Hi Greg:
The earlier problem seems to be fixed.The HNC can not communicate with the HNS to adjust the time etc...It is saying a connection can not be made or will not communicate with the Helix Controller...The heart beat led is flashing about once a second,Al led is the same,Mp3 light is on constant..Also the Tx led is flashing twice ever second...I'm using the test files you gave me a while ago so show any errors but I do not see any recorded so the HNC is working fine...Any ideas ???
Thanks Greg..
Joe..
The problem is the files you are using. The new HNS is almost a ground up rewrite. I made substantial changes to the Helix firmware also. So if you are using files that I sent to you in the past then they are using the old firmware, schedule format and config file format. So the HNC boots up fine because it is using the v2 firmware and files but it won't talk to the v3 HNS because check time and set time methods have changed. The new firmware will still generate the ERROR.LOG file if it encounters an error. Additionally I think I have found all of the deadend paths in the code, so it won't ever lock up anymore. If it encounters a fatal error (one of the deadend paths) then it writes the error to the log file and goes into an error mode (the heartbeat LED flashes fast at ~2.5 Hz).
To correct this problem you will need to create new files using the new HNS. These are the basic steps:
1. Create your sequences in Vixen
2. Using the Show tab on the HNS, drag and drop your sequences into the Show list form, adding pauses as needed. Save the show.
3. Using the Channel Bank tab on the HNS, create a channel map for each Helix main board in your network and assign the Vixen channels to the various channel banks. Save the channel map.
4. Using the Schedule tab on the HNS, add your show you created in Step 2 to the current day and give it a start time around the current time and an end time much later. Save the schedule.
5. Using the Tools tab on the HNS, select the "Upload Wizard" button and follow the steps in the wizard to create the necessary files. At the end of the wizard it will show you where the files are stored on your hard drive and ask if you would like assistance in loading them on the microSD card. I suggest you use the assistance and follow the instructions.
6. Load the microSD card in the HNC and plug it in.
7. Plug your XBee radio into your PC and turn it on using the HNS.
8. After about 10 seconds or so the HNC will have booted up and you should then be able to check the time and update it. Once you update it your show should start playing about 20 seconds later.
Let me know if this doesn't make sense or you have any additional problems.
