What's the status of the SHELLNZ matrix diagnosis?

arw01

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Dec 30, 2013
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Does it live with no twitching (flicker) or is the doctor still consulting the other doctors?


Curious minds want to know to avoid the same issue someday!


Alan
 

arw01

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HA! I suspected a different controller would not have the problem right away. will see long term if I was correct..


Alan
 

bluzervic

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Fremont, Calif.
So... then....do we know why the controller was not working under all this stress ?


I would be curious from a hardware perspective what this Hardware did not have verses the 6804 or a P12S
So.... I will test it out myself when I get my board in the next week or so...


-Blu
 

davrus

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Jan 9, 2014
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Whitianga
This has me worried.
I am just starting, and have one and only one controller, and I chose the one that I thought was the most advanced, and would serve me for many years. (I also chose it because it can also be a 4 x DMX bridge, as well as the very powerful pixel control aspects.)
Yes, I have the same controller as ShellNZ.
ShellNZ had trouble getting hers started. I was following the beginning on chat, but had to leave before a solution or cause was found.
Mine arrived the next day, but I had no troubles getting it running. All OK out of the box.
But I don't have a large matrix ... well, not yet. That is in a couple of months. Fingers crossed.
 

ltay13

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We believe we know what the problem is but just waiting for Shell to try something out. Assuming it does work out I'll post back with some interesting info.
 

Devo

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The controller is solid David, and we are very confident that it will serve you well for many years to come.

If our suspicions prove correct, Shell's particular issue will be fully resolved with a simple firmware update.
 

ltay13

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Great news Shell. Contrary to common perception, it turns out the WS2812 protocol is not exactly the same as the WS2811 (but close). The WS2812B protocol is even more different (but also close). So when some of the strips in Shell's matrix were WS2812B they were flickering because the WS2811 timing was a bit too far off for them.


Turns out WS2812B timing will drive WS2811 and WS2812 strips fine (they have kind of gone the opposite of backwards compatibility) - so we have updated the firmware on the PixLite to run WS2812B spec. This means WS2811, WS2812 and WS2812B will all run fine off that 1 protocol now.
 
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