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Desperate for Guidance!

Printed From: Aurora
Category: The Vault
Forum Name: I'm New From Spectrum And I Need Help!
Forum Discription: General usage questions from former Spectrum users
URL: http://www.aurorashow.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=413
Printed Date: 31 Oct 2024 at 6:12pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.06 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Desperate for Guidance!
Posted By: jswear
Subject: Desperate for Guidance!
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 2:04am

Good day fellow decorators! 

 

I am new to computer controlled lighting and in desperate need of some help and/or advice.

 

I purchased the following equipment from D-Light in November of 2007:

 

Two ACx16 Platinum Plus Edition Controllers

One USB to RS-485 Adapter V2

Spectrum Software – Platinum Edition

 

After many unsuccessful hours in 2007 of trying to get the controllers to connect to my computer via the “Hardware Utility” I gave up and did my lighting installation without the system.  Of course I was bummed but I felt I could get the situation rectified before the 2008 holiday season.

 

So upon the recent notification from D-Light that they were no longer going to be selling and supporting Spectrum and now recommended the Aurora software I purchased the transition version.

 

I have downloaded the latest versions of the D-Light Hardware Utility, USB485 Driver and Firmware Updater.

 

But alas again after many hours of work I still cannot get the system up and running.

I am truly desperate for help.  Not wanting to be a completely uninformed newbie I have spent countless hours researching and reading posts on both the D-Light and Aurora forum pages and then applying what I have found.  But I am still having no luck.

 

Here is where I think I stand at this point in the process, bear with me as this part gets a little long but I wanted to be as specific as possible:

 

Installed D-Light Hardware Utility V2.0.16

Installed D-Light Firmware Updater V2.0.2

Installed USB485 Drivers V2.02.06

(I’m not sure if this was successful or not.  I know that it downloaded and was unzipped but I am not completely confident that it is actually in use by the COM Port.)

Installed Aurora Sequencer V1 Revision 1.3

 

I then connected one of the ACx16 controllers to my computer via a CAT5 cable, the USB to RS-485 Adapter and a fire wire cable.

I then plugged both power cords from the controller into a working power supply.

The red LED began flashing.

I then connected a working desk lamp switched to the ON position into the pigtail from the controller that is labeled “#1”.

I launched the “HWU”, set the “COM Port” to “5”, the correct port, and attempted to “Discover” the controller via the “Discover” tab.

I first tried this with the “Active Unit” set to “All” and the “Discover” range set to “01 to 0A”.

No luck, it could not find the controller.

I then switched the “Discover” range to “All” and tried again, but still no luck discovering the controller.

I then clicked on the “16CH Tests” tab and clicked “All On” and the desk lamp came on.

So I know that the computer and the controller are communicating in some form.

I then clicked on the “General Cfg” tab and set the “New Address” to “1”.

My understanding is that all of the ACx16 controllers ship with a #2 address so I wanted this controller to be #1 and my other controller to be #3.

 

I then connected the second controller in the exact same manner and got the exact same results.  Unable to discover the controller but able to turn the desk lamp on via the “All On” button.

So I set the address for this controller to “3”.

 

I launched Aurora, created a “New File” and selected an Audio file for the music.

I clicked on “Add New Network” within the “Serial Network Configuration.”

I set the “Network Number” to “NET 1” and the “Uses COM Port” to “COM 5”

I ran the “HWU” from the “Add-Ins” tab and was able to replicate my previously described process of turning the desk lamp on via the “All On” button, but this only worked with one controller and not the second that was now daisy chained to the first controller via a CAT5 cable.

 

I then began to set up “Channels” within the new Aurora file.

I right clicked in the appropriate area and clicked “Create New Channel.”

I set the “Device Name” to “1” and “Device Type” to “D-Light ACx16 (1.13+ firmware)”.

I set the “Network Segment” to “1”, “Device ID” to “1” and “Channel Number” to “1”.

I then set an “Event Marker” at the beginning and end of the “Spectogram display” to create one single event that runs from the beginning of the song to the end to be used just as test parameters.

I then placed a “Waveform” within this “Event Marker” next to “Channel 1” and Aurora created it.

I clicked the “White Light Bulb” within in the “Playback” controls so that its background turned red.

Then I hit play and the desk lamp never flickered, turned on or anything throughout the playback of the entire song..

The red LED on the ACx16 Controllers continued flashing and never remained lit.

 

I feel like I am so close to having everything operational but just can’t seem to get there.

I know that the gear from D-Light is good equipment but it seems like if you miss one thing during the set-up and then during the integration with Aurora then the whole system will not function.

 

I would be so, so appreciative if any of the more successful and experienced decorators out there could give me any assistance.  My 2.5 year old son would also be grateful as he is patiently waiting to see our Halloween install come to life!  While trying to diagnose the set-up issues I have continued with my lighting installation and it is all ready to be connected and controlled.

 

Thank you for consideration!

 

Best regards,

 

John Caldwell




Replies:
Posted By: Bubba
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 6:09am

I assume you mean mini USB wire when you say Fire wire If I'm wrong please correct me. When you plug the controller in to a power source the LED should blink. Now plug in the cat 5 cable plugged into the adapter plugged into the mini USB that is plugged into the USB port on the computer. Open the Hardware utility and select the Com port, I use 4. Go to discover unit and select discover if you get nothing pick a diffrent Com port and try the discovery thing again unil it discovers your unit. If that doesn't work we need to try other things. This evening I can walk you through it on the phone if needed.



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www.brightonbrittain.com


Posted By: ChrisL1976
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 8:02am
We'll do what we can..BUT PLEASE in the mean time...edit your post and erase your email address and phone numbers....this is a public forum and thats only asking for trouble and 10,000 spam emails a day to your email

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Chris

www.lightsonsixth.com


Posted By: ChrisL1976
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 8:26am
1. Go into device manager on your computer and your should see one with PORTS  click on that, you should see the usb adapter listed.  Is it there?

2.  When you picked com5 in HWU.....the blinking light goes solid correct?

3.  stupid question, dont kill me....are you clicking the DISCOVER button in the open discover tab?  Next to the 01 pull down menu, upper left corner of the white box?    We have to get you finding these controllers in HWU.  If HWU cant truely discover your controller, then its probably not changing the device number.   I can run through HWU device number change sequence without having a controller hooked up. 

4.   Make a test sequence in Aurora, but set the device ID to 2....make a channel or two and put from light commands in the sequence and see what happens when you test it out.   Make sure your clicking the light bulb next to the in Aurora.  The blinking red light should go solid when you do this....or atleast when you click play.      Are the lights flashing to the commands you put in the sequence?




-------------
Chris

www.lightsonsixth.com


Posted By: jswear
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 8:36am
Thanks Bubba.
Tried as you suggested but still did not discover the controller.
I tried to discover on all COM Ports listed and it did not find anything.
 
Best,
JC


Posted By: jswear
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 9:19am
Hi Chris,
 
Thanks for the advice and I have modified accordingly.
 
1. Within Device Manager under Ports the following three things are listed:
Communication Port (COM1)
ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
USB Serial Port (COM5)
So I am assuming that COM5 is the adapter.
 
2. You are correct sir.
 
3.No stupid questions to me at this point! Yes, I am clicking the Discover button within the Discover tab.
 
4. Made a test sequence, built two channels, changed the Device ID to 2, connected some lights, clicked the Light Bulb and hit Play and it worked! Yes, when I clicked the Light Bulb and hit Play the LED went solid.
 
So have we learned that the controller has 2 as an address?
 
Best,
JC


Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 9:33am

I recommend working with D-Light to resolve the hardware issue.  It seems that your controller is still on the default ID of 2 and you are unable to get the hardware utility to properly talk to the controller in order to change it.



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http://www.aurorashow.com/">


Posted By: JonB256
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 12:27pm

Sometimes I'm a "scorched earth" person with hardware, but I'd suggest reflashing the firmware on the controllers. The newest revision is better than what you have, anyway, since you got them back in 2007. 

I'm sure COM5 is correct for you. Using the Firmware Updater and connecting a single board, change the Port to COM5, then select Unit ID #2. Click Connect. If it can't connect, it will time out. Try other ID numbers you may or may not have changed. Failing there, try using the "Force" choice for ID.



-------------
JonB - D-Light user


Posted By: Bubba
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 1:22pm
It seems I forget some of the basics as well. I forgot to add the fact that you need to click connect before doing the discovery. Select a COM port click connect then try to discover. Try that then get back with me.

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www.brightonbrittain.com


Posted By: ChrisL1976
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 1:45pm
Originally posted by LightsOnLogan

I recommend working with D-Light to resolve the hardware issue.  It seems that your controller is still on the default ID of 2 and you are unable to get the hardware utility to properly talk to the controller in order to change it.



I agree.......Its time to shoot this one over to Darryl and let him handle whats to be done.  Its sounds like a hardware issue if you can get output but now change the channel.  Although having it on 2 boards does sound weird.


-------------
Chris

www.lightsonsixth.com


Posted By: Bigindian
Date Posted: 24 Oct 2008 at 8:10pm
As wierd as this may sound, I helped someone out last year with almost the same symptoms as you have illustrated above. 
 
Are you absolutely sure that you are not using a cat 5 crossover cable?  Does it work as a normal cable for a computer network?
 
Try swapping the cable and report back.  We tried everything you did above and have no success for hours.  Swapped the cable and all was well
 
Cheers
 


Posted By: jswear
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 6:48am
Thanks Chris!
 
How exactly do I "... shoot this one over to Darryl..." at D-Light?
I've posted the same message on the D-Light forum, does that count?
 
Thanks for all of your help.
JC


Posted By: jswear
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 6:51am

Yes, I was clicking "Connect" as I tied each of the ports but still no discovery.

Thanks,

JC



Posted By: jswear
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 7:21am
Thanks JonB,
 
I tried as directed and still no luck.
 
I connected one controller.
Launched the Firmware Updater, set the port to COM5, Tried connecting to the various ID numbers but timed out each time.
Tried the FORCE command and this also timed out.
 
Best,
JC


Posted By: bdkeen
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 7:55am
Just a thought but have you tried changing the COM port number at all to see if things get detected on a different COM #..  Don't remember the exact problem I had once but when I changed computers I had some sort of a problem.  I switched to COM 4 for the USB serial port and everything worked fine.  Over the years I've seen some strange things happen with higher number com ports and the interrupts they use so I usually try to avoid using anything over 4 if I can.
 
If you're not already using com 3 or 4 you might try - I would think that it can't be any worse than it already is and you can always switch back to the current com port configuration.
 
The red led in the controller should go solid - not blinking - when communications is established. 
 
May also want to check com port settings - baud rate, data bits, parity, stop bits, flow control.
 
Default settings should be 9600, 8, none, 1, none


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Posted By: peteandvanessa
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 10:03am
I remember some time ago (last year), I could connect to my controllers and run sequences etc etc. I could NEVER discover a particular controller.
 
It's been sometime, but I think I updated the Firmware and then I changed the  baud rate comms speed when comnecting to the controller.
 
Here's how I did it:
 
To get the H/W utility to discover the board do this:


Open the H/W utility, select edit and select "Enable Baud rate changes", then I connected to the board using the H/W utility, then I went to the general config tab and "dragged the Baud rate" to "Auto" and hit set. (note all boards in your set up will need to have the same baud rate)

I then disconnected, opened up the firmware updater and updated the firmware to the latest firmware. After than I went back to the H/W utility and I could finally discover all my controllers.
 
Here's the original thread on the D-Light board:
 
 
  http://www.d-light.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=785 - http://www.d-light.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=785


Posted By: ChrisL1976
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 10:39am
Originally posted by jswear

Thanks Chris!
 
How exactly do I "... shoot this one over to Darryl..." at D-Light?
I've posted the same message on the D-Light forum, does that count?
 
Thanks for all of your help.
JC


go over to D-lights website and top right of the screen, there is a Contact Us button....you can send him a email from there. 


-------------
Chris

www.lightsonsixth.com



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