Computer not seeing LOR

[Guest guest]

I am struggling to get LOR up and running. For the first time I am using X10 as well as LOR, but I don't think that is interfering.

I was originally trying to use a USB to serial adapter for LOR and the serial port for x10. Oh, I am running Win 98SE. (I've tried using the serial port for LOR and the usb adapter for x10, but I end up with the same results.)

I installed the adapter drivers and that seems ok, but when I am in the hardware utility weird things start happening. When I plug in the USB adapter a new Comm port does show up in the list, but when trying to Auto Config it finds nothing. Is it looking for LOR at this point or just a comm port? I am using telephone cabling to connect up to my boards and I have tried a few different cables, so I would be suprised if that's where the problem is. I had none of these problems last year... it went very smoothly.

The X10 in the hardware utility seems to work just fine no matter whether I am using USB or serial , it's just the LOR connect that is failing somewhere.

Any suggestions?

Greg

[Guest guest]

Greg,

If you made your telephone cables (Station wire or CAT3 (4wire/6wire)with RJ11 connectors) make sure the ends are flipped. What I mean is if your holding the connectors same side up (i.e. the catch clip pointing down) you see wire 1234 in the left hand and wires 4321 in the right.

Also remember that when looking at the LOR board, the three connectors at the top. The top left is for input with a phone cord(the flipped cord), the middle is for input with a RJ45 "computer" cord (straight thru wiring)and the right one is output.

-- Bob

[Guest guest]

Bob_Moody wrote:

Greg,

If you made your telephone cables (Station wire or CAT3 (4wire/6wire)with RJ11 connectors) make sure the ends are flipped. What I mean is if your holding the connectors same side up (i.e. the catch clip pointing down) you see wire 1234 in the left hand and wires 4321 in the right.

Also remember that when looking at the LOR board, the three connectors at the top. The top left is for input with a phone cord(the flipped cord), the middle is for input with a RJ45 "computer" cord (straight thru wiring)and the right one is output.

-- Bob

Thanks Bob, unfortunately the cords are all store bought. Same ones I used last year.

[Guest guest]

Connect just one unit to the PC and only use one telepone wire. Plug it into the small receptical on the unit. Power it up.

Put the USB adaptor in before you start the Hardware Utility. If you know what comm port it maps to then just pick that port. If not use the auto configure. If auto configure does not find the port then just pick them one at a time and see if you can get the LED on the controller to stop blinking.

[Guest guest]

This probably doesn't apply since you said you used the same cables last year.

But some store-bought phone cables have only 2 wires inside. These won't work with LOR, which uses 4 wires. Short cords that come with phones seem to be the worst about this. You can inspect the cord to see if there are 2 or 4 gold contacts at either end.

It would be nice if you could confirm the USB->Serial device was working with another serial device (so you can determine if the issue is with it or with LOR), but unless you have X-10 or some other older serial device, that might be hard...

-Tim

[Guest guest]

tfischer wrote:

This probably doesn't apply since you said you used the same cables last year.

But some store-bought phone cables have only 2 wires inside. These won't work with LOR, which uses 4 wires. Short cords that come with phones seem to be the worst about this. You can inspect the cord to see if there are 2 or 4 gold contacts at either end.

It would be nice if you could confirm the USB->Serial device was working with another serial device (so you can determine if the issue is with it or with LOR), but unless you have X-10 or some other older serial device, that might be hard...

-Tim

I did swap the x10 and LOR units with the usb/serial adapter, and the x10 works either way, so I know that my usb adapter is ok. All the cables I have tried have 4 or more conductors in them, so that should be good too. I may not have mentioned that it has been somewhat intermittent. I have been able to get connectivity 3 times over the last week (no change in cords), but now that I am trying to get things going in the field, it just refuses to work now.

Greg

[Guest guest]

gduguid wrote:

I did swap the x10 and LOR units with the usb/serial adapter, and the x10 works either way, so I know that my usb adapter is ok. All the cables I have tried have 4 or more conductors in them, so that should be good too. I may not have mentioned that it has been somewhat intermittent. I have been able to get connectivity 3 times over the last week (no change in cords), but now that I am trying to get things going in the field, it just refuses to work now.

Greg

How long is the run from the computer to the first controller?

-Tim

[Guest guest]

tfischer wrote:

gduguid wrote:

I did swap the x10 and LOR units with the usb/serial adapter, and the x10 works either way, so I know that my usb adapter is ok. All the cables I have tried have 4 or more conductors in them, so that should be good too. I may not have mentioned that it has been somewhat intermittent. I have been able to get connectivity 3 times over the last week (no change in cords), but now that I am trying to get things going in the field, it just refuses to work now.

Greg

How long is the run from the computer to the first controller?

-Tim

I've tried with a variety of lengths ranging from 6 feet to 50 feet. Under 100 should be ok right?

Greg

[Guest guest]

Ok, let's approach this from another angle. Since this worked last year, what has changed?

New computer?

New USB dongle?

Did you use direct serial last year or a USB dongle?

Do you have a computer with a 'real' serial port that you can see if it will work with LOR?

Have you tried more than one board, connected individually to the computer?

The other question is if something else could be grabbing the serial port, but then you should get a warning in the HW utility. When I use Cathy's laptop, it always grumps at me to shut down her HotSync manager...

-Tim

[Guest guest]

tfischer wrote:

Ok, let's approach this from another angle. Since this worked last year, what has changed?

New computer? No

New USB dongle? Yes, but I've tried it without too.

Did you use direct serial last year or a USB dongle? Direct Serial

Do you have a computer with a 'real' serial port that you can see if it will work with LOR?

Have you tried more than one board, connected individually to the computer? Yup, tried both of my boards with the same results.

The other question is if something else could be grabbing the serial port, but then you should get a warning in the HW utility. When I use Cathy's laptop, it always grumps at me to shut down her HotSync manager...
I do get messages if I leave the Sequence Editor open, but that's it. I have a pretty bare bones system that I am running this on and I don't think anything else could be grabbing it - unless the x10 adapter has swiped it..... hmmm....
-Tim

[Guest guest]

Greg,

What type of LOR cards do you have?

EDIT: Greg in an email you told me that they are CTB08Ds If they are Version 4 then they have a little jumper next to the comm connector. (Side opposite the LED) If the jumpers are in place then take them off.

[Guest guest]

LightORama wrote:

Greg,

What type of LOR cards do you have?

EDIT: Greg in an email you told me that they are CTB08Ds If they are Version 4 then they have a little jumper next to the comm connector. (Side opposite the LED) If the jumpers are in place then take them off.

Dan,

They are not the D version. I think there is a Jumper though - this is for standalone correct? Should I pull them?

Greg

[Guest guest]

Yes! pull off the jumpers...

[Guest guest]

LightORama wrote:

Yes! pull off the jumpers...

Hmm.... I looked but didn't find them. I was sure they were there though. I did confirm that they are CTB-08s V4. I will look again.

So here's the latest. I tried a home made ethernet cable and box #2 worked. I quickly switched back to a brand new, 6 conductor telephone cable and it didn't work. Weird. Box #1 however I am really worried about now. I plug it in and the LED isn't even turning on now. It did have power a few minutes earlier before I tried the ethernet cable. I didn't notice anything strange going on. No smoke, no smell, no sounds. I would really hate to think I fried the board. I did notice that one of the outgoing hot wires had come out of the board (which I have since fixed). Even after fixing it the board still seems dead.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I just cut my channels in half?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am going out of town Friday and would really like to have this thing live before I leave. The lighting season is getting shorter every second.

Greg

[Guest guest]

Greg,

Check the fuse and make sure that you have power going into the card.

Please Greg and everyone else!,,, Check to make sure the screws holding the wires into your cards are tight. The wire should be deep into the socket and the screw tight. A loose wire can cause overheating and could result in damage to the board and enclosure.