Etherdongle/network issues

[lizard050]

Knowing how busy most are getting set up.  Before posting I have spent many hours reading through others post.  Many have experienced the same issues as I am and I have attempted to try and repeat their success.  No luck however.  So now I am finally asking for help at the last minute.

I have 2 lynx dongles that work with the following set up.  Pixelnet dongle to active hub from the hub I have dmx out to express, 1 out to ssc v 4, and pixelnet out to a zues 16.  1 pixel string attached to the ssc and 1 to the zues 16.  Using this set up I am able to get the expected results from both pixel strings and the express via dmx.  Using xlights for testing.

I would rather use Etherdongle however.

I have 2 of those.  Both I am having issues with.  Both are from the Jan 2012 coop. 

#1. ETD  gets   "operation failed" upon trying to program with pickit 3 and vs 1 software.  I have been able to program my zues and ssc's with no issues.  I have re soldered a couple of times and looked at the pic with a flash light from behind but haven't been able to get it to program.
 
#2  ETD seemed to program fine.  I have plugged it in directly to both a laptop and desktop.  The network on both says unknown network.  Using the same setup as above I switch out the lynx dongle with my #2 ETD.  The green led on the board come on,  along with the green light on the Magic Jack.  The yellow light on the Magic jack blinks slowly.  I then am changing the set up in xlights to use e131 vs pixel net and attempt to test the lights.  The yellow light on the Magic Jack will start blinking very fast but I get no activity on the lights or the express. 

I feel I may have read to many posts and tried to many of the solutions found and am just missing something simple in the network set up or the ETD just isn't programed right.  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[caretaker]

Knowing how busy most are getting set up.  Before posting I have spent many hours reading through others post.  Many have experienced the same issues as I am and I have attempted to try and repeat their success.  No luck however.  So now I am finally asking for help at the last minute.

I have 2 lynx dongles that work with the following set up.  Pixelnet dongle to active hub from the hub I have dmx out to express, 1 out to ssc v 4, and pixelnet out to a zues 16.  1 pixel string attached to the ssc and 1 to the zues 16.  Using this set up I am able to get the expected results from both pixel strings and the express via dmx.  Using xlights for testing.

I would rather use Etherdongle however.

I have 2 of those.  Both I am having issues with.  Both are from the Jan 2012 coop. 

#1. ETD  gets   "operation failed" upon trying to program with pickit 3 and vs 1 software.  I have been able to program my zues and ssc's with no issues.  I have re soldered a couple of times and looked at the pic with a flash light from behind but haven't been able to get it to program.
 
#2  ETD seemed to program fine.  I have plugged it in directly to both a laptop and desktop.  The network on both says unknown network.  Using the same setup as above I switch out the lynx dongle with my #2 ETD.  The green led on the board come on,  along with the green light on the Magic Jack.  The yellow light on the Magic jack blinks slowly.  I then am changing the set up in xlights to use e131 vs pixel net and attempt to test the lights.  The yellow light on the Magic Jack will start blinking very fast but I get no activity on the lights or the express. 

I feel I may have read to many posts and tried to many of the solutions found and am just missing something simple in the network set up or the ETD just isn't programed right.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

For issue one, do you have the Ether dongle (wall transformer) plugged in when you try to program?  If not try plugging in the wall transformer and programing. There may be an issue with the Ether Dongle but you can try that first.

For issue 2, the Ether Dongle is multicast, it receives multiple addresses on but does not "assign a IP address.  IF you plug your computer directly into the Ether dongle you will need to assign a IP address to your comptuer such as 192.168.0.10 or 10.1.10.10  instead of having the computer "automatically obtain" the IP address.  Other wise if you have router in your house you can plug your computer into the router and plug the Etherdongle into the router and all should be well. Also make sure you have your configuration set up in xLight correctly.

[lizard050]

ETD #1 I have tried programming with power.  Same results. 

ETD #2 I have also tried setting the IP address however I'm not sure if I did it correct.  I will try again.  Here are a few screen shots also.

[lizard050]

network

[lizard050]

applied the IP address I think.  Here are some more screen shots.  Still no lights.  The lights on the ETD seems to suggest something is being transmitted.   

[lizard050]

erased ETD programmin and tried xlights again.  Flashing yellow light did not change speed.  Re flashed ETD with pixelnet software.  restarted Xlights and ran.  Yellow light on ETD very rapidly flashes.  But no lights.  Does this mean it prgrammed or not really,  Does this mean the network is working or not really.  Network map still shows unknown network and not connected.

[lizard050]

Watching the Local area Connection Status screen.  When I'm doing nothing it show sending about 30 packets per second.  When I run xlights it shows sending 400ish packets per second?    Not really sure what this means. 

[tomwb301]

Are you using a crossover cable when going from your computers to the etds? If not, try that. with the newer computers they need a crossover cable to work.

[rrowan]

Your manual ip address looks strange to me. I see 198.168.0.10
Normal ip should be 192.168.x.x (x depends on your router and of course number of devices on your network)
example: 192.168.1.10
mask 255.255.255.0
dns 192.168.1.1
turn off dhcp


I'll be honest I have never direct connect my ETD with any of my computers. I just connect the ETD to a my router or switch.
In xLights why is your show directory on of the song folder? Its not going to stop anything just seems wrong.

As far as the Local area connection status: Yes normal ping would be around 30 packets since its trying to connect to a network (note: If you are only connecting to the ETD and not a router, it will never find a network. The ETD will not reply back to your computer, its a receiver only and not send or talk back.) btw: Windows Network map will never show a active network when directly connected to the ETD and is useless.

When you say erase ETD programing what exactly are you doing??

One more thing: Is the green led on inside the working ETD?

hope that helps some and is not clear as mud 

Rick R.

[lizard050]

 The IP address I put in was from caretakkers suggestion.  Unless his was just an example I should be looking for a more specific one

I used the pic kit 3 and used the erase function to what I assume is clear the pics programming.  Then re flashed it.

Trying a crossover cable also.  Thought that was for older computers

Then I'll try to hook up to my home network..  Haven't done that yet due to being at the other end of the house as my show computer will be.   

[rrowan]

Crossover cat5 is needed if the port can't do auto crossover. Normally older computers need it and new computer need it depending if the manufacture put in a high end or low end port.

Normally home ip addresses start with 192.168.1.x or 10.0.0.1 but its not written in granite

Rick R.

[lizard050]

And the green led on the ETD is on

[lizard050]

gave up on direct connect and tried attaching in one of my at&t cable modem/router Ethernet ports.  No lights, nor does the blinking yellow light flash any faster when xlights is run.   

[rrowan]

sounds like your router is blocking multicast.

Check your manual or your providers website about turning that setting on.
or internet search (google, bing, etc)

Rick R.

[lizard050]

Interesting thing I found.  My 2 computers are connected to the router/internet through some plug link device that plugs into an electrical outlet.  When I use xlights on those 2 computer I don't see any increased activity on the ETD.  However If I use xlights on my lap top with a wireless connection I get the same extra fast blinking of the yellow ETD light as when I direct plug into a computer.