DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx USB DMX Dongle => Topic started by: Dholley on June 27, 2015,
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I have been troubleshooting my pixelnet devices and smart strings for over a week and I now call uncle, I will be happy to share my troubling shooting history and the pictures of my devices, but in effort that might save time for everyone, I with like to start with this information:
The USB Dongle worked fine operating my DMX devices and the green light was on all the time. I flashed the dongle with pixelnet and no longer get a green light.
I connected the pixelnet dongle to my 16 port active HUB, connect my smart string controller V4 and placed in program mode, I measured approximately 12 volts to the ssc controller, I'm using the latest SSC Utility. The utility states it's transmitting a signal but no lights are flashing. I do get a DMX signal out from the HUB for what it's worth.
I have flashed and re-flashed the dongle and ssc, I've tried different pixel strings, I've tired different ssc's, I've tried a diffent computer . I'm about to lose my mind.
Any words of wisdom are appreciated and based on my current level of frustration I've decided to put away all sharp objects.
All the Best!
Danny
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Additional information, I bought the smart string controller's from another DLA member with the cat 5 female pigtails type A attached. The cat 5 cable that I used to connect the controller to the HUB was type B.
I assume this is a problem. Would some Please advise of the corrective measure and what damage I may have done to the Smart String Controllers. Additionally, does it matter if I use type A or B Cat 5 To connect the dongle to the Active Hub?
What a humbling experience. :(
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Type A and Type B only refers to the colors attached to the pins. The pin to pin connections on the two sides of the cable are identical and even though they use different wire pairs to connect the pins, the pins paired are also the same. IIRC, AT&T came up with type A and was not all that willing to share the configuration so others came out with type B and made it a public configuration. If you are getting a DMX signal out of the hub, that indicates that the hub is configured properly and that the DMX dongle is also functioning. The issue is either in the string controllers, the nodes themselves, or there could still be an issue with the hub. I would post a picture of the component side of the hub as well as a picture of a controller and the connection from the controller to the node. How are you connecting the nodes to the controller?
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I have attached the pictures as suggested. I'm attaching the nodes with a 3 pin male connector to female connector attached to the board. I have matched the wire connections on the board to that of the node, connecting on the big chip side of the node.
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Ok, if you are saying that the pigtails are of type A, then you are correct and that is the problem. Unfortunately, the manual for the SSC does not distinguish between type A and B pigtails and they are different. The orange and orange/white wires do not connect to the same pins on a type A as they do on a type B. While this is not an issue when using a complete cable, it is one when cutting an end off of one and basing your connections on wire color. In this case, if the pigtail is really a type A, then the orange and green pairs need to be swapped on the controller connections (orange for green and orange/white for green/white). I'm not sure if this damaged the controller, but I would not connect any more of them to the hub until this issue is corrected.
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I triple checked the cat 5 pigtails connected to the SSCs, it is Type B. My apologies, I had previously stated Type A incorrectly. I'm now back to square one.
Some additionally information, when I plug the SS controller into the HUB the nodes flash, for just a split second.
Additionally, I built a Zeus 16 Version 1 last year. I have never used it before, but as a part of the trouble shooting process I connect the pixelnet dongle, connected a string of lights, flashed all the Chips, verified check sum 0020, connected the 24 pin power (no 4 pin connectors) and used the Zeus utility to program ALL lights, the utility said it was transmitting but the lights were not flashing.
I attaching pictures of the USB dongle front and back
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The dongle is probably not the issue. if it were, then there would be no signal on the DMX output of the hub. I really wish that RJ would create PixelNet firmware for the LE or even the SSR4. This would make life soooooooo much easier when it comes to setting up smart string and PixelNet systems. The utility always says that it is transmitting but that doesn't really mean all that much. Is the green LED on the dongle lighting up?
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The green LED does not light up on the dongle
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With the green light not coming on sounds like an issue. Did you check your com ports. I ran into a problem close to yours. I would recommend flashing the dongle back to dmx which will verify it was back where you started . Then download a fresh hex file and try to flash the dongle again. Check and see if it is out puting with a free proram called sacn view ( i think thats the name ) It wil show you that the computer is outputting data to the dongle and as far as i know the green light should be working. Hope some of this helps
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as a part of the trouble shooting process, I did re-flash the dongle with DMX, I confirmed it would operate my Express. Green light always on with DMX. I think I did that yesterday morning, my days are running together, Then I re-flashed with pixelnet, no green light, but I do get a DMX signal from the DMX out of the active HUB.
Is there a way to jump the pixelnet lights, just to confirm that they will come on. I have a bench power supply.
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Unfortunately no, there is no "jumper that can be set and there is also no test firmware for the controller either. Smart strings need a signal to tell each node what to do. How are you determining that you are getting a DMX signal from the hub? When you are using the smart string utility, make sure that NOTHING else is running or open on the PC, especially any sequencing software. Could you post a screen shot of the utility screen when attempting to configure the SSC so that we can see what parameters you are using?
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I use Vixen 2.1 with the pixel plug-in 2.1 to verify the dmx out signal from the HUB.
No other sequencing software is open when trying to program the SSCs.
FTDI drivers are loaded, dongle connected to computer via com port 5, dongle connected to the HUB pixlnet input, SSC connected to HUB to smart string output, SSC in program mode, HUB jumpers are set to pixelnet 1, universe 1. I open the SSC utility, verify com port 5, verify settings, hit transmit, utility says it's transmitting but the lights are not flashing.
FYI, the lights flash for a split second when I plug the ssc into the HUB.
I am attaching a screen shot of the SSC Utility and the FTDI drivers
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I guess what I was asking is how are you confirming DMX output from the hub? Did you connect the LE to the hubs DMX output and control it that way? If so, then we know that the USB dongle is outputting data. As a final test, I would connect the USB dongle directly to the LE with the PixelNet firmware still loaded and make sure that you cannot control the LE. If the LE still responds to the dongle with PixelNet firmware loaded, then there is an issue with the firmware that you are using. The brief flash when plugging in the SSC is probably just the nodes powering up.
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Taking your equipment back to a known working setup was one of the 3 main suggestions. The second one was to try and get ahold of a working controller so that possible problem was out of the problem leaving only the dongle or the computer as the culprit. The third suggestion was to step away from it for a few days so it would hopefully clear my head and open up new ideas which could end up being a simple setting that is wrong.
That being said I stepped away from it for awhile now and have read many things which now i am ready when i get the time to start fresh. I spent 2 weeks over christmas trying to get my rgb equipment running for new years eve. No such luck. Everything was fighting me. Since then I now have a known working controller in the works, I have read enough to find out that ssc's can be finicky to flash and program , but reading has given me some helpful tips to try to hopefully save some headaches again. I would suggest that you give the project a break for a few days and See if you can locate a known working controller . Hope some of this helps
Joe
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tbone, yes I plugged the LE into the DMX out of the Hub and it works. I will try to connect the dongle with pixelnet firmware directly to LE this evening and post the results.
I greatly appreciate your help and t.jo13!
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I connected the USB Dongle Flashed with Pixelnet directly to my LE. I setup Vixen with the Pixelnet plugin, and set-up 4096 channels, with the test feature of vixen I called for ALL lights on. Channels one and two of the express came on and stayed on, even when I closed Vixen. I reflashed the Dongle with the Pixelnet Firmware, ran the same test and got the same results, channels one and two of the express come on and stay on.
Any ideas? is it an issue with the dongle, the express, firmware, the stars not aligning properly, we have to have some humor, right?
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LOL, no, that is what it should do. This proves functionality for the USB dongle and the DMX converter on the hub. The only thing left to check is signal distribution on the hub. The hub as far as PixelNet goes simply distributes the signal from the selected universe across all of the controller ports. There is no processing of the signal on those ports. It will distribute whatever it gets in regardless of PixelNet or DMX. Because of this, we can use the LE to check for signal distribution. Reflash the dongle with DMX firmware and connect it back to the LE to make sure that it is working properly. If so, then connect the dongle to the hubs input. You can now connect the LE to one of the hubs controller outputs. Remember that these jacks also are putting out 12V so make sure that the cable that you are using for the LE is NOT a crossover cable. The LE only uses the first 2 pins and they are the data pins on the hubs controller connections as well so as long as you are using a straight through cable, there should be no issue with the 12V power on the other pins. Make sure that the hub is still set to the 1st universe and the LE should respond to the test sequence that you were using to test it when directly connected to the dongle. If it does, then try a few more ports on the hub to make sure that they are all working and if so, then we have confirmed that the hub is fully functional and we have narrowed the problem down to either the SSC, the nodes, or the SSC configuration software.
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tbone I reflashed the USB Dongle with DMX, connected it directly to my LE, and had it control my lights with Vixen.
I then connected the dongle to the pixel input of my active Hub (still with DMX firmware), then connected my LE to the Hub, using 4 different output HUBs to test. ALL the outputs worked in operating the Express.
I may need to increase my lavender :)
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Glad to hear it. This confirms that the hub is fully operational and is distributing the signal as it was designed to. This cuts down on the number of unknowns causing the issues. Do you have an Etherdongle as well as the USB dongle?
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tbone I do not have an ethernet dongle
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tbone I think I have narrowed it down to the nodes. I was able to get a string of Flex lights to flash like there're suppose to.
At least part of the problem is the nodes are new and none of them will work. I have 4 strings. It's hard for me to believe that they are all bad. Will you confirm the proper connection for me? Maybe I have them connected wrong.
I'm connecting the controller pigtail to the big chip side and end of the string. I'm connecting power wire + (it's a yellow green wire), looking down on the node I'm connecting to the wire on the right, 12v. I'm connecting the brown wire (data) of the pigtail to middle wire (data) of the string, I'm connecting the negative (blue wire) of the pigtail to the wire on the left of the node. The nodes have a somewhat opaque clear housing, but as far as I can tell looking at the big chip side and reading from right to left it's 12v, Data, Ground. The string has all black wire.
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I want to also mention and reiterate what I saw in another post, if you are using male and female 3 pin connectors you MUST CHECK for a solid connection, when I first connected the flex strips I did not get the lights to flash but upon closer inspection I found I was only getting about 4 volts to the lights. I adjusted the male female connection and the voltage increased to approximately 12 volts and I was able to successfully program the lights.
Now I need to figure out what is wrong with my node strings. :)
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Where did you get these node strings from? Do you know what chip they have in them?
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From Ray Wu, 2811 chip
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The 2811 I have the chip side is actually the output side. Can you post a closeup pic of a node?
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The problem may be the strings themselves. The SSC was designed to work with the TM1804. They will work with the WS2811 provided the string is configured to clock at the correct speed. IOW, it can be a bit of a crap shoot whether they will work with the SSC or not. It appears that you have them connected correctly. The only possible issue is that with these nodes, the input side may be different. The instructions listed were for the TM1804 strings and where it would make sense for all of the strings to be configured the same way...... I would connect the data line to the other end of the string and see if it responds. It really doesn't matter which end the power connections are made on since all of the nodes are in parallel on the power leads anyway. The signal line OTOH, is connected in series from node to node and if you connect on the output of the last node, none of them will get a signal. If you connect on the other side and it still doesn't work, then there is a pretty good chance that these nodes are just not compatible with this controller.
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tbone, it appears MOST ALL of my heartache was connecting the nodes incorrectly. I connected to other end for data as you suggested and the lights flashed like they're suppose to.
I'm attaching a screen shot of the specs for the nodes I purchased, Does IC and "big chip" side mean the same thing? If yes I connected the strings per the specs.
Would you tell me what I can do in the future to avoid this problem.
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Yes, IC and big chip do mean the same thing. The problem is that the description and instructions for the Chinese items are not always accurate. It seems that sometimes they just use the instructions from a similar item and hope for the best. The good thing is that for the most part, all of the nodes of the same type are usually wired the same (probably why they just reuse instructions). As long as you get the power connected to the correct lines with the correct polarity, connecting to the wrong side with the data line causes no real issues, just connect the data line to the other side and see if it works. I guess the trick is to make sure it works before soldering on the connector. If you use the links in the WIKI to get your nodes, then the posted instructions will work but if you choose others, then you may need to experiment a little. Glad that you got it working, have fun.
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I recently picked up some ws2811 nodes that originally came from Ray. With the TM1804 the biggest chip is the input side, but with the 2811s the biggest chip is the output side. Took me awhile to get that straightened out in my mind. Then there is the issue that I now have both node types in my display and I have to remember which element has which node type since the 1804s are RGB and the 2811s are BGR
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Yea, the color order changes between the node types can be a real PITA. As long as you keep then configured controller with the nodes that they are configured for, that issue is minimized but it pretty much makes it impossible to mix the nodes on one controller. I am working on a singing pumpkin patch and the pumpkins are all different sizes. I am going to use smart string nodes in them and would like to use different types for the different sized pumpkins but each type has a different color order which would make that impossible.
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So in the end the MAIN issue was having the nodes connected incorrectly. It was a little frustrating at times with all the trouble shooting but I learned some very valuable information along the way. I want to thank everyone who read this post and replied; there are some incredible nice people on this site and I'm very grateful to each one of you and to RJ for creating this site to begin with.
I would like to specifically thank jnealend, twooly and tjo13 for their feedback and send a GREAT BIG thank you to tbone. If it wasn't for you I would still be trouble shooting!!
God Blessings to all!
Danny
PS Is there a way to update the main heading of this post to show it was "Solved"?
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No problem my friend, that's what these groups are all about. You can change the heading if you want to, just change the subject line. It should allow you to change it in the first post since you were the one who created it, unless too much time has gone by but that is seldom done in here. Your last post say's that the issue has been solved.
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Just edit the very first post and you can modify the subject line.