Weird behaviour with Enttec Pro MkII

RoderickvG · Post by **RoderickvG** » Fri Aug 11, 2017 12:13 pm

A couple of days ago the HHD on my show MacBook Pro ceased. After installing a new HDD, OSX etc. I have a problem with LXConsole.
A soon as I activate a single channel, everything goes nuts. Channels flashing randomly and I am unable to control anything. All channels remain active (underlined) and there is nothing I can do.
Tested the Enttec interface on other computers, no problems.
Tried uninstalling LXConsole, delete all references in library, no difference
Close to pulling my hair out, it was all working well until the crash, now I have to look for other options to finish a show I am designing.

Any suggestions how to fix this?

Roderick

Post by **admin** » Fri Aug 11, 2017 3:13 pm

It sounds like a driver issue with the ENTTEC interface. Just to clarify, the display on LXConsole does not show random channels flashing, it is just the output that is erratic(?)

What version of LXConsole, OS-X are you using?

What driver are you using for the ENTTEC interface? On the latest versions of OS X, you need to have D2XX Helper installed to use the D2XX driver. You can find this on the FTDI website.

The connection you have selected will be found in the Preferences->DMX Info tab. It must match the driver.

You should be able to download ProManager from the ENTTEC website in order to test the interface with your reconstructed Mac.

RoderickvG · Post by **RoderickvG** » Sat Aug 12, 2017 6:34 am

Running OSx 10.8.5 and LXConsole 5.1.

In preferences it still shows D2XX as the driver and I can't deselect that.
Deleted all the drivers I could find but D2XX is still there, somewhere.
As is the weird behaviour.

There is a pattern in it which makes me think that it is more like a script running somewhere.

Running PRO-manager shows the dongle but then instantly crashes. It must be a problem with the driver but I can't find how to remove them to start from scratch.
Fully aware this is an OS problem and not a LXConsole problem but will appreciate any help and suggestions.

RoderickvG · Post by **RoderickvG** » Sat Aug 12, 2017 7:51 am

Update.
Manually installed the D2XX drivers (yeay), version 1.4.4

Small improvement, I now can control channels through LXConsole but there is still a mystery script running a chase over the top to all other channels. The is a pattern in the chase so I can only think the somewhere the script is triggered as soon as it sees DMX at the USB port.
And it continues even when I close down LXConsole.

Post by **admin** » Sat Aug 12, 2017 6:21 pm

Assuming the chase is regular and repeats predictably, it is more likely to be created by some controlling software rather than being the result of bad DMX cabling and lack of proper termination. However, that's a distinct possibility if the chase is somewhat random.

The ENTTEC DMX USB Pro Mk2 has an ability to store scenes (which is not supported by LXConsole). I'm not aware of it being able to run a chase. So, it is unlikely that it is making the chase on its own. It will, however, continue to output a DMX scene even after LXConsole is closed. So, if that scene is causing random flashing due to a bad cable of lack of termination, that could continue after you quit the LXConsole application.

LXConsole completely closes its connection when it quits. So, it is not possible that it is creating the chase if it is not running. I'm not sure that it is possible for another application would be able to control the connection to the ENTTEC box at the same time as LXConsole. But, that would explain thing if another application was running a chase. (I'm guessing that you'd know about this and you either don't have any other software running or have tried quitting it.)

The simplest thing to do is to isolate the DMX output so it goes via a single cable from the ENTTEC box to a single device and see if the chase persists or if it could be from a bad cable/bad termination. Using microphone cable instead of 120 ohm DMX cable can easily lead to random reflections in the DMX signal.

RoderickvG · Post by **RoderickvG** » Mon Aug 14, 2017 6:28 am

Still going round in circles...

It must be something with the drivers for the Mac because when I plug the whole thing into a PC running M-PC everything behaves normally.

Not having too much success completely removing the D2XX driver. I think I have deleted everything but even after rebooting the driver still shows up in DMX Info.
Any advise on how to completely strip the driver so that I can start from scratch will be much appreciated.

Post by **admin** » Mon Aug 14, 2017 1:15 pm

The D2XX driver is located in /usr/local/lib.

In a terminal window type:

cd /usr/local/lib

Then type:

ls

This will list the contents of the directory. The D2XX driver used by LXConsole is named:

libftd2xx.1.2.2.dylib

You can delete any d2xx files you find in this directory and re-install LXConsole. If you also have VCP drivers installed, they can interfere with the D2XX driver. I'm not sure if OSX 10.8 has an Apple driver for the FTDI chip or not. If so, you'll want to disable that as well as removing any FTDI VCP driver you have installed.

RoderickvG · Post by **RoderickvG** » Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:38 am

Thank you so much, that finally did the trick!

Had to use the administrator password to be able to delete the files.
There were several drivers in that folder which I can only assume caused the problem.

Back on the job now with your help!