Controller Blinking Status Light Mid Show

[DarianSS]

Hey all! New to the LOR scene, so forgive any beginner's missteps. I ran my show last year using 2 CTB16PC boxes and a UMP3g3 controller. All worked fine last year. This year, pretty much the same set up, albeit just moving a couple of pieces around. Plugged everything up and the show started fine. However, at some random point in the first song, the show stops and the status light on the CTB16PC's just starts blinking. I was wanting to know some troubleshooting steps to take if possible. I have thought of maybe a corrupt SD card, or needing to update the firmware on the UMP3g3, but of course, I lost the RS485 adapter, so I have ordered a new one. In my searches though, I did come across that the cat 5 cables used in a LOR setup are not compatible with general TCP/IP cat5 cables? I used a 50 ft cat 5 cable I had lying around the house last year to connect my two boxes together and all was fine. Can someone provide some clarity to this as well? Anyways, I appreciate any help given!!

[TheDucks]

The CAT5 cables are 100% compatible with Ethernet usage.

It is LOR devices that should NEVER be plugged into ANY Ethernet PORT. Totally different Signals on the pins

[DarianSS]

Thanks @TheDucks. Any ideas in the troubleshooting part?

 

[TheDucks]

20 minutes ago, DarianSS said:

Thanks @TheDucks. Any ideas in the troubleshooting part?

 

Sorry, I don't use the Director, only a PC (with 3 LOR adapters)

Data is on the 1 pair Ethernet does not use (or I would suggest just using it to connect you PC to a router)

If you power cycle the whole wretched mes (but don't play the show), does the LED stay solid? If yes, I suspect the cable is fine.

What happens if only 1 AC controller is connected to the director (and the show is played)? What happens if you switch to just the other?   (If they don't play together, it may be a bad RS485 chip (next to jacks)

[wbaker4]

Reformat the SD card and load the songs/schedule/show back on the card and try it.  Change the order of the songs to see if that makes a difference.  A blinking light when using that controller usually means a show is waiting to start at a certain time.

[Orville]

A Blinking LED could also mean a loose Cat5 Jack on the Controllers PCB.  Check for any free, loose movement, they shouldn't move, they may move very slightly, but too loose, and they can break the data flow.  Had one do that to me this year, so after the season, down it comes and solder reflowed on the jacks pins.  Then I'll put it back where it sits outside year round.  I also use an N4-G4 Director, and thought my Director may have also been the culprit at first, since that’s the jack the Director went to inside the controller that I was having issues with.  So you may want to verify your Cat5 jacks haven't become loose and check inside for bent pins, you may need to straighten them out, as that can also cause some issues with a controller not functioning properly.

[jfuller8400]

It could also be a marginal/bad CAT5 cable.  I was having the exact same issue.  All of the cables tested fine but still had controllers dropping out at random points in the show.  Replaced all of the cabling with high quality, waterproof, outdoor cable (actually rated for direct burial) and haven't had a problem since.  

Also make sure your cable is pure copper and not CCA.

Building New Data Control Cables - YouTube

Lessons Learned the Hard Way - CCA Cable - YouTube