SOLVED!! - no results with Vixen->ED->LE

[mmorlan62]

Yeah.  I was wondering about all the blank data.  The header info is obviously in each packet so there doesn't appear to be a firewall filter or other such hindrance.  What's up with the rest?

I attached a screenshot of the sequence window with the 16ch sequence.

I also attached a Wireshark capture of a 512ch sequence with 25ms frame rate.  Still looks empty.

Back to xlights next.

(I'm running on a laptop with Win7 64bit Home Premium.)

M

[rrowan]

I do believe RJ has stated that 50ms is what the EtherDongle was designed to support. Now I am not saying that is the reason but I can't hurt to try a new sequence at 50ms instead of the 25ms.

Rick R.

[mmorlan62]

Here is a;

vixen 50ms network capture and;

xlights network capture with the "twinkle 50%" test running.

The data packets still are empty beyond the header info.

Incidentally, the output from my desktop Win7 system is the same as the laptop.

In a separate question, how does the Lynx+EtherDongle plugin know which Ethernet port to use when there are multiple ports on the system?

[mmorlan62]

OKAY, to catch everyone up on this thread:

PHYSICAL:

Both the ETD and LE seem to be good physical builds.  The ETD Ethernet chip has a solder bridge between pins 35 and 36 which no one seems to believe is a cause for alarm.

All Ethernet jack Link LED's light when connected and Activity LED's blink with activity.  The LE DMX LED lights when connected to the powered ETD and to my DMX tester.

The LE tested positive when I fed DMX from a DIY Arduino/RS485 tester.  All channel LED's ramped up with the programmed test.  We'll presume the LE is working as it should.

NETWORK:

Wireshark network snooping reveals what appears to be packets with headers but little else.  Without knowing the E1.31 protocol better, I can't say more.  Packets are getting through with headers so one might assume there aren't any firewall issues.  I did receive a firewall challenge with xlights at one point and I allowed xlights to continue.

PROGRAMS:

Vixen 2.1.4 with Lynx+Etherdongle 2.1 plugin.
xlights with E131/239.255.0.1 network type.

[RJ]

Let back up one poster. There is no difference in what goes to the Etd no matter what you haveit flashed. The computer no matter what software you are using send E1.31 packets. There should be some data not all zeros if you are turning lights on. If you send a all zero channel data packet you will not turn any lights on.

If the ETD network light is Blinking when the data is being sent and stops when you stop Vixen then. it is likely the ETD is getting data. Are we sure we are sending something to the correct channels to make the express react?

This really sounds like a setup problem but maybe this is just me.

Are we sure the cable between the ETD and Express is a straight through and good?

We are sure we are programmed with DMX on the ETD and not pixelnet?

Amy one of these would do just what you are seeing.

RJ

   

[mmorlan62]

RJ,

Everything you write makes perfect sense.  I have A/B tested every software and physical component of this setup (besides the LE and it turned up functional when I drove it from my DIY DMX tester.)

So, I wasn't getting any ENet packet data after the E1.31 header before but now I am.  (I have no idea why.)  Below, is a frame for Universe 1 of a random pattern in Vixen.  I can also see each of the four universes being sequentially output in separate packets in the Wireshark capture file.

I have flashed the ETD with DMX firmware multiple times.

I can see the ETD ENet jack LED getting banged by the laptop.

I can see the LE DMX LED lit the moment the ETD is connected and powered.

I have successfully driven the LE with a DIY DMX tester.

We seem to be isolating the problem down to the EtherDongle at the component level.


----------------------------------------------------------
No.     Time        Source                Destination           Protocol Length Info
      1 0.000000    169.254.176.207       239.255.0.1           UDP      680    Source port: 57119  Destination port: sdt

Frame 1: 680 bytes on wire (5440 bits), 680 bytes captured (5440 bits)
Ethernet II, Src: CompalIn_57:46:63 (88:ae:1d:57:46:63), Dst: IPv4mcast_7f:00:01 (01:00:5e:7f:00:01)
Internet Protocol Version 4, Src: 169.254.176.207 (169.254.176.207), Dst: 239.255.0.1 (239.255.0.1)
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 57119 (57119), Dst Port: sdt (5568)
Data (638 bytes)

0000  00 10 00 00 41 53 43 2d 45 31 2e 31 37 00 00 00   ....ASC-E1.17...
0010  72 6e 00 00 00 04 31 20 4f 5c 2b a9 0f 48 9c 02   rn....1 O\+..H..
0020  fe dd f2 dd b1 e7 72 58 00 00 00 02 50 49 58 45   ......rX....PIXE
0030  4c 4e 45 54 00 45 54 48 45 52 44 4f 4e 47 4c 45   LNET.ETHERDONGLE
0040  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0050  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0060  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 00 00 00   ............d...
0070  00 00 01 72 0b 02 a1 00 00 00 01 02 01 00 ff 00   ...r............
0080  ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff 00   ................
0090  ff ff 00 ff 00 ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff   ................
00a0  ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
00b0  ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff 00 ff ff 00 ff ff   ................
00c0  ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff 00 00 ff 00 ff 00   ................
00d0  ff ff ff 00 ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff   ................
00e0  ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff 00 00 ff ff ff   ................
00f0  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff   ................
0100  ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff   ................
0110  ff 00 ff ff ff 00 00 ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0120  ff ff 00 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff   ................
0130  ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0140  ff ff 00 ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0150  ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff   ................
0160  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0170  ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0180  ff 00 ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0190  ff ff ff 00 ff 00 ff 00 ff 00 00 ff ff ff ff ff   ................
01a0  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff   ................
01b0  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
01c0  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff 00   ................
01d0  ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff   ................
01e0  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 00 ff 00   ................
01f0  ff ff 00 ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff 00 00   ................
0200  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff   ................
0210  ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff   ................
0220  ff ff 00 ff 00 00 ff ff ff ff 00 00 ff ff ff 00   ................
0230  ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0240  ff 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0250  ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 ff 00 ff ff 00 ff ff ff ff   ................
0260  ff ff ff ff 00 00 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff   ................
0270  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 00 00 ff ff ff         ..............

[RJ]

Ok lets assume it is on the output side not the input then.

On the four sets of 8 pin chips swap the set closest to the cat 5 jack with another set of them to make sure we do not have a bad opto or 485 chip. Look over the solder connections on those two chips and the cat5 jack ect.

Does sound like you are getting ethernet info.

RJ 

[mmorlan62]

RJ,

Yep.  That was one of my first A/B tests.  Did it again, per your instruction.

I retouched some of the solder points, especially those where the solder hadn't fully flowed around both sides of the vias.  All soldering looks good per my photo uploaded earlier in this thread.  All DIP's properly inserted.

Output random sparkle via xlights,

Wireshark sees good packets

All comm lights are lit and blink.

No reaction from LE.

M

[mmorlan62]

Here's a question:  Is my DMX Cat5 cable simply too short?  Would there be some ringing/oscillation issues or A/C loading issues caused by a 1-foot cable connection?

[mmorlan62]

I feel like we're moving beyond my ability to debug this problem (and everyone's most gracious patience) without a "Theory of Operation" or "Service Manual" type document and a scope/logic probe.

Before I go investing in a logic probe, is there anyone to whom I can send my boards so they can give them a quick once-over?

Michael

[caretaker]

Try downloading the plugin from here You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login it is the older version of the plugin from the software page and it works for another user but he couldn't get the new plugin to work.

[mmorlan62]

Jeff, I'll try the older plugin however, my WireShark packet sniffer reveals I'm sending packets to the E1.31 world.  (Perhaps, there's a formatting error in the packet?  No one has commented.  A brief comparison of the packet to the E1.31 spec seemed to check out.)

Rick AKA rmp2917 has graciously offered to take a look.  He's away until the 26th when I'll be shipping my boards and notes to him for review.  He has a scope, access to a logic probe, and a general knowledge of the operation of the ETD, so yay!

Best,

Michael

[bisquit476]

Hi Michael,

There was activity showing on the ED (green and blinking yellow on the Magjack) with the new file, but the LE didn't work until I went with the older software.

[mmorlan62]

Ah.  Interesting.

I'll have some time to test it next week.  Away from the house through the weekend.

Best,

M

[jnealand]

After all this I am still suspicious of a Vixen problem, esp since you are a new vixen user (at least it sounds like that) and problems like this crop up all the time when people first start with vixen.  Everyone is concentrating on hardware, but no one is asking about the overall vixen setup.  Not just the ED plugin, but also other preference issues.