Something changed when using FPP Connect

[andywylde]

So I have been using the FPP on various RPis for a while now and Xlights to build my sequences.  Everything has been working well, but I guess I hadn't updated for a while.  So on Sunday I thought I would change my lights I leave up all year to a nice Easter sequence.  The options to save the FPP compatible files were different, but I quickly found the FPP Connect and used that.  Boom!  No lights at all.    Even trying to go back to old sequences they didn't work and i was getting warnings from the RPi that it couldn't ping the controller.  I had company and couldn't spend more time on it, so it was dark for Easter.  Monday, when I could look at it more calmly I found that it was changing my network settings and putting an IP address of the master controller in to the output section.   I finally found that was coming from my Xlights model setup, and changed the controller setting to the IP of the actual display board it, and my lights came back on.  Not a bad feature once you know its there but was certainly frustrating at the time.   But that's not why I am posting.

Now I have a problem I have not seen before, at least in this forum, and my searches of the forum didn't turn up any similar results.  I have four strings of RGB lights spanning 8 universes on the front of the house.  All were working perfectly before the update.    Now, strings and 1 and 4 are fine, but 2 and 3 are off color.   From doing this before, it is like the when you sent the wrong order for the pixels -- RGB vs BRG, etc. or are off by one channel on your start channel.  They function, but they are the wrong colors.  To make it worse, string 2 is off one color (i.e, it's blue when it should be red) and string 3 is off by two colors (i.e. green when it should be red.   I made no modifications to any hardware or other controller between the time it worked perfectly and this started happening.   I checked the start channels in my models as well as the LED order in Xlights, and all four strings are set the same except for the start channel.  They are all absolute, no offsets from universes or such.   I am pretty sure that something got changed and its related to my models, but I can't seem to find what might be affecting them.  Other than that everything works great again.

I could fix this with the display board, but that seems like trying to use two wrongs to make a right.  I changed the starting channels in the model in Xlights, but it didn't seem to have any affect on the display, which is a bit weird.  Any suggestions as to what to look for would be appreciated.

Andy

[AAH]

Post screenshots could help.
On the controllers page in Xlights try uploading inputs and outputs and also try the auto upload setting.
There's lots of things that can change the colours. It's quite likely an error with 510 versus 512 channel universes. Settings on the controller page like "full xlights control" and "auto size" can do bad things to your configuration if you don't upload the channels to the controller and just upload sequences.

[algerdes]

Without seeing your setup, it would be a guess as to why.
Something I would check is the number of channels per universe.  The fact that string 1 is correct, string 2 is off, string three is off (I'll bet different that string 2's colors) and string 4 is correct tells me that you may have used 512 channels/universe and xLights is set to 510.
As stated, this is a WAG.  (Wild Ass Guess to those of you who are wondering.)

[andywylde]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions, I am sure it it something like that.  For a little more information, The 4 strings I am having an issue with (well, 2 of the 4) are all have dedicated start points in multiples of 1024.  I did this because I had planned to lengthen them out at some point but haven't gotten to it.  So String 1 starts at Channel 1, String 2 starts at 1025, String 3 at 2049, String 4 at 3073.   This has been working fine for years right up to when I did the updates.   As far as I know, the other models in my layout work fine, although I don't have them all hooked up at the moment.

I agree that the most common causes for this would be having the wrong starting channel number or having the wrong number of channels per universe or the wrong LED order.   In this case, however the number of universe channels doesn't seem to be the issue as they channels have a bit of space between the strings and there is not a color change in the middle of the strings that span more than one universe.

That leaves in my mind using the wrong starting channel or having the wrong LED order (BRG, RGP, etc), but Changing those items in Xlights hasn't seemed to change anything on my display, and I have not modified anything else.   I have always left the String Type at RGB in Xlights and let my display board (a Advantek Pixlite 16)  translate for the actual strings hooked to it.   Screen shots of the relevant parts of my setup are attached.   Obviously I am missing something, but I can't seem to see what.

[AAH]

I think the issue is stemming from the way in which you have things configured. I think typically you would have each of your actual pixel controllers defined on the controller page and then you have a FPP Master.
I haven't got FPP up and running at the moment to confirm that the below way is the correct setup.
Having this method allows outputs etc to be defined in xlights and the upload outputs to be used to put the correct setup into the Pixlite.
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[Poporacer]

The 4 strings I am having an issue with (well, 2 of the 4) are all have dedicated start points in multiples of 1024.  I did this because I had planned to lengthen them out at some point but haven't gotten to it.  So String 1 starts at Channel 1, String 2 starts at 1025, String 3 at 2049, String 4 at 3073.   This has been working fine for years right up to when I did the updates.

That might have worked as long as you never change anything. you are using a mixture of absolute channel and Universe Channel assignments and this most often time leads to problems. The developers have made things extremely easy to make sure that you do not have channel issues like you are having AND make it easy for future expansion. You do have overlapping channels and this could be causing your problem.

Your display does not look anywhere near 12,000 pixels! Even though you are not using the Universes, you have defined them so all of the data required for 12,000 pixels is being broadcast over your network and making everything work way harder than needed.

but Changing those items in Xlights hasn't seemed to change anything on my display, and I have not modified anything else.

And depending on where you changed it, this is the expected behavior. Changing it in one place requires you to Upload the configs to your controller (but you can't do this because of the way you have xLights configured). Changing it in another place requires you to re-render AND Save your sequences and then upload them to your player.

You should really fully define your controllers and let xLights manage your channel numbers and controllers for you, this will save you a TON of headaches and time and greatly reduce your network traffic.

[andywylde]

I think the issue is stemming from the way in which you have things configured.
 

Yes, I figured that, that is why I am asking for help.

I can certainly try configuring the way you suggest and see what happens.  I guess I missed that change along the way.  This original setup is about 10 years old, and things were much less sophisticated when I built it.

You do have overlapping channels and this could be causing your problem.

Where?  I don't see the overlapping channels.   I don't disagree that it would be better to use the newer methodology, which was created long after I originally built this setup.  Is there a guide of the best practices for this you can point me at, rather than just telling me I am doing it wrong?

Your display does not look anywhere near 12,000 pixels! 

Yes, originally this same controller controlled everything including the mega tree star, arches eaves, etc. and I never reduced the size of it after I decided to move things like the Mega Tree to its own controller.   I can fix that.

Changing it in one place requires you to Upload the configs to your controller (but you can't do this because of the way you have xLights configured). Changing it in another place requires you to re-render AND Save your sequences and then upload them to your player.

One place does one thing and another does something else?  Can you be a little more specific about which one does what?

You should really fully define your controllers and let xLights manage your channel numbers and controllers for you, this will save you a TON of headaches and time and greatly reduce your network traffic.

OK, again, I am happy to embrace the newer methodology.  I guess I will read through the manual and try and figure out how to redo all of this the way the developers now intend for you to use it. I actually had no idea this functionality was added somewhere along the way until Easter when I tried to update my sequence and all of a sudden nothing worked.  I was able to figure out that I need the output to the Pixlite, but had no idea it was now going to control all features of the pixel controller as well.   I'm not saying it isn't a better way -- just that it ran for years with pretty much no problems, and now it doesn't work right.  An unwelcome surprise.

[MikeKrebs]

The easiest way I know "how to fix it" is to click on the controller and make sure all the descriptive data is correct. After you have that defined, click on the visualize button and drag your props to the appropriate port. Most times this is pretty straight forward but if you run into problems, try the xlights zoom room or the ACL chat room for specific guidance. Sometimes it takes a trick or two make it work.

When you drag the props to the right ports (you can stack them up to configured limit for your controller), it will change the definition and channel layout of the props, so render and save your sequences.

Then use FPP connect to send the config and newly rendered sequences up to FPP (assuming your FPP is your player) and use bulk controller upload to send the config to your controller.

It doesn't take long to get used to doing it this way and makes it relatively easy to move things around. It also almost always makes the config correct on both FPP and your controllers and in your sequences so that they all match.

[Poporacer]

The easiest and best way to get support or help is to drop in the Zoom room. It is by far the best way to get things up and running! Here is a video that explains how it works and how to get there:


@MikeKrebs was pretty close. Here is a little more detail
On the controller's tab, fully define your controller with:

Name (Something that makes sense to what it is controlling)
Vendor
Model
Variant
Enable Auto Layout Models/Auto Size and Full xLights control
Put the IP address for the controller.
Protocol E1.31
Start Universe 1 (or whatever Universe number you want)
Channels per Universe 510
Something like this:
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Save this and then click on the first controller and then the Visualize button on the lower right portion of the screen.
You might have to properly define your Mega Tree and any other Multi-Port prop I don't know the design of your tree, so I can't speak to that (The Zoom room can help as well).
Then Left Click and drag your models to the correct port on the controller. If you are chaining props, then put them in the same order as you are connecting them to the controller
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It might look something like this:
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Close the window when you are done.

Do the same with your other controller

Do NOT put controllers/Start Channel or anything controller related in the Layout page. That is no longer needed, xLights handles all of that for you.

Make sure your controllers are on. Select your first controller and then the Upload Output button (just below the Visualizer button) In the lower left portion of the screen, it will tell you if the upload was successful (pretty small letters so you have to look)

Do the same with your other controller.

You will need to re-Render AND Save all of your sequences. If you have a lot of Sequences, there is a Batch Render option that can help.

After your sequences are rendered, Use FPP Connect to upload your sequences to your Player.

Things should now work (unless I missed something, it is late)

Where?  I don't see the overlapping channels.

What channel is your Fog Machine and then look at your RGB String 1

One place does one thing and another does something else?  Can you be a little more specific about which one does what?

On your model, there is a Controller Section and if you change the Color Order there, it will set the Color Order in your Controller's port settings, but this would require that you upload your outputs from xLights to your controller and you didn't have xLights configured to do so, so I think you were changing it there.
There is also a little more hidden in the String Properties a String Type and you can set the color order there. For this to take effect, then you have to re-render and save your sequences.

This should get you running or pretty close to it!