da_E131: Test utility for E1.31 systems

I've thought about it and implemented in version 1.2.0.0 available now.

I still need to do some more work "under the hood" to fix the sequence numbers, but the DR4, etc ignore that part of the packet anyway.

With the new universe range feature, it would be wise to not go crazy and make the start - end range too large. It should work ok with 10 or so (1..10 or 111..120, etc) difference between start and end. Setting large ranges will effectively lock the app up. I'll look at adding limits to it tonight.
 
OK, version 1.3.0.0 is available for download.

I've added a settings window (saves to an XML file) as well as a universe window that shows the level of each channel in decimal, hex or percent.

Also new is a set of 12 faders with a settable start channel so you can do experiments with colour mixing, etc.

I've also added settings for the packet priority and start code. Feedback welcomed! :)
 
I like the tabbed pages now, it's much clearer as to what "mode" you are in. Also moving off the less common stuff like the mutli-universe output to the settings cleans it up a fair bit. Good job!
 
Unless I just can't find it, I don't see a location for IP address which the utility targets. I'm guessing it's hard coded to 10.10.10.10? It might be good to have it ping the ECG looking for a target before startup with a warning if it can't find it at 10.10.10.10 and then the option to enter the correct IP.

I can't seem to get 1.2.0 or 1.3.0 working against a DR4 - all my past testing had been performed with an ECG8 which worked fine. This DR4 is running 1.3.0 firmware. It has the little SEQ# at the bottom changing but nothing outputs on the DR4. I then tested output with the TP3244 (application) test button and it worked, then i checked it with the "test output" of LSP and it worked also, so the DR4 and the TP3244 are working correctly. If it helps, I am also on another machine which is 32-bit Windows 7, my show machine which the testing was done on was a Windwos 7 64-bit, both have seperate NIC cards.

Another suggestion (not sure how far you want to take this test tool) is to have multi-cast and uni-cast as an option. This would help people who may have hub/switch issues identify problems.
 
I haven't changed anything with the IP and port numbers. I'm sending to port 5568 at IP address 239.255.0.1 as per the E1.31 standard. That is the multicast address.

Version 1.3.0.0 has not been tested on actual hardware as my DR4 is at work. All other versions were tested with hardware though.

I'm not sure what the changes in the DR4 firmware are in terms of multicast / unicast.

I can add IP / port controls for you to try if you'd like ?
 
David_AVD said:
I haven't changed anything with the IP and port numbers. I'm sending to port 5568 at IP address 239.255.0.1 as per the E1.31 standard. That is the multicast address.

Version 1.3.0.0 has not been tested on actual hardware as my DR4 is at work. All other versions were tested with hardware though.

I'm not sure what the changes in the DR4 firmware are in terms of multicast / unicast.

I can add IP / port controls for you to try if you'd like ?
Click to expand...

That makes sense that you'd be using MultiCast (no direct configuration of the IP.) I wonder if the problem I am having is specific to the NIC hardware or configuration of the NIC? The output of the NIC is direct to the DR4 (out in my shop). I'm now thinking that adding unicast might not be such a bad idea, esp if people have problems with hubs and want to exclude that as a possible source of problems.
 
from what I remember that I observed it appears that the source device start IP address is 239.255.0.1 and that IP increments based on the Universe.





dmoore said:
Unless I just can't find it, I don't see a location for IP address which the utility targets. I'm guessing it's hard coded to 10.10.10.10? It might be good to have it ping the ECG looking for a target before startup with a warning if it can't find it at 10.10.10.10 and then the option to enter the correct IP.

I can't seem to get 1.2.0 or 1.3.0 working against a DR4 - all my past testing had been performed with an ECG8 which worked fine. This DR4 is running 1.3.0 firmware. It has the little SEQ# at the bottom changing but nothing outputs on the DR4. I then tested output with the TP3244 (application) test button and it worked, then i checked it with the "test output" of LSP and it worked also, so the DR4 and the TP3244 are working correctly. If it helps, I am also on another machine which is 32-bit Windows 7, my show machine which the testing was done on was a Windwos 7 64-bit, both have seperate NIC cards.

Another suggestion (not sure how far you want to take this test tool) is to have multi-cast and uni-cast as an option. This would help people who may have hub/switch issues identify problems.
Click to expand...
 
Was using my da_E131 software today and wondered if anyone had any bug reports or ideas to make it more useful.
 
David_AVD said:
Was using my da_E131 software today and wondered if anyone had any bug reports or ideas to make it more useful.
Click to expand...
As previously mentioned, a web interface built in would be handy. Then, you could load up a page on an iphone (or handheld of choice), and turn channels on and off (from the yard).. I think this would be really useful to diagnosing issues during setup.

Also, does it support multicast?
 
I cant fault the da_E131, i run it on windows, or under wine on my linux system.
A web Interface would be cool tho.
Also i noticed if da_E131 is open (not doing anything tho) an i try an run Vixen, weird things happen (like strobing of the lights)
is there anyway for the App to detect if another program is outputting data, for it to close down or semi close till that app stops transmitting data?
just some working idea's
Alec
 
Version 1.5.0.0 of da_E131 is now available. Changes are the ability to step back and reset count in the chaser.
 
David -


first time i looked at it. cute little program. may need to work on multicast interface list stuff. some people could have problems like we talked about last night. i can show you the code in the vixen plugin that enumerates the interfaces and let's you select one.


i'm confused with the row numbers on the view data screen. i believe should be 00, 01, 02, 03, .... 1f


you have 00,10,20,30, ... f0, 10,11,12, ... 1f

best might be 00x, 01x, ... 1fx


-Ed
 
I must say I didn't really think about multiple interfaces when I wrote it. If you could email me the code to get the idea that would be great.

I was going to change the row labels to 00x, etc a couple of versions ago, but must have seen something shiny and forgotten! Will be fixed in next version.
 
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