Devices not responding to Freestyler with JMS USB2DMX

[PeteB]

Hi there!

I'm hoping someone here can help.

I recently bought a JMS USB2DMX cable and want to Freestyler to control my lights but I'm having problems. First of all, I managed to get the USB cable set up correctly with the right driver and after installing FS 2.96j was wable to select the JMS device in setup. That was ok, didnt get any errors, but no matter what I try none of my devices will respond to changes made in Freestyler.

I have 4 Prosound Smart Scan 2's and I've double checked all the settings in Fixture Creator, all seems to be fine but still no response at all. The dmx channels are set correctly as well.

Now I know that the USB cable is not faulty becaus I installed the LightsUp program and it worked perfectly, very smooth and fast response, but LightsUp doesnt have any of the features I need. I have also tried DMXControl but the movements are jerky and my lights seem to do random things on their own.

Can anyone offer suggestions as to why Freestyler is not sending out data to my lights?

[djSupport]

the dmx cable may need to have its polarity reversed....

[PeteB]

Ok, how might one achieve this? Its a sealed cable.

[djSupport]

you could buy one from lets say ebay or make your own - pin 1 will go to pin 1 at the other end while pin 2 will go to 3 and 3 to 2 ao it 'crosses' over

[PeteB]

Ok I can do this, are you sure its absolutely safe to cross the wires over? I dont want it breaking my equipment.

Even so I dont understand why this would make a difference, I mean LightsUp works and DMXControl kinda works, but absolutely no response from Freestyler. Is it a known problem with the software?

[Mattotone]

It can't be the polarity of the cable as the op mentioned that other pc software controls the lighting.
If freestyler could not detect the device an output saying open failed would appear so we can rule that out.
view the output edit output if thouse values change and still no output, try differnt drivers, or contact raph about this problem with your device.

[djSupport]

ah yes sorry it was just this that stood out to me that's why i said that "I have also tried DMXControl but the movements are jerky and my lights seem to do random things on their own."

by the way it is safe, sometimes you have no choice.

[PeteB]

Hello again!

Ok I've tried the crossing the wires over with a short 1m cable I had lieing around, but it didnt work. I've checked the output in Freestyler by going to Edit -> View Output and the values do change but again no response from my lights, or light (with just 1 plugged in for testing).

So, someone mentioned about changing drivers but I'm not sure how to do this. I have been using the drivers provided on the CD by JMS and surely no others would work with it? If so then what other ones could I try and where do I get them from?

[djSupport]

maybe you just have a faulty unit...

[PeteB]

maybe you just have a faulty unit...

But it works fine with the LightsUp software?

[djSupport]

maybe you should contact either raph the developer to investigate :
[bugreporting][/bugreporting]

and/or maybe the manufacturer sounds like it could be the drivers....

[PeteB]

Well I've had a little bit of success today! I installed the VCP drivers from the FTDI website and set Freestyler to Enttec Open DMX. I got a response from my light but only about a minute or so after.

Its like it takes 60 - 120 seconds for my lights to respond after making changes in Freestyler. Is there any particular reason for this or any way to change it?

[djSupport]

has raph replied to you yet about bug report? it doesnt look good...