garageCube

[Franck kouadio]

Hello, I am having some trouble setting up my Pixlite MKII with MM

What I am working with:

MacBook Pro with macOS Sierra version 10.12.3
Pixlite 16 MKII vi.0
Mean Well LPV-100-5 power supply
WS2812 RGB LED strip 60 LED's 1m black
Madmapper 2.5
Newest version of Advatek Assistant is downloaded and recognizing the board.

I recently got a Pixlite MKII I have updated the firmware, have power running to it correctly, have a crossover ethernet cable plugged in to my computer and am trying to figure out how to recognize the controller in Madmapper.

Everything working fine with my pixlite mkII and advatek assitant.
also in advatek assistant Ethernet control I checked Artnet.
In madmapper:
DMX imput : nothing selected
DMX output: I selected Artnet and in the interface i selected my Ethernet ip adress
when created a dmx line and add media nothing occurs in my strip led.
I thing that this is a communication problem between madmapper and my mkII
Might be a very simple problem that I am not understanding but any help would be great,

Thank you very much!

[mad-matt]

You have to know there's a mismatch between universe number in MM and in Pixelite. In MM universe number starts at 0, in Pixelite it starts at 1. So if you want to drive universe shown as "1" in Pixelite you have to send on universe "0" in MM.
You have to configure you Pixelite to use ArtNet as input.
Hope it solved your issue

[mad-matt]

You have to setup your Pixelite to receive ArtNet.

[giorgio]

there is an issue with the pixlite (mk2) and madmapper. sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

When it works, the ip addresses will auto-populate in madmapper in preferences under DMX output. must be set to artnet.

I have tried 2 of the same macbook pro laptops with exactly the same settings and one worked and one did not. I have tried many different ethernet interfaces including both apple usb and apple thunderbolt as well as several 3rd party interfaces, etc. The same pixlite board works fine with other dmx software on this computer, and actually when I just used DMX Assistant I was able to get output out of that, and then once I went back into Madmapper it magically worked again. It is like DMX Assistant jump started the artnet output for Madmapper. This has worked for me before - just remembering...

ugh but if the jump start works every time I can just do that lol

[mad-matt]

Hi Giorgio,
Please clarify:
1- you are using ArtNet in Unicast mode ? If yes, does it work in broadcast on this machine, when it doesn't in unicast ?
2- Are both your computers on the same subnet ? ie both have IP 192.168.1.XXX with IP mask 255.255.255.0
3- Which version of MadMapper ? 2.5.1 ?
Also, I remember that when changing the IP or network mask od the computer, there was something to do in Pixelite soft to get ArtNet working again (maybe restarting pixelite)
Let me know
Cheers

[giorgio]

1 - yes unicast. always unicast. I don't think the pixlite supports broadcast, only unicast and multicast.
2- yes all 192.168.0.xx and subnet mask 255.255.255.0 - I use this same type of networking and artnet autopopulate on other software on both PC, mac and many artnet devices and it works in every other situation (so far)
3 - I've tried several versions of madmapper and the issue persists. i updated to the latest version from the website last night and the issue persisted.

For better or worse, I restart the pixlite often. If pixlite is powered up before being connected to the network, it will not respond to artnet.

Just now, I had a thought about the artnet port - if the port is unavailable, will madmapper let me know? I have some weird feeling that this is a port issue somehow. I am probably wrong, but I can't think of why else the "jumpstart" would fix the issue? I'm thinking that somehow the DMX Assistant software is able to properly close the port upon closing the application??? I'm usually pretty good at networking but this kind of port stuff is beyond my working knowledge.

Thanks for your quick reply matt

Hi Giorgio,
Please clarify:
1- you are using ArtNet in Unicast mode ? If yes, does it work in broadcast on this machine, when it doesn't in unicast ?
2- Are both your computers on the same subnet ? ie both have IP 192.168.1.XXX with IP mask 255.255.255.0
3- Which version of MadMapper ? 2.5.1 ?
Also, I remember that when changing the IP or network mask od the computer, there was something to do in Pixelite soft to get ArtNet working again (maybe restarting pixelite)
Let me know
Cheers

[mad-matt]

On the computer where it doesn't work, do you have any other ArtNet application running ? If the ArtNet port is opened exclusively by another application, MadMapper will not be able to use ArtNet.
You can activate logging and reproduce the issue, we may find an error in the log if that's a socket port issue. To activate logging in MM, Cmd+Click on Tools menu, choose "Enable Log", then you can restart MM, reproduce the issue, and send the log with menu Tools / Send Current Log
(or you can see the log in "Console" application, FILES / ~/Library/Logs/GarageCube/MadMapper

[lukeadva]

Based on this "If pixlite is powered up before being connected to the network, it will not respond to artnet" I guess you might not be on the latest firmware version? If not, you can download firmware V1.0.2 from here: http://www.advateklights.com/resources/download-info/pixlite-mkii-firmware/

I'm not thinking that could cause the issue you are seeing with MM on your second PC, but worth noting in-case.

Also currently the PixLite MkII is having Art-Net V4 developed into the controllers, which includes a better reporting mechanism. This is currently available in BETA firmware if you contact Advatek support. It needs the sending software to implement the Art-Net 4 update also. I'm not sure if this is the answer to your problem though, seeing as it's not reporting any universes back on the second PC by the sound of it.

[giorgio]

Got it - this is a nice update as this is a big workflow issue for me when setting up larger installs. I did update to 1.0.2 but always just assume that the pixlite needs rebooting once connected to the network since it always has up to this point.

Anyway as I mentioned in my email luke, I believe madmapper / computer to be the culprit in this case, but very glad to have you on the thread. Going to do some testing this week with madmapper logging and see if I can reproduce the issue. The thing is once I get madmapper to start working again, it usually works for a while
¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

Based on this "If pixlite is powered up before being connected to the network, it will not respond to artnet" I guess you might not be on the latest firmware version? If not, you can download firmware V1.0.2 from here: http://www.advateklights.com/resources/download-info/pixlite-mkii-firmware/

I'm not thinking that could cause the issue you are seeing with MM on your second PC, but worth noting in-case.

Also currently the PixLite MkII is having Art-Net V4 developed into the controllers, which includes a better reporting mechanism. This is currently available in BETA firmware if you contact Advatek support. It needs the sending software to implement the Art-Net 4 update also. I'm not sure if this is the answer to your problem though, seeing as it's not reporting any universes back on the second PC by the sound of it.

[giorgio]

No other artnet application running - everything artnet related in resolume arena is turned off, and I even try with arena not running. Maybe arena is opening the port? Other artnet applications give me a port error if the port cannot be opened - does madmapper simply keep that info quiet??

I'm going to start logging and next time I can get the issue to happen, I'll send you the logs / look at them / post here

On the computer where it doesn't work, do you have any other ArtNet application running ? If the ArtNet port is opened exclusively by another application, MadMapper will not be able to use ArtNet.
You can activate logging and reproduce the issue, we may find an error in the log if that's a socket port issue. To activate logging in MM, Cmd+Click on Tools menu, choose "Enable Log", then you can restart MM, reproduce the issue, and send the log with menu Tools / Send Current Log
(or you can see the log in "Console" application, FILES / ~/Library/Logs/GarageCube/MadMapper

[mad-matt]

If it works after you unplug / replug the Pixelite, then the problem cannot be on MadMapper side

[giorgio]

the madmapper issue I'm having is not resolved by power cycling the pixlite, unfortunately.

the 2 fixes that I have worked for me are:
1) to shut down madmapper, send artnet data to the pixlite via "DMX Assistant" application
and
2) buy a new macbook pro

the pixlite mk2, prior to firmware v1.0.2 must be powered up after being connected to the network, so a pixlite power cycle was often necessary when setting up my systems, as I'll often have people setting up LEDs and pixlite boards and using the pixlite's built-in test mode, before the cat6 runs are ready/connected.

If it works after you unplug / replug the Pixelite, then the problem cannot be on MadMapper side

[mad-matt]

There's no known issue in ArtNet output of MadMapper. We use it in many situations and so many people have been driving LEDs in various environement that I'm very confident in it. However, if you can drive the Pixelite with LuminetMonitor, we'll check that deeply.

- Download Luminet Monitor here: http://www.luminex.be/support/product-support/
- Start the app and choose your network adapter
- In "DMX Generator" at bottom left, press "Add Generator"
- Check the "State" checkbox of your generator, now it starts broadcasting

Does it work ? If it doesn't, there's a pb with your computer configuration.

And please let me know if it works in broadcast (deactivate unicast option).
Can you send the result of terminal command "ifconfig" ?

[giorgio]

when the issue presents itself, if I use another application to send artnet, the seems to resolve the issue once I restart madmapper. The most recent time I had the issue it went like this:

-launched madmapper. madmapper did not detect my artnet nodes, and was not able to send artnet data if nodes were added manually. quit madmapper.
-launched 3rd party artnet sending application, which was able to detect nodes and send artnet data to them. pixels illuminated, confirming receipt of artnet data. quit 3rd party artnet sending application.
-launched madmapper. madmapper did detect my artnet nodes, and was able to send artnet data

if you require me to use your choice of 3rd party artnet sending application, I will do so. Since this issue is intermittent, I am waiting for it to recur, upon which time I will send you the madmapper logs, and now will also use LuminetMonitor for you instead of the "DMX Assistant" app that I have been using.

There's no known issue in ArtNet output of MadMapper. We use it in many situations and so many people have been driving LEDs in various environement that I'm very confident in it. However, if you can drive the Pixelite with LuminetMonitor, we'll check that deeply.

- Download Luminet Monitor here: http://www.luminex.be/support/product-support/
- Start the app and choose your network adapter
- In "DMX Generator" at bottom left, press "Add Generator"
- Check the "State" checkbox of your generator, now it starts broadcasting

Does it work ? If it doesn't, there's a pb with your computer configuration.

And please let me know if it works in broadcast (deactivate unicast option).
Can you send the result of terminal command "ifconfig" ?

[mad-matt]

Very weird. I never heard about such an issue. The "nodes" you're talking about, it's Pixlite right ?