded the latest version of DADman. It was the version already installed, so it ran as a repair. I checked the date on the latest firmware download and it is also older than the last time I checked all digital and hybrid devices in the Atmos mastering room for firmware updates. So, I’m sure the firmware is up to date. Its connected to a power-conditioner (BLA PG-2) that’s plugged into a GFI outlet, so power shouldn’t be an issue.
There have also been so no hardware added in the room, no audio cables messed with in the rack, cameras prove that nobody was in the studio after hours, no cats or anything strange like that at the studio that could’ve done anything.

Still assuming that the power-cycling is a normal response to it not finding DADman, I’m hoping to find the issue in the networking or some other software cause.

Shortly before power-cycling, the buttons and lights on the face freeze up. I’m unable to power it down, change the meters or anything else with the buttons. When it reboots, I can then power it down with the power button and it stays powered down with the power button orange and all other lights off.

The EXT sync light was blinking red the first time I plugged it back. Then, after it power-cycled, I turned it off manually and turned it back on manually and the light turned back to green.

Oddly enough, when it power cycles, Dante Controller often continues to show the MTRX Studio and even lets me change settings. If I turn it off manually, it disappears from DC.

I looked through DADman settings without a profile, and MOM is shown at all times. MTRX Studio is seen as well. However, it disappears during the power-cycling.

During the window between power-cycling, Device List shows:

Communications Port (COM1) No Unit Found –  –  –  –

IP Address            Status                            HW Status  Unit Type  Unit ID  Unit Name

169.254.241.204  Unit Ready                   OK                 710               1            M.O.M.

169.254.161.80     Unit Not Responding  –                   MTRXST     1            MTRXSTD

When MTRX Studio device is highlighted, the lower section below that says:

Item              Slot  Status  Type and version   Serial Number FW version

Main Board    –     OK         722100A 200204 722100203….  cpufw: 1.0.3.2, matrix: 1.0.5.6, nios 1.0.1.2, recovery: 1.0….

Front Panel    –     OK        722110A 200207   722110202….  fpga: 1.0.0.1

Dante IP         –     OK                                                                     fpga:1.0.0.4, swver:4.1.0.2, fwver:3.0.0.7, apiver:4.0.3, s….

 

I’m running out of ideas. I remembered that I turned Windows 11 Pro’s firewalls back on recently, so I checked that. DADman was allowed through, but I disabled it anyway for the moment while troubleshooting anyway.

I’m thinking maybe the Dante network switch got reset back to its default settings (rather than the settings I configured when I originally setup this network) when it lost power, but I can’t change or even check the damned switch’s settings because the switch’s IP, for some reason, is on the subnet of the NIC that’s plugged into the internet network(192….), not the IP of the Dante network (169…).

Could this be the cause?? Or does the fact that Dante Controller shows the MTRX Studio mean that the configuration of the switch is fine for connecting to DADman?

Also, I made the mistake of clicking “Yes” at one point to saving current settings, while closing DADman. Now, rather than giving me the same never-ending search for the MTRX Studio I get when I open DADman, it gives me an Error pop up. I found an older profile save file and it still does the endless search when I try to open those profiles, but my main profile gives me the same Error every time I try to open it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

There couldn’t possibly be a worse time to have to shutdown. I have a ton of people trying to book, including a few who are the type of clients you get to add zeroes to your rate after working with. My business’ future relies on having this up and running right away. PLEASE Help! Avid is the worst scam company on the planet. Dealing with those scumbags is not an option.

 

[Kim Vangsgaard]

Hi Deadly Mix Studios,

Sorry to read about your troubles.

First of all, running DADman should NOT make the unit power cycle itself without no reason. I assume the power cycling is due to some error in the unit, that makes it crash and then via build in watchdog, it resets itself.

Did you manage to try what Jeff Komar from AVID suggested on DUC?

https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=429527&highlight=DADman

If you can connect to the unit while not loading any profile and before it’s power cycling, can you put the unit in Recovery mode? If so, is the unit then steady for a longer period? If so, then update the latest firmware to the unit again. When finished, restart it and check if it is running steady now.

Kind regards,

Kim V

DAD support team

 

[Deadly Mix Studios]

Thanks, Kim.

I decided to troubleshoot more strategically, after posting, and start narrowing down whether the issue is in the computer, switch, network, or device.

I installed DADman on the RMU (Mac), which has never had DADman installed on it before, and the device connected right away.

Once connected, it began functioning normally again and has remained stable since.

I’d still like to figure out what the issue is, but at least I know it’s an issue between DADman and the PC.

[Author]

Posts