Bug ??

[pyromill]

I'm not using 3.1.2 as I do not have the superstar stuff.. and also being it only fixed a bug with superstar do not see it as a needed upgrade.

Now then a little background on the situation. I use a Enttec dmx pro usb with a filtered cable in turn that is plugged into a rainbow brain from Greg.. controls 3 floods on my aquarium of all things just so I can have daylight and night... with little variations in the lighting to more simulate a real environment. two sequences run a day and a night 24/7 every day I either have to unplug and replug the dmx pro.. and or unload lor from running shows.. something somewhere locks up. sometimes simply unplugging and replugging in the enttec works.. other times I have to unplug it.. unload lor... reload it.. then re-enable schedules...

Anyone else having this sort of an issue ? I used the setup mainly to test the dmx controls of lor 3.... and so far am not impressed with stability as sometimes it crashes out in what would be a show!!


Tips... debug ideas ?? HELP!

[bob]

The chips that are in ENTTEC adapters (FTDI chips) have an issue where excessive noise on the line may cause a lockup. FTDI says that this is a hardware issue, not a software driver issue.

I suggest taking steps to minimize noise on the line. I'm not a hardware guy, but perhaps using a better shielded cable, using a cable with ferrite beads, isolating the line from external EMF, using a different USB port. Maybe other people will have other ideas.

[-klb-]

One time, I found it was a poor connection between the laptop charger, and the extension cord that was causing lockups. Other times, it has been some appliance that others would think pretty unlikely to be an issue that really is quite an issue, like a blender.

Find as short a shielded/filtered cable as you can. Keep it as far away from power cords as you can.

For your app, you might want to try a mp3 director, so you have a built in clock, and are going directly to RS-485, without the USB step.

[pyromill]

Thanks bob... I was already using a cable with ferrite's on it .. I had put two on it myself thinking the noise route.. both ends close as I could to connectors. Looking at the ferrite beads on my cable from lor for the usb there though... if changing to a better shielded cable with those same beads on it doesn't fix things I'll try picking up a cable from lor as those ones are a bit bigger than ratshack's

Klb hehe thanks for the idea of a mp3director however this has mainly only been used for testing as the rainbow brain, enttec and lor3 are all new... figured three new things I better test before I used them in my Christmas display but the time is getting ever ever ever too close now and that brain will be working in the cold.... hrmm wonder if the rainbow brain gets brain freeze lol

[pyromill]

little update.. new cable with filters on both ends... away from power.. and this happens

8:02:14 PM: DMX listener error 4: Connect called while socket not closed / 0:
8:02:14 PM: DMX listener error 3: Comm Winsock Error / 10053: Connection is aborted due to timeout or other failur

just kept looping
DMX listener error 4: Connect called while socket not closed / 0:

[bob]

Perhaps the DMX listener port is in use by some process? Try changing it to some other number (on the Sequence Editor's Network Preferences screen).

[-klb-]

Maybe in all the different things, the com port number changed? (Not common, but worth checking) Use the control panel devices app to verify what com port appears and disappears with the device.

I'm also continuing to think that you have a lot of motors, air pumps, and other devices there, that are not part of a normal light show. If the computer is on the same circuit, or even having the USB that close, may not be helping.

Have you tried having the computer in a whole different room, on a long cat5?

[RyanWPowers]

When you say that "something locks up", do you mean that the computer actually locks up? Or that the Enttec dongle just stops responding to commands?

When this "lock up" happens, does the green LED on the dongle stop flashing?

Ryan

[jeffl]

I had an issue last year where my show would freeze, then start while playing. I switched everything under the sun. Even a new motherboard (same chip set however).

Then I swapped out the computer completely to an old standby. After almost three weeks of fighting I found that the USB ports were unstable on the motherboards I was using.

Just a possible thought to help troubleshoot.

[pyromill]

so far fingers crossed.. the enttec-lor setup has not locked up the sending on dmx info to the enttec. as far as locking up goes, the computer stays running fine it's not the computer hardware, simply the com path from the computer to the enttec pro flops somewhere... changed out the usb cable to a better one and put chokes on both ends of it so we'll see how it goes now.. if it still cops an attitude I'll switch to using another pc that I have to get running soon anyways as it is the main show computer.

[jeffl]

A few more notes I should share in case it helps. How I finally found mine was I set the USB connect/disconnect sound back on. This way when a USB device would connect or disconnect I could hear the ding dong as it would broadcast over the FM (only after hours when no guests were watching). Sure enough when the lights would stick you would here the ding dong and then it would take off and go.

As far as chokes. I bought a bunch of them last year from another decorator who ordered a large supply. I have chokes on every cable of importance on my show computer. So many that it looks silly. If one is good a whole bunch should be better.