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show freezes/crashes once a night


chris2k

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My show seems to be freezing/crashing once a night. The show runs through completely about 3 or 4 times perfectly and then it will just crash. I should have taken a screen shot of the error message, ill try tomorrow.

Chris

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I'm not sure of your setup, but if you're using the USB interface...you should try using a filtered USB cable. I had this problem last season and Dan recommended trying this. After installing the filtered cable (available from LOR)...my problems vanished. I hope this helps.

Here they are:
http://store.lightorama.com/usbcausewius.html

http://store.lightorama.com/cableusbusb485.html

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I am having this problem too. I've have the filter to the interface and a 10' cat5e to the 1st Linker.

Works as advertised then:
Problem: Cannot load Sound card, not present or in use (See Attach)
Program stops except if CCR is running then it stays on at that point
Fills status window with each SEQ err above until it kills LOR Control panel
Task manager shows nothing using sound.
I routinely reboot 10 minutes before a show.
I do not do any AV scans at startup
This happens with both servers and a backup. Dell server and Dell Dimensions all running XP. One server is connected to the lights, one just to the usb interface, and one hooked to nothing (this one has not hung yet).
Not consistent. Can reboot and it will work.
Anti Virus off and excluded dirs
All SEQ have been saved with 2.6.0
Updated SB Audology driver. Thought it helped but same thing later
Worked great last year with 32 channels 10 SEQ. Now I have 80 with 1 CCR 30+ SEQ




Attached files 188941=10645-LOR hang.JPG

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Upgraded USB driver to latest version from ftdichip.com but did NOT help. I took one server and reverted to v2.3.6 and it is still running altho I am remote to the box and that version's Status window doesn't show what seq is playing if any. Task Manager says it is, but I can't hear anything over RDP. Backup server with nothing attached is still running. Enroute to site.

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OK here is what I believe happened. I am remote to the show. I use RDP Windows remote desktop protocol. It has an option to "capture" sound on the remote. This seized the sound card and broke LOR. I set RDP to "leave alone" and now it looks fine.

Bottom line, don't port sound remotely ( an option) if you do that to control your lights.

I use non standard ports on rdp as I have several computers on that remote network so that may be a factor. IE Lor may compensate for the standard port.

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I have also been having problems with my show freezing. The status window will say (not responding). I thought it was my computer so I switched to a different one and I am still having the problems. I did not have these problems last year on the same computer, but I did upgrade this year to v2.6.0, could this be the problem?

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Hmm..



I am having the same problem. There is also another thread on this board reporting the same issue.

Common factor in all is WinXP and LOR 2.6 (This is my show system. My system I build sequences on is Vista/Lor2.6 - no issues there at all).

I am also having to reboot each day. LOR Monitor shows "not responding" in task manager. I cannot kill it off with Task Manager either. A couple times, I have had to hard reboot the machine.

I am also running msconfig.exe to turn off all services, startups, etc in order to try running the machine as clean as possible - I will have the results of this tonight.

I have the logs from control panel - but not sure what I should be looking for?

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Could you post a larger version of the image above? I'd like to compare it to the errors I am getting, but can't make out the tiny text...

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I had problems with shows not running, immediately after accessing remotely,

using RDP. I have to restart the LOR software to en-enable proper operations.

I guess the lesson is, don't RDP, or if you do, restart the software before you

need it to run.


I should note, I'm running LOR on a Small Business Server 2003.

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RDP seems to work OK, if under options you select "leave sound on remote". BUT I am using PcAnywhere when I go live! I use cameras to check that a cfci hasn't popped.

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Hmmm... almost the problem I'm having but not quite.

We are having 5 to 7 seconds of lights out a few times a night. The music still plays during this time but all the lights go off. Then when they start up, they start slowly almost like they are coming back online controller by controller.

Same computer as last year with the same sound card and setup. Only thing different is the software versions and that we increased from 176 to 256 channels this year. I've tested all our cables a couple times also because my gut was telling me "cable trouble". Haven't found the cause yet.

-Jeff

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Watch Task Manager and see if you are running out of CPU or Memory? Maybe something is jumpmg in like an AV program and locking things up?

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Ok, Gonna weigh in on this one. My show is locking up also. First thing to know is that the quick fix to get things running again is to unplug and re-connect the USB cable and most times the show will resume whith the next sequence (this is faster than rebooting everything).

In my case, I know exactly what is causing the issue, I just don't know how to fix it. I have a 're-purposed' garage door opener that I use to make one of my angels fly. Electrically it is unmodified, just had some heavy re-engineering to the mechanics.

Anyway, whenever the angel flies, there is a fair chance that the lockup will occur. This is the only time it happens. For the moment I have the flight-pack disabled. I put a lot of work into it, so I really want to use it, and it has gotten a ton of enthusiastic comments from visitors.

My only thoughts are to re-route the power to the opener to a different outlet (it plugs into the same circuit as the PC right now, and the power cord runs through the wall with the RS485 cable). Also to try the shielded USB cable (on order now).

Other thoughts?

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DavBro wrote:

the power cord runs through the wall with the RS485 cable).  Also to try the shielded USB cable (on order now).

Other thoughts?


I think that's your answer. First of all, the filtered USB cable. Secondly, it's not a good idea to run comm cables next to power cords, they can pick up a lot of noise from the AC line.

As a semi-related aside, when I installed our alarm system, I ran the wiring for one of the keypads right next to some existing phone lines. The phone suddenly became unusably noisy... Once I tracked down the issue and moved the keypad wiring (which I believe also uses RS485) the problem was solved.
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Well, and that is the ugly truth, this garage door opener is total overkill. I am lifting about 20 pounds with it. Finally got all the mechanical bugs worked out and am now contending with electrical noise because of the motor size. I can't win. The accidental salvation was that the SSR connection that controls whether or not it runs is at ground level, so it is quite easy for me to yank the angel's flight privileges without getting a ladder out.

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My show worked fine last night with all 3rd party services disabled....but it also worked fine the first few nights as well, so I would not call it conclusive for me yet.

My problem is not RDP - my show machine does not even have any network connectivity as it is moved to the garage for the month.

I don't think my problem is elec. interference either, as the data cables run their own route to the controllers, and the heaviest load on my system is the incandescent mini's (rest are all LEDs). No mechanicals/motors in my show. But this would probably be the next thing I check if I have problems again.

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