DMX problem : logs say it works but it dont

Hi everyone,


I'm testing my new USB to DMX interface and some new lights. I'm totally new into DMX so I'm experiencing some trouble with it.

I'm using an Eurolite USB DMX512 PRO Interface cable and a Fun Generation LED Pot RGB WW, which I successfully tested with a physical controller.

Here's the content of my hardware.ini :

[hardware]
device = DMX512SerialDevice 
port = COM7
[channels]
Cabin = 1,2,3,4
# Main - Game launched
[state]
condition = Always
target = Cabin
value = 255, 166, 50, 168  # purple light

And here's the log when I'm lauching the server. As far as I understand them it looks like my USB to DMX interface is located :

[INFO] New hardware device: DMX512SerialDevice with: 512 channels
[INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4: 1
[INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4: 2
[INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4: 3
[INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4: 4
[INFO] Hardware subsystem initialized with: 512 channels

The problem is there is no light at all when I'm starting the game or a new server. As my light is working with the physical controller it should comes from the USB interface. Do you have an idea of what could happens and how to solve it ?


Thanks a lot !

Arktus

Comments

  • First off, does it work with other software? Thst would be a good starting point to check.

    Also the DMX512SerialDevice is really simple, it has no way to check if there is hardware connected other then opening the port. But the port might not even be your hardware. If you do not connect it and then start EE do you get an error?

  • Also note that this type of DMX512 device is extremely simple. The software is responsible for a lot of low level DMX512 timing. So it could be an incompatibility with EEs implementation an your specific light.

  • Hello daid,

    I created a fixture for the light in Freestyler and it is working perfectly fine.

    If I unplug the USB interface I'm getting an error (I tried with 8 channels, as I did in the fixture) :

    [WARN] Failed to open: COM7
    [ERROR] Failed to open port: COM7 for DMX512SerialDevice
    [ERROR] Failed to configure device: DMX512SerialDevice
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 1
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 2
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 3
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 4
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 5
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 6
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 7
    [INFO] Channel #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: 8
    [INFO] Hardware subsystem initialized with: 0 channels
    

    When I'm checking in the Device manager, the USB to DMX interface well appears in the COM7 port (sorry my computer is in french, so the printscreen too) :


  • After several tests and trying different configuration this is still not working.

    I'll probably give up on using DMX devices and stick with my Hue lights, which are working nicely !

    However thanks for having taken the time to help !

    Tus

  • The problem is, I do not have this kind of hardware. So I'm fully depended on other people figuring out what the issue is, and can only give some pointers. (And it's a bit too expensive for me to buy just for figuring out why it's not working)

    One thing you could still try is setting the device to "EnttecDMXProDevice", to see if it's by chance compatible with that instead of the standard "DMX512SerialDevice"

  • I fully understand the issue due to not having physically the device to test (and moreover the cost it would be to buy every device just to test them ^^). EE is already fantastic enough to live without these lights working :D

    I tried with all the device settings available but no one is working on.

  • I just hope nobody is specifically buying equipment to use with EE and then finding out it doesn't work...

  • I did it but because the company where I purchased offers a refund even if you tried the equipment. So it is not very important if it doesn't worked :)

  • I just hope nobody is specifically buying equipment to use with EE and then finding out it doesn't work...

    Oh well you're going to be disappointed in us!

    I bought the usb-dmx cable I mentioned in another thread just for this and it didn't work and then I bought a hue light set that my wife ended up liking so much it's now part of our home and isn't allowed to go to events 😁

    I'm currently eyeing up this one from Enttec:

    but it is a lot of money for something that might not work. Does anyone else know anything about that one?

  • I'm considering buying the cheapest option from Aliexpress, and making sure that works. At $10-$15 it's pretty cheap for the USB to DMX512. And cheapest lights are ~$20 (the lights are pretty expensive)

    I think these cheap cables are using the uDMX protocol that wasn't working in the other topic: https://bridgesim.net/index.php?p=/discussion/475/another-dmx-newbie-has-hit-a-wall


    My main issue with it is, I can build this a lot cheaper myself, with just some microcontroller and a bunch of WS2812B leds.

  • My main issue with it is, I can build this a lot cheaper myself, with just some microcontroller and a bunch of WS2812B leds.

    That's interesting. So would that be using the HTTP Server to communicate with the microcontroller?

  • IIRC daid mentioned once he built a dmx controller with arduino, which is how he tested the dmx stuff.

  • edited March 2020

    Depends. I could grab an ESP32 or ESP8266 and use the http server or the "sACNDevice" hardware device (DMX512 over UDP)

    Other option would be to grab an Arduino or STM32 development board, use USB Serial with the "EnttecDMXProDevice", as that serial protocol would be easy to implement on the microcontroller side. (The "DMX512SerialDevice" will be harder as that depends more on timing)

    And, for the ultra-cheap option. You can get a digispark (ATTiny85 with software USB) for $1.50 from aliexpress. And in theory the uDMX firmware should be able to run on that (but does not by default, as it was made for the ATMega8, and heavily outdated so it no longer builds with newer compilers)


    EDIT: As for LEDs, a strip of WS2812B (RGB LEDs with individual color control per LED) can be bought for $10 or even less if you do not want many LEDs.

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