Output errors
Printed From: Aurora
Category: The Vault
Forum Name: 0.2 Pre-Release
Forum Discription: (Archive) Questions regarding usage of the 0.2 pre-release version
URL: http://www.aurorashow.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=67
Printed Date: 30 Oct 2025 at 8:12pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.06 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Output errors
Posted By: Comporder1
Subject: Output errors
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2007 at 8:58am
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I had time yesterday to make "The Switch"! And ran my show last night using Aurora for the first time. I had a few problems:
1) I am not sure if this is a application problem or a USB driver issue (it happened with d-light as well) - If I remove the USB adaptor before I close the scheduler, I get a BSOD when I do close the app. The blue screen references something about USB and IRQ (sorry for not being specific, I could write it down for you if you are interested) and then dumps the memory.
2) I am a little concerned with the CPU usage during the show. It pegs at 100% non-stop. I belive I read somewhere that this is normal and does not indicate insuffecient hardware. I hope that is the case. I actually run the show with a Pentium M 1.6GHz laptop. The fan on it runs full blast non-stop for the entire show. I am afraid it will "take off"!  3) My biggest issue is in a few instances I noticed Aurora is not actually outputing what is sequenced! I first noticed it when in one of my sequences I programmed about a .5 second fade in followed by a 2 second fade out on all (16 total) but 2 channels. The lights faded in properly then immediatly turned off followed by another on pulse near the end of where the fade out should end. I confirmed this many times. I even went in and reprogrammed all of the events in that area and removed unnecessary intervals. It happens with both the scheduler and the sequencer. I would be happy to submit the file for review if desired.
Over all I am happy with the performance of Aurora. I am expecially pleased with the almost nonexistant delay between songs! I look forward to V1 release!
Thanks
Carey
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Replies:
Posted By: deweycooter
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2007 at 10:30am
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1) Don't do that. ;) 2) I had asked Michael about the CPU being pegged a while back: "CPU at 100% is ok. I've kept the timing loop really tight for maximum accuracy. The program will still multitask ok... it is just taking whatever is available." I imagine a sleep cycle could be put in the looping part of the code if you're looking for a quieter machine. 3) I've seen missing events as well. But I haven't fired up Spectrum to see if it's repeatable. One of the primary events that bigs the heck out of me is concurrent ramps. On an ACx8, I have one channel ramping up while another ramps down, then the swap - one down while the other up. Each ramp is about 1.5 sec long. Instead of ramping, I get channel A on for 1.5 seconds with ch B off, then channel B on for 1.5 seconds with A off. Another type of event that I see fairly regularly - I have 3 mega trees with 7 channels each. When making the individual channels dance, my ACx8 trees do fine. But the 3rd is on a ACx16. I need to flash from v1.12 to v1.13 first...hopefully that will get it knocked out. ------------- http://www.deweycooter.com/wiki/index.php/Aurora - Aurora Lights Wiki http://www.aurorashow.com/"> 
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Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2007 at 10:35am
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#1 sounds like a driver issue.
#2 is ok. The commands are put out in frames so it is possible to release the CPU between frames (instead of just iterating a loop doing nothing like Aurora presently does). That of course means creating an algorith to properly determine how much time to release... being an early beta it is best to just leave the plumbing simple for now and pick that up later.
#3 I can think of a couple possibilities to look into. First, for my own information, what hardware (ACx8, ACx16, LOR, etc.) and what firmware version is being used? Does adjusting the length of the ramp (1 second or 3 seconds for instance) seem to "fix" it or do those settings cause a glitch as well? ------------- http://www.aurorashow.com/"> 
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2007 at 4:15pm
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I use one ACx16 with the latest firmware 1.13 Here is a screen shot of the area in question: http://files-upload.com/files/678829/Aurora_scrn1.jpg -
http://files-upload.com/files/678829/Aurora_scrn1.jpg">
 Here is the dls file:
http://files-upload.com/files/678854/Have_yourself_a_merry_little_christmas.dls - http://files-upload.com/files/678854/Have_yourself_a_merry_little_christmas.dls
Here is the Wav:
http://files-upload.com/files/678900/12_Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas.wav - http://files-upload.com/files/678900/12_Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas.wav
(password protected - email me if you need it = comporder1 (at) - Gmail)
Thanks for the help,
Carey
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Posted By: peteandvanessa
Date Posted: 15 Dec 2007 at 9:13am
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I ran the scheduler last night for the first time. I had imported seven 48 channel sequences into Aurora. The sequences played very well without the fade in, fade out issues reported above.
The scheduler used at 50% of the CPU (dual core Centrino latop with 2 Gig RAM, Windows XP) which seem perfectly acceptable. It was alittle trickly to get the comms port set up initially, I had to switch comms ports since the initial on refused to connect. After that if ran perfectly for 2 1/2 hours. Very nice!!!
I think the scheduler is far far superior to the current Spectrum scheduler.
The sequencer is pretty good too, but I'd like to see the wave time line being played back at the same time as the visalizer so you can track the beats better.
Also I'd like to see channel copies (meaning the whole channel can be copied by just right clicking on the channel) and then being able to paste the copied channel onto another channel.
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 15 Dec 2007 at 9:37am
Yeah... I noticed that as well. My desktop (x64) is a Athlon X2 dual core and it's CPU usage peaks at about 58% while importing and playback. While my Pentium M laptops pegs at 100% for all aspects of Aurora. Seems like the app does not take full use of both cores. Just a thought ;)
Carey
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 15 Dec 2007 at 2:53pm
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Did anyone have a chance to take a look at this?? I haven't been able to do anything today. My display is floating in a couple inches of rain right now!
 Just to clearify... It looks fine in the virtulizer, just freeks out in the yard.
Thanks
Carey
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Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 15 Dec 2007 at 4:56pm
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I am looking into this and will report back tomorrow. ------------- http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 15 Dec 2007 at 5:32pm
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Thanks! I appreciate your help.
Carey
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Posted By: peteandvanessa
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2007 at 9:31am
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I just downloaded your sequence. I can't run it in the scheduler right now, but I zoomed into the area you have having an issue with. The only thing I can see that looks a bit strange is the Spiral trees. On their fade it shows them as : 1. No fade in (they aren't the same as the other channels) 2.Intensity is 100% and end is grayed out at the first part of that channel (in the area you are having problems with) So something is strange on that channel in that area. |
Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2007 at 9:56am
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I can't open your dls file... my download appears to be corrupt (tried to download it twice). Could you please .zip the file and email it to me. Was this an imported sequence? Have you tried to delete and recreate that one section (all channels) with Aurora (it is possible that there was something odd in the original sequence that was imported)? ------------- http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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Posted By: peteandvanessa
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2007 at 10:05am
| There is something odd on his Spiral trees channel. Many of the fades aren't correct within the sequence. They look almost correct, but if you use the infor button you realize the fades are set correctly. |
Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2007 at 10:09am
Right. The spiral trees are following the vocal in the song. I intended for them to be that way.
Thanks for taking the time to check it out.
Carey
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2007 at 8:32am
Sorry. I didn't see this post until just now. I will send it right away, except I am not sure what email to send it to. I have a few associated with the order process (paypal, order confirmation, etc.) Let me know where it should go.
In the mean time I posted it up here:
http://files-upload.com/files/685458/Have_yourself_a_merry_little_christmas.zip - http://files-upload.com/files/685458/Have_yourself_a_merry_little_christmas.zip
I didn't have a chance to do any testing yesterday. I had my turn shopping with the wife! I should have time today.
Carey
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2007 at 8:39am
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Answer to your questions:
The file was originally created in Spectrum by yours truly. I imported it into Aurora. I did not delete everything and start over, but i did recreate/redraw the events over the original events. Hope that makes sence. I will play with it today.
Carey
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Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2007 at 10:43am
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Download of the zip file worked... thanks. I will check this out and let you know what I find. ------------- http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2007 at 11:11am
| Thanks! |
Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2007 at 11:58am
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The good news: Your sequence file is good... everything looks right there (spiral trees are not causing any issues as has been suggested). I can replicate what you are describing on my ACx16 v1.13. Ramps of just slightly under 2 seconds do not render properly on ACx16 1.13. Furthermore, I have isolated the exact bad section of Aurora code that is causing the bug. The sort-of good news: You can work arround this issue by shortening the ramp slightly. If you delete the existing ramps and create new ones that are 1.8 seconds instead of 2 seconds they will render properly. Actually, you should be able to create ramps 1.899 or 2.001 seconds. It is between 1.9 and 2.0 seconds that is affected by this issue.
The not-as-good news: A "fix" for the "1.9 to 2.0 ramp duration issue" will not be available until the 0.3 beta comes out. Until then you will need to use the "sort-of good" workaround above. ------------- http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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Posted By: Comporder1
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2007 at 12:21pm
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HA! No problem! I am glad I helped your discover the bug.
I have another sequence with a very obvious output problem if you want to take a look. You can get it here: http://files-upload.com/files/685860/Wizards_in_Winter.zip - http://files-upload.com/files/685860/Wizards_in_Winter.zip
Carey
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Posted By: deweycooter
Date Posted: 20 Dec 2007 at 8:52am
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I assume the ramp issue does not depend on the ramp direction? Here is a video of where I see it - the natural trees (not the megas, not the minis) are supposed to be ramping up green while ramping down red, then ramping down green while ramping up red. Guess what - right around 2 seconds: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lB9vyaryyZw - video btw - these trees are on the same controller, an ACx8 running v1.12. Issue 2 - for some reason, my ACx16 (still v1.12) that controls my mega tree on the right seems to miss events. Watch 1:23 and 2:04 in http://youtube.com/watch?v=lB9vyaryyZw - this video . The middle tree does its thing, then it repeats joined by the left and right trees. Notice the right tree misses most of it. The trees are given the same commands and all firmware settings are defaulted. I have 9 controllers (ID 11-19) with the left/middle/right being 17/12/19. I'm starting to talk myself into believing it's a firmware setting...otherwise wouldn't there be loads of people talking about it? ------------- http://www.deweycooter.com/wiki/index.php/Aurora - Aurora Lights Wiki http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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Posted By: LightsOnLogan
Date Posted: 20 Dec 2007 at 10:54am
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Does it always miss the same events every time, or does it seem to change with each playback? ------------- http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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Posted By: deweycooter
Date Posted: 20 Dec 2007 at 12:03pm
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Both of my issues are reproduceable. The events at 1:23 and 2:04 are just cut-n-paste jobs , and you see that the right tree misses the same (or very very similarly?) each time.
------------- http://www.deweycooter.com/wiki/index.php/Aurora - Aurora Lights Wiki http://www.aurorashow.com/">
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