Absolutely Noob

[Dforney]

I apologize for what may be a very basic question. I am brand new to all this and very frustrated. I have a HollidayCoral HinksPix Pro control with extender. For this first season I only have two props, a Mega Tree and a Star. The Controller is all set up, I have created a sequence in X-Lights and I just made my first test playing it through the controller, I can see from the two strands I have plugged in it is working. My only problem is it will not play unless I have a Cat5 cable going from my router to the controller. I tried plugging in an Ethernet cable from my laptop to the controller and nothing happens.

Do I have to run a Cat5 cable from my router all the way outside where the tree will go to make this work?

I understand the controller has the capability to run stand alone via an SD card how ever I have a radio transmitter that requires a 3.5 mm audio plug input.

Is there anyway to run this thing from my laptop so I can also broadcast music?

Sorry for the lack of brevity.
Dforney

 

[xGROMx]

I am not familiar with the hinks but this is basic info on networking. It sounds like you have not setup a static IP of your device and the device is relying on your Router, the DHCP Server, to assign it an IP. Also, you may not be able to connect directly to your device with your laptop with out a "Cross Over Cable", you may need to use a small Network Switch between the two. Also your laptop will need a static IP set also.

With all this said, it may be easier for a temporary time to run a router line to your device. Its not uncommon, I also use a laptop to run my show and audio not a PI.