JUN Posted December 3, 2012 Posted December 3, 2012 Hello!I am attempting to add a 4th controller with firmware 4.4. The other 3 controllers are 4.2. My LOR ver. 2.8. Somehow everytime I refresh in the HWU for controllers it is not recognizing the 4th controller. I had the 4th controller connected to the 2nd RS 485. The first 3 controller are daisy chained. All are connected via CAT5. When I test each controller everything is working but when I connected all 4 controller the HWU is only showing 3 controllers. I refresh it multiple times just in case and sometimes the first controller is showing unknown device and will turn the lights on- no 4th controller showing in the HWU. I also connected the 4th controller via CTA 5 I made. I wonder what is causing the issue. ANy help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
jimswinder Posted December 3, 2012 Posted December 3, 2012 Stupid question..but do you have the "Max Unit ID" (in the upper right hand corner of the Hardware Utility) set high enough to recognize ALL the channels you have?
JUN Posted December 3, 2012 Author Posted December 3, 2012 Thanks Jim and Max,I have the HUW max unit @10. I also unplug the controllers and used the CAT 5 I made as controller # 2 and factory made as #1 to see if it is the cable. It recognized both controllers For now I have it with the three controllers as last year until I figure it out. I now have the show on and one of the controller is turning the light on controller # 4. I really would like to have this one fixed since #4 is my mega tree. So, Max do u think it's the cable? It was turning on during the test. I probably will get one from the store just to make sure. BUt I wanted to cover all basis. Do I have to upgrade anything? Again any help is greatly appreciated.
jimswinder Posted December 3, 2012 Posted December 3, 2012 Thanks Jim and Max,I have the HUW max unit @10. I also unplug the controllers and used the CAT 5 I made as controller # 2 and factory made as #1 to see if it is the cable. It recognized both controllers For now I have it with the three controllers as last year until I figure it out. I now have the show on and one of the controller is turning the light on controller # 4. I really would like to have this one fixed since #4 is my mega tree. So, Max do u think it's the cable? It was turning on during the test. I probably will get one from the store just to make sure. BUt I wanted to cover all basis. Do I have to upgrade anything? Again any help is greatly appreciated.Perhaps do a reset on the controller..make sure it is set to Unit ID #4??
JUN Posted December 4, 2012 Author Posted December 4, 2012 When you say reset. do you mean unplugging the cable? I unplug all cables from all controllers and made sure that it has the correct ID. LED is solid on for #4 controller and lights turns on during test. Could you elaborate more about resetting the controller. Thanks.
Mwhite7097 Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 Does unit 4 work on it's own with the other comm cable or when it is daisy chained to the others? If so, it may be your 2nd comm cable.
jimswinder Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 When you say reset. do you mean unplugging the cable? I unplug all cables from all controllers and made sure that it has the correct ID. LED is solid on for #4 controller and lights turns on during test. Could you elaborate more about resetting the controller. Thanks.take a look at this:http://www.lorfaq.com/faqs/troubleshooting/32-how-to-reset-a-controller
Guest wbottomley Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 I had the 4th controller connected to the 2nd RS 485. The first 3 controller are daisy chained.Picking away at your post.... Why do you have a single controller on a second network? You will need to change the port number to the second one in the hardware utility to find it. The HU can check only one network at once.
JUN Posted December 4, 2012 Author Posted December 4, 2012 I had some issue with the 3rd controller- one of the CAT 5 jack got pulled out so Ive been putting it in the end. Since I'm adding a 4th controller this year I was thinking that I'll just use the port on the RS 485 for the 4th controller. I was thinking that this might have been the issue but I was not sure. I already mounted the 4th controller in the mega tree. I could swap controller or if you don't mind helping me out how to change the port number for the second one in the HU as you describe. This will save me time if I could just do that. I hope this will solve the issue and I am grateful for the help.
Guest wbottomley Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 Keep everything on one network. Swap controller id's 3&4 and place the controller with the bad jack at the end. Everything is on one network. As far as changing ports, you need to look in the HU. it's quite simple.
JUN Posted December 4, 2012 Author Posted December 4, 2012 Just to clarify- the 4th controller is connected to the second port/jack of the RS 485 while the other port goes to the other 3 controllers. I only using one RS 485.
jimswinder Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 Keep everything on one network. Swap controller id's 3&4 and place the controller with the bad jack at the end. Everything is on one network. As far as changing ports, you need to look in the HU. it's quite simple.I would do what Mr. Bottemley is suggesting...
Max-Paul Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 (edited) Ok, so all controllers are on the same network(USB485(B?)), dual port. I was just about to fall into that myself thinking he had two separate networks. Ok so it works ok with HWU but not in a sequence or show. Then I would have to ask you to go and double check your addressing of the channels in the sequence for the mega tree.After the problems I had with a bad communication cable. I say everyone should have a cat5 cable tester. Edited December 4, 2012 by Max-Paul
JUN Posted December 4, 2012 Author Posted December 4, 2012 I can't wait till I get off work tomorrow. I will try all the suggestions here and will repost. Thanks for the help.
TJ Hvasta Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 You are using LOR v2.8. Your new board is firmware v4.4 Is it a Gen3 board? If so it will NOT show up in the HU. Gen3 boards came out after S2 and therefore Gen3 board info is not in the controller table. S3 (software version 3.0 +) is reqd to have the new generation board show up as its proper ID.
Guest wbottomley Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 (edited) This is Gen 3 firware: CTB16PG2-V1.04 or CTB32LG3-V1.05So... it will show as unknown device. Edited December 4, 2012 by wbottomley
JUN Posted December 4, 2012 Author Posted December 4, 2012 I got home and started working on the issue as suggested above. I put the Gen 3 controller (4th box) as the 3rd controller and use the 3rd controller with the one bad CAT5 port as the 4th controller. Unplug and refresh in HU with 3 controller only showing. When I turn it on the Gen 3 controller is working just fine so I did not replace the CAT5 cable I made since it seems it is not the issue. Now it made sense that it is not showing with TJ's explanation above. Now I just have to make sure that the 4th controller is really following the sequence I made for the Mega tree. Just wanted to make sure, so if it is not showing in HU it should be working as it should be- Right? Thanks for the help.
JUN Posted December 5, 2012 Author Posted December 5, 2012 Just a follow up. I went outside to check if the 4th controller is indeed controlling the sequence and it is not. It is lighting up but it is showing I believe the controller 1 sequence. I will test it again with another CAT 5 cable. I am really lost. I sent out a support ticket but I haven't heard anything yet. Hope I can find the fix......
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