Nonick22 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I have a network of 4 LOR controlers running off a LOR network. Last year I added a 27 channel RGB Controler from Holiday Coro on a DMX network using addresses 1-27. Eirler this year I added two more 3 channel controlers from Holiday coro on the Flood Lights. They used 28-30 and 31-33. at this point everything works great. Now I added a third 3 channel controler from Holiday coro. Channel 34-36. If I use this control on the xlight software the entire network works correctly. The right colors and lights. When I use the S3 software the wrong colors start comming on and everything is messed up. If i unplug just this last controller then all the lights work correctly. I started to think it was a limit of 2 on these controlers but if i unplug both of the other 3 channels then this one works corrctly. but if i put either of the other two in the network then the messup happens again. Can anyone help tell me why this network works correctly in xlight but not in LOR. What am i doing wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Couple things to look at:1. does it work right in visualizer? 2. Check your channels in sequencer, see if you have a duplicate channel number somewhere.Item 2 is the most likely cause. But the easiest way to check is if visualizer works. Visualizer can be tested without the hardware. So you can quickly determine if you have a software setup issue. If visualizer works, then you need to determine if the hardware is setup proper. With xlights working I go back to item 2 as being the most likely cause.Good luck,Sax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 I do not have my visualizer setup at it used too many of the computer resources. I have now removed the third channel from the sequence but I am leaving it attached. What I found in troubleshooting tonight is if i have any two of the three channel controlers connected all is good. If i connect the third is when ALL the rgb channels are messed up. if i then remove any of the three and go back to two controlers then all works good. almost looking like there is a limit to 2 of the three channel controlers on the network. I do have a 27 channel controler that does not matter if its connected or not the issue is still the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 The 3 channel controllers did you program the start address your self or buy them with start address 's assigned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 I programmed them myself. i used the dmx utilities provided by holiday coro. I can reuse the utility and verify the address is correct and that there are no conlicts. When the entire network is connected the xlights program sees and controls all the lights correctly. its only when i connect the third controler to the LOR setup that i see the issue in the sequencser. when the lights are all messed up its not just the lights from the three channel controlers that are wrong. all the dmx lights get messed up. I am almost sure now that its not an address issue. I am starting to wonder if there is a limit on the cable I am using to control them or the S3 software it self. I did look at the sequence channel setup and the dmx channels are not duplicated in any place. I was also wondering if I changed the universe the 3 channel controler is on if that would make a difference but i was unable to find on the holiday coro site how to change the universe of the 3 channel controler. only the starting address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 The universe is selected in the sequence editor when you put the 3 channel controller in the grid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyD Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Do you have different network cables you can use to connect that 3rd controller? I almost sounds like it is putting garbage out on the "network". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Thanks dennis on the universe question. I found to use a second universe i would need a second DMX cable anyway. Tony, I have tried different network cables. and of the three 3 channel controlers it does not matter what two i have pluged in they work. when i add a the third it gets screwy. If i unplug the first and leave the second and third then it still works. I have double verified there is no conflicts in the configurations. however when I use the xlights software then all works good. Its only on the LOR S3 that I have an issue. I am really confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Did you ever resolve this?There is a limit to the dmx devices allowed on a network but it is 20 something if I remember correctly. But it is more than 3 so get that outta your head. And devices is not channels. Channel limit is 512. I have 8 devices on my dmx network no issue. Others have more.Is it just the one controller always failing? I mean did you test just the so called third controller alone? Does it work proper by itself?Then add one of the second controllers. If it fails when you add the second controller remove that one and then try the third. Basically find out which one is causing the issue.I go back to it being a setup issue. Be it the controller, LOR sw setup or sequence setup. It could be a bad cable.If it were my components I would check each controller by itself then add one etc to find out which one is causing the issue.Btw, how do you verify the sequence editor is working without anything connected? I use visualizer. With that I can quickly verify my programming and network setup is proper. If it is wrong then it shows up in visualizer. After it works in visualizer I then add my lights and work on the controllers if I have an issue. But I can always look at visualizer and verify I have correct universe, channels etc programmed. No worky in visualizer guarantees no worky in real world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 SAX, Thanks for the reply. I am glad to hear the limit is much higher then I am using. To address your questions. I have three of the 3 channel controlers. it does not matter what 2 I have connected. When I connect the third i get the issue. for example we can call them 1 2 3. i can have 1 2 or 2 3 or 13 and it works fine. its when i try to go 123 that I ahve an issue. I have already replaced the cables and that did not fix the issue. I have tripple checked the sequence setup and I dont see any conflits. I will try to post it if I can so somone else can look at the config. I dont use visualizer as i found it to be too slow when runnign the sequence i still use the animation setup built in to LOR. and I do have all the lights alreayd connected so i can see it for real. Also if I use xlights I can have all three connected without any issues. this helps to rule out the cable or bad controler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Ok. I don't use xlights to control anything so I can't speak of that.But I have had similar issues to what you are experiencing. For me it was how I connected the controllers. This was during the time I first started RGB. So my testing was me trying to find the easiest method to get my elements working.I had 3 controllers. All single RGB controllers. 2 were programmed and 1 was me setting the address by dipswitches. I was trying to split the dmx signal using splitters. 2-1 combiners. I was attempting to make a straight line while tapping from the center of the splitter. It caused what you speak of....they all 3 freaked out when I plugged the third in.So, how are you sending the signals from each controller? Are you using splitters?Again, I don't use xlights so I don't know if it would of worked with that sw or not. I could be way off base too....but this is my experience with it.In the end I found a combination of those splitters that allowed it to work. First off center and second and third center and right if I remember. But it was trial and error. I use 27 channel controllers now and daisy chain on in/out connectors and don't use splitters. That permanently eliminated that problem for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 I dont use xlights either. It was a troubleshooting tool that holiday coro wanted me to try. I am using the 2-1 splitters. i was using the 1 as the in and the 2 as out to controller and on to the next splitter. I have now tried different combinations and still no dice. I cant replace them with the 27 channel contollers as this is the floods with the 3 channel controllers built into them. I have asked holiday coro for help. lets see what there responce is. i even tried moving the data in from one end of the cable chain to the other and that did not make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlowe Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Could you post a screenshot of your network setup in xlights and in S3? If the hardware works as expected in xlights, then it seems most likely there is a software issue, not hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 http://bclights.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rgbissue.pdfFor testing i created a test sequence that is easier to look at then my real one. the issue still exists in the test sequence. The link above conains the channel configuration for that sequence. I ahve also just updated from the 3.10.6 to the 3.11 current version. that also did not make a difference. The xlights really does not have anything to post as it just shows channels 1-512 and you turn them on and off in real time. In the LOR netwrok preferences i have Raw DMX as the protocol for my universe 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 If the flood lights have a controller built in they have their own address then you would not use the 3 channel controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 The floods lights have the 3 channel control built in. its a kit. same controler just inside the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 What dmx dongle do you have and how do you have it hooked up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 i am using the cable that came with the demo kit. then i connect to a splitter. from the splitter i go to a 27 channel controller and to the next splitter. then to the first flood. the second flood and the thrid controller. I have changed the order of the cabling without fixing the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlowe Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 So, the error occurs when running a demo sequence, but, in xlights, are you ONLY using the test tab and clicking them on/off? Could you try importing your sample sequence into xlights and see if it runs as expected? This would eliminate whether there's an issue with transmitting plenty of data vs. sending one channel. What is your actual hardware configuration in S3? Like, how is your network being sent? How is it knowing what port to send the dmx data vs the lor data? Are you sure all of that is set correctly? To take screenshots, open your network configuration, and, if using windows 7 or 8, run Snipping Tool to take and save a screenshot of the LOR tab and the DMX tab. In addition, click Advanced for both LOR and DMX and and check to see how those are assigned. Also take and post one of xlights. (If you are using an older version of windows, use CTRL+PRTSCN, then open Paint and paste and save the image.) What are the actual COM port settings? I assume you will know these if you have xlights working correctly? I just have to think the most likely thing is something wrong somewhere in settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 The cable that came with demo kit isn't that used for settings address on the 3 channel controllers didn't think you could use that for a replacement for a dmx dongle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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