perplexed 16v3 expansion board issue (only 2 ports getting data)

[Cmduncan]

I have a 16v3 to which i have added a differential expansion board (WHITE).  I have 4 differential receivers that are v2.01 (BLUE).  The expansion board has the pin set to 17-32.  I have unplug each end of the 40pin ribbon and plugged back to verify it is secure.  My plan was to run each of these in the normal/dumb mode and each would receive data from one port of the expansion board.  I have a cable that runs from the expansion board output to one of the inputs on the receiver with the other being open.  The DIP switches are ON to be terminated and the dial is turned to the 0.  i am using only 3 of the 4 ports on each of the receivers to power one snow flake (with 550 pixels).  For the set up I have let xlights do the setup and have selected board with one expansion.  In the visualizer I have added the snowflakes to ports 17, 18, and 19 respectively.  Right now, I am only getting 2 of the 4 data LED to light up on the receiver.  Also, I am working with one receiver at a time to help identify the issue.  I have tried each of the output ports on the expansion board to the receiver, tried both input jacks in the receiver, bypassed the dongles (on both the receiver and expansion boxes) and going direct to receiver from the expansion board.  i have tried changing the cables. Testing from the receiver, all 3 of the props light up.  testing using the web interface of the 16v3 only 2 light up.  Sorry, at this time i dont have the channel number detail.  Here's where it gets interesting.  If i take the cable from the expansion board and plug it into the top DMX/Serial output on the 16v3 no other changes all 3 of the props operate as expected. That would seem to rule out any set up issues - but maybe not.  Any help greatly appreciated.

[jnealand]

I do not use receivers per se, but I think your problem is your port assignments.  The boards as I understand them would be as follows:
Board one 17-20
Board two 21-24
Board three 25-28
Board four 29-32

So if you are using one 3 strings per snowflake then you have
Flake 1 on ports 17-19
Flake 2 on ports 21-23
Flake 3 on ports 25-27

but again I do not use receivers unless I need one or two more ports from an F16 and I have no expansion boards just using serial port 1

[JonD]

Picture is of the V4, but the ports are assigned the same in this case.

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[K-State Fan]

I was fighting my F4V3 this morning getting to work with the dumb receiver hooked up to the expansion board final looked at the sting ouput page on the falcon and xlights had set it to smart remove that and it worked fine.

[Cmduncan]

So if you are using one 3 strings per snowflake then you have
Flake 1 on ports 17-19
Flake 2 on ports 21-23
Flake 3 on ports 25-

I'm using one string (one flake) per port port.

[Cmduncan]

I was fighting my F4V3 this morning getting to work with the dumb receiver hooked up to the expansion board final looked at the sting ouput page on the falcon and xlights had set it to smart remove that and it worked fine.

The web interface is not in smart mode.

[Cmduncan]

Picture is of the V4, but the ports are assigned the same in this case.

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JonD this exactly the way it is set for me. At this time though I am just working with the 1 receiver 17-20. Web interface shows 1 Flake on 17, one on 18 and one on 19. 17 and 18 work. 19 does not.

[JonD]

Web interface shows 1 Flake on 17, one on 18 and one on 19. 17 and 18 work. 19 does not.

Bad network cable would cause this.  Can you swap the phoenix connectors 18 and 19 and see if the problem follows?  That would rule out wiring or lights.  Otherwise hard to say,  Can you attach a print screen of your Falcon E1.31 and port output settings, and the xlights settings for port 18 and 19?

[Cmduncan]

I did swap out the network cables (into control and to the receiver) to no avail. Also I can get all 3 flakes to work when I plug cable from the serial port on controller to the receiver , which I would think rules out bad cable.  Because it works thru the serial port seem like output settings would be OK.  I will work on screen shot of output setting. Seem like something with the expansion board.

[JonD]

which I would think rules out bad cable.

Some cable issues are intermittent, if bent a certain way may still work.  Replacing the cable with a known working is better option.

Seem like something with the expansion board.

A bad board would not be my first guess.  These usually end up being configuration issues, but if you have a spare differential board and/or ribbon cable laying around, you could swap them in pretty quick to see if it makes a difference.  Another thing to try is to see if you can bypass port 17-20 and use ports 21-24 instead.  

[Cmduncan]

Here is a screen shot of the string ports. I have also replaced the cables with brand new ones from the computer to the 16v3 and from the differential expansion to the differential receiver.  i also tried Ports B, C and D on the differential expansion - of course moving the 3 props to the respective ports:  When using Port B, I moved the props to ports 21, 22, & 23.

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[JonD]

I did not notice any issues with the port output settings, but you did not include the xlights config for the strings attached to 18 and 19, and the Falcon E1.31 setup.  Hard to know where xlights is sending the data, and if the Falcon is configured to receive it.  Both of those have to match your output settings in order for things to work.

[Cmduncan]

Can you advise where I would find the info from xlights you are seeking.  Would that be in the lay or controller page.  I will send both once i know where I need to get the xlights info

[JonD]

The layout page on light string.  Looking for the start channel and port settings.

[Cmduncan]

here is a screenshot showing 3 seperate screenshots for each of the 3 props as well as screenshot of the 131 setupYou cannot view this attachment. You cannot view this attachment.