P2 acting weird

[Madko]

Can you post a photo of your layout? Maybe a visual could help us.

 

[kane]

I was using connector but I changed to wiring it directly to the pixels and skipping the connector. I also just tried a whole new PS, cat5 cable, new wiring and still nothing.

Have you tried a different set of pixels (or perhaps cutting off the first couple and trying from the third one in), just in case the first pixel is damaged? When first playing with pixels, I trashed at least half a dozen pixels when doing all my testing.

 

[fasteddy]

What strip is this, is this 2801 strip as there have been issues with the data and the clock markings on the board being incorrect and swapped around.

Also make sure you dont connect or disconnect pixels when the power is on as this can damage the first pixel. This seems to happen especially with the 2811 ive used in the past.

 

[Lost sol]

I have tried several different strips and modules. If it's 12v it won't work.

They are 2811 strips and modules. I always try to make sure to kill the power before hooking up new stuff. I emailed Ed and this seems to have him baffled as well.

 

[fasteddy]

So does the heart beat LED light up on the controller board when its in 12vdc mode, if not then sounds like a voltage regulator issue.

 

[Lost sol]

The board lights up just as it should. Standard fast blink on start up and reboot and going to the slower blink after a few seconds.

 

[kane]

I have tried several different strips and modules. If it's 12v it won't work.

They are 2811 strips and modules. I always try to make sure to kill the power before hooking up new stuff. I emailed Ed and this seems to have him baffled as well.

Is this the only pixel controller you've got? Would be good to rule out wiring issues by hooking up those strips to another controller (seems like you've been able to eliminate everything else!)

Bit of a baffling one!

Perhaps to give us something fresh to think about, are you able to post a photo of the board (so all jumpers are viewable), as well as screenshots of the config screens?

 

[David_AVD]

Are you absolutely sure that you have 2801 strip? Can you see the IC markings?

 

[Lost sol]

I do have another P2 so just for fun I tried it. Same problem. I went ahead and changed ALL of the wiring and I can't get them to work on 12v. Both work fine at 5v. Now I just think my house is possessed. Here is a pic of the board.

 

[Lost sol]

David - I don't have 2801, I have 2811. No clock wire.

 

[Madko]

Have you tried re-loading firmware?
Also double check all cables connections are actually tight. Also can you get your multimeter onto the terminals of 1 and 2 and see if you are actually getting 12V output to your pixels?

 

[David_AVD]

OK, for 2811 there are two different speed versions. Your strips may be a different speed than the strings.

 

[Lost sol]

I run power for the strips from the PS, not from the controller so no issue there. I did reload the firmware thinking it might be corrupt. I have tried speeds between 2500 and 3000. I will try lower.

 

[David_AVD]

Some 2811 are 400KHz and some are 800KHz from memory. I can't remember which one corresponds to the 3000 speed setting. Maybe try 1500 or so assuming the strip is 400KHz ?

 

[Lost sol]

Well after lots of messing around the past few days I finally got one of the controllers to work on 12v. Not sure what the issue was as I didn't change anything I had been doing. Crisis has been averted. Thanks for all the inputs and suggestions.