Led Pixel Controller

[Darios Uclaray]

AboutGenius PROGenius User ManualThe Genius PRO series of products features the first of it's kind Genius Mounting System; this allow for 1-4 power supplies to be mounted directly to the circuit board. By incorporating the mounting plate, power supply...

About Genius PROGenius User ManualThe Genius PRO series of products features the first of its kind Genius Mounting System; this allow for 1 or 2 power supplies to be mounted directly to the circuit board. By incorporating the mounting plate, power...

Our gel-filled CLICKITStm repair connectors are IP64 rated for permanent outdoor use, and make pixel repairs easier, faster and more affordable than ever!Our custom crafted designs are made specifically for the pixel wire commonly used in...

Genius User Manual 2024 Edition Updates:Spring connectors replaced with clever lock connectors.Solder build-up removed from back side.RJ45 jacks changed from plastic to stronger metal RJ45.USB jack changed from USB Micro to USB-CFull range...

Genius User Manual 2024 Edition Updates:Spring connectors replaced with clever lock connectors.Solder build-up removed from back side.RJ45 jacks changed from plastic to stronger Metal RJ45.USB jack changed from USB Micro to USB-CFull range...

The new Genius Long Range Pixel Controller makes things easier than ever with a built in 5V 3A Mean Well power supply. This saves you time and money when putting together your enclosure.Genius User Manual2024 Edition Updates:RJ45 jacks changed...

The main controller is heavier so I installed a third clip to hold it to the side of the garage on the ground level. I was pleasently surprised by how well the controller clip mount worked even through a blizzard that hit us with 70MPH+ wind gusts for 12 hours straight including 8 inches of snow and -35F windchill!

And, here's the really weird thing. Even though the CCB / CCP / CCR controllers don't register, it 'still' sends the signal from hardware utility down the daisy chain as I have the some 50W flood units and Gen 3 16 channel units both before 'and' after the Cosmic Color units in daisy chain order.

The way the HU operates can result in stuff missed, however the flashing red status LEDs are not right. Before you get too excited, ignore the HU and start the control panel and play a sequence for real. See if the lights play and if not, check the status LEDs.

Alright I figured it out. It unfortunately wasn't any of the above nor was it the solution proposed by the technical support team at Light O Rama. A combination of Youtube research and trial and error led me to the right fix. Here is what happened:

I sat down with each controller in our house to set the Unit ID with the Hardware Utility, one at a time. When I did this, and then did 'Refresh', it found the unit correctly with the ID I had set. Like an assembly line I did this with 8 more Pixel (2 Port) controllers. Then I put them all outside and attached them to the network via Daisy Chain and the 'black' USB 485 unit.

However, when I fired up the Hardware Utility 'after' plugging in power to the entire network, that's when I saw the issue I noted above. All the Gen 3 16 channel controllers appeared, all the 50W floods appeared, but none of the 9 Pixel controllers appeared nor did the CMB24 (which was Unit #1). Instead it showed that Unit 1 was anything from 'InPup' to 'Bootloader'.

Well, here is the rub and I'm a bit salty that the instructions for the new Pixel controllers aren't more clear. Apparently the factory sent me these things with a dipswitch pushed into the 'On' position, so the unit defaults back to '01' as a Unit ID. This didn't happen though when I had the controllers set up by themselves, it only happened when they were plugged into the network with other controllers. Not sure why that is, why the manual doesn't say with a picture to move the dipswitch to the 'off' position so they're all off (as I don't think everyone wants controllers to all be Unit ID 01).

Anyway, once the network reset all the controller IDs, then the Hardware Utility was detecting '9' Pixel controllers with unit ID 01 as well as the CMB24 which also had unit ID 01. I'm guessing the software didn't know what to do with that information so it showed weird readouts for unit ID 01 and nothing else.

So I went controller by controller outside, resetting each and pushing the dipswitch to 0. And now everything works great. I clearly need the 'Red' 485 unit as the Black one just can't keep up with the pixel controllers, but that's a much easier fix.

I'd ask for the Light O Rama folks to not presume that people using the software and hardware have understanding of the fundamentals of this stuff and instead produce instructions that assume the least common denominator, like me. It would have saved me days of needless troubleshooting.

And don't forget that the Pixies AUTOMATICALLY assign a UnitID to each port. So, if you assigning a Pixie to UnitID01, and it has two ports, it automatically assigns UnitID02 to the other port. If you're ordering one after the other, your next available UnitID for any controller is UnitID03.

I'm a layperson, that paragraph might as well have been written in hieroglyphics. The only reason I know what a dip switch even is is the result of exhaustive research and self-teaching on the concept.

What I'd prefer is that the instructions are written for a small child, or a golden retriever, and not with the assumption that a user has fundamental understanding of the hardware involved before picking up the manual. Then I might have had the light bulb go off before running into this issue.

Thank you kindly for the feedback. I learned this by accident using the SE5 system and it just happened to show the Unit ID of X+1 as a property of the 'Prop' when I double clicked Port #2. Absent that, I'm sure I'd be trying to also figure out why I set one Pixel controller to 0E, another to 0F, and then things don't work right since it should be 0E, 0F and then 0G, 0H. This is another topic that should be in plain english in the manuals.

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