Help troubleshooting Xlights to Pixlite 16 controller problem

[andywylde]

Hi, I very successfully was able to use xlights with the Pixlight 16 controllers last year but I am having a tough time getting it to communicate this year.  I updated both the Pixlite and the Xlights software before I started which might have been a mistake rather than just hooking it up as it was first and testing basic functionality.  Nevertheless, not easy to go back.

I started off with a more complicated configuration using Universe 17 to output DMX to a LOR controller but even though it said it made the link it wasn't working so I backed up to a more basic configuration.  So, I have the Pixlite connected on 192.168.0.18.  I configured the first network to use 150 channels and have a string of 50 2811 LEDS connected to port 1.  The built in hardware diagnostic lights the lights and cycles them through the colors so I know that is wired correctly.

Not only does the Advatek assistant connect to the board easily but I can run a constant ping to it.   However when I go to the Xlights to test screen  to try and turn on and off lights nothing happens. 

I don't know how to do any more basic testing.  Any ideas to look at?  I'm sure I am doing something dumb but after not messing with this for a few months I can't see what might be wrong.

I am using win 10 but completely turned off the firewall thinking that might be the issue but it doesn't seem to help.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Andy

[neil]

something simple, but is the output to lights turned on?

[andywylde]

I actually thought of that but .... In the old version there was a checkbox.   Many times have I not checked that and wondered what was wrong.   I clicked on the "Output to Lights" button but no change and no indication if it is off or on.   Am I missing something?  That is exactly how it behaves.

[logandc99]

This may not apply to your situation but I thought I would mention is anyway. I often test my lights sequences using a laptop which is configured somehow (haven't worked out how to change it yet) to only output to lights if i turn the wifi off. I can connect to my controllers via the ethernet cable via the advatek assistant and via a webpage (depending on the controller) but I don't get any lights going unless I turn wifi off and then run the sequence.
Just a thought.

[jsholla]

I had problems this year as well.  It was a perplexing problem.  Last year I had all outputs of the Pixlight 16 controlling my megatree. This year I'm adding more features using RGB 2811 pixels, so I needed to become more efficient.  So I changed the "setup" in Xlights and changed the Advanced String Configurations in Advatek Light Assistant.  Nothing seemed to work properly.  Like you, all my strings worked using the Pixlight 16 test feature, proving my wiring was correct. 

I have 128 channels of LOR, but I'm not using DMX to control LOR.  I have the LOR setup over USB port using a serial adapter.  So I had to simplify my problem by concentrating on one feature.  So I created a new show directory and then created one model in Xlights, but left the Xlight setup alone.  Using the Test tab in Xlights I was able to see that the pixels where 129 channels off.   

In my Xlight setup, I had the 128 channel of LOR mapped to the first 128 channels of Xlights.  So I experimented by moving the LOR channels to the bottom of the Xlight Setup list.  So now they are mapped to Xlights channels 6088 to 6215.  So now the RGB strings are working correctly.  I haven't checked to see if the LOR channels are working. 

My recommendation when trouble shooting is to simplify as much as possible to confirm what you know and assume that it's not a hardware problem.  I've found that, in my case, all of my problems have been setup and configuration problems, that I have to stumble to find solutions.

[andywylde]

Actually I had that problem once before.  It has to do with using the same network large IP block for the Pixel controller (i.e. 192.168.0.0/255.255.0.0) for both the wifi and lan settings.   In short your PC doesn't know which network to send the commands out of because it has what it things are two paths to the same controller (but only one works and it apparently chooses the wrong one).  If the wifi is off it only has one place to send the data. 

In this case it is a desktop with only one LAN adapter so I don't think that is exactly the problem but it is possible that my router is somehow interfering with it.  I will try a direct cable to it and see if it helps.  Thanks for the suggestion.

[andywylde]

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions.  While none were exactly what my problem was it got me thinking about some things that I wasn't before and that was enough.   Ax expected it was something dumb I did, no surprise there.

The key was when I went to my router and it didn't show the Pixlite connected.   It turns out that I had a DHCP reservation for a DIFFERENT Pixlite 16 with a different Mac address in there already and I used this Pixlite with a static IP that happened to be the EXACT SAME ONE.  At least I am consistent.  In any case, apparently the Advatek software could talk to it but when Xlights sent the data to the IP address the router was translating it to the wrong hardware (MAC) address.   I put the Pixlite in DHCP and it chose another IP (.19 instead of .18) and I reserved that one for this Pixlite.   Changed the IP in Xlights and it works perfectly. 

Thanks again for all your suggestions.  Its nice to not be alone on this.

Andy

[Gilrock]

I actually thought of that but .... In the old version there was a checkbox.   Many times have I not checked that and wondered what was wrong.   I clicked on the "Output to Lights" button but no change and no indication if it is off or on.   Am I missing something?  That is exactly how it behaves.

My Output to Lights button has a highlighted look when I turn it on.  I'm sure that highlight varies based on your OS and theme settings.