Gremlin is back

[Aurbo99]

Greetings again,

I've been revisited by that little gremlin that keeps flashing my channels on at random intervals, before, during and after any sequence I run.

As I type this, Vixen sits empty of any sequences loaded and the 4 test strings I am using are glowing brightly.

Load up a sequence, they shut off but will start randomly igniting after 4 seconds..

Run the sequence, they still randomly fire off especially if the channel remains off for more than 4 seconds..

Stop the sequence, they still ignite and stay on after a random few seconds.

My Grinch is sitting beside me inside, a tested 6 foot cable connects it to the printer port, the rs232 connector to cat 5 adapter is wired correctly, triple checked..

I added 5volt regulated psu to the grinch, its being powered by a 9vdc 500ma psu.

3 different cat5 cables all double checked have eliminated any wiring issues.

The SSROZ is functioning correctly as far as I can tell. all 32 of them exihibit the same results. I cant see all 32 SSROZ's being faulty in exactly the same way.

I tried a background script to keep the lights turned off, its running in the bottom left of the vixen screen.

Can someone confirm the following please.

Does this script look correct to keep the lights off:

void Start() {
Off(All, Every(1).Seconds);
WaitOnTimers();
}

Olsen959 for the plugin-- I am using a Grinch.
Preview is not enabled for this test.

I have renamed all my channels from "channel 1" etc to "channel_1" to try to avoid any scripting errors.

Printer port set to EPP only in computer Bios.

Disconnected the computer from internet, router, fax, and all usb peripherals.

Anti-virus turned off.

and finally, uninstalled Vixen 2.0.4 and re-installed it with the updates.


Anyone care to take a stab at this before I launch it out the back door?

/frustrated beyond belief...

I am already 3 days past my intended lights on date.

[Josh]

probably already been told this, but have you tried EPP ECP and all the other paralllel port modes your bios offers?

EPP is somewhat standard on working the best, but really, its up to each computer which one it works best with.

also i am no genuis on scripts, but the one i saw for all off was longer than that, that may still be acceptable, but im sure there is another one people use... ill look and get back to you

[Aurbo99]

I'll try the different port modes in bios..

I plugged all 32 strings of lights in and ran a 3:42 time song with alternating light sequences.. once the song ends, this is the result... timed to +/- half a second..

5 seconds off, All lights blink once
9 seconds off, all lights blink once
5 seconds off, all lights blink once
5 seconds off, all lights blink once
9 seconds off, all lights blink once
5 seconds off, all lights blink once
5 seconds off, all lights blink once
9 seconds off, all lights blink once
5 seconds off, all lights blink once
5 seconds off, all lights blink once
9 seconds off, all lights blink once
Over and over...


I must be getting paranoid! 595, 595, 595, 595......... Am I being told something?

[Aurbo99]

OK ,

I feel like my own training aid tonight..

Bios port set to STANDARD..

Hardware settings set to "accept any interrupt assigned to the port" for my LPT1 port

Make 500% sure you use the EXACT channel names in your script as you have in your sequences..

I change the script sequence to trigger off every 500 milliseconds.

One small flash at the end of the sequence and then it stays OFF!

[biffklg]

so is it fixed?

[Aurbo99]

Yeppers!

My display goes live tomorrow at 6pm AST.

Just need to start getting more sequences .. the 8 I currently have will get stale fast I think.

[Aurbo99]

Dunno whats wrong,

The random blinks are back. /sigh

Checking all my connections again!

EPP set on the bios. I found that last nights "fix" was not a fix.

I can identify each string, but its still random blinks even with the "Test Channels" feature controlling the lights.

Channel_21 is my Eve_blue lights.. identified with Test channels, when I select channel 21 to turn on in my sequence, I get channel 13 instead.

One question I must ask:

All my strings are standard outdoor minilights,

In the middle of all those is a single LED string.. could that throw everything off? The LED string is a separate channel, Channel 24.

I'm at a total loss here.

[biffklg]

Are you running only 1 grinch or several? Do you have the jumper in the correct position for the board id. Try using the simple 595 plugin and see if that makes a difference. Make sure you "setup" your 595 plug-in for the correct amount of channels also.

I am just throwing things out there to check. I know the first time I hooked up a controller I had similar problems but I don't recall what I did to fix them.

[Aurbo99]

I have 22 of 24 channels currently installed, the other 2 come online tonight.

I have been using 32 channels as a "default" setting when I set up my plugins, scripts and channel id's.

I hoped it might be the PSU to the grinch, but with a regulated 5vdc circuit added, the only thing in that area I can think of is not enough, or too much mA
the power supply is 9vdc at 300mA. which should give me regulated 5vdc at 300mA

The background script to keep all the light strings off seems to be doing its job, AFTER the sequence ends. The random flashing occurs only when running a sequence, that was noticed after switching each channel on for 1 second in order to make sure the channels actually worked, and the displays are placed in the right order.

The random flashing is hard to detect when a very active sequence is running, but when a more relaxed, slow sequence plays, the random flashing really shows up.

I dont see anything wrong in the Preview sequence when testing inside, turn it off and let the plugin take control of the lights and it starts.

I changed my bios to EPP.

I have only more set of Allegro's to swap out. I did that last night. no change in glitches.


setup:
Grinch, 5vdc300mA regulated supply.
Allegro chips are cool to teh touch while operating for 30 minutes.
1 string of lights on each channel, no long chains. only 1 of 24 channels run an LED string.
All displays are within 50 feet of the Grinch, cat5 cables are no longer than 70 feet.
All SSROZ's checked indoors and out for single channel and group channel functions.
Never had a short, trip or other electrical hazard appear.
Biggest channel load on any extension cord is 8 channels - Candy Cane lights, about 80 lights total.
Biggest light count load on any extension cord is 400 mini lights or ~ 10 amps off a 15amp circuit.

Clues?

[Aurbo99]

Are you running only 1 grinch or several? Do you have the jumper in the correct position for the board id. Try using the simple 595 plugin and see if that makes a difference. Make sure you "setup" your 595 plug-in for the correct amount of channels also.

I am just throwing things out there to check. I know the first time I hooked up a controller I had similar problems but I don't recall what I did to fix them.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try anything at this point.

- Only 1 Grinch, populated for 32 channels the remaining traces are empty.
- No board ID used with Grinch (that I'm aware of)
- I'll try the Simple595 and see if that works.
- I'll rebuild my plugin to control ONLY 24 of the 32 channels.

[Aurbo99]

Re-Checked all my cables, connections etc.

Checked my brick psu and it was pushing out 6.57 vdc at the 5vdc setting, replaced it with a new one.

Now pushing 5.35vdc most of the random gliching has settled down,

I completely swapped out my #1 SSRoz unit, but the main error with that still remains. It will flash back on and stay on after sequences are over. even with an all off script running

I can move all my SSROZ's around the Grinch and its consistantly A group channels 1-4 that remain on.

Is it possible to isolate the first group 1-4 channels and block them completely off the setup? If so how? Maybe blocking off 1-4 channels and adding 4 to the count might work

[JetMech]

You may have better luck if you post this in the Grinch Forum.
http://www.christmasinshirley.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=31
As busy as things are this time of year it's hard to keep up with all the posts on the whole site. A lot of people will never see this thread.

John

[biffklg]

I think it has something to do with the fact that your boards are not completely populated. I would finish building your boards and then see how things go..

[FireGod]

The cable between the PC and the board should be as short as possible (5 to 10 cm).

Also try different voltage levels, 4.1 to6.0 VDC.

Make sure ANY electrical noise is at a distance (florescent lamps, fans, motors, any appliances.

Put a very large capacitor (>1000 uF) on the 5 VDC supply to make sure it is nice and smooth.

Do not use a laptop PC, only use a desktop.

Make sure the ground for all the components AND the PC case are tied together.

The 595 I/C is very susceptible to external noise.

[FireGod]

It does not matter if you have not populated the rest of the board. However, make sure that the plugin is configured for the EXACT number of channels that are populated.

[Aurbo99]

The cable between the PC and the board should be as short as possible (5 to 10 cm).

Also try different voltage levels, 4.1 to6.0 VDC.

Make sure ANY electrical noise is at a distance (florescent lamps, fans, motors, any appliances.

Put a very large capacitor (>1000 uF) on the 5 VDC supply to make sure it is nice and smooth.

Do not use a laptop PC, only use a desktop.

Make sure the ground for all the components AND the PC case are tied together.

The 595 I/C is very susceptible to external noise.

Wow! 2-4 inches for the computer to grinch? I'll make one up and try it.

No to any electrical noise,

I'll increase my 100uf to a 1000uf cap

Yes to a desktop, just flashed up my old one to dedicate to the display.

I'll add an external grounding cable to the PC case. Ground the Grinch to the case as well?

Using Allegro IC's on a Grinch board with the 595 plugin on Vixen

Thanks, I'll try it all. Lights are behaving for the most part. Still random glitching but its not overly noticable at the momnet as I am using a random display sequence to hide it between mapped sequences

I did have Background music enabled, but dont ever recall setting up any.
Went back through my individual channel strings and corrected an oversight of a once spare channel not properly identified. Changed all of channel names as a result.

[FireGod]

Yes, ground the Grinch to the PC case just to make sure everything has the same ground reference.

Noise on the parallel port is a problem.

[Aurbo99]

So, just run a wire from the round hole on Grinch J2 pin and run it to the PC case?

I would have thought that pin 3 on your "In" RJ45 connection is supplying the grounding from pins 18thru25 on the LPT port.

[FireGod]

I have found that the PC case is not always connected to the LPT port ground. I guess just do what you need to do or test it with an ohm meter. It is one of the things I would do if I was having the same problem.

My assumption is that Vixen is not sending these commands. I am under the assumption that it is noise from the LPT port, nd I would be doing everything I could to reduce or eliminate that noise. Having everything with the same ground reference is a basic step to eliminating noise.

[Aurbo99]

Grinch group "G" , my last SSROZ group was acting up badly. I moved the connection to "H" and left "G" without a connection. The system began to behave. I'll inspect "G for a bad solder/trace/connection after the display is taken down.

I took advantage of the mild weather today to inspect all cables, test them in the yard, and all is good out there.

FYI Red plastic Folgers Coffee cans work great as weatherproof shelters for the SSRO'Z modules, you dont really notice them under a mini tree or lined up behind the real bushes.

Confirmed and corrected a few mis-identified channels that may have caused confusion.. when you look at Candy_Cane_1 and trigger it on, and Mini_Tree_16 ignites.. something got mis labeled. Fixing that took some of the apparent glitching out as well.

Took my spare computer with a 3" cable from computer to Grinch, set it all up in the garage and ported all my sequences to it. Its running now with very minor gemlins. Channels 1-4 still ignite randomly. All_Off_Script handled them all so far.


Merry Christmas everyone!

[Aurbo99]

Closing this thread off to say the gremlins vanished once I used a small 10 inch Cat5 cable between the LPT adapter and the In on the Grinch. I also did not use channels 25-28 (Group G) and instead used 29-32(Group H)

I ended up taking a small plywood board and mounting the Grinch enclosure on and stapling the cat5 cables to it to prevent any movement.

Thanks to all that helped.