Adding Leaping arches and e1.31 screen to LOR mini trees and mega tree

[Wonko]

Hi all - newbie question here. I'm running S5 Pro Edition w/ Superstar demo.

Last year, I started with (1) LOR CTB16PC controller for (10) mini trees, singing santa, and house lights.

This year, I was given a Sandevice e6804 e1.31 RGB pixel controller w/ pixel strips for adding leaping arches. I've built (4) arches using 1" pex, and wired the pixel strips into them. 

I also purchased an e1.31 screen package from Wowlights, which is incoming (backordered since early October).

And I added another LOR CTB16PC controller for a mega tree using LED white lights.

My question is about the basic setup. I'm guessing I need to build a LAN to make the (4) controllers (2 LOR CTB16PC, 1 Sandevice, and 1 intelligent E1.31 RGB 16 output controller) all work together in S5.

I believe I understand that the LOR controllers need an Rs485 adapter, but the e1.31 controllers do not require an adapter. Is that right?

So I would have the two LOR controllers plugged into each other, then into the RS485 adapter (and into a USB port on my laptop).

And then I would run the Sandevice controller and the Wowlights E1.31 controller into a switch, and plug that into my ethernet port on my laptop?

Does that sound right?

The Sandevice controller has the IP address and some info on the universes written inside the controller cover. 

It says: IP address 192.168.0.51, RGB mini arches, 1 universe 13, 2 universe 14, 3 universe 15, 4 universe 16. 25 pixels 1804/2811 lights.

I have no idea what that means...

I haven't learned to build sequences yet, so I'm hoping to purchase new ones that incorporate the screen and arch features (or upgrade the ones I bought last year).

Can someone please explain the basics for assigning the IP address and universes in S5 to existing sequences?

My setup last year was basically plug-and-play, as I built the (10) mini trees, singing santa, and house lights on the recommended channels of the basic LOR setup.

Any help is much appreciated!!!

[PhilMassey]

Your basic understanding is correct. LOR is RS 485 (except Pixcon amd PiixieLink.)

E 1.31 is DMX over Ethernet out of your PC's network port.

Your laptop will be capable of two network connections. One for WIFI for your home network, and one for the wired port. 

You will need to set the IP address of the wired port in Windows to the same subnet as the controllers. In this case that will be 192.168.0.1. Your house can't be in the same "0" range.

If your house net is on the 0 subnet you will need to change both the controller and the wired port to something else. That's a longer story.

You will need to learn your way around Windows Network and Internet settings, Network sharing center in some Windows versions to setup the laptop wired port.

Once you get that sorted, you will need to tell LOR what is going on in the Network Preferences in the right click menu of the Control Panel. In the DMX tab you will need to set the IP address of the controller and the universes.

Then you will need to set up the props in the preview using the dmx settings, using the universe and pixel counts.

That's a rough overview for starters.

 

[Wonko]

Thanks so much, Phil! I just looked it up, and my subnet mask (on my PC) is 255.255.255.0

does that mean what you said above about my home net possibly being 0, and therefore I’ll have to change the controller?

I have the e1.31 controller’s IP address as 192.168.0.51.

does that tell us what we need to know about the controller’s subnet?

Thanks again -

[PhilMassey]

Your house wifi net and the lighting net should be separate to keep the traffic from interfering.

If your house is on the 0 subnet you will either have to change it or change the lighting net. 

If the controller is on 0 it will only connect to a 0 subnet. 

If you need to change it and any others, you will need to connect it temporarily to the 0 network long enough to change it to something else, make it 10 for example.

Then having made your controllers 10, make your PC wired port 10 also and they will be able to connect.

[Wonko]

Ok - so I managed to connect the SanDevice E6804 RGB controller (for my leaping arches) to my laptop.

I didn't know the ip address, so I followed the (very complicated) steps from the manual to reset it to factory defaults.

I was then able to access the SanDevices website for the config of the controller via its default IP of 169.254.74.73.

I haven't been able to change it to a permanent IP yet, but I'm working on it.

I then tried to locate the E6804 controller via LOR S5, and I got stumped.

Would I look under hardware utility or network preferences?

I see DMX controller in network pref, and I changed Universes 14-17 to e1.31.

I'm not sure if it's actually connected, and I don't know how to test it.

I connected an RGB strip to the controller, and I launched a show that has leaping arches, but the RGB strip didn't turn on at al.

Can someone please explain what I'm doing wrong, and how I would go about testing the controller/light strips?

Thanks!

[k6ccc]

4 minutes ago, Wonko said:

I then tried to locate the E6804 controller via LOR S5, and I got stumped.

Would I look under hardware utility or network preferences?

Neither.  As far as LOR is concerned, the E6804 is a receive only device.  The LOR show player will send data to an E1.31 controller without any knowledge if that data actually gets there - or if there is even something at that IP address.

7 minutes ago, Wonko said:

Can someone please explain what I'm doing wrong, and how I would go about testing the controller/light strips?

It sounds like you have essentially no knowledge on IP networking.  Your life will be far easier if you gain some knowledge on the subject.  LOR published a document that goes into a lot of the basics of networking as it applies to pixel control.  I suggest you read it.  Yes, it's 34 pages, but do read it.  It is by no means a graduate course in IP networking, but at least it will allow you to be able to communicate with those trying to help you.

https://www1.lightorama.com/PDF/IntroductionToDMXandE131.pdf

 

[Wonko]

K6ccc - I will read the document. Thanks very much!

In the meantime, I have an update to my situation…

I managed to get through to someone from Sandevice by phone, and he was very helpful.

We configured my laptop and controller to talk to each other, and we were able to get an attached RGB strip to run a test pattern via the Sandevice built-in website.

I then went into LOR network preferences and assigned universe 14-17 to be e1.31 at the same IP address. Unfortunately, when I started a show in S5 it didn’t trigger the RGB strip.

If anyone has a suggestion for what to do next, I’d appreciate it!

[k6ccc]

Bring up the status page on the E6804 and see if you are showing packets counting for each universe.  Note:  that page does NOT automatically refresh, so you won't see it counting in real time.  If you are not seeing packets counting, then the show computer is not sending data to the E6804.

 

[Wonko]

Ya, the guy from Sandevice had me check that. There are about 5-10 packets every few seconds with a show running, but when I stop the show there are still a few packets every few seconds. Does S5 continue sending packets when the show is off?

[k6ccc]

As long as the Comm Listener is running, it sends idle packets - about one per second per universe.

 

[Wonko]

Ah - gotcha.
Well it looks like I am receiving about 1 packet per second per universe. Does that mean that I’m connected properly, but the sequence is not sending packets in that universe?

[Wonko]

Morning, all!

ok - I read the LOR networking packet last night. That was very helpful - thanks, K6ccc!

Here’s my current plan of connectivity - please let me know if this seems correct.

For my home wifi, I have a mesh router with 2 satellites (each with four LAN ports). One of the satellites is in my shed, which is where my lighting laptop will live. Since I want to let my lighting laptop have access to the internet as well as to my new lighting network (but the packet says not to use wifi on my lighting laptop), my plan is to put my Sandevices e1.31 controller (for my arches) and my Holidaycoro e1.31 controller (for my new pixel matrix) onto a switch which will be connected to both my lighting laptop and the satellite from my existing mesh router. 

Does that sound like a good idea?

Conversely, I’m told that my new HolidayCoro controller has 2 LAN ports built into it. I suppose I could also run my Sandevices controller into my HolidayCoro controller, and then connect that either directly into my laptop, or into the switch, or even directly into my satellite router and then into my laptop.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

thanks!!!

[PhilMassey]

Reread my earlier posts.

[basis21b]

Some thoughts:

Putting your display network traffic on the same network as your household could result in great unhappiness.  Your display network traffic will now be competing with any streaming devices, gaming computers or other household network traffic.  Your current display network is probably small enough now that it won't cause any issues but as you grow...

If you haven't already thought of them, here are a couple of non-lighting network things to consider:

- Since you are using a laptop which typically default to sleep and hibernate settings to conserve power, you will want to make sure that you prevent the computer from going to sleep or into hibernation.

- The computer having access to the internet could result in a Windows Update being applied and a reboot occurring at a very unfortunate time.

 

[Wonko]

Ok - so I’ve taken everyone’s advice, and my lighting laptop is now off my wifi network. 

My laptop is directly connected to my SanDevice E6804 controller via it’s Ethernet port. I can access the controller’s website, and I can activate the RGB strip plugged into channel 2 by turning on the test pattern.

I’m actively receiving packets at about 1 per second per universe with no show running, but when I run a show, that number only goes up to about 2 per second per universe.

I’m assuming I’m doing something wrong in the network section of LOR S5, since the controller works in test mode.

I’ve attached a pic of my LOR network preferences page, where I’ve put the IP addresses for the 4 universes from this controller. For reference, the show I’m running was purchased from WowLights, which I believe place their RGB arches on universe 14-17.

I’ve also attached a pic of the controller’s website config page.

Can someone please take a look and let me know what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks again!

 

[Wonko]

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Wonko

[Wonko]

[PhilMassey]

Looks like the settings in the config page and prefs are ok. 

Do your preview settings match for the prop definitions

Is control panel and comm listener running and control lights checked.

As a matter of interest, where did you come up with the IP address you are using. 

[k6ccc]

1 hour ago, PhilMassey said:

As a matter of interest, where did you come up with the IP address you are using. 

That is the "I'm operating DHCP and can't find a DHCP server" address range.  HIGHLY recommend assigning a "real" static IP address to it.

 

[PhilMassey]

I was curious if perhaps his house network was I the same subnet..........