Sequencer controlling lights lagging

[bob]

Do you have the HWU or the Show Player running at the same time as the Sequence Editor? Only one of those three things can control the lights at any given time. If so (or if you did have more than one running but have closed all but one), try closing them all and then opening one and only one.

[CLD Kevin]

Bob...No I dont. Neither are running at the same time Sequence Editor.


I gave up for a few days. I just fired up the PC again. Verify No LOR programs auto started. Plugged in one USB485B adapter. PC recognized it (com3). Connected & Powered 1 CCR. First started HWU and verified the controller Unit ID. Then tuned on a few lights...no problems so far. Closed HWU. Started Sequence Editor. Open Sequence. Verified Sequence Unit ID is set correctly to match the Controller. Checked Control Lights option. Click on the play button….again, the lights are not being controlled and the music wont stop playing when I click on the stop button. Also the scroll bar freezes. I have to exit out of the software (click on the red x box top right corner) for the music to stop. I verified that no other LOR programs are running. I just used this laptop exactly as I explained it for several days to run a show and worked fine.


I also ran the exact way with my desktop PC and works perfect. Is it possible the LOR software itself on the laptop somehow got corrupted and I should completely uninstall and reinstall?

[CLD Kevin]

Ok...someone please explain this to me because I now got it to work. I don’t know why I didn’t try this before I reached 14hrs of troubleshooting. lol


So all I did was change USB ports on the laptop. I have 2 of the left side and 1 on the right. Both on the left were having the same problems. I switched the right side and it worked right away. I ran a few test and also ran the whole sequence a few times. I then reconnected back to the left side...and BAM!! Its works fine again?? On both ports.


I don’t understand...if there was something hung up with the USB, wouldn’t a reboot of the PC clear the problem? Why would connecting to the port of the right side clear the problem with the USB ports of the left? Or do I have an issue with the USB ports and just working for now, but probably going to have problems in the future and should take the PC back? Its only 2 months old.

[WilliamS]

Could be a few things going on there Kevin.

1) Bad port getting infrequent communication.

2) Different Port version, believe it or not some laptops, mostly older had a few 2.0 USB ports, and would have 1 or two old 1.1 ports. Once again this was older might not be the case.

3) It could be a multi port if its a new Laptop, some have a USB some 3.0 and a Sata on the same port, looks different but will take SATA or USB. These sometimes have different rules in the software in the way they are assigned ports.

So your not crazy there could be a number of things going on that would cause 1 port on your Laptop not to work right but 2 of them do.

[CLD Kevin]

GoofyGuy wrote:

Could be a few things going on there Kevin.

1) Bad port getting infrequent communication. 

2) Different Port version, believe it or not some laptops, mostly older had a few 2.0 USB ports, and would have 1 or two old 1.1 ports.  Once again this was older might not be the case.

3) It could be a multi port if its a new Laptop, some have a USB some 3.0 and a Sata on the same port, looks different but will take SATA or USB.  These sometimes have different rules in the software in the way they are assigned ports. 

So your not crazy there could be a number of things going on that would cause 1 port on your Laptop not to work right but 2 of them do.

The laptop is new so 1.1 only port shouldn’t be there. The 3.0 and SATA multi with USB didn’t come this with this laptop. The ports look different and usually have some type of writing next to it as does my work laptop (has USB/SATA port).


I will admit that I’m very bad when it comes to using the "Safely Remove Hardware or Eject Media" before disconnecting the USB. Usually I just unplug.

[WilliamS]

Cracker wrote:

GoofyGuy wrote:

Could be a few things going on there Kevin.

1) Bad port getting infrequent communication.

2) Different Port version, believe it or not some laptops, mostly older had a few 2.0 USB ports, and would have 1 or two old 1.1 ports. Once again this was older might not be the case.

3) It could be a multi port if its a new Laptop, some have a USB some 3.0 and a Sata on the same port, looks different but will take SATA or USB. These sometimes have different rules in the software in the way they are assigned ports.

So your not crazy there could be a number of things going on that would cause 1 port on your Laptop not to work right but 2 of them do.

The laptop is new so 1.1 only port shouldn’t be there. The 3.0 and SATA multi with USB didn’t come this with this laptop. The ports look different and usually have some type of writing next to it as does my work laptop (has USB/SATA port).


I will admit that I’m very bad when it comes to using the "Safely Remove Hardware or Eject Media" before disconnecting the USB. Usually I just unplug.

Im the same I just grab the plug and leave. I really dont know how they are different then. When you use either side does it assign the USB adapter the same Com#?

[LOR Staff]

I have heard of problems (in general, not with the LOR adapters in particular) with USB ports on Laptops. Most of those problems are due to the ports being UNDER POWERED. A USB port should deliver a nice and steady 5V +/- .25V @ (at least) 100mA.

Laptops may skimp on that in order to keep battery life up. Perhaps they are lower voltage and/or under powered. By changing ports you may have found one that (for whatever reason) has more power on it - allowing for better communications.

You can test this theory if you have a POWERED USB hub. Again, it's important that it be POWERED (you some how have to plug it into the wall). Put it on that 'bad' port, then plug the adapter into it. If you can now magically control the lights, then you have an under-powered USB port.

[CLD Kevin]

DevMike wrote:

I have heard of problems (in general, not with the LOR adapters in particular) with USB ports on Laptops. Most of those problems are due to the ports being UNDER POWERED. A USB port should deliver a nice and steady 5V +/- .25V @ (at least) 100mA.

Laptops may skimp on that in order to keep battery life up. Perhaps they are lower voltage and/or under powered. By changing ports you may have found one that (for whatever reason) has more power on it - allowing for better communications.

You can test this theory if you have a POWERED USB hub. Again, it's important that it be POWERED (you some how have to plug it into the wall). Put it on that 'bad' port, then plug the adapter into it. If you can now magically control the lights, then you have an under-powered USB port.

I have read the same thing...this is why for LOR, I use a 4-port hub (powered) to connect to the controllers. I use this one which Dan recommended on some other post a while back.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817394106


It’s always worked flawlessly and now everything is working as it should. It’s just very strange that the left side USB ports would not work at all, then “magically” work as soon as I plug into the right port. I was just wondering is someone knew why this would happen and if it’s a problem with the port?

[LOR Staff]

The port could have a problem....

So, you put the powered hub on the 'bad' ports and it still didn't work?

If so, I would suspect a problem. I've seen cables/ports where the pins are MISSING (they are only printed on the circuit board), or even just slightly corroded.

(I've even had working, never touched cables go bad - but I don't think that is your problem.)

[CLD Kevin]

DevMike wrote:

The port could have a problem....

So, you put the powered hub on the 'bad' ports and it still didn't work?

If so, I would suspect a problem. I've seen cables/ports where the pins are MISSING (they are only printed on the circuit board), or even just slightly corroded.

(I've even had working, never touched cables go bad - but I don't think that is your problem.)

No....all ports are now working including the ones that was giving me the original problem (on the left side). They just "magically" started working after I connected to the port on the right side. As for why...maybe I'll never know. We can call this issue resolved.


As for the original question for the lagging problem...I contribute the issue due to the Superstar Instant Sequencer per my test. See post#20. The Instant Sequencer creates so many random patterns in the sequence that maybe the Sequence Editor cant process it fast enough? Every other sequence I tried that was created manually and doesn’t have the crazy random sequences like the Instant Sequence creates doesn’t have the lagging problem. Even the ones that has more CCR channels. It runs very smooth. So my conclusion is the issue is the software. Whether it’s the Sequence Editor itself only and/or other parts I don’t know. I did not run a test using the Control Panel.

Also its not required to have the actual controllers connected to re-create the lag problem although you wont see it. I tested both ways...with controllers/lights connected and without. As long as you have the adapters connected to the PC, network pref setup to the adapters, "Control Lights" option checked and used the Instant Sequencer to create a sequence, you will see the lag on the screen in the Sequence Editor which mirrors the actal lights. I’ve tested on my laptop and desktop and both show the same results.

[CLD Kevin]

I wanted to bring this issue up from the dead because I experienced it again...but was able to resolve it. Looks like it was fixed in the newest update as I tried the below work around and couldn’t get it to work. Using release 3.3.0

When running a show from the Sequence Editor, the lights would lag. Normally you wouldn’t run them from the SE but I need it to queue up to any part of the song and for running test. My normal shows...I would run from the Control Panel.

When I tried to control the lights of 12 CCRs from the SE, the lights would not turn on at all and the SE would lock up. But it would run fine using the Control Panel. Once I uncheck the “Vary Color of Control Buttons” and “Vary Color of Channel Button Fonts” from the Play menu, the problem went away. I tried this same work around with an earlier release and less CCRs and wouldn’t work. So I’m guessing an update solved the problem?

This only happens when I used exported sequences created from the “Instant Sequencer” in SS. Manual sequencing didn’t seem to affect this.

Kevin

[LOR Staff]

It has been my experience that when you see 2.0 ports dropping back to 1.x speeds, what you are experiencing is data corruption. Usually that means a marginal cable or port.

The corruption could come from many sources: Dirty contacts, cables with high resistance, EMI, etc.

For dirty USB ports, you can try something like this (FYI, there are cheaper options under 'More Buying Options'). For cables, I would go with 2.0 rated cables with ferrites like these.

...and remember in the world of USB, shorter is better. Yes, you can buy 15' cables, but if you only need 3', stick with 3'. When dealing with LOR type USB devices, only use the supplied cables.