Trying to get lights working on one port, no luck

[gthoman]

Hi All, been a while since I have played with my my controller, FPP and lights. I'm just trying to get a single strand of about 10 lights to work(testing in fpp). I have the Daniel Kulp F16A-B V1.0.0 using FPP at the latest version(9.5.2). Here is the about info from FPP

FPP Version:	9.5.2
Platform:	BeagleBone Black
FPP OS Build:	v2025-11
OS Version:	Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Hardware Serial Number:	2034SBB06429
Kernel Version:	6.15.0-fpp14
System Boot Time:	2026-02-22 16:11:43
fppd Uptime:	01:06:43
Local Git Version:	d4ade3a8c ChangeLog
Remote Git Version:	d4ade3a8c

On FPP I have gone into the channel output and added the following for port 2, actually this was loaded from xlights, but would like to just use fpp for now if I can to make it less complicated



I think there is only around 10 or so 2811 pixels but just put 40. I was using multicast for the output, not sure if this is correct

I enabled test mode and tried to get things to work, but no luck


The string attached to port 2 has been hooked up to a tester, so I know the string is good, I also checked the power on the other end of the string and it was showing 12.4V, so that also seemed good. This was working years back but tried to update the FPP and controller to the latest versions and can't get anything to work. Looking for help/suggestions, probably missed something, wasn't sure about unicast or multicast or saw something about DDP? Also, most things I see have people using xlights with complicated setups, just looking to get at least this one port to work. Did not start with port one because it only had around 4 volts, so need to check the wires.

[MikeKrebs]

If you are running FPP with the Kulp cape, there should be no E1.31 output selected. Not sure that is the problem, but get rid of that output and see if it improves.

[Sawdust]

I set a screen the same as your First screen and get lights from TEST on that screen or the display test screen.  Maybe try other ports like 3,4 and/or 5 - try 9 and 10 = = also uncheck E1.31 enable-that's wifi

I think 4 volts at port 1 is an issue.

[dkulp]

If you actually have a F16A-B V1.0.0 (from David Pitts, not me) then you certainly should NOT have a K16A-B tab there.   You likely need to hit the change virtual eeprom and make sure to select the F16 option.

[gthoman]

Yes, definitely have a Kulp board F16A-B V1.0.0 , see attached picture, haven't used it in a while and updated the board and fpp to the latest version as shown above so looks alot different, so is the eeprom correct? I do not have anything for channel inputs, I removed the e1.31 from the channel outputs so now looks like the other picture attached. I tried testing after these updates and still no lights, I will try a different port, hopefully at lunch time or after work, but wanted to see if there was anything else I was missing, or should check. Also, just as a quick reminder, on port 2 where the lights are attached, I am getting over 12v at the other end of the string, so it seems at least the pixels have power but not getting any data.  Thanks for the help!

[algerdes]

Looks to me (via the image) that you have a K16A-B, not a F16.  Big difference.
Your Channel Outputs screen confirms it.

[gthoman]

Yeah, sorry, for most things I was trying to look up it showed F16 and wasn't paying attention, but as you stated I am using the K16 A-B, which seems to be what I have setup correctly, but just said it wrong in the forum? Thanks for pointing that out!

[Sawdust]

May want to unplug port 1 when testing. 

[tbone321]

Make sure that you wired the string properly to the K16.  It is easier than you think to reverse a few wires.  If that is the case, return the string to your tester and make sure that the string was not damaged.  The newer pixels are much more tolerant of incorrect wiring than the older ones were but making sure that the string still functions prevents running down many rabbit holes.  Also make sure that the K16 is running at the same voltage that your pixels require.  Multicast is not normally used anymore and does not work on many of the modern controllers that have an assigned IP address.  It is used if you are sending show or timing data to the controller from another device.

[MikeKrebs]

Just for fun, configure 50 pixels on every output. Do you get blinky?

[gthoman]

Thanks for all the replies, I removed the controller from the house to get a better inspection and tighten things down. After clearing all the multicast and pretty much just updating the channel output I was able to get lights going on a higher port(thanks for the suggestion Sawdust!) I was thinking there is no way the first three ports were not working, well, I assumed wrong. I tested on port 7 and that worked, so started working backwards, once I got to 3, the test no longer worked. Haven't tested all the ports above 3 yet, but I know 4-9 and 16 work, so back at it again. Thanks again for all the help!!