Don Krasley Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 i don't know what's going on. i have been testing and while watching i've seen stuff turn on out of the blue. when i went to the editor to look for something inadvertently turned on, i don't see anything! so i played it again and it did it on a different channel. so i'm moving along because look at the date, duh!so to work on the mega tree, i made up a new sequence and only did the tree! period! nothing else on the rest of the sequence! nada, zip, zilch! get this, i get lights coming on, sometime they shimmer or just stay on a while and turn off.i know i'm most likely the only one thats gonna notice, but it's gotta be fixed, stopped or what ever!anyone having this issue? is there something to do to fix it? i got the 2.6.0 version and i have both xp and windows 7 running and it does it on both of them!HEEEEEEEELP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Is their a possiblity that a standalone sequence has ever been loaded in any of your controllers? That happen to me one year when I forgot to remove a standalone sequence from a controller used at Halloween for an animation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Benson Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Check your usb cable for proximity to other lines and power transformers. I got the one with the filter beads and it solved my issues. Also make sure there are not any CFL bulbs or switching power supplies plugged into any controller.. those really mess things up.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Krasley Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 no, nothing has ever been done like that.this software is a resource drain too! i hardly see it running smoothly this year!we need the old new stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I had the same problem last year, never did figure out what was causing it. This year I am using three networks and hope that resolves the issue. I had iDMX and the ELLs as well as a firefly in the network. Had increased last year's show to over 350 channels and could not find the problem although it diminished quite a bit when I reconnected some cat 5 cables so it may have been something in the data transmission through all those cables. Have scaled back this year to about half the number of channels and no ELL. Will see what happens with different networks and fewer channels. Good luck in tracking it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Don Krasley wrote: this software is a resource drain too! i hardly see it running smoothly this year!we need the old new stuff!Uh... I don't see that.This version is running much smoother than other versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Krasley Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 ok so i listened to some thoughtful insights, now lets hear some real solutions!I took my laptop out and plugged right into the control panel out there. started well and for the first few minuets worked fine. now it's doing the same thing. some phantom channels come on here and there with no rhyme or reason. My thought's, bring back the tried and true software that had less issues (for me that worked. Sorry Mountainwxman, read it! the new sucks for me so far). Just go back and let it work. i don't need something fancy or new better improved software when the old was as well. If it works, don't fix it!As far as I can tell this must be something in the software. Any other reason a track could just go off like that is weird.i guess i'll just make an animation sequence and use 1 controller and see if that works. all cat 5 cables are made from cat6 cable so it should be better than advertised!any help would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneKremer Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Don, we need a bunch of details. How it your network connected? USB? Serial? If USB, do you have the cable with ferrite filters on them? How do you have your network preferences set? What kind of controllers? Has the firmware been updated on them?The software works great for me and is faster and more reliable than it has in the past, so I'm not sure of the problems you are experiencing. Maybe it's the machine you are running it on.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 WayneKremer wrote: Don, we need a bunch of details. How it your network connected? USB? Serial? If USB, do you have the cable with ferrite filters on them? How do you have your network preferences set? What kind of controllers? Has the firmware been updated on them?The software works great for me and is faster and more reliable than it has in the past, so I'm not sure of the problems you are experiencing. Maybe it's the machine you are running it on....Thank you Wayne... those questions need to be answered first before going any further.To me... it sounds like he needs a filtered USB cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Krasley Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 i have multiple usb cables with the filters on them. i tried all 7 and the same thing.so i got the firmware 4.20 for the board and ran it on all 12 boards. same thing still. I have the CTB16K boards. as far as network properties, duh! me so dumb!? i'm not sure what to look for or where to look for it. so if thats the problem it's due to a flaw in me. but this all ran fine last season and i must say i was pleased how it all worked together and how it looked. the only thing i did different this year was to move the location of the panel i have all my boards in. so this year i have a cable from my computer to the box where it connects from inside to outside with an in use covered box. the cables were hand made and tested. it one of the things i can get from work to use. so there should not be an issue with the cables. i did move the panel and use a longer cable outside. but all of the cabling is immaterial if it happens right at the panel while on the laptop that ran the show flawlessly last year. and i used the 7 different usb cables.my computers are not the fastest but they both work well with multiple things going on at the same time. i have lots of ram and the processors are faster then the recommended minimum requirements. one running xp and the other running windows 7.I understand everyone on the support end has to be busy right now. And i wouldn't even bitch if it could "blend" into the sequence. But when there's a dark moment and 3 or 4 random channels are there, it spoils the effect of a dark out! oh and the arches have some phantom events too! that looks swell! i just love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneKremer Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Don, you mentioned that all your cables are hand made. Here is an important question that could be an issue. What color order did you use on each end of your CAT5 cables? Only reason I bring this up is because if you just chose to make straight through cables matching color for color, you could run into crosstalk across your wire...and I would imagine it would produce the kind of problems you are having. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Krasley Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 all my cables are hand made because it's part of what i do for a living. they were all tested and passed. when you do this stuff for hospitals, they want test results for stuff. i guess for now im gonna live with it and quit my crying. i have no time left to do the things i need to do while tracking this down. im gonna cross me flange's and move on.i do appreciate the insight and concern others have and what measures you all go to, to try to help your fellow members.i think next year i'll do something different!YEAH RIGHT!I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A NICE HOLIDAY, ALL OF THEM! SEASONS GREETINGS EVERYONE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneKremer Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Don, you give up too easily! Good to hear on the network cables. One last thing I would check:In the Sequencer, click Edit->Preferences->Network Preferences.Be sure your network speed is set to Average. If your distance is for your controllers is real long, change it to long range.Otherwise, that is all I can think of.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts