Controller not working completely

[klunevich]

My system was fine at the end of last year but is something is wrong this season even though I haven't changed anything. I have done a fair bit of troubleshooting and I think that the second controller is at fault (or possibly the MP3 Director) but I do not know what possible issues to look for in the controller so I am hoping that someone has seen this before.

Here is my system. I have a MP3 G3 Director (stand alone unit) with a SD card containing the scheduled show. From there a Cat 5e cable goes to the first controller (01-16PC-G3 Ver1.04). A second Cat cable is daisy chained from this first controller to my second controller (02-16PC-G3 Ver 1.06). A third Cat cable is daisy chained from this second controller to the third controller (03-CTB16PC Ver 4.40) (this is an older non G3 model). When my show is on, the first controller works properly but on the second controller I have channels #8, 9, 10, 11, 12 that are unlit while the 1 thru 7 are working properly (13-16 are unused). Also none of the lights on the third controller are on and this controller's status light is flashing (not connected to the network).

I tried a new Cat cable replacing the first cable (MP3 director to first controller). I then tried the new cable from the first controller to the second controller. I tried the new cable from the second controller to the third controller but none of these changes affected anything. To test the Cat cable jacks, I tried running a phone cable from the RJ45 output jack on the first controller to the RJ25 input jack on the second controller (which I had never used previously) but this did not change anything.

If I use the first Cat cable from the MP3 Director and reroute it to the second controller (bypassing the first controller) , I still have the same unlit channels in the second controller and no lights on the third controller.

If I use the second Cat cable from the first controller and reroute it to the third controller (bypassing the second controller) all of the lights on the first and third controller work properly.

I have reset each of the three controllers by using the jumpers. I also tried renumbering each of the controllers to a higher number and then back again. I have not done a hardware update yet.

When I use the Hardware Utility and plug in directly to the first controller, I can see the first and second controller and can turn all of the channels on and off for both of these first and second controllers.

When I use the Hardware Utility and plug in directly to the second controller, I can only see the second controller and can turn all of the channels on and off on this controller.

Does anyone have an idea on what might be causing this?

Thanks,

Keith

 

[Mr. P]

Here is what I would do:

Disonnect everything, hook up the first controller only, if it gets a solid led and can be seen on the network disconnect and hook up the second. Do the same thing as the first then do the third making sure to test both ports on the controllers. If all test good individually then connect the first controller again, once up and running daiseychain the second, if it connects go to the third if not STOP. If it doesn't connect then check the cable and the rj45 ports, do the same for the third. When all three are connected and have solid leds and you still have issues then it would more likely be channel configuration.

Controllers do not have to be in numerical order so if one has a bad rj45 connector then put it last in line until you can repair it.

Also make sure your network speed is 115k or lower since you have an older controller in the mix.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Mr. P

[klunevich]

Thanks Mr. P for the suggestions. I will try them out. You had mentioned about making sure that the network speed is 115k or lower. How do I check this? I don't think that I saw this setting on any of he screens.

[Mr. P]

45 minutes ago, klunevich said:

Thanks Mr. P for the suggestions. I will try them out. You had mentioned about making sure that the network speed is 115k or lower. How do I check this? I don't think that I saw this setting on any of he screens.

Go into Network Configuration and click on the LOR tab. The default setting is 57.6k and since you didn't know where it was was then you obviously haven't changed it.  

[namecipS]

1 hour ago, Mr. P said:

Go into Network Configuration and click on the LOR tab. The default setting is 57.6k and since you didn't know where it was was then you obviously haven't changed it.  

What is the impact of changing the network speed?  I've never heard of it before.  

[k6ccc]

52 minutes ago, namecipS said:

What is the impact of changing the network speed?  I've never heard of it before.  

The simple answer is that a faster network speed allows more data to be passed in the same amount of time.  For your 48 total channels, you would be hard pressed to exceed the capacity of the slowest LOR network speed.  The main thing that is driving the higher network speeds is pixels because it becomes very easy to add channel counts in the thousands with a single controller card.  The first image below shows the Simple display for Network Configuration, and the second screen capture shows the Advanced display for Network Configuration.  In both displays, the speed setting is to the right of the Port selection.  [keep reading below the screen captures]

As for channels out on the one controller, my first guess would be loss of power to one side of the board.  If that controller has two input power cords, make sure both actually are delivering power.  If there is only one cord, obviously skip that step.  In either case, UNPLUG THE CONTROLLER and THEN check the fuses on the controller to make sure they are good.  BTW, the "UNPLUG THE CONTROLLER" has nothing to do with potential damage to the controller, it's to prevent you from getting zapped.

 

[klunevich]

I'm embarrassed to say that I found my problem and it had nothing to do with the network speeds.

The cause was that I had my #2 controller hooked up to the lights for the #3 controller and then vice versa.

This got me to make sure everything is labeled now.

Thanks for your help.