SSC v4 issue

[galgon]

So I am trying Pixels for the first time. I have an untested ether dongle, untested active hub and untested SSC.  I have the following hooked up:  computer----(crossover cable)----ether dongle --------active hub------SSC. 
                           |
                    Express
 Computer is running vixen 2.1 with ether Dongle plugin.  I created a normal sequence with 4096 channels and random data.  When I run the sequence I get the LE to work.  The pixels do not light.  So the ether dongle appears to be working and the DMX portion of the hub looks ok.

    I have tried flashing the SSC with the 4-2 firmware in the wiki and the 4-7 rj posted in a thread a while back.  However after flashing I can out get the SCC to accept programming for a starting address.  To program I keep the same setup as above and connect bridge jumper on the SCC. I am using the programming tool from rjs thread that includes the option for Zeus. I choose the options hit transmit and nothing happens.

     Not sure where to go from here.  I am using the Cat5 pigtail for input into the SCC and the 3 core connector on the output.  When I plug in the 3 core connector into the SCC the pixels flash on/off very briefly.  I hope that means I have the everything wired correctly.  I have another v4 SSCs to try I just need to solder the wires.  So that is my current thought on a next step but wanted to see if there are any other ideas on troubleshooting.

[rrowan]

Hi Joe,

I would agree with you that the etherdongle seems to be working along with the hub. Reflash the firmware on all or one of the SSC. Power everything up and in Vixen use the Test channels (icon looks like 2 checkboxes with checks marks next to it, mine is next to Channels 4096) and select all. Hopefully all of the lights come on. In the Utility program, make sure you don't use the Zeus option as that will cause problems.

What type of pixels did you connect to the SSC and did you confirm that the wires are correct? (power and data wires) plus make sure you have the input side of the pixels. There has been issues with the 3 core connectors, direct wire might help.

Rick R.

[galgon]

Finally got back to trying this again.   I wired up 2 additional v4 SSCs.  This time I wired them directly to the nodes (square nodes).  Used vixen to select all channels and no luck with them coming on.  Tried re-flashing the SSC pics with both with the 4 v2 hex and the 4-7 hex.  No luck.  Tried using the smart string utility to program the ssc but the nodes did not turn on.  Tried multiple different ethernet cords and sockets on the hub.  Express still works fine when connected to DMX out.  Touched up a few of the solder joints on the hub with no luck. 

I did stupidly wire up one of the sscs incorrectly.  I swapped one of the pwr lines with one of the grd lines on the ethernet pigtail coming in.  Not sure if that would have messed something up or not on the hub or ssc.  I fixed that ssc when I noticed.

Decided to check the voltage with a multi-meter.  On the one SSC the voltage in is 1.5 on another if I touch find the right spot (on some exposed bare copper) I can get it to read 12 v but other locations on the same solder joint it varies quite a bit. 

Thoughts on where to go from here?

[galgon]

Well I did some more testing today.  I tested the voltage coming off the board for each of the ethernet plugs.  It turns out with my wiring error I ended up blowing about 10 of the fuses  <fp.   However the other 6 still work.  Plugging a ssc into the one of these working slots shows 12v on the input side and 12v on the output side.   Still no lights though.

So what else did I break that is stopping the smart strings from lighting up.  The pic seems ok as the DMX output still works to the express.  I have double and tipple checked that the right wires are lined up to the smart strings.   Perhaps I damaged the first pixel of the string?  Maybe one of the other chips on the hub?  Any thoughts would be helpful.

[tbone321]

The chips on the hub should not be affected by reversing the polarity on the SSC but the SSC and the nodes could be.  The number of blown fuses shows extreme current draw which indicates something went really wrong.  Reversing the power and data lines on the output of the SSC usually only affects the first node and probably the SSC but reversing the voltage polarity on the SSC input affects the SSC and ALL of the nodes.  All of the components are in parallel on the power lines so if you connect them backwards, they are backwards for all of the components, not just the SSC or first node.   If you have any unused nodes and an unused SSC, I would use them for any further testing.  Once you get something working, it gets easier to find the other issues.

[galgon]

It wasn't switched polarity (that probably would have been better). I shorted the power by wiring 1 positive wire together with 2 negatives. Hence the blown fuses.  I do have other controllers and nodes to test with.  Just wanted to check if I should look at anything else first.

[tbone321]

Sorry, I misread what you were saying.  With the exception of the PIC on the hub that converts PixelNet to DMX, the rest of the chips are simply communications and if you killed them, the DMX would not work either.  Did you try and set the starting address of the SSR4?

[galgon]

Well I have had a chance to get back to this again.  I have now tried 4 or 5 different SSCs each one directly soldered to the cat5 pigtail and directly soldered to a node.  These are new nodes that were not used when I cross wired things before so they should be working fine.  Although I currently have no way to confirm this.  I have tried square nodes and rectangle nodes.  I am not sure if the data input should go into the DO side or the D1 side of the node but I have tried both.  I can confirm that I am getting +12 voltage on the input of the SSC and +12 to the input of the nodes.  The nodes are correctly wired.  I have flashed the SSC with both the 4.2 and 4-7 hexes.  Nothing works.  However, the DMX output from the Hub is working fine.  I am using Vixen to turn on all 4096 channels for testing.  So it would seem that something on the pixelnet data path is not working correctly.  Is there any way to test if I am getting pixelnet data to the SCC?  Anything else I can test?

I am working on building a Zues which will hopefully go better and I can then at least test that the nodes work, eliminating one possible issue. 

[tbone321]

Data goes in on the D1 terminal.  I believe that the 1 is representing an I or DI or data In as the 0 is representing an O as in Data Out.  I would check the firmware on the EDT to make sure that it is flashed with the correct firmware.  If you have an LE connected to the DMX output of the hub and it is working, then the signal is passing thru. 

[galgon]

Well... Incredibly frustrated now.   <md..  So I bought an already assembled and "tested" powered hub from another user.  The thought being that having a second hub would allow me to figure out my problems.  I have been assuming that I messed something important up by mis-wiring the one SSC.  Well - got the package and noticed the pixelnet in wasnt soldered.  No big deal but makes me question the "tested" part.  In any case a quick bit of solder and I powered it up.  Tested it with an express and the DMX output is working fine.  Plugged in my SSC with a square node - no luck.  Plugged in my other 4 SSCs with other nodes - no luck. 

I was able to do another check and daisy chained the two hubs together via pixelnet out.  Then plugged the second hub into an express.  That worked fine.  Testing the SSC I can see +12v going out to the node. 

Really not sure what the issue could be now.  I am guessing it is the SSCs now since both hubs exibit the same behavior and the ethernet dongle looks to be putting out data based on the fact that DMX output works fine. 

Any ideas out there?   
Here is a pic of the one SSC in case you see something I wired wrong.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Time to start building the zues I guess...

[jnealand]

Have you checked the fuses on the hubs?

[tbone321]

He said that he was getting 12V to the strings which would indicate that the hub fuses are ok.  The fact that the LE is working also shows that the communication between the hubs is also working.  It also shows that the ETD is properly configured with whatever software he is using for the test.  The problem is being narrowed down to the SSC or the string.  The only other thing that it might be is that the is sending out DMX.  I'm not sure how the DMX converter of the hub would respond to DMX on the input.  The easy way to test that would be to plug an LE directly into the ETD and see if it responds to it.  If so, then the ETD is putting out DMX and needs a firmware change.

[galgon]

Actually had some free time today.  So I tried plugging the ETD directly into an express.  No DMX light no flashy (good).  Then took out my Zues 16 kit and soldered it up.  Wired up one node pulled out the SS Utility and amazingly I got the node to be programmed and it lit up.  Went over to vixen and got it to flash and change color.  So I can now firmly say that the ETD is working properly and I have at least 2 working nodes out of the few hundred I have. 

 Back to the Hub/ssc problem... I moved one of the proven nodes over to an SCC.  No lights - but getting 12+ on the output side of the node.   Pulled the SSC chip - replaced with an unused one.  Flashed with firmware from wiki.  Tried to program the SCC - no luck, tried turning on all channels in vixen, no luck.  Gave up on the SSC v4s.  I have a couple v1s from way back when that I never used.  Took the V1 - soldered the pigtail and a working node to it.  Flashed the chip using the V1 firmware from wiki.  Plugged it in and would not program.  Tried vixen with no luck.  Checked power and node is outputting 12+.  Tried swapping ethernet cords around a few different ways to no avail.  I am now really stumped and dont really know how to troubleshoot anymore.  Clearly the hub and/or the ssc is the problem but what is the likelihood that both of the hubs and both of the different versions of SSC would have the same problem? 

Perhaps I am just color blind and I have the two orange data inputs mixed up? 

[tbone321]

If the nodes are working and you are seeing 12V on the nodes while connected to the SSC connected to the hub, then the issue appears to be with the SSC.  It could be an issue with the firmware or something is not working when you are trying to program them.  The fact that you never seem to get the flashing light when programing could be caused by either issue.

[txag2008]

Check out this post where I had a similar issue.
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Is it possibly the issue is the firmware you're putting on the SSC?