Dome troubleshooting
Symptom-indexed. Work through the troubleshooting method first — in particular, establish whether the problem affects one channel or all channels, because that single fact splits this guide in half.
The signal chain is visualized on the overview: every layer in that diagram is a place the image can stop, and each subpage below works one layer at a time.
The symptoms below are derived from the dome's equipment documentation and from how the signal chain is built. The causes and step sequences are informed reconstructions and must be reviewed against real fault history before being treated as authoritative.
Quick triage
| Observation | Most likely layer | Jump to |
|---|---|---|
| One channel black, others fine | Decoder or projector | One projector channel is black |
| One channel missing a colour (e.g. red only) | Projector or cluster | RGB colour not complete |
| One channel at the wrong resolution | Computer or encoder | Wrong resolution |
| Image with artifacts on one channel (noise, corruption, flicker) | SFP+ module or DP cable | Image artifacts |
| Encoder marked blue on the Barco status page | Source (encoder) resolution | Reading the colours |
| All channels black, projectors on | Playback or cluster | All channels are black |
| Image doubled/ghosted in 3D | Playback mode | Stereo ghosting |
| Seams or misalignment visible | Warp/blend or node identity | Blend and warp |
| Image tears between nodes | Genlock/sync | Nodes out of sync |
| Decoder marked yellow on the Barco status page | Genlock (usually encoder/decoder resolution mismatch) | Reading the colours |
| Decoder missing from status page | Network or power | Encoder/decoder link lost |
| Projector alarming | Cooling | Chiller alarm |
Subpages
The detailed steps are split by layer so each page can carry its own screenshots:
- Video chain & projectors — black channels, wrong colour or resolution, status-page colours, ENA-340 links
- Image quality (stereo, blend, sync) — ghosting, seams, tearing
- Cooling & chillers — chiller alarms and overheating
- Audio, lighting & Showmaster — the show-control layer
Restart order for the dome
When a broad restart is genuinely needed and no audience is present:
- Playback application
- Render nodes — any order; each node runs a sync fix script at startup. Wait until the command line popup and blinking on all machines have finished before moving on
- Decoders / encoders, if the status page shows them unhealthy
- Showmaster
- Projectors — standby first, then back up, with full cooldown respected
- PDU outlets — last resort only
When to swap hardware
| Device | Swappable? |
|---|---|
| ENA-340 encoder / decoder | Yes — record the unit number first |
| PDU | Yes — see spare units |
| Render node | Only if a spare is prepared; node identity and NVIDIA sync settings must be reapplied |
| Projector | No — warp and blend are per-position. Escalate. |
| Chiller | Escalate |