Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

Need Advice on Raspberry PI B +


Grinch

Recommended Posts

I currently run my show with the LOR1602Wg3-MP3 on a SD card running 10 more LOR1602's and 3 CMB24D controllers for dumb RGB's.

I would like to add LOR CCP's this year but I am not a fan of the price especially for the amount of Pixels that I want to add.

So I think I would like to try WS2811 pixels connected to Sandevice E682 board.

However I do not want to run the show from my computer (Mac) so I was looking at the Raspberry PI B+. 

So how do I make the connection to the LOR equipment with this setup?

Edited by Grinch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

you would need to check possibly over at DIYLightAnimation.com

 

They do a lot of DIY things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

look here for excelent help.  http://falconchristmas.com/forum/index.php/board,8.0.html

 

If you go to the tutorial videos, number 5 shows thie installation of the B not the B+.  Everything is the same except that I didn't use any speakers to hear the announcement of the ip address that the unit set itself to.  I connected it to my TV via HDMI.

 

So, I just got a new B+ from Amazon, downloaded the V1 files from Sourceforge, un-zipped them, formatted a 16GB micro SD card with the SD Formater app, moved the contents of the un-zipped file folder to the micro SD card, inserted it in the slot, inserted a 32GB USB drive in one of the USB ports, connected an HDMI cable from the B+ to my TV, used an ethernet cable to put the B+ on my home network, powered it up and watched the TV.  After several minutes and many lines of text appearing on the TV screen, it came to the login prompt and stopped.  During the boot up, I saw an ip address that my home router had assigned to it and looking at my router's management web page, I saw that the ip address had indeed been assigned to the FPP.  I put that ip address in my browser and voila, I had a working system that I could upload a sequence to, assign my universe and channel numbers to and play.  I assigned the FPP a static ip address so I would always know where to point my browser, put the unit in the attic next to my router and switch and Bob's Your Uncle.

Done!

 

Watch the videos.

 

I just started with this and I am only doing a low count of landscape lights at the moment (400ish channels).  I used Nutcracker to convert my LOR .las sequence file to .fseq format and used the Falcon Player web interface to upload that file to the media storage (USB) attached to the Raspberry Pi.  I put in a schedule to run the show and it worked as expected.  I still need to experiment more but it just played the sequence with no problems.

 

I do have this connected by wired ethernet on my home network and when the sequence was running, my wifed and I never experienced any issues with watching Netflix on our Roku attached to the same network.  And, I can drive the Pi from my iPhone, iPad, laptop or desktop.

 

Oh yeah, make sure that the LOR control panel is unloaded.  If comm listener is running (on the same network as the Pi), the two will colide on the network and things won't play nicely.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yeah, I drive my LOR CTB16PC as a DMX device.  It and my WS2811 pixels are being driven by a Sandevices E6804.  One output of the E6804 is configured as DMX to drive the CTB16PC.  The other three are configured as WS2811.  Everything is all in one universe except for the CTB16PC which is on it's own universe in the E6804.

Edited by Alien407
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guys,  Thank you for all of the advice.  Looks like I have some reading to do.  Looking forward to learning something different.

So I ordered the Raspberry PI B+ today.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Dennis  Do I need to purchase the adapter mentioned in LOR documents for RJ45 to DMX or is this done by the LOR controllers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Dennis  Do I need to purchase the adapter mentioned in LOR documents for RJ45 to DMX or is this done by the LOR controllers

Mr. Grinch, many if not most LOR hardware devices will accept DMX on their RJ-45 ports without any modification.  LOR's specs say that the controllers are intelligent enough to determine if the data is DMX or native LOR and respond accordingly.  So no need for any additional dongles.  Now I assume that because you are looking to work with a Raspberry Pi and the Falcon Player that your environment is E1.31.  So out there somewhere in your display you will have at least one bridge such as a SanDebvices E682 or E6804 or similar.  The SanDevice cards will allow you to configure one or more outputs as native DMX and that is what you would use to feed the LOR hardware.  Pi via E1.31 to Bridge to convert to DMX to LOR hardware.

 

There is a wiring diagram that shows the pinouts on the RJ-45 that connects to the LOR hardware and the pins on the SanDevices boards.  I used it to make up my interconnect cable but for the life of me I can't seem to find it again.  Perhaps someone else can point to that diagram or if I find it again, I will post it.

 

Hope this helps.  Good Luck and have fun..........Burt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a wiring diagram that shows the pinouts on the RJ-45 that connects to the LOR hardware and the pins on the SanDevices boards.  I used it to make up my interconnect cable but for the life of me I can't seem to find it again.  Perhaps someone else can point to that diagram or if I find it again, I will post it.

 

Found it.  It's on the Light-O-Rama web page under "Support" "Documentation" near the bottom of the list labeled "DMX."  The User Guide PDF.

 

Also, on SanDevices web page, if you look at the the Owners Manual for the E6804, you will see the discussion about the pinouts for using an output for DMX.

 

I took a standard CAT-5 jumper, cut off one end and stripped back the three wires and attached them directly to the string connector on the E6804 and plugged the RJ-45 into the LOR controller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alien407 and Dennis

Thank you so much for the info and your time. 

Yes I plan on the the SanDevice682 and E1.31.

So if I have everything correct, I Go from the PI to the SanDevice with Cat5, then from the sandevice outputs to my pixels, and from one of the sandevice outputs configured for DMX with a crossover cable or modified cable such Alien407 suggests to my first LOR Box, then daisy chain the remaining LOR boxes. All LOR boxes are setup as DMX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To use the raspberry pi to run your show. all lor products need to run in Dmx mode

This is not true with the release of v 1.0. It used to be true.

with the v1.0 release the FPP can drive

 

usb LOR

usb DMX

usb Renard

usb Pixelnet

usb d-lights

e1.31

 

This list matches what xLights can drive as a show scheduler. So as of today xLights and FPP both drive the exact same list.

It is recommended to not use usb LOR protocol if you have a high channel count, better scalability with usb DMX

 

The FPP has one additional feature in that it can drive 2801 leds directly from one pin of the FPP. This means you can have a show player and a controller at the same time.

I dont rememebr but it is a few universes of data.

 

Capt Murdoch is working on FPP 2.0. It will be able to drive 2811 pixels directly from one of the pins of the FPP. So if you have a small number of channels, you wont need a controller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Grinch were not that far away from each other.

Dennis,  Good to know you are close.  I seen a couple videos of your lights.  Looks good.

 

That's it .start spending !

 

Alien407 and Dennis  As of right now everything is ordered except for the pixels.  I am going to look around tonight for them and then get them on order so I set it up and start playing. Alien407 I watched all of the videos you suggested and you are right it looks easy.  I have downloaded the Manual for the Sandevice but have not had a chance to read it yet.  Work keeps getting in the way.   This should be a fun year.  Thanks again

 

Sean

Thanks for the info and more options.  I will be downloading from your site next.  I can't wait to put your effects in the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sean:  sorry do you mean the FFP can run LOR in LOR protocol through the LOR controllers as well as DMX (E.131) simultaneously?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just went through setting up mine....I have my sandevice plugged into the LAN port and my LOR hooked up through the usb....I access the Pi through my wireless usb adapter plugged into another one of the usb ports.  It is so awesome.  Wish I had done this sooner.  Pretty easy setup as well.  Can set it all up on the web interface without a need to type in script.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...