Mega Tree issue

[Pyjamas]

Hi everyone,
I was hoping someone may have an idea on the problem I have, and if it's fixable.

Testing my megatree and I have lights that do not light up on strings 1 and 2 (controller ports 1 & 2).

Now, the lights work, because if I switch ports 1 & 2 with 3 & 4 I get the same pixels not working on 3 & 4 but everything works on 1 & 2.

I'm trying to work out if this is a channel issue, or is this a controller port issue?

My tree details are:
- 4 strings, 4 strands per string, 144 nodes per string
- Running on F16V3 ports 1-4




Any help appreciated!

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Notenoughlights]

Do Falcon controllers have a test mode like FPP does? Could you run test mode across all channels to confirm your setup is at least told to output to leds on those strings?

 

[Pyjamas]

Yeah that was running colour wash through test mode on the F16V3 so shouldn't be affected by my show setup or anything like that

 

[Skymaster]

Now, the lights work, because if I switch ports 1 & 2 with 3 & 4 I get the same pixels not working on 3 & 4 but everything works on 1 & 2.

This statement seems to contradict itself.
If pixel strands 1 and 2 don't work on Ports 1 & 2, and then you switch it to 3 & 4 and they still don't work, that would imply the pixels themselves are at fault
If Strings 3 and 4 work fine on Ports 1 and 2, then the controller is correctly outputting data on all four ports.

 

[Pyjamas]

Sorry, I may have confused things trying to explain it. If I plug the faulty strings into port 3 & 4 on the falcon all the lights work normally and light up

 

[Skymaster]

Gotcha. And if you plug the two good strings from 3 & 4 into 1 & 2, you're getting the same behaviour - partial illumination?

 

[Pyjamas]

Gotcha. And if you plug the two good strings from 3 & 4 into 1 & 2, you're getting the same behaviour - partial illumination?

Yep, the exact pattern of partial illumination just switches to the other strings

 

[Skymaster]

I'm counting exactly 20 nodes lit up on both strings. Sounds very much like something "default" despite you having the strings configured correctly.
Have you tried uploading outputs from xLights again to see if that resolves the issue?

 

[Pyjamas]

I'm counting exactly 20 nodes lit up on both strings. Sounds very much like something "default" despite you having the strings configured correctly.
Have you tried uploading outputs from xLights again to see if that resolves the issue?

I did repeat the upload of the output strings but I didn’t clear everything first, I just repeated the upload. I have considered resetting the falcon completely but haven’t got that far yet

 

[BAZMick]

Change your last 3x ports 14-16 too start on channel 6340 and pixel count as 1. Your getting channel overlaps

 

[Skymaster]

The other alternative as a test is to manually adjust the outputs page on the falcon. Set it to 20 pixels on port 1 and 2. Run the test. THen up it to 50 pixels, 100 pixels, then your final count. Just to see if it changes.
If that all works, then you know the controller is behaving. Do another upload from xLights after the test, and see if that breaks it.

 

[Skymaster]

Change your last 3x ports 14-16 too start on channel 6340 and pixel count as 1. Your getting channel overlaps

Well spotted. Ignore my reply above.

Have you got xLights controller definition set to "Full xLights Control" ?

 

[Pyjamas]

I did repeat the upload of the output strings but I didn’t clear everything first, I just repeated the upload. I have considered resetting the falcon completely but haven’t got that far yet

It’s also in unusual pattern. The first 20, then 120-140 in sting #1, then 47 onwards on string #2 work fine

 

[Pyjamas]

Change your last 3x ports 14-16 too start on channel 6340 and pixel count as 1. Your getting channel overlaps

I’ll try this, didn’t even click that would be the problem

 

[Skymaster]

It’s also in unusual pattern. The first 20, then 120-140 in sting #1, then 47 onwards on string #2 work fine

That matches to the channel overlaps that @BAZMick mentions above.
20 pixels = 60 channels. String 15 starts on channel 61 and goes through to channel 210. Then String 16 starts at 210 and goes to 360 = pixel 120