Windows Command

[doubleeaz]

I have a Betabrite Classic LED sign. I have version 2.1.6 of LOR software. I am using the program betacom.exe from Industrial Logic (http://www.industrologic.com/betasoft.htm). When I run a sequence from the Sequence editor, betacom.exe will send the message to the Betabrite sign "Now Playing: by ". I have each sequence setup the same way. Like I said, it works perfect in the sequence editor.

When I run the sequences in a show, only the animation sequences at the end of my shows output to the Betabrite. I have a serial port monitor program that shows me what comes out of the serial port and it has verified that only the animation sequences output to the port. No musical sequences output to the port.

Thanks for any help that you can provide.

[tomskillman]

I am using the betacom program as well and all of my sequences display it (I don't have any animation sequences, only musical). I actually call a BATCH file to run mine which contains the following command:

"c:lor showsbetacom.exe" COM6 {Rotate}{Amber}Now Playing: %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9


The reason I start with command line argument 2 (%2) is that argument 1 is a letter designation for the song. I write out the order of play to a text file and plan to use the letter designation to generate some statistics at the end of the season. If you're not doing any kind of logging like this then your command would be something like:

"c:lor showsbetacom.exe" COM6 {Rotate}{Amber}Now Playing: %*

I'm not sure what your problem might be, but I would double check between your animation sequence and musical sequence. I know it works for musical because I'm doing it.

[bob]

Are you running everything on a single machine, or (for example) sequencing on one machine and running the show on another?

If the latter, do you know about the fact that you have to ensure that your command map file is in sync between the two machines?

For details, please see the following topic in the help file:

"Light-O-Rama Concepts" / "Sequences" / Windows Shell Commands"

In that page, look for the section "Sharing Sequences between Computers, and Security".

[doubleeaz]

Everything is running on a single computer. I did read the post that you mentioned. I am going to try the batch file Tom as I have seen this being done from others. Does it matter which Windows style you select?

[bob]

Window style is probably not relevant for what you're trying to do. I would just leave it as the default.

[doubleeaz]

So I tried to use a batch file as listed. I put the batch file in my Light-o-rama directory which is c:program fileslight-o-ramabetabrite.bat

The file contained the following: c:program fileslight-o-ramabetacom COM5 {ROTATE} {GREEN} Now Playing: %s

I put this in the Windows command: c:program fileslight-o-ramabetabrite by

Did not work.

I then put the betacom.exe file in the root directory, c:. I changed the Windows command to c:betacom COM5 {ROTATE} {GREEN} Now Playing: by .

Did not work.

If I open the Sequence Editor and run the sequence, then everything works. It does not work when I am running shows. The current computer has Vista. Don't know if this is a problem with the betacom program. I have a laptop at work with XP that I will bring home tomorrow and try out.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[doubleeaz]

I loaded everything on a Windows XP machine. All the files in the same directories as the Windows Vista machine. Everything works perfectly with the Betabrite driver. I am assuming that this is an issue with the betacom.exe program running on Vista and not an issue with LOR 2.

[Duke]

Have you checked Vista's security settings? (DEP) I found that to be stopping LOR from running properly and may also be preventing Betacom.exe from running as well.

[Duke]

Also, does anyone have the commands for all the different colors/fonts/graphics for the BetaBrite Prism?

[doubleeaz]

I found instructions on line how to turn off PED and it made no difference. Running in the sequence editor writes to the COM port and Betabrite display shows song information. Running a show does not write to the serial port and display does not change.

So tired of Vista. Found instructions and drivers to change to XP. Will do that after Christmas.

[Duke]

I see what you mean now. I just tried it and you are correct. I cannot get my BetaBrite Prism to display the messages during a show in Vista. It's fine in sequence editor and XP though. And the Prism is a newer version of the Classic. I get no errors saying that it cannot open the USB port when I unplug it and run a show. If I unplug it and play a sequence in the editor I get an error message about not being able to open the port.

[Duke]

I got it working now with Vista.

I copied the betabriteusb.dll file to the C: and C:Windows(x86) and C:WindowsSystem32 folders. It wasn't working. Then I disabled the shows and re-enabled them and VIOLA! success! I'm not sure which folder is the right one but the DLL file needs to be present for the EXE file to work. I think in your case with the Classic version you do not need the usb DLL file because you are using a COM or Serial port but the exe DOES need to be in the right location. I did nothing with DEP on these files as well.

[Richard Hamilton]

Duke wrote:

I got it working now with Vista.

I copied the betabriteusb.dll file to the C: and C:Windows(x86) and C:WindowsSystem32 folders. It wasn't working. Then I disabled the shows and re-enabled them and VIOLA! success! I'm not sure which folder is the right one but the DLL file needs to be present for the EXE file to work. I think in your case with the Classic version you do not need the usb DLL file because you are using a COM or Serial port but the exe DOES need to be in the right location. I did nothing with DEP on these files as well.

Duke, are you saying that you got the betacom.exe program to work with the BetaBrite USB version? When I look a the text file, it only speaks about sending commands to serial ports. If you got it to work in Vista, then surely I should be able to get it to work with XP.

[Duke]

Richard, no.

First I need to clarify that BetaBrite has 2 models, Classic and Prism.

Classic is an older model and has a serial port only.
The Prism has either Serial AND USB or USB only.
SAMS Club used to sell the USB only version for a while. (BetaBrite Prism)

If you have a USB port then you have a Prism and NOT a Classic and the betacom file will NOT work with your display.

I got the "prismcom.exe" working in Vista as I have a BetaBrite "Prism" model. If you have a usb port only then you have a BetaBrite Prism and not the BetaBrite Classic. The Classic requires the betacom.exe file. Prismcom.exe also requires that "betabriteusb.dll" also be present in the correct folder as well. I never had an issue in XP.

See these links below:

For the Prism: http://www.industrologic.com/prisdesc.htm
For the Classic: http://www.industrologic.com/betadesc.htm

Each has a link at the bootom for their respective page for software and drivers.
Make sure you have the right ones for your display.
They are not interchangeable.

[Richard Hamilton]

Duke, thanks for the links as I was having a hard time finding the files. I understand what you are saying. I also have the Prism version. I will experiment with these files. I am also experimenting with the Kitchi which seems to work well.

[doubleeaz]

So last night after my final show, I put betacom.exe (which was in the root directory) in c:windows and also in c:windowssystem32. I then edited 3 sequences to the c:windowsbetacom.exe file. I made a new show and all three sequences output correctly to the sign.

I then edited all the sequences for the new directory for betacom.exe for my shows tonight. The show is not in its 3rd running and I get the same behavior as before. No updates to the sign.

I am wondering if I need to create a new show after the sequences are edited? I guess that I will try that tonight and see if it makes a difference for tomorrow nights shows.

[Richard Hamilton]

doubleeaz wrote:

So last night after my final show, I put betacom.exe (which was in the root directory) in c:windows and also in c:windowssystem32. I then edited 3 sequences to the c:windowsbetacom.exe file. I made a new show and all three sequences output correctly to the sign.

I then edited all the sequences for the new directory for betacom.exe for my shows tonight. The show is not in its 3rd running and I get the same behavior as before. No updates to the sign.

I am wondering if I need to create a new show after the sequences are edited? I guess that I will try that tonight and see if it makes a difference for tomorrow nights shows.

Not sure what others will say, but I would not expect that creating a new show to fix the problem. In the past, I have edited a sequence on my office computer and then copied it to the show computer. As soon as that sequence came around again in the show, the control panel played the new sequence. I never had to build a new show. I suspect the problem is somewhere else, but no ideas where.

I was experimenting with using the Windows command yesterday on my test computer to see how it outputs to my BetaBrite Prism sign, and it worked like a charm the first time. LOR folks are pretty smart.... that is a nice feature.

[doubleeaz]

I made three new shows exactly the same as my original three shows and everything works. The Betabrite updates at the start of each song. I even had made some changes to a sequence that were not showing up. Once I made the new shows, the changes now show up.

[rwertz]

doubleeaz wrote:

I am wondering if I need to create a new show after the sequences are edited? I guess that I will try that tonight and see if it makes a difference for tomorrow nights shows.

Did you change the sequences while the show was running? I think I had to stop and restart the show (or possibly even close the control panel) to get some of my sequence changes to show up in the show.

Edit: Here’s a quote from the LOR 2.1.6 help file “If the Show Player is running when you change the command associated with a sequence, you may have to stop and start the Show Player in order for this change to be picked up.”

[doubleeaz]

I did all my editing after all shows were completed for the night. Shows were disabled. I made edits and the re-enabled shows.