Setup E1.31

[Mickpat]

How do I setup Xlights to work with Etherdongle using E1.31?  Not sure what to set the IP address too or the max channel.  I have a total of 4224 channels.  Thx.

[dowdybrown]

The Etherdongle supports multicast addressing, so you would use the second version of the IP address listed in the E1.31 setup window. However, you need to add one setup line for each 512 channel universe. Thus, your entries would be:

IP Address	Universe	Last Channel
239.255.0.1	1	512
239.255.0.2	2	512
239.255.0.3	3	512
239.255.0.4	4	512

And so on....

Matt

[Mickpat]

I have added all of the universes, but am unable to control the lights using the light test function.  None of univeres control my lights.  I can control using LSP test hardware controller though with the same hardware.  I do have two network cards on this machine.  One wired and another wireless.  In LSP, I need to specify the network card when setting up E1.31.  Any suggestions?

EtherDongle
=================
1-        3096 =  PixelNet
4097 - 4195  =   DMX
6000 - 6300  =  PixelNet

Thanks,
Michael

[frankr]

is the etherdonhle plugged directly into the pc?

try disabling the wireless connection and test. 

If your etherdongle is plugged into the network with your wireless access point then things should be ok.  However, if your PC does not get a DHCP address on the ethernet port it may not send the multicast out that port.

if this is the case try giving the ethernetport a static ip address and test again.

[Mickpat]

Yes, the etherdongle is connected directly to the PC to the network adaptor via a crossover cable.  I can try turning off wireless and see if that helps.  I don't think the Etherdongle supports Unicast, but not sure.  I will be able to test tomorrow morning.

[frankr]

Hi Michael,

It is still a multicast no matter how we look at it. 

The IP stack is only going to bind the mcast sending socket to one interface on your PC.  It appears that in your case it is choosing the wireless interface and not the wired interface.  xLigths could bind to all of your network interface but in that case there is a potential for packet duplication as both the wired and wirelss networks we get a copy of the packet.

As such I see two options that should work for you:
1) disable wireless before starting xLights scheduler:
   This should force xLights to bind to the wired network.  Note that if you ever start scheduler with wireless active there is a risk it could bind there. In theory you can turn wireless back on AFTER xLights binds and things will still work properly.

2) connect your ether dongle to your access point or another switch/hub connected to your access point.


Regards,

Frank

[Mickpat]

Frank, thank you for all of your help!  I disabled the wireless controller and xLights was able to bind to the network card just fine.  Afterwards I renabled wireless.  Still testing the script but got sidetracked with my SSC hub meltdown.

[frankr]

sorry to hear about your melt down  

Good luck getting back up and running!