Vixen 3.0 Enttec Open DMX Output Module

Thank you again Jon!

I download it - and it was exactly that I have installed before.
I used my ENTEC controller on Helloween the first time. That the reason why my FTDI driver was relatively up to date.

Again, when I find out what the problem is, I will let you know.
For now it's its a miracle for me. I never programmed upon COM-Objects.
 
Good day to all!
I have a clone of the Enttec Open DMX is made on the chip FTDI FT232RL.
The clone works fine on computer with Windows 7 home basic x64 but does not work (no output) on Windows 8.1 x64 SLE.
On both computers installed Vixen 3.2u2 (64-bit) and the FTDI driver 2.12.14 from the same distribution.
When connecting the controller to my Windows 8.1 computer in device Manager I see the device USB Serial Port and USB Serial Converter.
The port settings are the same on Win 7 and Win 8. However, in Win 8 there is no output from the controller.
Please tell me what could be the problem?
 
If it is a known clone, you almost certainly have run into the situation where the ftdi driver will not output on clone devices. It's easier to do the old driver workaround on win7 than it is on the win8 and above systems. What dmx devices are you connected to? Does it give any indication of active dmx? If so is it in the form of a fast flickering light that would indicate valid dmx?


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hello, Jon! This is an unknown clone. I connected to the controller one led strip.
On Win 7 everything works fine - the output goes to the strip and indicator on the controller fast flickering immediately after run Vixen.
On Win 8 there is no output, the indicator on the controller is not flickering, although in Device Manager there is two devices: USB Serial Port and USB Serial Converter
In Application.Error.Log I see the following:
04/07/2016 01:17:03 [Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1] Error starting device Asta DMX Open System.Exception: Failed to open FTDI deviceFT_DEVICE_NOT_FOUND
в VixenModules.Controller.OpenDMX.FTDI.start()
в Vixen.Sys.Output.BasicOutputModuleExecutionControl.Start()
в Vixen.Sys.Managers.HardwareUpdateThread.Start()
в Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._StartDevice(T outputDevice)
в Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._Start(T outputDevice) в VixenModules.Controller.OpenDMX.FTDI.start()
в Vixen.Sys.Output.BasicOutputModuleExecutionControl.Start()
в Vixen.Sys.Managers.HardwareUpdateThread.Start()
в Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._StartDevice(T outputDevice)
в Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._Start(T outputDevice)

Also on Win8 the controller is recognized and works with FreeStyler (soft for control lights fixtures)
 
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We were hearing about this problem on win10 systems. I can't say I remember hearing it in a win8 scenario but it makes sense because the driver system is mostly the same in 8 and 10 and different from 7. Vixen uses its own copy of the driver. We do this to prevent driver version conflicts and not require users to install the right drivers on their own. I'll have to check on exactly which version it is. It may be a driver signing issue. I don't know if freestyler uses its own copy as well or if it uses whatever is installed in Windows.
You might try to locate the driver file in the vixen program folder and replace it with the copy found in your windows installation. You'll be searching for something like d2xx.dll or FTd2xx.dll. I forgot the exact name of the file but I know its a dll and has d2xx in the name.
Note that you probably do not want to go out and get a copy from ftdi or Windows update. The most recent versions are known to actively prevent clones from working. Instead try to find it on your computer. You know there's a working copy somewhere because the other program works. So it's just a matter of finding it and putting it where vixen needs it.
Oh and it may be obvious. But make sure to do this with vixen closed and then restart it after you're done doing the swap.


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
By the way: if that works, send me a copy of the good file.


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hello, Jon!
I found 2 version of the driver ftd2xx.dll: in folder …\system32 (308 kb) and in folder …\SYSWOW64 (267kb). It is strange that the size of the files is different even though in the file properties, I see the same version number (2.12.14.1).
I have consistently tried to replace the file OpenDMX.dll in the folder C:\Program Files\Vixen\Modules\Controller to above files (renaming them in OpenDMX.dll), but it has not brought result.
Moreover native for Vixen OpenDMX.dll has a size of 10 kb.
 
I thought I replied earlier but I guess it didn't go thru.
The two versions in your windows folder are for 32bit and 64bit applications respectively. They're the same version but compiled differently. So that explains the size difference.
I'm going to need to dig deeper. But I think we may actually embed our copy of the driver into another dll file. So in that case it wouldn't be a direct file swap. I thought I remembered seeing the driver file in the folder but I may be remembering it in the source tree instead.
Which vixen build are you using and for which bit version?


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Well I was completely wrong on the driver thing. We do in fact use the standard Windows driver. So that puts us back at the drawing board.
Any chance you have more than one ftdi device in your computer? Or more than one thing that uses that driver even if it's not currently connected?


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yes! I also have an Enttec USB PRO.
The general scheme of software and hardware in the attached image. Sheme.jpg
But!
1.The whole system works in Win7 (this computer is not mine and I can use it only for tests... my computer with Win8).
2.While I checking the work of the Open DMX clone on Win8 I have not physically connected Enttec USB PRO to computer

One more thing! Vixen displays the sequence via USB PRO on Win8 (if I connecting USB PRO instead of the Open DMX clone... I tried it with another profile), but I need to use the USB PRO input in a different place in my scheme for start Beyond timeline.
 
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Yay! With 32 bit version all works great! Apparently there is some problem with the Open DMX with a 64 bit version in Windows 8.1
Thank you very much for participating in solving the problem!
 
Well that's not really a fix, but it is a workaround for you. Most people using an opendmx controller have a small channel count anyhow so the 32 bit version could work for them.
But this gives us something more specific to look at. It probably has something to do with choosing between multiple instances of the driver. I'll write up a ticket.


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ticket is VIX-1006 if you'd like to subscribe for updates.


--Jon Chuchla--

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Good evening I have the same worries on win10 no witness of the clone enttec on win7 witness ok but no reception transmission I pass my afternoon on it and I lose my head while the clone walks on xlight
 
11/22/2016 21:01:33 [Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1] Error trying to stop device DMX Open System.TimeoutException: Controller DMX Open failed to stop in the required amount of time.
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.HardwareUpdateThread.WaitForFinish()
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._StopDevice(T outputDevice)
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._Stop(T outputDevice) � Vixen.Sys.Managers.HardwareUpdateThread.WaitForFinish()
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._StopDevice(T outputDevice)
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._Stop(T outputDevice)
11/22/2016 21:01:51 [VixenModules.Output.GenericSerial.Module] COM5 is in use. Starting controller retry timer for d22c9233-16e9-4008-a215-e577f78a7a2e
11/22/2016 21:01:51 [Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1] Error starting device DMX Open System.Exception: Failed to open FTDI deviceFT_DEVICE_NOT_OPENED
� VixenModules.Controller.OpenDMX.FTDI.start()
� VixenModules.Controller.OpenDMX.VixenOpenDMXInstance.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Output.BasicOutputModuleExecutionControl.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Output.OutputController.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.HardwareUpdateThread.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._StartDevice(T outputDevice)
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._Start(T outputDevice) � VixenModules.Controller.OpenDMX.FTDI.start()
� VixenModules.Controller.OpenDMX.VixenOpenDMXInstance.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Output.BasicOutputModuleExecutionControl.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Output.OutputController.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.HardwareUpdateThread.Start()
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._StartDevice(T outputDevice)
� Vixen.Sys.Managers.OutputDeviceExecution`1._Start(T outputDevice)
 
Just a quick comment:
After hanging out in the shadows of these forums for years, I was given 6 DMX RGB controllers that were used in a stage play I worked on and decided to do something with them.
After installing Vixen 3 (because ultimately, I will do pixels), I spent the better part of a day and a night trying to make Vixen talk to my little (you-find-them-everywhere generic $20 3-channel) DMX boxes through a FTDI USB-RS485 adapter cable I put together. I could talk to my DMX boxes through QLC+ and several other programs, just not Vixen. After reading dozens of forum posts and websites I came across one sentence, to the effect stating that Vixen does not use the Windows FTDI driver you install but rather uses the one it brings with it. So I uninstalled the FTDI driver I had downloaded and (without rebooting!) Vixen started talking DMX! And QLC+ still worked too. Miracle of miracles. It's the little things.

My conclusion: For Windows 7 Pro on an older Dell laptop (4GB), install Vixen 3 but DO NOT install the FTDI driver from the FTDI website. Or if DMX just doesn't work, install it then uninstall it. My two cents. I have reached Happy Camper Status. Next stop, LED pixels via E1.31 with an ESP8266.

Vixen is an impressive piece of software. Very impressive.

Cheers,

CC
 
Vixen does not bring it's own driver, but does use the D2XX driver that is installed in the system. But I think you are getting to what I have believed all along is there is some driver conflict or incomplete installation causing the issue. When you uninstalled the driver and then plugged the device back in, windows most likely reinstalled a version of it. Somehow in that process it was installed cleanly. I have a Win 7 and Win 10 box that the communication works fine on it, but I have never installed any FTDI drivers myself. Only what Windows decided it needed.

Glad you got it going and hopefully we can use this tip to help others.
 
At the risk of dragging this out ad infinitum, there appears to be more to the story.
Right now, Vixen is running just fine with Windows device manager telling me there is no driver installed for my FTDI USB-RS485-WE-1800-BT cable. It shows up as a "USB Serial Port" but with the dreaded exclamation point next to it. Last night I tried to install Martin M-PC light desk software, without success. But in the process, it recognized my FTDI cable and installed a driver for it. This morning I aborted the install, rebooted and Vixen would not output DMX until I uninstalled the FTDI driver and told it to delete the files. After that (as before), all was peachy. QLC+ runs just fine without Windows thinking it has a driver. We package the FTDI cable as a part of a product we sell and it will not communicate with our devices and software until the user downloads and installs the driver from the FTDI site. Our software is looking for a COM port and I think that's the difference.

Thanks for the quick response and on to other things (now 5 strips of blinky lites running).

CC
 
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