Kscape System Specs

[cinelife]

Essentially the same component, with the Alto being software modified to restrict internal storage to downloaded Store content only. That's how I remember it, but perhaps Mike or John from K have additional comments.

Jim

 

[J.Green]

Jim is essentially correct:
The Cinema One (2nd Generation) and the Alto are the same hardware and only differ in the version of kOS that they ran.

The Cinema One (2nd Gen) ran our "Premiere" version of kOS. It supported disc importing (Blu-ray disc, CD, and DVD (DVD only supported if the unit was grandfathered)) and music CD playback. It could only be grouped with another Cinema One (2nd Gen) and a DV700 disc vault. It could not be grouped with other Premiere servers or players so you were limited to a 2-zone system at most.

The Alto ran our "Encore" version of kOS. It only supports cataloging (rather than disc import) and does not support music CD playback. It can be grouped with other Encore devices (Alto, Strato, Strato S, Strato C, Terra, Terra C) as well as the DV700 disc server.

It should be noted that a Cinema One (2nd Gen) cannot be converted to an Alto via software upgrade nor can an Alto be converted to a Cinema One (2nd Gen).

 

[jmf]

Awesome! Thank you for that detail!

 

[Substance]

Specification Update:

The Premiere 3U Server comes with Intel Celeron D 352 single core CPU at 3.2GHz. It’s on Cedarmill (90nm) architecture from Q2 of 2006 with 86W TDP.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 352 (512K Cache, 3.20 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 352 (512K Cache, 3.20 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

I successfully replaced this CPU with the latest revision of Cedarmill (65nm) from Q1 of 2007 which is the Intel Celeron D 365 single core CPU at 3.6GHz with 65W TDP.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 365 (512K Cache, 3.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 365 (512K Cache, 3.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

The new CPU should be faster while consuming a few less Watts and generating a little less heat. The stock CPU cooler is a Silverstone passive heatsink (copper) which is more than adequate.

I also upgraded the stock 512MB DDR2 533MHz (PC2 4200) RAM with Corsair (2x1GB) DDR2 533 MHz (PC2 4200). While at it, I replaced the CR2032 CMOS battery with a fresh one.

 

[HiFiGuy1]

Specification Update:

The Premiere 3U Server comes with Intel Celeron D 352 single core CPU at 3.2GHz. It’s on Cedarmill (90nm) architecture from Q2 of 2006 with 86W TDP.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 352 (512K Cache, 3.20 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 352 (512K Cache, 3.20 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

I successfully replaced this CPU with the latest revision of Cedarmill (65nm) from Q1 of 2007 which is the Intel Celeron D 365 single core CPU at 3.6GHz with 65W TDP.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 365 (512K Cache, 3.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 365 (512K Cache, 3.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

The new CPU should be faster while consuming a few less Watts and generating a little less heat. The stock CPU cooler is a Silverstone passive heatsink (copper) which is more than adequate.

I also upgraded the stock 512MB DDR2 533MHz (PC2 4200) RAM with Corsair (2x1GB) DDR2 533 MHz (PC2 4200). While at it, I replaced the CR2032 CMOS battery with a fresh one.

That's cool info. It stands to reason the 1U might be the same specs, but I'd be curious to find out.

 

[Substance]

Specification Update:

The Premiere 3U Server comes with Intel Celeron D 352 single core CPU at 3.2GHz. It’s on Cedarmill (90nm) architecture from Q2 of 2006 with 86W TDP.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 352 (512K Cache, 3.20 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 352 (512K Cache, 3.20 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

I successfully replaced this CPU with the latest revision of Cedarmill (65nm) from Q1 of 2007 which is the Intel Celeron D 365 single core CPU at 3.6GHz with 65W TDP.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 365 (512K Cache, 3.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 365 (512K Cache, 3.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

The new CPU should be faster while consuming a few less Watts and generating a little less heat. The stock CPU cooler is a Silverstone passive heatsink (copper) which is more than adequate.

I also upgraded the stock 512MB DDR2 533MHz (PC2 4200) RAM with Corsair (2x1GB) DDR2 533 MHz (PC2 4200). While at it, I replaced the CR2032 CMOS battery with a fresh one.

I purchased another 3U server chassis which is a few years newer than my previous chassis. I was able to compare the two. Here are my findings.

Older chassis has Commell LV-672 motherboard where as the newer chassis has Commell LV-674. They are very similar but LV-674 supports faster bus speeds (800Mhz vs 1066Mhz) and faster RAM(533Mhz vs 667Mhz). LV-674 is all solid capacitors too so it is more reliable.

There is an easy way to tell which motherboard your chassis has. The older chassis has the firewire socket in vertical position on its back whereas the newer chassis has it in horizontal.

Other than the newer board, the cpu heatsink is larger and has a 92mm x 15mm fan. The front 80mm intake fans are made by Sunon and makes about 1 db less noise. The sata contoller and the sata bed are identical but they have rev e mark on them (older model is mark d).

I did the same modifications to this chassis as my previous one. I can say they perform the same. I can’t say one is faster than the other one.

 

[Substance]

I forgot to mention I replaced the power supply with newer version of the stock one. It is a 700W supply vs 650W and it’s a bit more efficient although still 80 plus Bronze certified. The newer chassis with the new 65W TDP CPU and 700W supply pulls about 10W less than the old chassis.

 

[Chiefwade13]

I forgot to mention I replaced the power supply with newer version of the stock one. It is a 700W supply vs 650W and it’s a bit more efficient although still 80 plus Bronze certified. The newer chassis with the new 65W TDP CPU and 700W supply pulls about 10W less than the old chassis.

I am looking to replace my power supply for my 3u, can I ask what was the supply replacement you have used?

 

[Substance]

I am looking to replace my power supply for my 3u, can I ask what was the supply replacement you have used?

I am so very sorry for the very late reply. I missed your question for some reason.

SPI made the stock power supply. I reached out to Kristin Nguyen at SPI (kristinnguyegn@sparklepower.com) for the correct model as it is not listed on their website anymore. You can see the invoice details below. The invoice price includes shipping. The supply itself was $249.55 in November 2022. I ended up picking it up from their LA office. At the time they only 1 more in stock and they said they don’t plan to make more. They seemed very reasonable though. They could probably be convinced to make a new batch for a group buy of a dozen or so units.

SPARKLE POWER INC. | AC DC Power Supply Manufacturer

Sparkle Power specializes in research & development, design and manufacturing for ac dc power supply in ITE, cloud & server, industry and more applications.

www.sparklepower.com

Note: I considered other PC power supplies from other makes. There are some Voltage rails needed for the SATA HDD daughter board and they draw 30A or 40A of current in total (can’t remember the exact numbers but very high). None of the stock supplies I looked at go above 30A. So the PSU for the Premiere 3U needs to be a custom PSU like the SPI one.

 

[jont-uk]

Jim is essentially correct:
The Cinema One (2nd Generation) and the Alto are the same hardware and only differ in the version of kOS that they ran.

The Cinema One (2nd Gen) ran our "Premiere" version of kOS. It supported disc importing (Blu-ray disc, CD, and DVD (DVD only supported if the unit was grandfathered)) and music CD playback. It could only be grouped with another Cinema One (2nd Gen) and a DV700 disc vault. It could not be grouped with other Premiere servers or players so you were limited to a 2-zone system at most.

The Alto ran our "Encore" version of kOS. It only supports cataloging (rather than disc import) and does not support music CD playback. It can be grouped with other Encore devices (Alto, Strato, Strato S, Strato C, Terra, Terra C) as well as the DV700 disc server.

It should be noted that a Cinema One (2nd Gen) cannot be converted to an Alto via software upgrade nor can an Alto be converted to a Cinema One (2nd Gen).

Will the Cinema One (2nd Gen) do UHD download/playback from the KS store or is it limited to HD ? ... can't seem to find that answer anywhere ...

 

[erixon1138]

Will the Cinema One (2nd Gen) do UHD download/playback from the KS store or is it limited to HD ? ... can't seem to find that answer anywhere ...

It’s limited to HD and SD

 

[Substance]

That's cool info. It stands to reason the 1U might be the same specs, but I'd be curious to find out.

Premiere 1U (Kserver-1500) server comes with Commell LV-673 motherboard. I don't know which exact CPU is used. This board has a socket 478 which supports Pentium 4 M and Celeron M. I would say 1U and 3U are very comparable (or 1U is slightly less powerful). The different motherboard choice is probably due to different power supplies.

 

[Substance]

The Premiere 1U+ (Kserver-1550) server has a different motherboard than Premiere 1U (Kserver-1500) based on the pictures I have seen. I can’t find clear pictures of inside to confirm which make/model motherboard and other specifications. Most likely another Commell model and different CPU socket hence a different CPU model. I have a reason to believe it is a socket 479 motherboard and Intel Pentium M760 (Dothan) CPU but can’t confirm it without investigating further.

Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2M Cache, 2.00A GHz, 533 MHz FSB) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2M Cache, 2.00A GHz, 533 MHz FSB) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

 

[Substance]

Some interesting facts:

Premiere 3U CPU: Intel Celeron D 352 single thread rating: 576MOps/s at 86W TDP
Premiere 1U+ CPU: Intel Pentium M 260 single thread rating: 363MOps/s at 21W TDP

The Premiere 3U CPU uses 4 times more power but it has nearly 60% more single core processing power.

The Premiere 3U server has an add on hardware RAID controller on a separate daughterboard which is connected to the PCI Express socket (Gen 2) of the motherboard. This offloads the RAID functions from the CPU and the south-bridge, typically more reliable and faster during the rebuilding of any RAID.

The Premiere 1U/1U+ uses the 4 Sata sockets on the motherboard hence uses software RAID utilizing the south-bridge and the CPU chipset.

Summary: The Premiere 3U hardware is surely more powerful and more sophisticated however it comes with the penalty of significantly higher power consumption. They can both serve up to 15 zones simultaneously hence negating the edge the Premiere 3U server has on its processing power. However, the Premiere 1U/1U+ are limited to 4x HDDs whereas the Premiere 3U can accommodate up to 14x HDDs with 1 level higher redundancy (Parity+Spare).


Correction: The Premiere 1U server uses 2 Sata connectors on its motherboard and adds another 2 Sata connectors via a mini-PCI card using the mini-PCI socket on the motherboard.

 

[Substance]

I found the poorly authored DVD lists... There were two lists, one for "Slow Import" and another for "May Not Load". It appears the lists were last updated 3/14/2014. I formatted the lists into text files. Attached below:

Can anyone who have been with Kaleidescape long enough tell me what the poorly authored DVD list is about?

 

[andy]

Can anyone who have been with Kaleidescape long enough tell me what the poorly authored DVD list is about?

It was created in the early days of Premiere products (long before Encore systems existed) to set expectations that specific DVDs were authored "poorly" and may take several hours to import; and in some cases may fail to import at all. It was a byproduct of some studios getting creative in how they formatted and pressed their discs to try and thwart piracy.

At that time, the Movie Guide team routinely updated the list to limit the number of customers needing to inquire about title X or title Y (I know dealers learned to look at the list before contacting K), but it probably doesn't see much attention any more (since it focuses on importing which is different from cataloging).

If you are still importing content to your K system, be sure to never stop an import (no matter how long it has been going) and wait for the system to error out, or for the import to complete. It was not uncommon for imports to finish successfully after several hours, and in some edge cases, days later.


Andy