Dongle lights, DMX link, and Vixen cant access com port questions

[CaptKirk]

SO I have a dongle and LE complete but I have an issue:

Plugged in dongle to Win 7 which launched an online driver search which loaded both a USB to serial converter driver AND a serial driver.  Installed on COM3- Windows says it is happy.  Thanks to Rod, I have a programmed PIC installed with the latest firmware (thx Rod!!).

Both the red and green LED are lit even without an ethernet cable plugged in to the LE- is that normal??
  Did I miss the meaning of those two lights being documented someplace???

The LE passes its tests but the DMX Detection light never lights at the end of the test (ZC and DONE do and the LED is OK because it does light IN the test) even when attached to the above dongle.  The DMX activity light never lights either.  Should either of these light when plugged into the dongle even with Vixen not running?

Creating a simple Ch1 fade sequence with the Entex Pro blah blah  configured to Com3 always results in a com 3 access error (something about no permission to access).  I have tried launching Vixen in administrator mode- same thing.
I think I do have DMX add-in enabled- can that cause the permission thing?  What about the DMX test light not lighting?

I know RJ's designs are SOLID, I just need to figure out what *I* am doing wrong.

THX, Kirk

[CaptKirk]

Stuff is home- I am at work at lunch so I need to try tonight, but I know I forgot to add the jumper to the "remove for wireless" jumper!  That would explain the no DMX link on the LE.  How about the terminate jumper?  Is it important for testing (obviously needed for reliable field operation) cause that one is off also.

Would that cause the cannot access COM port error in Vixen if the wireless jumper is off and it is wired??

Kirk

[bisquit476]

I believe the driver has to be installed before plugging the Dongle in. Yes, the red and green lights will be on as long as the Dongle is plugged into the USB port.

I think this is the driver page, someone correct me if I'm  wrong, thanks,

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[tbone321]

I do believe that you DON'T want the DMX option enabled, just the Entec Pro driver.  The red and green lights on the dongle will light even if no cat 5 cable isplugged in.  The red LED is the power light and the green one means that it is outputting DMX and it will do that whether the cable is plugged in or not.  You need to have the remove for wireless jumper installed and you should have the terminate jumper in place as well.  

[Rainlover]

You only want the Entec Pro DMX add in.
Did you download the FTDI drivers? You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Do not plug the dongle in until you install the drivers.
RJ has complete instructions in the dongle assembly manual on the very bottom You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Hope that helps.

John

[CaptKirk]

I went on the FTDI site and accessed their installation guide.  For Win7 they said to plug it in and let WIndows 7 automatically find and install the driver which it did. 

I am beginning to believe the issue is the missing jumpers (I am a moron sometimes) and will find out tonight.  I want blinky lights even if they are only on the LE board right now!!!  ;-)

Kirk

[CaptKirk]

Houston, we have blink-off!

Added the jumpers, deleted the DMX add-in and it worked.  So the dongle serial port is unaccesible when the dmx link is not connected?  That sure is an odd error to give for a completly different reason!

Kirk

[tbone321]

The comm port locking problem was most likely the DMX add-in being enabled and had nothing to do with the physical DMX connections.  The DMX light on the Express not lighting was due to the wireless jumper being open.

[CaptKirk]

Now I have one other oddity, I was using a netbook for testing, and it would go to sleep to conserve power, but when I woke it back up, the dongle green light usually would be off and required a dongle unplug and replug.  It would be nice if the show computer could sleep to conserve power when not running the show, but if the dongle is going to go offline, that would be a problem.

Any ideas why the dongle would think it needed to shut off the green light?  Should waking back up from S1 properly restart the dongle?  It might be S3 that is big issue here?

THX, Kirk

[Dennis Cherry]

Now I have one other oddity, I was using a netbook for testing, and it would go to sleep to conserve power, but when I woke it back up, the dongle green light usually would be off and required a dongle unplug and replug.  It would be nice if the show computer could sleep to conserve power when not running the show, but if the dongle is going to go offline, that would be a problem.

Any ideas why the dongle would think it needed to shut off the green light?  Should waking back up from S1 properly restart the dongle?  It might be S3 that is big issue here?

THX, Kirk

The problem is not the dongle, but the Netbook. It goes to sleep to conserve power, that means it will also remove power to the USB ports.  Seems like a design issue with how the Netbooks work.

[CaptKirk]

The problem is not the dongle, but the Netbook. It goes to sleep to conserve power, that means it will also remove power to the USB ports.  Seems like a design issue with how the Netbooks work.

That is a good idea but the dongle power light never goes off, so in standby the USB port is powered.  Besides the port should get reinitialized anyway by the wake event.  Something odder is going on here...

Kirk

[jnealand]

What is wrong with just turning sleep /standby / hibernate off?  If the netbook is plugged in everything will be fine.  I don't even let my desktop show computer do automatic updates or anything else during the season.  I have it plugged into a battery backup and even if that goes out I have the bios set to automatically boot up after a power outage.  I also have windows automatically login and load vixen so the the scheduler will start as it is supposed to.  Everything runs great whether I am home or not. 

I do use a netbook for testing when I am building stuff and also out in the yard when doing setup and testing.  I have not noticed any problem with the dongle or tx unit getting messed up if I leave it on and walk away for awhile.  When I come back everything seems to work as it should.  I even have a little battery setup for the tx using 4 AA batteries to run it without being plugged in.

[CaptKirk]

Nothing inherently wrong with your suggestions.  It just would be nice if tye dongle worked always in a wake event so I could save energy/power.

Seems like it should work, I wonder if the pic is confused or the usb to serial d2vice!

Kirk