DM Sprite 2

[qman 0]

Got a client who gave me a DM Sprite 2 for repair. The unit has a crashed hard drive, but I know that DM uses the hd to run the os on them. does anyone knows of a way to get around this to get it working without having to send the unit in for repair? It's just out of warranty. Thanks

[griffonsystems 0]

any chance you have access to another sprite 2? just make an image of the working drive and put it in the one that crashed? i guess they dont have there os/gui available on their site for download

[qman 0]

yup!! I don't have access to another one.

[rory 0]

That doesnt make sense. If it is an Embedded Unit, as they claim, then the RTOS will be in the EPROM not on the HDD.

[CSG 0]

There was a guy on Ebay that was offering to upgrade the HD on Sprite 2's for a set fee.

[qman 0]

Come on guys, any other idea? I'm trying to win a big bid with this guy, and If I cna fix this, I would most likely get it, plus, then, I'll swap out this DM crap for something like sanyo, or GE.

[CSG 0]

Herm,

 

I've sent DM's back to the factory for repair many times, sometimes they bill, sometimes they fix it for free. When they do charge the cost is usually nominal.

 

For instance I had a Sprite 16 channel that got hit by lightening. Knocked out the clients computer network and phone system too. ( It hit the network and from the network cable hit the Sprite).

 

The mainboard was fried. DM charged $275 to fix plus shipping. Unit was way out of warranty (over 3 yrs old). I thought that was reasonable. I charged the customer $500.00 to cover my express shipping charges & service call.

[qman 0]

I hear you, but they actually want triple that. Their thing is that this is a 320GB hard drive, and they will only replace BOTH hard drives, (only 1 is dead), plus they also want to charge me to reload software. Thanks for the suggestion anyway

[rory 0]

well I just replaced the hard drives in a Kalatel DSR-2000, they were 2x Maxtor 160GB Drives, its juts plug and play.

 

Hermin, with any embedded unit, the OS is not on the HDD.

[qman 0]

then why the hell does it say "bad FAT", and according to DM, they said that the OS is on the hard drive. Then explain this, I unplugged the bad HD, but left the good one in, and it does the same thing, I'm going to try and boot it with no HD, will keep you guys posted.

[rory 0]

goto the nearest window, open the window, make sure noone is out there, then chuck the DM out the window and yell Yippie!! as it crashes to the ground

[qman 0]

you a...

[qman 0]

Well, I got it to work!!!

 

I took the secondary hard drive, and made it a master, plus I also switched the IDE cable, and it works. Now, for those of you who are out there looking for a new DVR, please do yourself a favor, DONT GET Dedicated Crapoo.

[rory 0]

Its basically a PC with the Linux OS on it .. from what I have seen it is not RTOS linux, and their DVR software is on the HDD ... that really sucks. And this is what it is using BTW - http://www.altera.com/

[qman 0]

Ok, let me do a little review on this unit.

 

The unit physically looks real nice, like it would blend in with a home entertaiment center perfectly. the buttons are nice, they feel really sturdy and confortable when using.

 

The manual that comes with the ut is USELESS>

 

quoting rory "..no screen shots, its just a setup manual, and doesnt say much, there is no other manual on their site" "...by the way, when you install their Network Software, that has the PDF file with all the info on that, such as user name, password, ports to forward, etc"

 

Nice uh? Telling the unauthorized user how to access the system, when 80% of DVR;S out there are left with default passwords.

 

When the unit starts, it's not a embedded RTOS, the first thing that it says is" Loading OS from Disk" meaning some sort of embedded Linux. so, as you can see in my top post, the HD fails, you are SCREWD. DM charges $150 to load in their os if YOU provide the HD. Otherwise, a replacement OEM 160GIG HD cost $200, plus the $150 for the OS load. This is quoting a technical rep that I spoke to in DM.

 

After the unit starts, it gives you a nice picture, I must admit. The controls are pretty straight foward, and it's easy to do a search by event or time. The playback is also fairly simple, with the standard buttons, nothing special, but it works.

 

The menu system is a little complicated, and nowhere in there is it a option in case that you have to erase or format the drive. The other funcions on this unit are the norm...Scheduling, motion sensing, passwork, camera setup, time, date, E.T.C.

 

One thing that most of you will find really annoying is the fact that for a unit this costly, there is absolutelly no method of backing up the unit other than an external SCSI hard Drive. Come on!!!

 

The worse thing about this unit is not the unit itself, but the warranty, for a $5000.00 DVR to only have 2 year warranty, and a company unwilling to swap out a simple HD that was 2 DAYS over the warranty, got to say something about them. and this is a client with over 15 of these units, which I'm going to swap out to probably GE or Sanyo.

 

Will I ever recommend this product? Why yes, to my father-in-law.!!!!

 

That says it all.

 

Hermin

[CSG 0]

The manual that comes with the ut is USELESS>

 

I agree, but that useless manual comes printed in 4 languages!

 

Nice uh? Telling the unauthorized user how to access the system, when 80% of DVR;S out there are left with default passwords.

 

Well, you should change the password, but even if you don't, most CCTV installations don't have top secret video on them. You can't really do anything to them remotely other than playback.

 

The new Sprites now have an internal flash card that will allow the unit to continue to function in the event of a drive crash, albeit without recording. Don't know if that makes the hard drives plug & play or hotswap.

 

There is no erasing of video for security reasons.

 

One thing that most of you will find really annoying is the fact that for a unit this costly, there is absolutelly no method of backing up the unit other than an external SCSI hard Drive. Come on!!!

Well you could use other scsi devices such a zip drive or dat tape. Newer Sprites have a DVD-R. Does ur client really need to backup video?

 

Does GE Kalatel provide free service after 2 years?

[rory 0]

Kalatel, AKA GE Security, has a 3 year warranty. I thought DM had 3 years also?

 

Anyway, im not saying anything besides between the 2 of them, the GE is a better buy on this side of the Globe, for not only does it cost less, it is produced in the US and uses a True RTOS embedded system. It does use a third party board but the nitty gritty is done in the US such as soldering the BNC connectors on, programming the RTOS, etc.

 

Back up is similar between the 2 of them, and actually DM has more PC type features such as a choice of which storage to use. Personally though I would build myself a decent WinXP PC system before buying the DM.

 

As for the other issues, I could only locate a set up manual on their web site, no actual user manual. As for languages we speak Englist over here

 

And for passwords, it actually has more options than the GE for that, but then its just embedded Linux, not RTOS linux or RTOS nucleus

 

Okay so basically it is still a decent DVR, just there are better choices for the North American Market.

[SeanMort 0]

My experience of the DM product is that when it is out of warranty your chances of repairing it yourself are slim. Their tech support keeps you on a need to know basis ... and you don't need to know as far they are concerned !! I have over the past two years had a customer site running a DM and DVMRe side by side on loop through and the DM has had two disk crashes, the GE none. DM's tech support says it was lightning/power etc !! I have had quite a few of my DM customer sites experience similar mysterious disk crashes. The GE units in my opinion are rock-solid and easy to repair out of warranty. We've repaired lightning damaged units, disk crashes and corrupted firmware problems with ease. Not so the DM's. Can't even get tech status info from the DM units like you can on the GE units internal dev.ssi page. You got to telnet into the DM's com port for that info, and then only with their unique software.

[SeanMort 0]

An update on this thread;

 

I recently had to repair a DM DS2 from a disk crash (it has two drives installed) and was faced with the same problem Herm' had. Not wanting to send it back to the supplier because it's out of warranty I "discovered" how to re-format the drives and load new software just as DM would do it. PM me if you need to know.

[tj9at_jp 0]

Hi SeanMort, I have been given a DS2A DX16C, but on boot up it says "disk problem - may be wrong fat version - suggest using monitor to reformat disk".

 

Could you let us know how you managed to fix your one?

 

Many thanks for any help provided.

[quinnmoab 0]

have the same problem and there web site is totaly useless any help would be appreciated

[ncdoc 0]

have the same problem and there web site is totaly useless any help would be appreciated

Older DS2 hard drives can easily be replaced. All you need is a IDE - USB enclosure ($30.00) and the new drive. Format the drive, load the appropriate image from DM web site, and install the drive. I use the Seagate SV35 series drives designed for 24/7 recording operation and carry 5 year warranty. Downloaded the free HD utility from Seagate to format the drive. 320GB ATA100 is around $100.00.

[flashbyte 0]

have the same problem and there web site is totaly useless any help would be appreciated

Older DS2 hard drives can easily be replaced. All you need is a IDE - USB enclosure ($30.00) and the new drive. Format the drive, load the appropriate image from DM web site, and install the drive. I use the Seagate SV35 series drives designed for 24/7 recording operation and carry 5 year warranty. Downloaded the free HD utility from Seagate to format the drive. 320GB ATA100 is around $100.00.

 

What file system do you use when formatting FAT unix?

[scorpio 0]

DM did a training course in the UK last year for replacing the drives and reloading the software back onto them.

I thought it was quite good although since i did it i have never had to replace one yet.

All the software you need is available on their website after you register.

 

Great website by the way.

[Octagon_UK 0]

Does anyone know how to solve this?

 

If so, can you pm me.

 

Many Thanks

Luke