E682 to PC communication loss

[Timmy]

I have a e682 to control a pixel tree. I have been running tests on the tree. My communication between the computer and e682 stops working randomly. It seems that the only way for me to get the controller to work again is to reconnect the internet and access the e682 setup page. I don't have to make any changes, just re-accessing the page gets the controller to work again. I do not have the show computer connected to the internet. I am currently using the tree to display a pink ribbon in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness. I have Xlights scheduler running to cut off at 23:00 and this morning it was still on when I got up. I tried to use Xlights to turn it off and it would not work. I ended up pulling the power plug to the controller to turn it off. Any suggestions as to what could be causing the loss of communication between the PC and controller?
Thanks in advance

 

[lizardking]

i am no expert but is windows timing out the controller page due to inactivity like if you dont move your mouse or press any keys your pc goes into hibernation mode

 

[Timmy]

I am not sure. This is my regular show computer with LOR and I have all settings set that I know of to not time out. It has worked fine with those for years but I am new to pixels.

 

[Kitman]

I have also setup an e682 for my mega tree, however I haven't run the tests for an extended period of time so I can't say I have seen this same issue.


1 thing that may be causing an issue and I can't fully remember off the top of my head, but I believe there is a setting on the e682 where you can turn on or off auto updating, it could be possible that it is set to auto update and because it can't connect to the internet it falls over and stops working, possibly changing that setting to never check might resolve your issue.


Again this is from memory but that might be something to check.

 

[Timmy]

That sounds like it could be an issue. I will check that this evening after work. Thank you.

 

[Timmy]

I looked for the auto check option to turn it off and couldn't find it. My board is at 4.051 and the only option I see is a button to click to update firmware. Not sure what's going on.

 

[Kitman]

I was pretty sure I saw something about an auto update on mine I must have been looking at something else, however I will double check mine on the weekend and see if I can see the option.


Another thing to check is the time out setting, as per the manual for the board.


"Timeout may be set to any value in the range of 0 or 2‐99. If non‐zero, and if incoming data stops, all of the controller outputs will be turned off after the selected number of seconds of delay. If set to 0 this feature is disabled. There is a known issue with 4.033 firmware that will cause pixel flicker if timeout is set to 1."


If you have a value set and it loses connection then it will turn off all outputs, might be an issue?? Otherwise do you have a spare E682 board that you can try?

 

[Timmy]

I do have another board. I didn't think to try that. I'm pretty sure I have the timeout set to 0. I will double check tonight.

 

[Kitman]

Atleast that way you can eliminate the board as a possible source of issue and start working on what else may be causing the problem, computer, scheduler, network cabling, switch etc.


Exactly the same reason I purchased 2 boards so I can swap them out if 1 starts doing funny things, swapping a board is quicker than trying to find the fault sometimes.


Atleast a few more things you can try to help nut out the issue before the big show starts.

 

[Timmy]

I believe I found the culprit... After much searching I found a video that helped me figure out that my show computer was not set as a static i.p. address. After changing that, the system seems to be working exactly as it is supposed to. Thanks to everyone for the help and a big thanks to Clyde of Leechburg Lights for taking the time to create helpful how to videos for newcomers.