Dell Support

I was curious if there was any update to the list of supported machines with regards to Dell. Looking at purchasing a streaming solution for business use, and we are currently using a Dell Precision T5500 six-core Xeon with 8 gigs of RAM, a NVidea Quadro FX 1800, and Windows Professional x64 to test. We are looking at the Decklink Duo to pick up independent streams from two Sony EVI-HD1 cams running HD-SDI.
Thanks

[Sarah Jones]

Currently we do not officially support Dell systems (as noted in the minimum system requirements for our DeckLink cards). We have seen hit and miss results in regards to a variety of Dell systems in terms of our hardware, therefore we do not support them. This isn't to say that the DeckLink Duo absolutely will not work in your Dell system, but there is the chance you could run into issues or conflicts.

That was my assumption from reading the minimum system requirements as well. However we are currently testing a card from another manufacturer where the minimum specs are well within the range, and we have had zero success in actually getting it to work.

I may end up taking my chances on the Duo to see what kind of results I can get. Thank you for the response.

Interesting reading!

What are the problems with the Dell machines? Is it Dell's components and software that makes the problems?

I think that Dell is a very large PC manufacturer not to support?

What are your thoughts on this?

best regards
Mads

I could see there being an issue supporting every desktop configuration that they offer, but in much the same way support is provided for HP Z workstations the same could be tested with the Dell Precision and/or Optiplex lines. I would lean more towards the Precision line just for the upgradable options and performance over the Optiplex, but that's just my opinion.

The other card we installed on a Dell Precision T5500 and speced it out based on the recommendations of the card manufacturer. It was completely wiped of any Dell OS and software, and reloaded with the Enterprise x64 iso. So it was a very clean install with minimal drivers. However, it would not function on the Dell. We pulled the capture card and graphics card, installed them in a two year old Mac Pro four-core Xeon and it worked the very first time. So there is something very different about the Dell that is causing issues.

We did put in an order for the Decklink Duo card yesterday, so we should have that arrive shortly. When I can get it installed and tested, I will post some of the results. But I do have a Mac Pro on standby if I need to install it there.

Btw, this configuration is to run two Sony EVI-HD1 cams through HD-SDI for streaming live events.

[Joshua Helling]

There are a few. One part being that they have so many products, it's just not possible to get to any of them, nor is it possible to buy them all. Also, if there is an issue there is nobody at Dell that is typically willing to work with us.

We don't like to use this as a blanket statement however, and it must be taken with a little bit of context. There are thousands of people running our products on Dell machines. If the system boots normally after the drivers are installed and the control panel is working, it is normally indicative of a system that will work. And to that end we will still do everything we can to help you get up and running. The issue is when we come to the point in the conversation where it is clear the board is not compatible with the motherboard.

So we'll still do all we can, we just put that note online in an effort to give fair warning.

Just to update:
No crashes on reboot. Drivers are installed and I can view full images in Media Express, FMLE, Ustream Producer, etc. The only place I'm having issues is through Adobe Flash integration in web browsers.
My company will be using these cameras through Adobe Connect and I am having issues getting images to display through the Flash Player. Likewise, I can't get anything to display through the standard uStream "Go Live" web utility. Any suggestions?

Edit: Running HD-SDI and I've tested at 720 and 1080. Neither of those resolutions are supported by the Connect video pod, but 720 should be supported in Adobe Flash 11x.

I could see there being an issue supporting every desktop configuration that they offer, but in much the same way support is provided for HP Z workstations the same could be tested with the Dell Precision and/or Optiplex lines. I would lean more towards the Precision line just for the upgradable options and performance over the Optiplex, but that's just my opinion.

I agree. "Just" to support the Precision line, would be ok.

As I read it, it's the Dell hardware that makes the problems?

We run your DeckLink Quad on a T5500 and R5500. But it does not always work, sometimes it will not find / view a feed. Although it is the same feed we sent in the day before, and it worked there.

The T5500 seems to be working really well. I am having some issues with the WDM Streaming Driver only being able to choose the input on SDI1 and not SDI2, but I will start another thread since that is a separate issue...and directly related to streaming content through the web based flash player.

Problem solved. Using Wirecast's virtual driver to pick up SDI1 and SDI2 and displaying out with that instead of the WMI driver.