CTB16PC "randomly" cuts off and back on / resets

[agentbud]

My CTB16PC started experiencing problems this week where the lights would cut off for about 45 seconds and then come back on, like it is resetting or something. I have not noticed any pattern to it - -sometimes it may happen once in an hour, other times it may happen several times in an hour. 

The red status light stays lit solid during the outage.

To test and to rule out problems with the existing outdoor power outlets  and/or comm cables, I disconnected all the christmas lights and brought the unit inside to my desk and connected it directly to my PC with a new cat5 cable and plugged up a lamp. The software found the unit no problem and the existing schedule turned the lamp on. However, the problem persists. It will occasionally turn the lamp off for about 45 seconds and then it come back on. Again, the status light stays lit solid.

I recall having this same/similar issue about 9 years ago and found a few emails I had exchanged with LOR support but nothing in those indicated what the fix was.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mike

[agentbud]

Update: ok, what I previously thought was random actually may not be. With the unit sitting here next to me at my desk I was able to more closely watch it and put a stopwatch to it. For the past hour I have watched the unit turn the lamp off and back on again 6 times, exactly 9 minutes and 3 seconds apart each time, and I mean exactly the same all 6 times. As soon as the lamp comes back on, it cuts off 9 minutes and 3 seconds later. And each outage lasts 55 seconds.

[k6ccc]

That's an odd one - the CTB16 does not have any sort of timer function in it.  What are you doing to control the light?  By that I mean, do you have a sequence running from the Show Play on the PC, or a sequence running from the Sequence Editor on the PC, or are you using the Hardware Utility, or something else?

And confirm you are running S2.something?

 

[PhilMassey]

Sequence playing or just sitting. By lamp I assume you mean the led on the board. Does the board led go completely off or blink.

[k6ccc]

6 minutes ago, PhilMassey said:

By lamp I assume you mean the led on the board. Does the board led go completely off or blink.

He said in his original post that the red status LED stays on solid throughout.  I assume he plugged a light into one channel for testing.

 

[agentbud]

6 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

That's an odd one - the CTB16 does not have any sort of timer function in it.  What are you doing to control the light?  By that I mean, do you have a sequence running from the Show Play on the PC, or a sequence running from the Sequence Editor on the PC, or are you using the Hardware Utility, or something else?

And confirm you are running S2.something?

 

It is a show running from the pc but it is just an "all-on" 1 minute sequence in a loop. Not sure what you mean by S2. if you mean the software version, it is 2.9.4 

Just now, k6ccc said:

He said in his original post that the red status LED stays on solid throughout.  I assume he plugged a light into one channel for testing.

 

correct. Lamp = an actual light plugged into one of the output plugs

[k6ccc]

Just now, agentbud said:

It is a show running from the pc but it is just an "all-on" 1 minute sequence in a loop. Not sure what you mean by S2. if you mean the software version, it is 2.9.4 

Yes, S2 as in software version 2.  2.9.4 was the first LOR version I downloaded in 2011 if I recall.  If you watch the status page on the show PC, does it show anything besides the test sequence running?  And in the stupid question department, are you sure that the test sequence really is what you think it is?  By that I mean, could the loop be running such that the timing you are seeing is the cause?  That's about the only thing I can think of that would be causing an exact timing such as you are seeing.

 

[TheDucks]

Are there any error messages in the Comm Listener?

[k6ccc]

1 minute ago, TheDucks said:

Are there any error messages in the Comm Listener?

He's using S2, no comm listener - had not been invented yet...

 

[agentbud]

13 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

Yes, S2 as in software version 2.  2.9.4 was the first LOR version I downloaded in 2011 if I recall.  If you watch the status page on the show PC, does it show anything besides the test sequence running?  And in the stupid question department, are you sure that the test sequence really is what you think it is?  By that I mean, could the loop be running such that the timing you are seeing is the cause?  That's about the only thing I can think of that would be causing an exact timing such as you are seeing.

 

Actually this is not a test sequence per se. In recent years I have not run any "animated" shows. The controller has been used a a glorified timer switch. The only "show" I run is just a 1-minute all-on loop. It is the same sequence/show I have used the past few years and most recently this halloween. So the sequence/show has not changed any and has worked as intended until this past week. The status only shows the one sequence/show running.

One more update - in the monitoring I have been doing, when the lamp goes out I would glance over at the board and see that the status led was still on solid. This last time I was actually looking at the board when the lamp went off and saw that the led actually blinked 2-3 quick times and then returned to full on.

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by agentbud

[PhilMassey]

You could watch the computer activity in task manager and see if anything odd starts up at the time. Could it be heat related, something getting hot, but I wouldn't think it would be that precise.

Are you running the sequence through Sequence Editor or a show, either scheduled or on demand, Does it happen both ways.

[TheDucks]

29 minutes ago, PhilMassey said:

You could watch the computer activity in task manager and see if anything odd starts up at the time. Could it be heat related, something getting hot, but I wouldn't think it would be that precise.

Are you running the sequence through Sequence Editor or a show, either scheduled or on demand, Does it happen both ways.

I wonder if the USB port is sleeping (power management)

[agentbud]

I had opened a ticket with LOR support and he agreed that it was some type of comm issue causing the signal to drop. Since I only have an all-on loop running he suggested I add a time event every second to drop the intensity down to 99%. He said this would keep a constant flow of communication on the line. I did that and so far it has been running for an hour with no stops.  

[k6ccc]

I have seen that with channels that are on all the time.  I do the same thing (but not every second) with always on channels.

 

[Orville]

I'd suggest trying a firmware update on the CTB16PC Controller through the Hardware Utility, as the firmware may have somehow gotten corrupted.  Had it happen a time or two.  Updated firmware and my issues went away.

So you might want to try that and re-run your tests to see if that resolves your problem.   Firmware can do strange things if it gets corrupted or damaged in some way.

 

[agentbud]

53 minutes ago, Orville said:

I'd suggest trying a firmware update on the CTB16PC Controller through the Hardware Utility, as the firmware may have somehow gotten corrupted.  Had it happen a time or two.  Updated firmware and my issues went away.

So you might want to try that and re-run your tests to see if that resolves your problem.   Firmware can do strange things if it gets corrupted or damaged in some way.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I just upgraded the firmware from 4.30 to the latest 4.32. Restarted my original show but the original problem still persists. I will note using the suggestion from LOR support to add in a 99% intensity segment every 1/10th second has helped some. With that in place it no longer completely shuts down / resets every 9 minutes. It will still do a 1-2 second quick off/on every 30-40 minutes or so but at least it is not shutting down for 55 seconds while it resets like before. Still pretty irritating though.

[agentbud]

Update: So, I used to be an IT tech and when a user came to me with some strange issue with their computer my standard answer was "shut up and reboot". I should have listened to my own advice. I rebooted my pc yesterday morning (due to a windows update) and after that my original show has been running perfect - no shutdowns/resets or blinks. Go figure.