DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx USB DMX Dongle => Topic started by: Trevor on October 15, 2010,
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Sighs this is starting to get redundant. So I got a new dongle and Pic is programmed. Im not getting anything to go blinky blinky when I run my sequences. Yes, the profile is setup with the sequence, Yes I have setup the dongle and controllers properly, I have done it many times before. Just it seems this dongle does not want to work! I posted some pics to see if maybe I set something up wrong?
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?f14a1a6661.jpg
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?1c628c35f9.jpg
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just wondering where you got the dongle from. I placed order at Mouser a month ago and it still shows Pending. I am a new guy to this, built my 1st set of 4 to start off. I followed the link to Mouser and ordered the parts list there. Is there a better place to go?
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I got my original Dongle from the coop. And the other 2 I bought from a guy on the forums. As far as parts go you wont have the one part from mouser untill August of 2011! I even called them and asked them directly and the woman confirmed the date. Im not sure of other places to get the parts. Best thing I can tell u to do is look on mouser and use the part # and search them.
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Can we use these to make out light show work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Enttec-Open-DMX-USB-Interface-PC-Based-512CH-70303-/380278760829?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588a61657d
I built one dongle had problems but added a jumper and it has been working just fine. I built a second for a backup and it is not working. The light blinks bright then dim a few times then windows says a unrecognized usb device has failed. I just want a backup plan for my 1st years show.
Ron
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That im not sure about. :s
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Are these new ones Ver 2 Dongles? Are you getting any lights?
Screen shot your devices list, with the USB Serial Bus and Ports expanded.
Did you buy them pre built and did the person say they were working beforehand?
I know you have done this tons of times before, but that is usually when we miss the small step (I know I missed doing the 2nd part of the driver install recently with a Ver 2 dongle...go figure).
Since this is your 2nd one having issues, I would go through everthing to minimze what could be the problem.
- Does the USB Hub / Port you are using still work ?, have you put something else in that port to test it. I know you said it was not giving you the chime letting you know something was plugged in/unplugged on the last dongle.
-chance your drivers got corrupted (rare, but can happen), download and manually install with the new download (driver update, manually point the newest download).
-Reference the device list above, any conflicts with the ports?
Just a couple things to check out to start narrowing the problem down.
Edit: I cannot see the 2nd pic btw, any chance to just upload them directly to this site? When you post click on the "Additional Options" and it will allow you to attach pictures.
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I can't see either picture
Assuming you are using Vixen
Make sure the Add-ins menu DMX is UNCHECKED
Rick R.
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Can we use these to make out light show work?
Ron:
There are two types of DMX dongles -- the Enttec Pro and the Lynx DMX dongle are "smart" dongles, whereas the Enttec Open (the one you listed from eBay) is the "dumb" type.
DMX needs to constantly be spitting out its 512 channels of signal -- over and over again, thousands of times a minute, whether there's a change in the data or not. Most of the time a DMX signal is 512 zeroes. The smart dongles have microchip inside them that handles this signal generation. The dumb dongle is expecting the PC to handle this signal creation.
PCs in general and Windows machines in particular don't do something called "pre-emptive multitasking" well, which means that if your PC is doing something else, it might not remember to be always generating your DMX signal. That something else could be as mundane as updating your screen clock or checking with Redmond about OS updates. So your DMX signal falters, which can cause a stuttering effect with your lights (or maybe nothing; it all depends on the randomness of when the signal is interrupted).
In his early experiments with DMX, RJ found that that the dumb dongles just didn't create a good Christmas light environment. That's not to say they didn't work, just that they didn't work well. He bought an Enttec Pro and found that it worked well on a consistent basis.
He didn't like the price, so he designed an Enttec Pro clone on his own, reverse-engineering it.
Which is a long way of answering your question, which is to say, "maybe."
But, if I were going to try an Open DMX dongle, I'd probably just start with a plain vanilla USB-RJ485 converter, which runs as low at $5 on eBay, rather than spend $60 on the device you listed.
Best o' luck.
\dmc
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Wow \dmc. Thank you for the lesson in DMX dongles. I wondered why it was so cheap.Like I said in another post. I have made 6 LE's and four SSR-4's with dmx. NO problems on them. Two dongles and both had problems. I think it is the usb daughter board. They seem to be the weak part of the dongle. I fixed the first one by jumping the 5 volts to the vcc terminal which had 0 volts and should have 5.
The second one is a version 2. The power led lights up bright then dim a few times then windows dings and says had problems and it is unrecognized usb device and I get no com ports in the device manager. I am just looking for an back up for my dongle just in case it was to die.
Thanks again for the good information.
Ron
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Ron, when it says it is a unrecognized USB device, it should not show in the device manager under the USB Serial Hub as a device and most likely have a yield style sign on it, saying there is an issue?
If it is there have you tried going into that device and updating the driver to the current dongle drivers?
Were these kits when you bought them or prebuilt?
Pics of the new one your having issues with would help, as there are some great people at finding cold joints and solder bridges on this forum. One thing I noticed was in the second picture on the top right, the PCB looks scorched at the first 3 points.
-Bat
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Ron, when it says it is a unrecognized USB device, it should not show in the device manager under the USB Serial Hub as a device and most likely have a yield style sign on it, saying there is an issue?
If it is there have you tried going into that device and updating the driver to the current dongle drivers?
Were these kits when you bought them or prebuilt?
Pics of the new one your having issues with would help, as there are some great people at finding cold joints and solder bridges on this forum. One thing I noticed was in the second picture on the top right, the PCB looks scorched at the first 3 points.
No these were kits. Got the pcb's from RJ and parts from Mouser. It is not scorched on the pcb. It was old old solder. I used it on my first dongle and new roll from Rat Shack on all other projects.
Would the driver be the same for 2 dmx dongle kits? One dongle works like a champ and the other does not. How could it be the driver? I also have tried several usb cables. All work on one dongle and all do not on the other. I am running my Halloween show right now with the first dongle.
I appreciate your help very much.
Ron
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Are these new ones Ver 2 Dongles? Are you getting any lights?
The one I did have originally was the one I got with the recent Dongle Coop here. So version 2 yes. The one that I borrowed was also the version 2. I do have 2 more that were said to b working. So I am not going to sweat it untill the other 2 arrive. I hope that they work.
Im not sure what would cause the dongle to just all of a sudden not work. It was working perfectly just a week ago. Perhaps mositer from storing it in the basement?
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So I should b getting my 2 working dongles in the mail today and plan on testing them out. As a recap before I do that I want to make sure that im not missing any steps. If I do please lead me in the right direction? ???
1. Save and Run the FTDI Driver
2. Plug in Printer cord to Dongle and then USB into Pc (Pc Should Find Hardware Auto)
3. Go to Device Manger and Frind the Right Com Port.
4. Change Comport settings to 115200
5. Open Vixen and in En. USB Pro change the settings to match the Com Port.
6. Close Vixen and setup controller with the cat 5 wire to DMX in
7. Open vixen and play sequence...Go Blinky Blinky.
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Actualy there is a missed step (atleast during my Win7 install).
Right after you plug in the dongle, it should take you to trying to install the device. When you have the chance to "Manually select the driver" click on that and point it to the FTDI driver folder. It will finish the install for the first part and you should now see a Serial convertor in the USB Serial Hub of the device list and USB serial Comport (but should have a yield sign like it is not working). You will have to click on the com port one, and again update driver to the FTDI driver folder.
After that is done it should be up and running. That was my install with win7.
Hope that helps
So I should b getting my 2 working dongles in the mail today and plan on testing them out. As a recap before I do that I want to make sure that im not missing any steps. If I do please lead me in the right direction? ???
1. Save and Run the FTDI Driver
2. Plug in Printer cord to Dongle and then USB into Pc (Pc Should Find Hardware Auto)
3. Go to Device Manger and Frind the Right Com Port.
4. Change Comport settings to 115200
5. Open Vixen and in En. USB Pro change the settings to match the Com Port.
6. Close Vixen and setup controller with the cat 5 wire to DMX in
7. Open vixen and play sequence...Go Blinky Blinky.
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im also running windows 7 and the first time I did it it detected it and installed it by itsef. I never got the choice to manually instal it. :S
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;D :D WOOO HOOO!!!! Got the dongles today and both are working as intended!!! FINALLY!!!! :D ;D
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That's great news Trevor. What did you do to get them working?
John
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I believe with the first donlge that it was the cause of USB modules being defective. Come to find out the dongle that I borrowed from a fellow DIYer he never got his pic programed...DUH on my end.
So basically it was a easy fix. Just had to wait for the parts to arrive again. I knew it couldn't have been my PC Progamming since I have done it 100's of times before. But I have been known to make simple mistakes (Like noted above) lol :P