E1.31 on 2nd Network Card

[kevin]

Has anyone been able to get LOR E1.31 DMX to work on a 2nd network card. I put two network cards in my computer so I could keep my display traffic separate from my regular network traffic. I tried the standard 239.255.0.x in the network configuration. I have also tried to enter the actual network address of the 2nd card. But neither seam to work. If I disable the 2nd card, and configure it for only one card using the 239.255.0.x multicast I am able to get the 1.31 to work on the primary card.

I know the 2nd card works and their is no issue with the cables or equipment, because in LightShow Pro I can tell it which network card to use as the E1.31 port, and I am able to run the show on either network (based on settings in LSP, and plugging my E1.31 dongle into the correct NIC card)

I have two thoughts on what is causing this. The first being that I can not configure LOR to direct the data to the 2nd card. Proven with a network sniffer while LOR running I do not see any traffic coming from the 2nd card, regardless of the Network Preferences settings that I have used.

The other possibility is that since the 2nd card is not part of a private network. The 2nd card is configured as a public network with no domain name. This is because I do not have a DHCP server, DNS, or router on the Light Network. Just the card, with a separate IP address from a different domain. I do not have the two networks merged in any way. Even the listener does not show traffic, only shows that the DMX universes were configured to the 239 network address. The system had asked to make a change to the firewall to allow the traffic on the public network. I said 'OK', and it did its thing.

Surly someone has been able to get LOR to work with in a 2nd network. What am I missing. Running System 7 x64, current on all system updates.

Thanks

Kevin

[kevin]

Jeff

Thanks for the pointer. After reading that and doing some google search I was able to fix the issue. it was a routing issue that wasn't allowing the 230.x.x.x network to the 2nd adapter. I forced a lower metrics in the routing table and that forced the LOR E1.31 to be sent to my 2nd adapter since it was not part of an actual network but only a link. It appears that LOR binds the multicast to the first nic card so if you have multiple nic cards you have to assign the one you want to use a lower metric route. Since LSP allowed me to select the network is why I didn't have to change the route table.

Of course with this fix it could cause issues with any other program I have that may use multicast broadcast on 239.x.x.x network.

Thanks

Kevin

[LOR Staff]

Actually, we don't do any binding to NIC cards.

The reason we don't bind to any 1 NIC card is so you can create your own routing rules/metrics/etc using standard networking routing commands/tables/etc. what you had to do was the correct way of doing it. Forcing the packets out a particular NIC is contrary to how IP/UDP is supposed to work.

Remember, E1.31 configurations can be complex, and may require a firm grasp of networking, network topologies, routing and addressing.