7th Sense Delta User manual

Delta Media Server
Managing Delta Servers
MC255-2
User Guide

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Media Server is a trademark of 7thSense Design Ltd. Brand or product names may be registered trademarks of
their respective owners. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other
countries.
Managing Delta Servers : User Guide
Trademark Information
Copyright Information
All Rights Reserved. This document is copyrighted © by 7thSense Design Ltd and shall not be reproduced or copied
without express written authorisation from 7thSense Design Ltd.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. 7thSense Design Ltd assumes no responsibility
for errors, and/or omissions contained in this information.
Printed: June 2018
2 The Courtyard Shoreham Road
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UK
T: [phone]
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Clawson
Michigan 45017
USA
T: [phone]
7thSense Design Ltd 7thSense Design LLC
E: [e-mail]
W: 7thsensedesign.com
This edition is for software version Delta Server 2.4 and above, Delta Monitor 3.0, Stack 2.0, CDUE 1.0
Document ref.: MC255-2

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Contents
Introduction 5
Delta Server Front Panel 9
Panel Features ............................................................................................................................ 11
LED Status Information ................................................................................................................ 12
Display Text Colours .................................................................................................................... 13
Menu Structure ........................................................................................................................... 15
Using Delta Front Panel Menus .................................................................................................... 16
Controls ............................................................................................................................. 16
Load Show .......................................................................................................................... 17
Graphics/Render ................................................................................................................ 17
Group ................................................................................................................................. 18
Delta Version ..................................................................................................................... 18
Audio VU Meter ................................................................................................................. 18
External Control ................................................................................................................. 19
IP and PC Name ................................................................................................................. 19
Service Menu ..................................................................................................................... 19
Service Mode ..................................................................................................................... 24
Reset Audio and Front Panel ........................................................................................................ 26
DeltaMonitor 31
DeltaMonitor Dialog .................................................................................................................... 33
Service Mode ..................................................................................................................... 33
Edit: Preferences ............................................................................................................... 34
Service Menu ..................................................................................................................... 35
Registry Tools .................................................................................................................... 35
Help ................................................................................................................................... 36
External Control of Delta Servers 37
External Control Commands ........................................................................................................ 39
Commands > Master Rack ............................................................................................................ 40
Commands > Master or Slave Rack ............................................................................................... 41
Return Codes ............................................................................................................................... 49
Troubleshooting External Control ................................................................................................ 52

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Contents
WakeOnLan 53
DeltaFinder: Finding Servers 55
Stack web interface 57
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 59
Installation .................................................................................................................................. 61
Stack Core Modules ..................................................................................................................... 63
Stack Overview .................................................................................................................. 63
Stack Annotate ................................................................................................................... 68
Stack Backup and Restore ................................................................................................. 74
Stack Control ...................................................................................................................... 83
Stack Control: DeltaMonitor .............................................................................................. 86
StackDesigner .................................................................................................................... 94
StackScheduler ................................................................................................................... 98
Stack API ............................................................................................................................ 99
Stack Additional Modules .......................................................................................................... 127
Managing Delta User Licences 129
Update Licence Expiry ................................................................................................................ 131
Activate a Software Licence ....................................................................................................... 134
Bandwidth Licensing .................................................................................................................. 136
Change Delta User Expiry ........................................................................................................... 137
Generate New Update Code ............................................................................................ 137
Updating Delta with new Code ....................................................................................... 139
Delta Media Server Shared Folders 141
Network Ports Used by Delta Server 145
Document Information 149
151
Index

Introduction

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Introduction
Introduction
There are several ways to interact with a Delta Media Server, or a network of servers.
· As a Windows device, some operations will be via the desktop, and of course the box switches,
buttons and ports.
· As a Delta server, some control is available via the front panel
· This is replicated in an interactive web page in the Stack web interface.
· DeltaMonitor is a utility that manages the front panel of the server it is on, including network
connections and graphic settings. This also has a link to the Stack web interface, which offers more
control than the DeltaMonitor application.
The Stack web interface gives much more, including an overview of all Delta Servers on a network, and a
facility to backup and restore any server. From here, the activity of any server can be seen and managed
remotely. The following parts of this Guide will help you in each approach:
Ø Delta Server Front Panel
Ø DeltaMonitor
Ø Stack Web Interface
Shutting down a Delta Server
As an example of this flexibility, we are sometimes asked: what is the best way of properly shutting
down a Delta server?
Delta Media Server runs on Microsoft Windows. As such, it requires that the server is properly shut
down to prevent the operating system image and hardware from becoming corrupt. This can be done in
one of several ways:
· Initiate a standard Windows shut-down from the Start Menu
· Press (do not hold) the power button on the front of the server once
· Call the shutdown_pc command within Delta Media Server via an internal sequence or external
control (see DeltaGUI sequence editor or external control help documentation) [available for Delta
Media Server v2.0.5 beta or 2.1.x release or later]
· Initiate a shut-down from the Stack web interface (available at http://[serverIP]/ws, with default
user name = admin; password = admin). Click on the Control option on the left side menu and select
Shutdown Server.
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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Introduction

Delta Server Front Panel

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Delta Server Front Panel
The Delta Front Panel is controlled by the DeltaMonitor application. On Delta 1.5 servers the
functionality is limited. Delta 2 adds a significant amount of additional functionality. Delta 2.4 sees
more software changes to allow for NICs to be modified in all servers (including Nano) without having
to enter Service Mode, and with further options for NIC modification throughout.
Terminology
Embedded Server – This refers to the Operating system on the server. The embedded servers include:
Nano, Nano4K and Duo II pre-2016, and Nano1, Nano2, Nano3, Nano4K in the 2016 server range. (For
further information see the Service Mode Section.)

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Panel Features

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
LED Status Information
The LEDs light up when a show is playing. Colour indicates the status of graphics, audio and playback
disks.
Green
OK – performing correctly
Amber
Warning – not running smoothly, e.g. audio time drifting
Red
Error – e.g. dropping frames; needs resolving
Graphics Status
Indicates whether the server is able to playback at the specified rate. Corresponds with the
yellow line on the debug graph.
Audio Status
Indicates whether audio playback is at the correct rate. Corresponds with the cyan line on the
debug graph.
Disk Status
Indicates whether the server disks are able to playback all movies currently in scope on the
timeline.

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Display Text Colours
Blue
The standard colour of all text on a Delta Master Server.
Cyan
The standard colour of all text on a Delta Slave Server
Red
Indicates the Delta Server application has stopped running. It can also indicate lack of Genlock or AMD
grouping if the Delta monitor application has been configured to monitor these states.
Green
Indication that the server is in Service Mode. This mode is only available on Embedded Delta Servers.

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Dark Green
With Windows 10 LTSB, Unified Write Filter (UWF) replaces Service Mode, and is available on all servers
using this operating system. When UWF is enabled, the server shows that it is locked:
Note that if the server is a slave, the colour for this state will be cyan (as shown above). UWF is
explained more in the Delta User Guide from version 2.6.
Others
Other colours are used for Alert mode. This mode flashes the display on certain actions and is intended
to aid programming and debug.

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Menu Structure
The menu structure is navigated using the left and right control keys. The Right Arrow button takes you
clockwise around the pages, the Left Arrow takes you anticlockwise.
For example, press the Right Arrow button twice to go to the Load Show page, or the Left Arrow once to
go to the Service Menu.
Note: Servers running Delta 1.5 are only capable of showing the pages marked with an orange border
Pages with this icon have sub-menus/pages. Press the Enter button to open, and the
Up/Down buttons to navigate. The Bottom Left button is the Back button.

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Using Delta Front Panel Menus
Main Display
The main display shows the server’s Windows configuration name, its IP address, and the filename of
the current show. The last line shows which timeline is running, the position of the playhead and the
play status (Play, Stop, Ready).
Press the Right or Left arrow buttons to navigate to other pages.
Controls
Note: The Controls page is only available to Delta servers configured as a Master.
Press the Right Arrow button, then Enter (centre button) to use the controls page:
Once in the control page, all buttons have a function:
Bottom Left
Steps back out of the control page into the main pages
Top Left
Rewinds current timeline to frame 0

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
Left
Stop playing (if running) and press to step back one frame at a time
Right
Stop playing (if running) and press to step forward one frame at a time
Top
Play
Bottom
Cue, ready to play
Enter
Stop
Load Show
Press Enter (centre button) to list available shows:
The cursor arrow indicates the currently selected show.
Scroll through items with the Up and Down buttons, and select the one you want with Enter. (Bottom
Left button goes back to the Load Show page.)
Graphics/Render
Gfx
Current desktop resolution and refresh

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Delta Server Front Panel
Aud
Available Audio
Gfx
Available graphics output i.e. DVI, SDI
Cache
Current disk cache level
Group
This page indicates whether the server is a Master or Slave, the server group it is in, how many servers
are in this group, and the current timing mode.
Delta Version
Shows the current DeltaServer application version installed on the server.
Audio VU Meter
This page shows the audio playing on the current timeline. If audio is current playing, a VU meter
shows, with a vertical line for each channel of audio:
If no audio is currently in scope the display will read ‘Silence’.

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
External Control
Lists the current TCP and UDP ports for external control, and the last external control message received.
IP and PC Name
This page shows a list of the current server network IP addresses (first, second and third adapters) and
the server’s Windows configuration name.
The ‘s’ or ‘d’ at the end of each line indicates whether the network address is static or dynamic.
Service Menu

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Managing Delta Servers © 2018 7thSense Design
Delta Server Front Panel
The Service Menu provides configuration functionality for the server. Once in the Service Menu, you
will be presented with a list of all the functions available on that Delta server. Move the cursor through
the options with the Up and Down buttons and select the required item using Enter.
Restart Delta
Select restart Delta. Press Enter to restart the Delta server. Confirm twice before the system will restart.
Reset EDIDs
Select Reset EDID. Press Enter to delete all forced EDID graphics configurations from the server. Confirm
twice before any EDIDs are reset.