DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx EtherDongle => Topic started by: Al on May 28, 2015,
-
I have been using a usb dongle and LE's for years. trying to convert to pixelnet.
i have a etherdongle plugged into a smart string hub then a zeus16 and a lynx express plugged into the DMX out.
using vixen 2.1.1.0 with Lynx+EtherDongle plugin.
i dont get anything to lightup.
if i try the zeus smart string utility and click transmit, i see the Magjacks yellow light go on solid. but no white lights on the zeus.
i have DMX universe 1 chosen on the smart string hub for my LE, no blinky
thank you for any help
al
-
I am assuming your smart string hub is an active hub - you did not specify.
Have you tried connecting straight to the zeus and not thru the hub?
Do you have the correct firmware installed on the ETD?
Do you have any SSCs and smart strings that you can test with the hub?
What are the versions of the SSCs and did you build them yourself or buy them from another person?
Always do one thing at a time. First make sure the hub is working with a smart string?
Make sure the Zeus works directly connected to the ETD.
What universe is the hub set to?
Have you tried the xlights test functions?
What version is the zeus?
You have provide way to little info for most folks to help you debug.
And lastly put your location in your signature or your profile, you may find someone near you who has a lot of your type of stuff working.
-
Where did you plug the Zeus into? The Zeus CANNOT be plugged into any of the hubs controller outputs. If you did, then you may have damaged the Zeus. The Zeus needs to be connected directly to the EDT (etherdongle) or to the PixelNet output of either another Zeus or a hub. You also need to make sure that the PIC's on the Zeus are programmed and configured. I would leave the hub out of it for now and connect the EDT directly to the Zeus while you are working on it. As for the LE, again, make sure that the DMX PIC on the hub has been programmed. Make sure that the jumpers on the hub are set correctly and I would stick with Pixelnet universe one and DMX universe one as well until you see some blinky. There is no reason for adding additional variables to the mix at this stage.
-
Thanks for responding to me.
I have gotten further today.
I have re-flashed my EDT with EtherDongle2.hex using a pickit3 and verified with a checksum of 0000
On the Zeus16 V1, All the pic’s where flashed with Zeus V6.hex and i verified the checksum was 0020
I have pluged my pc directly into the EDT using a network cross cable and I see a lot of link activity
The EDT is pluged directly into the Zeus with 2/ 128 node strings plugged into channel 1,2
I have pixelnet 1 universe 1 picked and the program jumper in,
Lunched Zeus Smart String Utility.exe and choose etherdongle, and 80 node count and click transmit,
As soon as a click transmit all the lights blink white, I let that run for like 5 minutes, when I click stop the lights keep blinking. I don’t know if that is normal or not.
I then turn off the Zeus, pull program jumper and power the zeus back on. The lights on nodes 33-38 on both strings turn on, and stay on.
When I run vixen2.1.1 and start a test channels random different lights turn on
I get the same result when I try xlights test using E1.31, slow response and random lights
If I plug my pc and EDT into my local network, it seems to kill my network.
i did not try anything with my smart string hub or LE today.
Thanks for your help
Al
-
If you have 128 node strings plugged into the Zeus, then you should set the Zeus up for 128 node strings. When you press the transmit button on the program utility, the nodes flash white to indicate that the programming was received. Once they start flashing, you can stop the transmission and they will continue to flash until the Zeus is powered down. Make sure that the utility that you are using is for the Zeus and not the one for the ver 4 SSC. You may also want to post a screen shot of the settings you are using to program the Zeus. What nodes are you using with the Zeus?
I don't know what could be killing your network. Make sure that you are not plugging the EDT's output into your network. The output of the EDT is not Ethernet. IF the PC was outputting test data, it could have been flooding your network with Multicast packets and since your switch cannot switch multicast and has to broadcast all of it, it can bring your network to a crawl.
-
I have seen the slow response on the Zeus as well. I believe after programming all 16 outputs the slow response went away.
-
Hi guys,
i am still struggling here.
since i have not received my SSC's yet and have not been able to get my zeus to work
i am just trying to get DMX to work though the etherdongle and smart string hub.
etherdongle ( using xlights test with E131 starting universe 1 number of universes 1 )
smart string hub - pixelnet in - DMX out (pixelnet 1 universe 1 dmx 1) flashed with SmartString_Hub.hex checksum 8196
plunged into LE dmx in.
i get data link on ......but no blinky
I live in NE Ohio if anyone lives close to me.
is my smart hub bad?
would anyone be willing to call me?
thanks for your time
al
-
This is the firmware you have on your etd correct? http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5765.0;attach=7980
-
yes it is etherdongle2
-
You mention you are using a cross over cable from your PC to the ETD. I assume you are then setting your ip address on your PC adapter manually since it won't be able to get an address from DHCP, is this correct?
-
yes my ip address is static assigned
-
As a test can you flash one of your usb dongles with pixelnet and see what results you get with that. Take the ETD out of the picture since you know the usb dongle works although with DMX.
http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3554.0;attach=6049
Then do usb dongle -> zeus.
As far as the programer goes you are using this for the zeus (not you have to install the full SSC tool before hand and then place this exe in that folder)
http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12929.0;attach=12614
Also for good measure flash the pics on the Zeus (you can do the first couple to test before all) because the pics have been known to get corrupted if using the wrong SSC tool.
http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=11564.0;attach=12580
If you get that all going then go to the next step usb ->hub->dmx
-
Thanks guys for your help.
I have gained some ground. i have 2/128 strings plugged into the zeus16.
programed stating at channel 513 to 1280
i have vixen setup with lynx_etherdongle plugin with channels 1 to 6144
i have 513-1024 random
and 1025-1280 ramp on and off
when i play this test sequence i can clearly tell the 2 strings are doing what i expect.
but my big problem is no DMX channels work.
i have 1 LE pluged into the DMX out on the smart hub
the smarthub has pixelnet 1 universe 2 DMX 1
(I will apply more power when i get some SSC's)
the LE starting channel is 209,
it shows the data link is on.
i have plugged that LE back into my USB dongle, and it works fine.
whats up with my DMX 1-512?
any ideas what i am doing wrong?
thank you for your help.
al
-
The first thing that I can see is that your PixelNet universe jumpers on the hub are not set correctly. Both jumpers need to be set to the same universe. It looks like the first jumper is set on universe 2 and the second on universe 3. The second is that ALL of the channels that you have programmed are in the first PixelNet universe so setting the hub to any other universe will supply it with nothing. The third is that you have nothing programmed in the first 512 channels and the LE is set to start channel 209 so even if the first two issues did not exist, you still haven't set any channels for the LE to respond to.
-
yes i indeed have channels at 209-224. sorry i did not add that.
plus using xlights, (test lights) or vixen (test channels) never turn on any DMX channels
i changed the smarthub to pixelnet 1 universe 1 DMX 1
and it unfortunately did not change my problem
i also tried unplugging the pixelnet out, just trying DMX out to my LE, with no blinky
thanks you for the ideas.
-
I see that you are thinking that PixelNet and Universe are two separate jumpers sets but they are not. The RS485 communications that we use uses 2 wires and each one requires its own jumper. This is why there are two of them but they are both for the same thing. I would reflash the PIC on the hub. I believe that they may have came pre-flashed but there was some issues with them. I would also consider using the 24 pin connector instead of just the 4 pin ones. The three voltages that the hub requires should be provided by the 4 pin connectors but the hub was not designed to work that way and there may be some issues, especially with the 3.3V and the PIC requires that.
-
It looks like you are using a PC power supply and do not have the 24 pin connector connected. You also have the 5 volt regulator installed but not the 3.3 volt regulator. This means that the board will not be getting 3.3v which is required to run the PIC chip. This is why you are not getting DMX out since the PIC controls the DMX out and it is not getting power.
If you are using a PC power supply you need to make sure the 24 pin connector is connected. It will supply both 5 volts and 3.3 volts to the board. So, you do not want either of the optional regulators installed.
If you are using a straight 12 volt DC power supply, you need both the 5 volt and 3.3 volt regulators installed.
Also as tbone pointed out, the Pixelnet Universe jumpers should both be set to the same value.
-
Thank you guys for your help.
my DMX output works just fine after plugin in the 24 pin connector. :)
now that i have everything working, i am finding the 650w dual rail power supply i am using
is not strong enough and shutting down, i see some posts talk about using single rail power supply, i will try one of those
-
The dual rail supply may be fighting with itself and overheating which will cause the PS to shut down. This is why we suggest only using a single rail supply.