Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

show freezes/crashes once a night


chris2k

Recommended Posts

This is something to try: unplug your Ethernet cable from your computer
one friend of has a 16 ch controller was having problem tell they unplug their
Ethernet during the show times, now the show plays the hold time!!!!


Info for Bob, they was getting a 2008 error

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 54
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • colonel

    6

  • Panteradon

    5

  • chris2k

    5

  • Kevin N

    4

optech wrote:

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.

Alot of software does not react well to RDP connections. Somehow the RDP turns every file request from the program into a RDP file request that has to go from the Host machine to the Client to be requested of the Host, client then sends the answer back to the Host for execution. It really seems to foul things up that arn't designed to handle it.

My music playback program can't do it at all. RDP causes it to be unable to find ANY of the MP3 files, even thou every single one is referenced by a network path and not a local path.


If you want to remote into your computer the best is to use a different program such as VNC. It doesn't have the same level of deep connections. It just runs a video of the desktop and lets you control the mouse/keyb. So its not as quick as RDP but it is less likley to cause problems.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nova5 wrote:

optech wrote:
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.

Alot of software does not react well to RDP connections. Somehow the RDP turns every file request from the program into a RDP file request that has to go from the Host machine to the Client to be requested of the Host, client then sends the answer back to the Host for execution. It really seems to foul things up that arn't designed to handle it.

My music playback program can't do it at all. RDP causes it to be unable to find ANY of the MP3 files, even thou every single one is referenced by a network path and not a local path.


If you want to remote into your computer the best is to use a different program such as VNC. It doesn't have the same level of deep connections. It just runs a video of the desktop and lets you control the mouse/keyb. So its not as quick as RDP but it is less likley to cause problems.

I use Remote Desktop Connection all the time to connect to my show PC.
It worked fine until I got a new laptop for Xmas, then the show would freeze.
For some reason the show could not find the media files. Disabling then enabling the shows fixed that.

I discovered that it happened every time I remote into the show machine with my new laptop. Having the sound play on the remote PC fixed this (I had done this on the old one a long time ago).

Options - Local Resources - Play on remote computer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have the problem too. I have checked, updated, bought new cables (actually had an issue with a cat5 cable that I bought earlier this year but it went away when I made a new cable) and I still crash! I had my computer checked for issues and the tech found nothing substantial to report. I did have a memory chip replaced so I though that could have been an issue. But that was not it. Same computer, same controllers from last year! Had no issues whatsoever last year so I think it has to be something in the software. I have read this thread for weeks and was hoping to find the solution but it's just not here. I hate to flood the forum with issues that are the same. But since the season is about over (we are still running though) I decided to throw my issue at the discussion too. After all the frustration, I hope to see some fixes or something. I certainly will be looking at other software. I hope to stay with the LOR stuff but I'm open to suggestions.
Had a great turn out and certainly hope to get more visits the coming season! Our group here in central pa joined forces and collected for St Jude's! As a group we will be donating over $15K! Our creator has over $10K himself! Our group website is PAtouroflights.com We are looking for more crazy people who want to be a part of it! I will post more information in the proper place though, wherever that is! lol!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also had memory module issues, but I do not think that was a problem for LOR. I finally seperated my Cat5 cables from all power cords by a foot or so. I did not have a single problem after that.

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

I started this topic a year ago, i was hoping when i started up again for this year the problem would be solved, but no, the show still crashes after running through 3 times. i have the latest lor software.

Anyone have any luck?

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest wbottomley

chris2k wrote:

I started this topic a year ago, i was hoping when i started up again for this year the problem would be solved, but no, the show still crashes after running through 3 times. i have the latest lor software.

Anyone have any luck?

Chris


You are probably getting noise on the data cables as reading the posts. Try buying a filtered cable in the lor store.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried the new "Show on Demand" feature. It doesn't use the Scheduler; it runs a single show. (I'm running 2.8.12)

What if your "show" only has a single Sequence in it? Does it still freeze after three times?

If not, add another Sequence and try again.

If it crashes with just one Sequence, then perhaps it is "that sequence" and try a different one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately this condition seems to be unique to a small group of users. And since several folks on this thread have solved their issue, there must be more than one problem causing the same symptom. Other than the filtered USB adapter, there doesn't seem to be any other silver bullets out there.


My guess is that most of the remaining issues are related to the specific hardware or software being used. This includes all hardware and software, not just LOR. I think Jon is headed down the right path. Troubleshooting the issue will probably take a lot of trial and error. Somehow you need to get something to run without a hangup, even it's a fake show with one song and one controller in your living room. Then from there start adding or swapping out pieces to see when the problem reoccurs.


If it was me and I was desperate, I would probably get another USB adapter (USB485-ISO with isolation would be nice), use another PC and try running the show from there. In my case I would use my notebook PC, connect directly to the first controller, and let the PC run on battery.


Here are some other things I can think of to try:
Use a dedicated PC
Reinstall Windows, perform all the updates, and then disable updates for the season
Avoid unnecessary programs that run on startup (like the weather apps that run in the system tray)
Disable virus protection
Disable all power saving features and even the screen saver
Connect the USB adapter directly to the PC (not through a hub)
Use the SC485 Serial Adapter if the PC has a serial port
Keep the CAT5 cable 6" from any power cords
Try to keep the transmitter, antenna, and coax several feet away from the CAT5 and the power cords
Check the processes in Task Manager to see if anything is screaming the processor
Check the System Event Viewer for any errors that may be related


I know it's frustrating when you have a problem, I've been there. It would be great if someone jumped in here with a quick fix. But I'm afraid that's not very likely. Good luck.



Edit: One more thing for the list of stuff to try, disconnect and reconnect the USB adapter from the PC when the lock up occurs and see if does anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

May I chuck my 2 pennuth in!
Does anyone with the "show-freeze" use the ELL (Easy Light Linker) option.
These devices completely isolate the show machine from the LOR network and, although they will not eliminate the "disturbance on the power supply" issues, they should reduce the risk of a locked-up USB-RS485 shouldn't they?

Having said that, this year I have recently been trying LOR 2.8.12 on a newly installed Win7 Pro OS on Vista laptop used last year. I have had the LOR Status show not responding after an hour or so of running a trial show, and running one sheduled show for some three hours OK, but not starting the subsequent show later in the day.

Go figure :X

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

grandad wrote:



Having said that, this year I have recently been trying LOR 2.8.12 on a newly installed Win7 Pro OS on Vista laptop used last year. I have had the LOR Status show not responding after an hour or so of running a trial show, and running one sheduled show for some three hours OK, but not starting the subsequent show later in the day.

Go figure :X

Martin


Further to this:-
It seems to be "disturbance" on the electrical supply which stops LOR-Tray responding by killing the USB COM port. I can replicate the issue 9 times out of ten by power cycling a small, low voltage (i.e. with transformer) desk lamp I have in the same room as the LOR machine. Unplugging and re-plugging the USB port brings the status back to life! The music carries on regardless though. I don't recall this happening in previous years!
All the latest drivers for the USB serial convertor are installed, but no battery in the laptop 'cos it doesn't do laptop batteries any good at all if the machine is run from the mains for extended lengths of time. So a small element of filtering is missing. I do not have a filtered USB cable either so that may be an issue.
But like I say, I haven't had this problem before!

Martin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you always had that same lamp in the same location?

The filtered USB cable has solved lots of "interference" problems experienced by many.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...