DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx USB DMX Dongle => Topic started by: Kainsel on March 10, 2013,
-
I finally got time to get together a show with year, 2013. I have built an express, bobcat dmx tester, mr16 and the usb dongle. I can not get any computer to work with the dongle. I get the red light to come but the green data light never comes on. I know the express seems to work okay, I used the bobcat tester and it will cycle through the channels.
The drivers look good in device manager. Two different computers, win xp 32bit and win7 64bit. I went through retouched up all the solder joints. Running all the latest versions of netframe software as directed to in the wiki, ver 2 etc. I reprogrammed the chip twice with a pickit 3, used the usb dongle software and not the pixelnet. Tried a differnet usb cable. Swapped the 485 chip off the mr16 and still no data.
Any suggestions? I have another board so I might just order another build from mouser.
When I try the LE config utility is locks up. I have is on comport 3 and experience the same no matter which comport I set it to in device manager. I also tried vixen and it also freezes up and this is on both PCs.
Thanks,
Mark
-
Has the PIC been flashed?
Steve
-
did you install the drivers before you connected the usb dongle
does the computer recognize it when connected to usb port
-
I flashed it twice. Before i did it the second time I redownloaded the firmware from the site to rule out a corrupt file. Both the computers i tried it on recognize it.
I also reinstalled the usb drivers and they were installed before i plugged the dongle into the pc.
-
You do have the correct output plugin in Vixen and set with the correct baud rate and speed?
Steve
-
I have Vixen set to 115200, 8 bit, no parity, stop bit 1.
I am not using it for pixelnet yet, just trying dmx. Set to entec usb dmx pro. When I plug the dongle in then it will give me the option to connect to com port 3 but if not plugged in then Vixen and LE utility program do not see the com port. I setup a short sequence in vixen and when I run it, it freezes vixen as in the same in the LE utility. Red light is always on but never see the green come on either on the dongle. The green led works, I removed it and was able to light it up on an external power source. I have the right leads in, positive to positive.
If I unplug the dongle when vixen is running, or the utility, it will throw errors. This is the only way to get either program to respond on the computer.
Whenever I reprogram the chip I also get the correct checksum 0A6F. It seems like something has failed on the dongle. Don't know what it is.
-
The freezing up is really odd.
Check device manager with the dongle hooked up to make sure it is getting the ftdi driver. The Microsoft driver will not work reliably.
For the output, first make sure all the chips are in right - I've been playing with electronics for about 40 years and can still make this mistake if I'm not paying attention...
next, use a multimeter set to DC volts and measure the voltage between pins 5 and 8 on the 485 chip. You should get 5v plus or minus about a quarter volt.
Take a picture of both sides of the board and post them for us to look at. We promise not to make fun - we all started as rookies and then got better at the soldering skill...
RM
-
I decided to reprogram the chip again and when I went to verify it was giving me af7 for the checksum. I deleted out all old hex files. Wiped the chip. Reprogrammed and now its working. Go figure. It drove me nuts for days.
Thanks for everyones help. Can't wait to actually get some lights blinking.
-
Glad you got it fixed.
Rich
-
Great job.
Glad you you got it fixed, now the excitment begins.
Steve (from Edmonton)
-
Hello friends,
I need clarification. I have a Lynx DMX USB dongle. This season I am adding RGB smart strings to my roof line. I understand I need a Pixlenet dongle, and a pixlenet hub and ssc's. How do My LE's connect. Do they understand "pixlenet data." Can my DMX dongle be converted to pixlenet?
Thanks,
Larry Ashby
-
Once you flash your lynx dongle with the pixelnet firmware in the WIKI it will only speak pixelnet. However if you have an active hub it can generate 1 universe of DMX that is output simultaneously with the pixelnet depending on where the jumper is set. In other words if the dmx jumper is set to "1" not only is dmx being generated on channels 1-512 but so is pixelnet. So you would want to make sure none of your pixelnet devices have the same channels as your dmx devices or they will both be flashing (mirrored). For example for simplicity sake lets say you use 32 dmx channels. You could start your pixelnet channels at 33 and go up from there. I always leave a few channels free in case I want to add more dmx devices without changing my pixelnet devices. In this example I would start my pixelnet channels at lets say 100. This would give me room for dmx channels 33-99 without having to change my pixelnet channels (devices).
-
Larry you need an active hub. You connect the pixelnet dongle to the active hub and the pixelnet dongle will copy a 512 channel block to the dmx out port of the hub. That is how I run my show. I have a wireless transmitter connected to the dmx out and then have exrx receivers in my LEs out in the yard. Most people use the first 512 channels or a portion thereof for the dmx. Just remember that anything you put on channels 1-512 also go out as pixelnet channels 1-512. You can use any of 8 different blocks of 512 addresses for the DMX just by changing a jumper on the hub.
-
Hello friends,
I need clarification. I have a Lynx DMX USB dongle. This season I am adding RGB smart strings to my roof line. I understand I need a Pixlenet dongle, and a pixlenet hub and ssc's. How do My LE's connect. Do they understand "pixlenet data." Can my DMX dongle be converted to pixlenet?
Thanks,
Larry Ashby
I would guess that the real question is where are you at now? Your post makes it seem like you have yet to aquire the equipment for RGB and it is probably already to late to get everything if that is the case. You will need both a pixelnet as well as a DMX output to be able to use both the SSC's and the LE's and there are multiple wayt to do it. The easiest is to flash the DMX dongle with Pixelnet firmware and then use a smart hub to generate the DMX output from the Pixelnet output.
-
Thanks for the responses. I have 16 SSCv4 already built. I have ordered an active hub pcb and parts. My rgb light strings have been ordered from Ray. Other than that, I have 1 USB DMX dongle and 7 LE's. LSP Advanced with 32 sequences and counting that I started running on last years show. I still need to purchase a single rail ATX ps for the active hub. Also, Ive ordered Zeus via the coop, planning for next years expansion. I hope I don't sound too "behind' to get this done. <res.....I was just a little confused on the DMX before/after pixelnet thing...
LA
-
Then it sounds like you should be good to go, provided you get the nodes in time. The smart hub should take care of your DMX needs. I would set the DMX jumper to Universe 1 and then set the starting address of the SSC controllers above 512.
-
After flashing the dongle with pixelnet you will need to go into LSP and change both the controllers and in the output section to "pixelnet/smartstrings". Even for the LE's.