Jerky Spirals After Converting to Release 4.x from 3.6.x

[dave62350]

I installed release 4.2.18 and converted my 3.6.x sequences using constant bit rate mp3s.  When I play the sequences, the preview on the screen looks normal but my physical Megatree lights are jerky and is especially noticeable with spirals.  I've attached a video of the jerky playback in release 4.2.18.  My setup uses a DLA etherdongle and a Falcon F16 V1.    I get jerky playback even when I create a new sequence.  I've run out of ideas and need troubleshooting advice on what to try next.   If I can't figure this out, I'll have to revert back to 3.6.15.

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[JonB256]

That is almost always caused by  competing data being sent out to the Etherdongle. Two sources of E1.31 data. If you have LOR or Vixen running, be sure they are off completely.

[JonB256]

Are you using any other E1.31 devices in Unicast mode? Make sure they are online.

[dave62350]

I do not have any other E1.31 devices.  I do not use LOR or Vixen.   My sequences run normally in 3.6.x.

[dave62350]

I was suspicious of a network conflict also so one thing I tried was to connect my computer directly to the etherdongle so they were off my home network completely.   Same problem.   The only thing running on my computer was XL4.

[Phrog30]

I do not have any other E1.31 devices.  I do not use LOR or Vixen.   My sequences run normally in 3.6.x.

Do you have any devices configured in xlights setup that aren't connected? If you are set to unicast and you have unconnected devices you will get this behavior.

[jediknight2]

..if I remember correctly...there's a process in using old effects in 4.0.  It's in a video somewhere...either Gil or Sean showed it

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

[dave62350]

Do you have any devices configured in xlights setup that aren't connected? If you are set to unicast and you have unconnected devices you will get this behavior.
I don't think I have any devices in xlights setup that aren't connected.  The E1.31 universes I defined in setup are multicast, not unicast.  My sequences work fine in release 3.6.x.

..if I remember correctly...there's a process in using old effects in 4.0.  It's in a video somewhere...either Gil or Sean showed it

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
I followed Sean's video instructions for converting sequences from 3.6.x to 4.x, but I wonder if I missed something.   However, I have the problem when I create a new sequence.

[Phrog30]

Any chance you could create a new sequence and copy this one effect over and test?

[dave62350]

I'm not sure what you're suggesting.   I have the problem after I convert 3.6.x sequences and I have a problem when I create new sequences with the spiral effect.

[JonB256]

Dave, are you familiar with Wireshark?  If not, it is a program that will let you watch the actual packets being sent out (E1.31).  It would show if there is an actual pausing in the xlights data output.

[dave62350]

In the interest of completeness this is a followup to my original posting.  My search for a solution resulted in a phone conversation with the main man at Falcon Christmas, Mr. David Pitts.  He spent about an hour on my computer using Teamviewer and Wireshark investigating my issue. The problem appears to be how XL4 communicates with the etherdongle.  XL3 apparently sends data to all nodes all the time which apparently the etherdongle expects.  XL4 sends data to nodes only if needed.  In addition, my last E1.31 universe only uses 4 nodes so data was frequently not sent to that universe exacerbating the issue.  This was most apparent with effects that light relatively few nodes, like some of my spirals. 

For a fix, Dave suggested three options. 

1.  Continue with XL 3.6.x.  I know this works. 
2.  Use a Raspberry Pi to communicate with the etherdongle instead of my laptop.  Dave assured me this works.
3.  Wait for a fix to XL4.  Dave was going to followup about this with his XL contact.   

Since a Pi is only about $40, I'm going to proceed with that option.

I again express thanks to Dave for taking time from his busy schedule to help me.  It was an honor to talk to him.  What an awesome guy.

[Gilrock]

One thing I never heard you clarify is how you were playing the sequences.  You can play sequences from the Scheduler, Layout, or Sequencer tab.  I'd really like to know where this code change may have occurred because I don't know of anything that changed between version 3 and version 4 playback unless your just talking about preview playback.

[dave62350]

I played sequences from the Layout and Sequencer tabs. 

[dkulp]

I talked to Dave on the phone to understand the issue a bit more.   In V3, there was a global variable on the e1.31 outputs for whether a channel data has changed.   If ANY e1.31 channel changed, all of the e1.31 universes were output.   In V4, I moved it to a per-universe flag so universes that don't have any changes don't get output.   This can reduce the amount of network traffic quite a bit.  However, the etherdongle apparently doesn't output anything until it receives the data for all of it's universes.   Thus, the optimization breaks that.

I'll see what can be done to work around this.   I'm kind of thinking the "Enable" flag we have on the setup tab may become more of a tri-state of "No", "On Changes", "Always" or similar.   Gotta think about it some more.