Visualizer not working in Windows 10

[JoPau2014]

I sequenced everything last year and the visualizer worked great.  Same laptop, upgraded to Windows 10, updated to Pro version of LOR software, and now I can't get the visualizer to work with the SE.  I even tried the tutorial programs and nothing.  I verified the port settings on both, the IP address is set to 127.0.0.1 for both, the firewall is off (I also allowed all the LOR programs in the firewall) but still nothing on the visualizer.  The PE works great, I can control the lights from the laptop with either program. The show went great this year after the steep learning curve with the new PixCon16 and the CCP's.  I am adding to the sequences for next year since I am still in that mode, and trying to use the SE and Visualizer but the Visualizer isn't working.  I can uninstall and reinstall everything LOR, but I was hoping to avoid that.

[Ron Boyd]

Do you have the "Control Panel/Comm Listener" running? 

[JoPau2014]

That was it.  I dont recall having that running last year when I sequenced everything.  Thank you.

[Vince4xmas]

That worked for me also. Thanks!

[Ron Boyd]

That was it.  I dont recall having that running last year when I sequenced everything.  Thank you.

It came when the software moved to S4. Since they added DMX strings to the visualizer, for some reason it has to run. Last year on single bulb created DMX, it did not. Something in the code changed to where it needs to be connected now.

[LOR Staff]

The role of the Comm Listener will most likely increase as we continue to move forward.  With multiple different protocols and transports, we need a single 'traffic cop' that can direct all the data properly.  

 

In the beginning there was only serial/RS485 communication with LOR protocol (and some barely used things like X10/DIO/etc).  Now we have E1.31, DMX, LOR, ELOR, and can carry that on Serial, RS485, or Ethernet, all at various different speeds. We now have many different programs that need to talk to one another.  For example, Visualizer is a huge consumer of data, while control messages have to flow in multiple directions.

 

There is also the issue of 'serialization'.  All these different transports and protocols have differing thruputs.  The listener allows us to send data from the software at the fastest speed possible to it.  It can then look at all the various input sources, compress the data if needed, and then spawn separate (I hate to call them this) 'threads' to get that data out the door.  That ensures the right data goes out at the right time.

 

Right now we are still in the 'transition' phase.  Somewhere in S3 we introduced the comm listener to deal with SOME DMX (in fact if you look closely you'll probably see references to the 'DMX Listener' rather that 'Comm Listener').  E1.31 when introduced in S3 also used the Comm Listener.  Somewhere along the line, ALL DMX output was directed through the Listener.  With S4 we introduced Enhanced LOR protocol which lives in the Listener.  

 

On top of all that, any program that wanted to send data to Visualizer had to maintain separate connections for that.  In some cases we were sending double and triple the data we needed from multiple different sources.

 

Eventually (I assume) we will move the last remaining plain LOR network data into the Listener as well, completing the transition.  Every program in the suite will simply send it's data to the Listener in one format.  Listener can then distribute that data out to physical hardware or internally to other programs (like Vis).  That is why since the initial release of S4 we have said to always make sure the control panel is loaded.  As long as Control Panel is active, it will automatically start the listener if it is needed.

[kingfish]

Do you have the "Control Panel/Comm Listener" running? 

i am a little lost . i got new computor and intalled everything on it mid season . i have not been able to get my vi  running . since today is christmas{russian} i plan to run my show through this weekend  .   so i was not monkey around too much.   i do not see  commlistner where is it and how do i turn it off.   

[Ron Boyd]

i am a little lost . i got new computor and intalled everything on it mid season . i have not been able to get my vi  running . since today is christmas{russian} i plan to run my show through this weekend  .   so i was not monkey around too much.   i do not see  commlistner where is it and how do i turn it off.   

Double click on the LOR Control Panel and that will start the Comm Listener.

 

The role of the Comm Listener will most likely increase as we continue to move forward.  With multiple different protocols and transports, we need a single 'traffic cop' that can direct all the data properly.  

 

In the beginning there was only serial/RS485 communication with LOR protocol (and some barely used things like X10/DIO/etc).  Now we have E1.31, DMX, LOR, ELOR, and can carry that on Serial, RS485, or Ethernet, all at various different speeds. We now have many different programs that need to talk to one another.  For example, Visualizer is a huge consumer of data, while control messages have to flow in multiple directions.

 

There is also the issue of 'serialization'.  All these different transports and protocols have differing thruputs.  The listener allows us to send data from the software at the fastest speed possible to it.  It can then look at all the various input sources, compress the data if needed, and then spawn separate (I hate to call them this) 'threads' to get that data out the door.  That ensures the right data goes out at the right time.

 

Right now we are still in the 'transition' phase.  Somewhere in S3 we introduced the comm listener to deal with SOME DMX (in fact if you look closely you'll probably see references to the 'DMX Listener' rather that 'Comm Listener').  E1.31 when introduced in S3 also used the Comm Listener.  Somewhere along the line, ALL DMX output was directed through the Listener.  With S4 we introduced Enhanced LOR protocol which lives in the Listener.  

 

On top of all that, any program that wanted to send data to Visualizer had to maintain separate connections for that.  In some cases we were sending double and triple the data we needed from multiple different sources.

 

Eventually (I assume) we will move the last remaining plain LOR network data into the Listener as well, completing the transition.  Every program in the suite will simply send it's data to the Listener in one format.  Listener can then distribute that data out to physical hardware or internally to other programs (like Vis).  That is why since the initial release of S4 we have said to always make sure the control panel is loaded.  As long as Control Panel is active, it will automatically start the listener if it is needed.

 

Thanks for the insight. Now I understand why it's needed. Up until reading this post, I had no clue as to why, just that it had to be running.

[Vince4xmas]

Thanks for the explanation.