6.1. System¶
6.1.1. System Info¶
Fig. 6.2 System Info Screen¶
This screen has 3 tabs labeled CONFIGURATION, IDENTIFICATION, and HISTORY. Clicking on a tab header will activate that tab.
6.1.1.1. Configuration¶
Recorder Serial Number: Assigned by the Eventide factory to identify a recorder.
Current Firmware Version: Software version and build number running on the recorder.
IP Address: Address of the first Ethernet port in the system.
MAC Address: Media Access Control address of the first Ethernet port in the system.
Total memory KB: Amount of usable RAM in the system.
Current Time: Current local date and time of the recorder.
Time zone: Time zone setting of the recorder.
In addition to all the information described above, this page contains two additional important buttons, ‘Import Config’ and ‘Export Config’. Export Configuration allows you to export all of the recorder’s configuration settings for back up and safe keeping. ‘Import Config’ allows these settings be re-loaded into the recorder. This is designed to allow you to back up and restore your settings, for example, if you want to reinstall your recorder’s firmware. You can also use this option to Import the configuration from a different recorder with identical hardware. It is not supported to Import Configurations across different hardware (models, storage devices, Telephony Boards), or software versions. For example, if the configuration you want to import was exported under 2020.1[635], you should install 2020.1[635] on the recorder, restore the configuration, and only then upgrade the recorder to the latest. After performing a Configuration Import, it is required to immediately reboot your recorder for changes to take effect; this will happen automatically.
6.1.1.2. Identification¶
Recorder Name: The logger name that will be displayed in remote clients.
Facility Name: The facility name (i.e.: location) that will be stored on archive media.
6.1.1.3. History¶
Recorder Run History: Displays a history of system startup and shutdown. Also note that unplanned shutdowns are noted in this list and usually indicate a power failure to the recorder. Unplanned Shutdowns can cause severe issues and should be avoided.
Recorder Upgrade History: Displays a history of the first firmware install on the recorder and subsequent updates.
6.1.2. Date and Time¶
This page allows you to configure your date/time and time sync settings. The top two items are Time and Time zone. To modify these settings and have them take effect when you click ‘Save’, you must first click the ‘Edit’ checkboxes. This is to protect you from accidental changes.
Time and Time zone are very important settings on a Recorder. It is recommended that the time is configured before any recordings begin. Recordings generated when time is incorrectly set will be recorded on the wrong dates/times and may be impossible to find or overlap with other properly recorded calls. The configured time zone is primarily used for displaying timestamps in Setup, Time on the front panel, and in MediaWorks DX™. Regardless of the configured time zone, call records are actually stored in the recorder’s database in UTC time zone and converted for display and querying. The time zone is also used for synchronizing with a time source that provides Local Time rather than UTC (see below.)
In addition to setting your time and time zone, this page allows you to set your Time Sync settings. Time sync settings allow you to slave your recorder’s internal clock to an external source to make sure the internal time and all recording timestamps remain accurate and synchronized across your organization. Eventide highly recommends the use of Time Sync. When you select a Time Source via the Time Source Radio buttons, all configuration settings relevant to that Time Source will appear below.
The Available Time sources are:
None: No Time sync, only the recorder’s internal clock will keep time
NTP: Network Time Protocol. You can configure the IPs of up to 4 NTP time servers. Only one will be used at a time, but others are backups in case the recorder cannot reach a primary time source. Normally, the recorder will slowly “slew” the current time to the time source’s time if they do not match to prevent large time jumps. The Force Sync option will save the current settings and immediately set the recorder time. This is useful when first setting up a recorder.
IRIG-B: Only relevant if you have purchased the optional IRIG-B time code reader for your recorder. IRIG-B is a time source protocol provided over a coaxial cable. You can select whether your IRIG-B time source is providing current time in the UTC Time zone, or in the Local Time zone you have configured under ‘Time zone’
RS232: Some Time sources provide time over an RS232 (Serial) Cable plugged into the recorder. Here you can configure which serial port you have your time source plugged into and which of the supported formats the time source will be formatting the timestamps in. You also select serial settings to match your time source such as Baud Rate, Parity, Number of Data bits and Number of Stop Bits. Like IRIG-B you can configure whether your time source is sending time stamps in UTC or Recorder Local Time.
Wharton: Wharton is a special case of RS232 time sync which does not have any options about baud rate or format, as this is hard coded as part of the protocol. In addition, only the first serial port can be used for Wharton.
Regardless of the time source you are attempting to sync to the recorder will only act on a timestamp received if it is within 5 minutes of the recorder’s own clock as a precaution against the recorder receiving an invalid timestamp from the time source. Therefore, when first syncing to a new time source it may be necessary to first manually set the recorder’s time close to the time source’s time. In addition, the recorder will not allow large jumps in time due to a time source input, but will instead slowly ‘slew’ the recorders time towards the time source time. The recorder attempts to avoid time ever moving backwards, as this could cause overlapping recordings.
At the bottom of this page is some diagnostic information about the configured time source, from which you can see information such as jitter and reach ability of your time source. This information is useful for troubleshooting problematic time sources. It includes information about which time sources are configured, which are reachable, and which, if any, the recorder is currently synchronized to. You must click the refresh button to see the most recent data. The formatting of this information is identical to the standard UNIX / Linux command ‘ntpq –p’. For more information on the data format used search online for ‘ntpq’.
6.1.2.1. NIST Time Servers for NTP¶
You can search the web for NIST Time Servers. Historically, a list of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) internet time servers can be found on the web at:
www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/service/time-servers.html
This list provides each server’s name, IP address, and location. It is probably best to select one near to your location. If you have difficulty with using a server name, you can access the server using the IP address instead.
6.1.3. License Keys¶
License keys are purchased from Eventide to enable licensed functionality. Your recorder will ship with one or more license keys installed, and you may also be sent additional license keys if you upgrade or add new options to your recorder. License keys are entered on this configuration page.
Hardware Recorders and VMWare Recorders are licensed differently. Most of the information applies to both; where it differs it will be noted.
There are three kinds of license keys:
Primary License Key
Software Subscription Key
Hardware Warranty Key
Add-On License Key
Every hardware recorder ships with the first three kinds of license key; Virtual Machines only require the first two.
If the primary key and software subscription key are not entered, or does not match the hardware, the system will run normally for 7 days during a grace period, and then certain functions, such as archiving and call playback will become unavailable until a valid key is entered. You cannot delete a primary key or add more than one, only edit your primary key. Each license key is a long number provided by Eventide. When you add or edit a key, you will see it in the list along with either the text ‘Not a Valid License Key for this Recorder’ or a description of which features the license key enables. If the license key itself is valid for your recorder but does not provide adequate coverage for your installed configuration (for example if you add in an additional Analog Board beyond your licensed channel count), the particular field which is not adequate will be marked as “INVALID”. For the license to function on your recorder, it must be valid for the recorder itself, and cover the installed features. If your license key does not cover your purchased features, such as if you purchase an additional Analog Board, you must get a new license key from Eventide.
NexLog DX-Series™ Recorder Software is licensed on a subscription basis with the DX Software Update Subscription (DXSUS). See your recorder’s System: License Keys page or System: Upgrade to check the date your subscription is valid through. Only software released prior to this date will be valid for this recorder. Please contact your reseller for more information on extending your software subscription.
To be clear: if your DX Software Update Subscription is valid through May 1, 2021, and the version you want to upgrade to was released April 6th, 2021, you will be able to perform the upgrade on May 5th, 2021. It is the date that the Full Upgrade was released that is limited, not the date of applying the Full Upgrade.
In addition to the primary license key which contains information on number and types of channels, number of client connections, hard drive size, etc. There are Add-on Keys. Add-on Keys can be modified, added, or deleted from the system and contain additional ‘add on’ features such as Metadata Feeds or Radio-Over-IP channels. Each add-on key can provide up to three features.
Fig. 6.3 Example License Page with a Primary key, Software Subscription, Hardware Warranty and two Add-on Licenses¶
Evaluation licenses are available for some NexLog recorder features, such as Quality Factor and Enhanced Reporting. Evaluation licenses can be requested from Eventide through an authorized reseller. Eventide has the right to approve or deny evaluation license requests. When an evaluation license reaches its expiration, the licensed feature will no longer function until a new license key has been applied.
6.1.4. Storage Devices¶
This page presents information about hard drives and RAIDs connected to your recorder. You can visualize the amount of free and used space, the serial number of disk drives, and RAID Configuration and settings. The “Refresh” button is used to refresh the information provided on the page. After the page loads, you will see at the top of the page a Hard Drive Icon representing your RAID or SAN along with a description of what type of storage device your recorder has installed (Hardware RAID, Software RAID, or SAN). To the right of the icon will be a status indicator if the drive is degraded or rebuilding. The red text DEGRADED is displayed if the RAID is currently running in a degraded state. If the RAID is rebuilding, the yellow text ‘REBUILDING’ will be displayed as well as the current percentage of the rebuild that is complete. When a RAID is degraded, there is no data redundancy so it is important to replace the failed drive as soon as possible. Also displayed is an indicator of how full the storage device is. On a heavily loaded system or a system that has been running for some time, it is normal for a storage device to appear as full or almost full at all times. This is because the recorder is usually configured to remove older, unprotected media records as new media records begin.
Fig. 6.4 Storage Devices: Hardware RAID5 Example¶
To the left of the icon is an icon that looks like a plus sign. Click this icon to expand the storage device to see details about the device.
The detail view will display information about the sizes of each partition on the drive, its size, and how much free space remains. Above this is a ‘history’ button. Pressing this button will display the device history, which is a log of important events that have occurred on this drive, such as RAID Degrades. The ‘Disks’ heading which is only displayed for RAID Systems displays disk drives in the RAID. For each drive, the Device ID and Serial Number of the Hard Drive are displayed. In addition, the current status of the drive is displayed. The possible status values are as follows:
ACTIVE: The drive is currently active and functioning in the RAID
DEGRADED: The drive is in the RAID but not providing redundancy, either because it is failed or because it is still being rebuilt onto.
REBUILDING: A new drive has been added to the RAID or an existing drive is being synced into the RAID. A completion percentage will be displayed; refresh the page to see this percentage update as the rebuild happens.
REMOVED: There was a drive in this position (slot) in the RAID but it has been removed. RAIDs with REMOVED drives are by definition degraded. A new drive should be put in the REMOVED slot and added to the RAID as soon as possible.
FAULTY: On software RAIDs this state indicates an otherwise well-functioning drive that has been forced into a failed state by a user. This state is the first step in removing an otherwise functioning drive.
IDLE: The drive is not associated with the array in any way.
The ‘Options’ button next to the drive status will give you a menu of options for the selected drive:
History: View a history of important events that have occurred to the drive.
Remove: will remove the disk drive from the RAID if it’s a hardware RAID or if the device is already FAULTY or DEGRADED
Set Faulty: option to begin the removal process for a Software RAID system on a drive that is currently ACTIVE
Add: A drive that is IDLE or REMOVED can be added into a RAID to be utilized by the RAID
The serial number displayed for each drive in the RAID can be helpful in the case of a failed drive, to verify which drive needs to be replaced.
6.1.5. Translations¶
NexLog supports using MediaWorks DX™ Plus in multiple languages via user-configurable translations. The translations are user-customizable and presented in a list of text “strings” that you can edit for clarity.
6.1.5.1. Translations Basics:¶
You can view, edit and upload Translation files stored on the recorder in Configuration Manager via the System: Translations page.
Fig. 6.5 Translations¶
At the top is a list of currently loaded Translation files, with important information displayed in a column view. Note that a full translation requires a pair of files, one for MediaWorks DX™ and one for elements of MediaWorks DX™ that draw on elements from Configuration Manager, such as Evaluations and Alerts. These are distinguished by App Name: mwp for MediaWorks DX™ or webconfig for Configuration Manager.
The Display Name must be unique for each Translation, we recommend (Name of Language) (Name of APP) to keep things clear. For example, for French, we suggest having the display names be Française MWP and Française WC.
On the other hand, the Directory must be the same for each half of a translation. So, in this case, both Française MWP and Française WC should have a directory of “fr”.
Fig. 6.6 Translations Configured¶
Set as Default changes which language the Welcome page will use as the main link to MediaWorks DX™. By default, this is English, and other language choices will appear below the MediaWorks DX™ icon, listed by Display Name. On a system configured as above, however, the icon would link to the http://recorder-IP/client/fr/mediaworks/ address, leading to the French translation.
Generate App will be covered in the next section, as it makes more sense in context.
6.1.5.2. Creating A Translation:¶
To create a new translation, start by clicking the View MediaWorks Translation Strings button. A string can be a word, a number, a sentence, and these strings make up all the text directly visible in the MediaWorks DX™ client. Text that appears in alerts, quality factor and archiving is optional to translate and is covered in the Configuration Manager Translation Strings, which will be next.
Fig. 6.7 New Translations¶
Once you’ve clicked View MediaWorks Translation Strings button, use the Select All button to select all the strings, then copy the selection and paste into a text file or word document. You can then translate each line manually, or, as we recommend, pass the lines through a machine translation service like Google Translate, to provide a first draft of a new translation and then refine the translation manually.
Fig. 6.8 Ordered Translations Strings Page¶
IMPORTANT NOTE: The translation created via Google will likely have amusing or embarrassing mistakes in it, for example, going from English to French it will change “Channel Name” into “Nom du canal” (“Name of Canal”), and from English to Russian it will want to “Rescue” your incidents rather than “Save” them. So, it is essential that a native speaker of the language-being-translated-to proofread the result to avoid obvious mistakes or confusing word choices made by the context-less machine translation.
ALSO IMPORTANT: The strings must be kept one to a line, in the exact order presented here, or the translation will not work correctly. Lines out of order will cause text to show up in the wrong places in the translation, or make the translation to not work at all.
Once you are ready to build a translation out of one set of strings, click the Create Translation From Ordered Strings button. This will bring up a page with a large text field pre-populated with this text:
[SETTINGS]
TRANSLATION\_DISPLAY\_NAME=<display name>
TRANSLATION\_OUTPUT\_DIRECTORY=<app path>
TRANSLATION\_APP=mwp
TRANSLATION\_DO\_DYNAMIC=1
TRANSLATION\_DISPLAY\_R\_TO\_L=0
[TRANSLATIONS]
Paste your translated lines beneath the [TRANSLATIONS] line, then scroll back up to the top of the field to fill in the settings:
The Display_Name must be unique for each Translation, we recommend (Name of Language) (Name of APP) to keep things clear. For example, for French, we suggest having the display names be Française MWP and Française WC. On the other hand, the Output_Directory must be the same for each half of a translation. So, in this case, both Française MWP and Française WC should have a directory of “fr”.
The Translation_APP is either MWP, for the MediaWorks Strings or WebConfig, for the Configuration Manager Strings. Anything else will fail to load.
Translation_Do_Dynamic should be left as 1 if you want any custom field names to be translated; they will show up at the end of the app for editing once this is saved.
Translation_Display_R_To_L should be set to 1 if the target language reads right to left. Note this only changes the direction the text is written in; it does not flip the whole UI of MediaWorks DX™.
Once this is all configured, scroll down and click Save.
If successful, the Translations page will load again with a message saying: “Translation uploaded. Select “Generate APP” to enable the translation.” Click the Generate App button to create a custom version of MediaWorks DX™ at the directory configured in the Translation settings.
The Generate App step is not required for WebConfig translations, but a MWP translation pointing to the same directory is required to make any use of it.
After making the MWP translation, one can translate Alerts, Quality Factor and Archiving windows shown in MediaWorks DX™ by making a Configuration Manager Translation. Start by clicking the View Configuration Manager Ordered Translation Strings button and repeat the above steps, with one major difference: Alert strings contain variables such as <~1~> and <~112~>, which must remain whole during this process. These variables substitute in text like the name of the recorder, the serial number of the recorder, error messages from the database, status messages passed along from third-party hardware installed in the system, etc.
Three things to note about the variables:
They must remain exactly as typed: <~1~> is good, but <~ 1 ~> is not. Translations by Google for some languages will modify the strings, and by using Find & Replace in Microsoft Word or other text editors, one can change all instances of <~ 1 ~> in the machine translation back to the required <~1~>. This must be repeated for <~110~>, <~111~>, etc, that you find throughout the list. Malformed variables will show up as plain text in the alerts.
The variables can be rearranged to better fit the grammar of the language. Missing variables are ignored. Extra variables are also ignored.
Because it is impossible to offer every possible string these variables can stand for, they are not translated and fall back to what they are by default in the English translation. In most cases, the variables will be easily understood numbers like software version or serial number; in other cases they will be highly specialized database strings that can will be useful when reported to dealers or Eventide Service when reporting a problem.
6.1.5.3. Editing an Existing Translation:¶
A translation may need a second draft; a word might feel awkward in context, or a phrase may be too long for the space available. Or perhaps an existing translation file is available, but your site wants to customize some of the terminology used. For these reasons and more we provide the option to edit existing translations.
To begin, select the file from the list and click the Edit Translation button. This will open the Edit Configuration File page for this language. You can edit the text here, or you can select all, copy, and paste into a separate text editor to make your changes, then copy and paste the entire list back into this page and save. If the file changed is a MediaWorks DX™ translation, select the translation and click Generate APP to update it to the latest text.
Fig. 6.9 Translations Edit Page¶
6.1.5.4. Upload Translated Configuration:¶
We recommend contacting Eventide Service to inquire about currently available translations, and then using the Upload Translated Configuration feature. To do so, choose the file with the Choose File button, then click Upload Translated Configuration. If the file chosen is a MediaWorks DX™ translation, once it is loaded, select the translation and click Generate APP, to make it available on the welcome page.
6.1.6. Configuration Files¶
Here you can view and edit configuration files stored on the recorder. Most of the features that are configurable via files rarely need to be modified by end users. The contents for these files should be provided by Eventide or your Eventide Dealer and simply pasted into the edit box. However, some of these are edited by end users, such as files for VoIP boards that need advanced configuration. Select your configuration file from the list and press the ‘View/Edit’ button.
Make any necessary changes here and press ‘Save’ to save your changes.
Briefly, here is a sample of the commonly edited files and their descriptions:
Advanced Network Configuration: Standard network configuration such as default gateways can be configured on the Network Page. This file is for adding additional networking routes to the recorder beyond default gateways. The format of the lines in this file is identical to the Linux route command. Use caution when editing this file, as mistakes may make the recorder unreachable. Note that changes made to this file will not take effect until the next reboot. Valid commands are “route”, “ifconfig”, and “iptables”.
Terms of Service Display: A custom Terms of Service splash screen can be show at login time for all users if enabled in Users and Security: System Security. Edit this file to change the text shown at login.
Completed Evaluation Email Template: This file allows you to customize the information included in Completed Evaluation Emails. For more information, see the Quality Factor Manual.
6.1.7. System Diagnostics¶
Here you can view the current temperature of internal drives, processor cores and system, along with information about backup battery status, temperature, voltage, and write cache provided by the hardware RAID, if one is installed.
Fig. 6.10 System Diagnostics¶
In the example above, you can see that the Drive, Battery, Processor and System temperatures are all within specification, the Hardware RAID is fine, but the first Power Supply has failed.
6.1.8. Upgrade Recorder Software¶
Software Upgrades are made available for NexLog DX-Series™ regularly. They include new features, system security updates, and refinements.
There are two kinds of Upgrades:
Full Upgrade: This changes the version number of the software. A full upgrade will take you from 2020.1 to 2020.2, or 2020.X to 2021.1. This will include Debian security updates, new features and/or refinements recommended for all sites. Full Upgrades can only be applied if the recorder’s Software Upgrade License expires after the date the Upgrade was released.
Incremental Update: These are small incremental changes, often intended for a small number of specific sites in the interim between Full Upgrades. Applying an Incremental Update does not change the software version, but the Update will appear in the Upgrade History tab on the System Info page.
Fig. 6.11 Upgrade Recorder Software¶
Important
Before upgrading:
Archive all recordings!
Archive your recorder configuration!
Remove all archive media.
There are four options on this page:
Upload Full Upgrade Image from your Desktop: Upload an upgrade.zip file and reboot the recorder to upgrade. The file name must fit the pattern “NexlogDX-2020.1[601]-upgrade.zip” and will be verified as a real upgrade file before a reboot takes place.
Download Full Upgrade Image from Eventide VPN Server: This will end with (VPN Not Connected) if VPN settings have not been configured and enabled.
Import Full Upgrade Image from an Archive Drive: If you have an iso image on a USB drive or blu-ray, you can insert it into the recorder and upgrade with this option.
Upload Incremental Update from your Desktop: Use this to upload an incremental update provided by Eventide Service.
6.1.9. Power Off¶
This screen allows a user to remotely power off or reboot a recorder. When rebooting a recorder, it’s recommended that the recorder be physically available nearby in case any issues occur.
These actions are included in the audit history and choosing to reboot or shutdown the recorder will open a prompt to include a reason for the power off event.