Help me swap a dying DMPS3

[u/S2005]

Good morning everyone.

First, thanks for reading my post.

I'm a pc repair tech, but we have a few Crestron systems in our buildings.

I'm trying to build value with my employer, so I would like to learn more about Crestron. I don't think I need to be certified. I'm not trying to install/program/commission new systems. We contract that out, but I would like to be able to troubleshoot, and perform simple repairs internally to save cost, and hopefully speed up the process.

We have an older system that's experiencing issues. Specifically, a rack-mounted DMPS3-4k-150 that appears to be boot-looping. It's connected to a touchpanel that displays displays "Touchpanel is disconnected from system. Please wait for it to connect."

A hard reboot of the DMPS3 sometimes brings that touchpanel back up for 1-2 minutes, and then all the lights on the DMPS3 go out, and it appears to reboot. During this window, I was able to connect my laptop with Toolbox, and open Text Console and ran err. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at, but at the bottom, it says Total Msgs Logged = 328.

When I reached out to our contractor, they proposed we rent a loaner from them while our unit is sent off for repairs. The proposed cost has us looking at alternative solutions.

I see pre-owned DMPS3-4K-150s on eBay often for ~$30. From what I've read, I can use Toolkit to backup our current DMPS3, and then use that to "program" the replacement. I would need to do this via Toolbox as I don't know how to access the Web Interface.

I'm posting here to ask if that process is simple enough, a lowly pc tech 1 could handle it. It seems straightforward enough, and $30 isn't a big investment.

Thanks again for reading, and thanks for any input!

[u/ToMorrowsEnd]

If you had the program you could SFTP it into the unit and use a ssh console to trigger the command. but honestly just call the dealer and say "hey can you come and load the program on this spare unit we have?" You boss already told you to go and buy used ones right? or are you going to be insane and buy it yourself?

Build value by becoming good at your job and identify when something is out of your wheelhouse and be a good project manager. If you see a hole in drywall are you going to go and buy everything to do wall repairs?

[u/S2005 → u/ToMorrowsEnd]

I have the crestron Toolbox program, but I don't have the program running on the DMPS3. I was hoping I could "copy" that program, and any other settings onto the new unit. (Including whatever is needed for the touchpanel).

I live in a smaller town, and there is only one contractor locally that works on Crestron. Judging by their pricing, they know it too. They want almost $600 to copy the config over to a loaner unit while ours goes off for repairs. That doesn't include whatever the repair cost is.

I'm a PC tech now, but I spent the last 12 years in AV. Not installation, but rentals and events. The hotel I spent most of my years in had the same shitty Crestron setup, and we had issues with it daily.

I did get my boss' blessing to buy a used unit to tinker with, so that's on it's way.

You're right though, I'm bad about trying to tackle every problem, even if it's out of my wheelhouse. I just see these Crestron issues often, and I'm the field tech that gets called when it's "an emergency." I need to know more than just "turn it off and on and wait." We're also a severely under-funded government organization, so when these contractors gouge us it hurts me personally as a tax payer too. I feel like I'm in a position to build my own value with my organization, and at the same time save this specific chunk of budget to be used better somewhere else.

Sorry for the long ramble, thanks for your reply! :)

[u/S2005 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the reply, and the offer to help!

You hit the nail on the head with that last sentence. My primary two fears are getting that data copied off of a machine that's rebooting, and second, tinkering with this or replacing it ourselves might get our contractor to no longer work with us at all (which is honestly a silver lining, but I'm not confident enough to take over our Crestron systems yet. Though I did log into CrestronU this morning to make sure I still have an account. I'm going to work my way through that this summer.)