DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx USB DMX Dongle => Topic started by: lightingboy82 on August 18, 2012,
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I cant get anything out of my pixelnet dongle. I have installed the FTDI Drivers, Windows shows it on com 4. I go to color finder and select com 4, usb dongle, and when i move a slider, it says "com port not available. please select a valid port"
WinXP SP3
USB dongle with pixelnet firmware
red light on the dongle, no green
windows knows its there.
i have tried changing com ports- same outcome.
traces on the dongle are good
help, i am about to toss the computer into the pond!
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Do you have the recent version of Color Finder?
There was a bug in saving the selected com port
Rick R.
P.S. Computers don't compute in water
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I downloaded the color finder today. I get the same issue when I try to use the smart string utility and in vixen. Everything seems to be configured as it should be
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Have you used this dongle before?
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No, I tried a second as well, changing the com ports and still the same issue
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Have you flashed the pic with the pixelnet software.
Dongle pics come blank.
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Yes everything is flashed with the correct firmware, triple checked
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Do you hear the windows ding sound when you plug it in, does the com port go away when you unplug it.
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Yes and yes
I can't wait for the ether dongle coop, then I think my problems will go away. Test firmware for the ssc v2 would help too, that is all I am trying to do at this point- make sure the ssc and nodes are good
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Can you post pictures of the board?
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Also, make sure the USB cable is pushed in as far as it will go. On my first dongle, the first time I hooked it up I pushed the usb connector in until it felt snug, but that was only far enough for the power pins to engage. Later I gave it another shove and felt it click into place.
There should only be about 1/8 inch of metal visible on the USB cable.
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Where are you located, maybe there is someone local that is willing assist you. Also make sure that you are only using one software at a time as they will cannot share the samw port at the same time. If you are willing to pay shipping I am sure there is someone who will take a look at it for you as well.
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I think the problem is somewhere in windows, I am going to try and find another PC to try it on. We changed to Mac a few years ago and I was using my old laptop for this. I am very confident that the solder and physical assembly of the dongle is good, but it may come to sending it off. I'm in the Cleveland Ohio area.
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If you are getting a com port address when plugging it in, windows is seeing the usb module on the dongle.....
Also in device mgr > properties for the com port > advanced - I have had to make sure Serial Enumerator is checked......
and dont go below com3, some motherboards even tho you dont have the connectors (maybe on the mb itself for adding them/pin header) have com1/com2 reserved in the bios
Myk
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My dongles are set at com 11 and 28. Windows does see them when they are plugged in and if I use the Dom port assignment program Rick made, they show up. Serial emulater is selected and other options are not. Baud rate is 11500 and everything matches the screen shots in the wiki. This one has me stumped!
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This is why we ask for close up pictures of both sides of the board. Just because you are not seeing it doesn't mean that somthing isn't wrong. It could be a bad solder joint or a component installed incorrectly or even a missing or defective component. Until we can determine that it is not simply a bad solder joint or a component installed incorrectly, it is very difficult to give valid debugging info.
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I'll take some pics tonight
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You might try moving the com ports to something in the 5 to 8 range.
Some software packages don't like the higher com port numbers.