Decision Arena operator manual

For anyone running a workshop, meeting or presentation in the Decision Arena. This space is often used by groups without a technician present, so this manual is deliberately blunt.

TODO verify with senior technician

Reconstructed from the equipment documentation rather than an existing written procedure. Confirm the start-up sequence, source selection and shutdown before relying on it, then remove this banner.

1. Before the session

• Power on the projectors, DECISION0 (C-Play master) and DECISION3 (C-Play node), plus the source computers needed for the session: DECISION1 (WATCHOUT 6) and/or WIN05534 (PresPC) — see Computers.

• Confirm C-Play is running on DECISION0 and DECISION3, with DECISION3 connected as the node and output covering the full screen across all nine projectors.

• In C-Play, show the required Datapath capture: WATCHOUT 6, PresPC, or both.

• If using WATCHOUT and DECISION1 stopped at a fan warning on boot, press F1 on the wired keyboard in the rack to continue (see Computers).

• If using WATCHOUT after a reboot of DECISION1, its capture in C-Play should show the WATCHOUT 6 splash screen (the Dataton logo with the address 172.19.20.11).

  

• If using WATCHOUT, do Load Default Show. The default show's background image should appear around the cylinder through C-Play.

  

• Confirm all nine projectors come up. It is easy to miss one in a cylinder — walk the full circle and look at every panel.

• Confirm the image is continuous all the way around, with no dark segment and no visible misalignment at the seams.

• Open the session's content on the selected source computer(s). For WATCHOUT, open the session's show and play the first minute; for PresPC, check the presentation through its C-Play capture.

• Check audio level and source. C-Play controls audio connected to DECISION0; PresPC audio also works in stereo. Test the audio path needed for the session.

• Set the room lighting. The cylinder relies on relatively dim ambient light for contrast.

TODO verify with senior technician

Add: projector warm-up time, whether the projectors are started individually or via a control panel, and where the WATCHOUT show files live.

2. Starting the session

1. Bring up the intended show or content and its capture(s) in C-Play.
2. Confirm content is visible on all nine channels before letting the group in.
3. Set lighting to the session state.

3. During the session

Request	Where
Change volume	C-Play on DECISION0; also check PresPC's volume when using its stereo audio
Next/previous slide or scene	WATCHOUT show control for WATCHOUT content; PresPC for presentations
Show WATCHOUT and/or PresPC	C-Play — show the corresponding Datapath capture(s)
Switch to a visiting laptop	Source selection — see TODO below
Reset the view	Restart the show cue rather than the application

TODO verify with senior technician

Document how a visiting presenter's laptop is connected and shown, and which control surface a non-technician should use to advance a WATCHOUT show.

4. If something goes wrong during a session

Symptom	Do this now
One projector segment goes dark	Continue — a group can usually work around one dark segment. Note which one.
A block of 4 or 5 segments goes dark	One of DECISION3's GPUs has dropped. Note which block of the cylinder is dark.
All nine dark	Check C-Play on DECISION0 and DECISION3, then the selected source computer(s) and Datapath capture(s).
No audio	Check C-Play audio on DECISION0; if using PresPC stereo audio, check its playback and volume.
Image is warped or shifted	Do not try to correct it by eye. Run the WARP Startup script as admin on DECISION3 (see Troubleshooting). Continue in a degraded state or pause the session.
Everything dark including lights	Power event — do not press PDU buttons. Escalate.

Never during a session

Do not power-cycle projectors, do not touch the warping settings on DECISION3, and do not cut PDU outlets with a group in the room.

5. After the session

• Close the show and return the computers to their standby state.
• Shut down the projectors, respecting cooldown.
• Restore room lighting.
• Report any segment that behaved oddly, even briefly — an intermittent projector here usually gets worse.

TODO verify with senior technician

Confirm shutdown order and what should be left running between sessions.