Orville Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Came out and found my 6 HC RGB 10watt Smart RGB Floods still on Thursday morning 10/14/2021, thought maybe I made an error in the show files, so removed the SD Card from my N4-G4 Director, which should have had the floods turn off, they didn't. Inserted an SD Card {runs anytime powered} with an ALL LIGHTS OFF sequence, that didn't work. So I opened the Pixie16 box to verify it was connected, Red light was blinking, showing no data going to it, checked the cat5 cable, tested good, but tried another to be certain, actually tried several cat5 cables, none worked. So I tried pressing the Pixie 16D's reset button, didn't do anything, pressed it and held it to get it to run a light pattern test, no go, floods just stayed on with no change. Tried unplugging the Pixie16 for about 10 minutes or so, plugged back in, still no solid red LED with the SD Card inserted into the N4-G4. So I ran a cable from my computer to the Pixie 16 and ran the HU, HU could not find the Pixie, looked inside, red LED still blinking, never went solid. I also disconnected all lights from the Pixies ports and tried to reset it, no go. I did get a faster blinking red LED by holding the reset button down for about 3-5 seconds that should have generated a test pattern on the floods connected, nothing, floods just remained lit at a low intensity blue, no change of any kind, no test pattern at all. Same thing when done via the HU by disconnecting all lights and trying to reset and find it with the HU, still was a no-go. IS there any other way to reset a Pixie that I'm missing, or has this one gone belly up on me? I've tried everything I can think of to get it to reset and be found by the N4-G4 or the HU, nothing I've tried has worked. Does anyone have any ideas on what might be the cause of this issue, and how to resolve it? This puts any 12V RGB Floods or strands I have completely out of commission now until I can figure out what's going on and how to fix it. Thanks for any suggestions, ideas and help in getting this Pixie 16D fixed, and up and running again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) Just went thru this (same symptoms) Power OFF the pixie. Hold the button. Power back on. continue to hold the button about 10 seconds Edited October 14, 2021 by TheDucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 Just now, TheDucks said: Just went thru this (same symptoms) Power OFF the pixie. Hold the button. Power back on. continue to hod the button about 10 seconds I tried that too. Didn't work. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Help desk time 😭. The self test pattern should have worked WITHOUT a network connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Orville said: Came out and found my 6 HC RGB 10watt Smart RGB Floods still on Thursday morning 10/14/2021, thought maybe I made an error in the show files, so removed the SD Card from my N4-G4 Director, which should have had the floods turn off, they didn't. Inserted an SD Card {runs anytime powered} with an ALL LIGHTS OFF sequence, that didn't work. So I opened the Pixie16 box to verify it was connected, Red light was blinking, showing no data going to it, checked the cat5 cable, tested good, but tried another to be certain, actually tried several cat5 cables, none worked. So I tried pressing the Pixie 16D's reset button, didn't do anything, pressed it and held it to get it to run a light pattern test, no go, floods just stayed on with no change. Tried unplugging the Pixie16 for about 10 minutes or so, plugged back in, still no solid red LED with the SD Card inserted into the N4-G4. So I ran a cable from my computer to the Pixie 16 and ran the HU, HU could not find the Pixie, looked inside, red LED still blinking, never went solid. I also disconnected all lights from the Pixies ports and tried to reset it, no go. I did get a faster blinking red LED by holding the reset button down for about 3-5 seconds that should have generated a test pattern on the floods connected, nothing, floods just remained lit at a low intensity blue, no change of any kind, no test pattern at all. Same thing when done via the HU by disconnecting all lights and trying to reset and find it with the HU, still was a no-go. IS there any other way to reset a Pixie that I'm missing, or has this one gone belly up on me? I've tried everything I can think of to get it to reset and be found by the N4-G4 or the HU, nothing I've tried has worked. Does anyone have any ideas on what might be the cause of this issue, and how to resolve it? This puts any 12V RGB Floods or strands I have completely out of commission now until I can figure out what's going on and how to fix it. Thanks for any suggestions, ideas and help in getting this Pixie 16D fixed, and up and running again. That is not how you reset a pixie controller Push and hold the white button throughout the process 1- Push and hold the white button 2- Unplug the controller 3- I usually hold the button for 30 seconds 4- Plug it back in 5- Release the white button as soon as the light flashes very fast You should contact me for help with your pixie16 after all I did build it. I would suggest unplugging the flood and try a string of nodes instead. JR Edited October 14, 2021 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 10 minutes ago, TheDucks said: Help desk time 😭. The self test pattern should have worked WITHOUT a network connection. Just went out and tried it again, units been powered off for over 2 hours now, held button in, plugged into power {floods were reconnected before applying power}, floods came on low intensity blue, kept holding button for 10 seconds, went through the fast blinking of the LED numerous times {self test pattern}, floodlights just remain on steady at low intensity blue, no change, no reset occurred. Tried a second time and held button longer, same results, no reset. :( Major Bummer. No idea why it won't reset, it's been working fine until this morning, haven't had any storms or anything to cause any damage, although we had a power glitch a few weeks ago, but it has been working perfectly since then. So I have no idea what's happened or why it's refusing to reset now. Had to reset it after that, and test pattern worked fine, reset fine, but today, it's been a no-go every time I've tried. JR built this unit for me and sent it to me, worked fine. Now all of a sudden it decides to not reset as it should. I think I may need to invest in a new 12V RGB controller that I can use to control these floodlights, but on this one, I'm not sure what I would need to make these work. Any suggestions on a LOR Controller? I have conversion cables for them, so I could attach them to an LOR RGB 12V Controller, just need to know which one I should get. My wife is doing a research study and gets paid for that, so I could use the funds from that to get a new controller. At least then I'd have a back up unit, so I would still be able to use the floods I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 1 minute ago, dibblejr said: That is not how you reset a pixie controller Push and hold the white button throughout the process 1- Push and hold the white button 2- Unplug the controller 3- I usually hold the button for 30 seconds 4- Plug it back in 5- Release the white button as soon as the light flashes very fast You should contact me for help with your pixie16 after all I did build it. JR I've done that exactly as you stated to JR. Still a no-go, it won't reset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 19 minutes ago, TheDucks said: Help desk time 😭. The self test pattern should have worked WITHOUT a network connection. 1 minute ago, Orville said: Just went out and tried it again, units been powered off for over 2 hours now, held button in, plugged into power {floods were reconnected before applying power}, floods came on low intensity blue, kept holding button for 10 seconds, went through the fast blinking of the LED numerous times {self test pattern}, floodlights just remain on steady at low intensity blue, no change, no reset occurred. Tried a second time and held button longer, same results, no reset. :( Major Bummer. No idea why it won't reset, it's been working fine until this morning, haven't had any storms or anything to cause any damage, although we had a power glitch a few weeks ago, but it has been working perfectly since then. So I have no idea what's happened or why it's refusing to reset now. Had to reset it after that, and test pattern worked fine, reset fine, but today, it's been a no-go every time I've tried. JR built this unit for me and sent it to me, worked fine. Now all of a sudden it decides to not reset as it should. I think I may need to invest in a new 12V RGB controller that I can use to control these floodlights, but on this one, I'm not sure what I would need to make these work. Any suggestions on a LOR Controller? I have conversion cables for them, so I could attach them to an LOR RGB 12V Controller, just need to know which one I should get. My wife is doing a research study and gets paid for that, so I could use the funds from that to get a new controller. At least then I'd have a back up unit, so I would still be able to use the floods I have. You have to power cycle the controller. Just because it was off, holding the white button in and plugging it back in does not reset the controller. Must start with controller on. Also previously you have indicated you are using 1000K speed, this will not work if you have any other controllers connected. What have you changed on the controller? Jumper or anything? JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 What is a conversion cable? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 4 minutes ago, dibblejr said: What is a conversion cable? Missed that until you pointed it out. HC smart devices now default to a pale blue when no data (only power) is present. @Orville Have you measured the 12V at the board. That power hit may have weakened the PSU, and now it is out of tolerance. FWIW I set mine 5% high as there is no such ting as a negative voltage drop. (12V items usually have a %10 tolerance) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 31 minutes ago, dibblejr said: You have to power cycle the controller. Just because it was off, holding the white button in and plugging it back in does not reset the controller. Must start with controller on. Also previously you have indicated you are using 1000K speed, this will not work if you have any other controllers connected. What have you changed on the controller? Jumper or anything? JR Nothing, running at 500K, but tested it with 1,000K, and it worked fine with that. Nothing else is connected to the controller, it is disconnected from everything. Only thing connected is power and floodlights, tried resetting with floods disconnected and floods connected, it won't reset. There are no jumpers on any of the pins inside the controller, it's just as you sent it to me, only thing I ever changed was updated the FW to 1.07 and changed the ID to Unit 15. Everything is still as it came to me, except for those changes. There aren't even jumpers to use anywhere inside the controller, all pins are open, no jumpers anywhere to be seen. It's been working fine up until this morning when I found the floods never turned off as they should have. I've tried it both ways powered off, powered on, cycled with the reset button, nothing works. It refuses to reset, no matter what I've tried, and I've tried every combination that I know and those that you and the Ducks has stated as well. Nothing has worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, dibblejr said: What is a conversion cable? It's a cable that HC sells that allows you to connect an XConnect or their HC3 Connectors to LOR RGB Lights, but they also have them that will connect an LOR Controller to their HC Floodlights too. Had to buy some, so I could connect the CCR's to the Pixie16. I think I purchased some that connect an HC Flood to an LOR Controller like the CC II. Bought them just in case I may need 1 or 2. But will be awhile before I buy a CCII Controller to use with the HC Floods. Probably not until November, when my wife goes back to the research study center. Would have gotten it this month, but she, nor I, had any idea the Pixie was going to fail on me, and she already spent those funds on other things that were needed around here. So probably won't have the floodlights in this year's display as I had planned, since I can't get the Pixie to reset. BTW: those conversion cables are very short and don't cost very much, price is around $1.59 to $1.79 each, and they sure work great for connecting Xconnect or HC Easyplug3 connectors to or from a LOR controller connectors! These are specific to 12V pixel use. Edited October 14, 2021 by Orville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 10 hours ago, Orville said: It's a cable that HC sells that allows you to connect an XConnect or their HC3 Connectors to LOR RGB Lights, but they also have them that will connect an LOR Controller to their HC Floodlights too. Had to buy some, so I could connect the CCR's to the Pixie16. I think I purchased some that connect an HC Flood to an LOR Controller like the CC II. Bought them just in case I may need 1 or 2. But will be awhile before I buy a CCII Controller to use with the HC Floods. Probably not until November, when my wife goes back to the research study center. Would have gotten it this month, but she, nor I, had any idea the Pixie was going to fail on me, and she already spent those funds on other things that were needed around here. So probably won't have the floodlights in this year's display as I had planned, since I can't get the Pixie to reset. BTW: those conversion cables are very short and don't cost very much, price is around $1.59 to $1.79 each, and they sure work great for connecting Xconnect or HC Easyplug3 connectors to or from a LOR controller connectors! These are specific to 12V pixel use. I know what they are now. I have a bunch of them and yse about 4" or so. I have both LOR/HC Xconnect and Xconnect to LOR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 12 hours ago, Orville said: Nothing, running at 500K, but tested it with 1,000K, and it worked fine with that. Nothing else is connected to the controller, it is disconnected from everything. Only thing connected is power and floodlights, tried resetting with floods disconnected and floods connected, it won't reset. There are no jumpers on any of the pins inside the controller, it's just as you sent it to me, only thing I ever changed was updated the FW to 1.07 and changed the ID to Unit 15. Everything is still as it came to me, except for those changes. There aren't even jumpers to use anywhere inside the controller, all pins are open, no jumpers anywhere to be seen. It's been working fine up until this morning when I found the floods never turned off as they should have. I've tried it both ways powered off, powered on, cycled with the reset button, nothing works. It refuses to reset, no matter what I've tried, and I've tried every combination that I know and those that you and the Ducks has stated as well. Nothing has worked. If it works at 1000K by itself you could always put it on a dif network/ However as stated only if only pixie controllers are on that network. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 4 hours ago, dibblejr said: If it works at 1000K by itself you could always put it on a dif network/ However as stated only if only pixie controllers are on that network. JR That's just it. It's on Aux C and is the ONLY controller on that Network on the N4-G4, my 9 CCB100D's are on Aux A, my 2 Pixie 2's are the Singing LOR Trees on Aux B and, again the Pixie 16 on Aux C, each set of RGB controllers, depending on what they control are each on their own network. So none are connected to the Pixie 16 at all. My older Gen 1 V2 Boards are on the Regular network at 115K. Actually, there are no other RGB controllers connected at this time, that comes later during the Christmas Display set up. Only controllers connected are Regular Network for the 2 CTB16PC units {powers the N4-G4} and Aux C for the Pixie 16 that was only controlling the 6 HC 10W RGB Smart Floodlights. And I've tried every combination and setting I can think of to get the Pixie 16 to reset, it just refuses to reset. It reset just fine after the power glitch we had a few weeks ago when this happened the first time, but now, it won't reset at all since that occurrence. When I reset it back at that time, it ran the test pattern when the fast blinking of the LED started, but just stays on at a lower intensity blue no matter what I've tried to do to reset it. The Green power LEDs are both lit on both power supplies, but I haven't checked any outputs on them as yet, hard to access their output terminals with the multimeter probes without removing the power supplies from inside the box. And to do that I'll need to take it down from where it's mounted first. I've already taken down the floods since I can't use them at the moment, and will be taking the box down and bringing the Pixie 16 inside for further checking into. It was a pain to get mounted where I put it, going to be an even bigger pain getting it down! Definitely finding a better position for it, providing I can get it reset, and working again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Orville. Measure at the Pixie terminals first (pay close attention to Bank A as that powers the Pixie). That (the load) is where you need the good power (could be a bad connection to the PSU. That will show if you need to bother to dig deeper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 On 10/14/2021 at 9:11 AM, TheDucks said: Just went thru this (same symptoms) Power OFF the pixie. Hold the button. Power back on. continue to hold the button about 10 seconds Actually you must have the pixie powered up, then push and hold the white button while powering down and continue to push the white button while plugging it back in until the status light flashes really fast, only then do you release the button Note- it does not reset the Unit ID JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 5 hours ago, Orville said: That's just it. It's on Aux C and is the ONLY controller on that Network on the N4-G4, my 9 CCB100D's are on Aux A, my 2 Pixie 2's are the Singing LOR Trees on Aux B and, again the Pixie 16 on Aux C, each set of RGB controllers, depending on what they control are each on their own network. So none are connected to the Pixie 16 at all. My older Gen 1 V2 Boards are on the Regular network at 115K. Actually, there are no other RGB controllers connected at this time, that comes later during the Christmas Display set up. Only controllers connected are Regular Network for the 2 CTB16PC units {powers the N4-G4} and Aux C for the Pixie 16 that was only controlling the 6 HC 10W RGB Smart Floodlights. And I've tried every combination and setting I can think of to get the Pixie 16 to reset, it just refuses to reset. It reset just fine after the power glitch we had a few weeks ago when this happened the first time, but now, it won't reset at all since that occurrence. When I reset it back at that time, it ran the test pattern when the fast blinking of the LED started, but just stays on at a lower intensity blue no matter what I've tried to do to reset it. The Green power LEDs are both lit on both power supplies, but I haven't checked any outputs on them as yet, hard to access their output terminals with the multimeter probes without removing the power supplies from inside the box. And to do that I'll need to take it down from where it's mounted first. I've already taken down the floods since I can't use them at the moment, and will be taking the box down and bringing the Pixie 16 inside for further checking into. It was a pain to get mounted where I put it, going to be an even bigger pain getting it down! Definitely finding a better position for it, providing I can get it reset, and working again. Have you swapped out those floods with a set of 12v pixels? JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 On 10/15/2021 at 10:17 AM, dibblejr said: Have you swapped out those floods with a set of 12v pixels? JR Yep, the 12V square nodes briefly flash pixel 1 red, and they stay off, but the controller still has a blinking red LED, it won't go steady no matter what RGB lights are on it. I tried the CCR ribbons {first set of 3 pixels flashed blue}, as well as the square nodes you sent with it, no go on anything. Pixie just won't reset, red LED just won't go on steady. Even tried various cat5 cables that I know are good, tested and verified with a cat5 tester, even opened a brand new cat5 cable and tried that, tried going straight to the connector jack inside the box via each side of the cat5 jack, disconnecting the one that was installed, although tested good when I used a good cat5 with the cat5 tester and each end plugged in to the tester, so showed data is getting through, but just not through to the board, apparently. I can find nothing wrong, nothing looks burned, scorched or melted in or on the PCB anywhere. So I'm not sure what to think, nor do I have any inkling of an idea what the issue is on why it won't reset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 You seem to be describing 2 different issues 1) self test (test pattern) does not run. You do not even need a network for this 2) fails to see the network From those 2, I would suspect there is a low level fault and the controller never finished initializing. 💡 Force a firmware update (with Only one controller connected: option) . I betcha the FW is corrupt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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