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problem enabling comm port


stevehoyt

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I just ran into this error yesterday and was wondering if anyone had an idea what may be causing it.

I am in the process of connecting the actual display outside. I have 3 LOR networks.

comm 3 500K enhanced

comm 4 500K enhanced

comm 5 56K regular

I run the hardware utility and discover all controllers on all 3 networks as expected. No Problem.

I enable the control panel... no errors that  I can see. When I attempt to run the lights within the S5.1.4  editor by selecting the control lights tab I get an error. A window pops up titled Enabling comm port. The error in the window says " unable to connect to regular on comm 5" and the show won't run. If I uncheck the offending network within the control lights tab, the other 2 enhanced networks run fine and the show starts. 

If I create the play files and use the control panel to run a show on demand all 3 networks run fine and the lights appear to be controlled as expected. 

This error only shows up if I try to run it while within the sequence editor.

I have checked the comm ports in windows and all are ok. I have no channel conflicts etc being flagged within the editor that I can see.

 

Anyone have an idea where to look next.

Thanks

Steve

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Did you close the HU before trying to run the sequence? Two programs cannot use the same Comm port at the same time and since the HU was open first it would be using the Comm port.

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thanks for the idea.....yes I did close the hardware  utility

whats odd is I get the error in the sequencer then close it and run the show on demand and all is well

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Just spit balling here, but is it possible SE expects to see Comm 3 as a 56K Regular. It's just a guess.

Just to be clear, you are using the Red USB-RS485-HS adapters for Comm 3 and Comm 4, and a Black USB-RS485  for Comm 5?

Are there any errors showing on CL Comm Listener? when this happens or before? (Click the CL icon to open up the DOS window)

Alan...
trans_1x1.gif

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1 hour ago, default said:

Just spit balling here, but is it possible SE expects to see Comm 3 as a 56K Regular. It's just a guess.

Just to be clear, you are using the Red USB-RS485-HS adapters for Comm 3 and Comm 4, and a Black USB-RS485  for Comm 5?

Are there any errors showing on CL Comm Listener? when this happens or before? (Click the CL icon to open up the DOS window)

Alan...
trans_1x1.gif

Alan- I'm not sure if the speed on the port matters since my comm 3 is 500k enhanced. Comm 4-6 57.6  and 7,8, 9 are also 500k enhanced. 

However while attempting to assist someone yesterday with a Gen 2 , 3 gen 3's and a pixie we had a snag.

I had originally helped him set up all of his networks. It should have been fine however when he received his new HS485 he plugged it in and hit auto on the comm ports and everything went haywire. After quite a few unsuccessful attempts to get comm3 and 4 back I am figuring the one device not working needed a firmware update. Hopefully.

It did have me go back and look at my networks just as your thought

I lost all 9 networks a couple weeks ago after updating windows 10. I had to painstakingly connect a test controller to each network and relabel them. I always thought the LOR adapters would keep the comm port originally assigned, I was wrong. Not being a IT guy it was just my thought and I had read it somewhere.

I just wonder if skipping comm 3 all together makes a problem.

JR

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1 hour ago, default said:

Are there any errors showing on CL Comm Listener?

Just to be clear, COM5 should not be mentioned on the CL window because it isn't enhanced.

The following article is a bit technical, but it does list all of the steps required to find which process has the serial port open.

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z000000P8CLSA0

Also, the Sequencer trace file should list the reason it could not be opened:

"\Documents\LORSequencer-trace.txt"

Matt

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Com3: is a traditional Serial/Modem port. It may appear if your PC has either built in.

Also, w7 up remembers other COM type adapters that have been connected, and will  not normally reuse those numbers. Your LOR adapters can get any Com#. and if you had one die, the new one will get a new number. (There are adjustments, to change the port number, but most modern software allows any number), so most just take it as is

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Thanks for all the tips.. As is usually the case,  it was a user error. On my show computer in the garage, I had the control panel setup to automatically start a schedule. It looks like when it started the  schedule even though no shows were set to run until later in the day, it grabbed onto the comm5 port. What threw me off is that it reported the error only on the regular network and not the enhanced ones.

In addition, I was able to  play a sequence in the sequencer on the enhanced networks without an issue,  just not on the regular network.

 That led me to believe I had a more serious problem than I really had. 

All I had to do was cancel automatic starting of the schedule and all is good.

Matt not sure if there is any diagnostic you might add to help others  that make the same mistake in the future.

 

Steve

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2 hours ago, stevehoyt said:

Matt not sure if there is any diagnostic you might add to help others  that make the same mistake in the future.

Well I did add a reminder to the existing message. Thanks for the suggestion!

image.png

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