Crash Logs

[pspencer1983]

Hi All,

After working errorless for some time i am experiencing a lot of 'not responding' from freestyler (4.1.7)
nothing has changed on the computer and no new equipment / changes to sequences / cues etc...

I start with having the computer running with LoopMidi, then power the lights, then start freestyler (then minimise), then start VDJ.
In VDJ I acknowledge the freestyler addon and activate it, then start to play music.
Switch to DMX (on pads within VDJ) and select, as I call, 'All ON', which initiates a programed cue within freestyler (no probs as of yet, everything as normal). After several song changes (10-15min), and freestyler cue changes via the DMX pads within VDJ, the lights stop responding and pause / lock to there current colour state and movement ceases.

On monitoring this several times I look at freestyler in more detail having the output window open etc, this also freezes (but could be due to software becoming not responding). in a failed state, looking at loopmidi, this is seeing data from VDJ when a DMX pad is pressed. This is what is pointing me more toward it is freestyler failing.

So with the above, freestyler becomes 'not responding' and whites itself wanting to send an error to microsoft.... everything else (VDJ) continues without error, the only way i have found to get everything going again is to restart freestyler only, and the lights will continue from they were prior to crash. It will sometimes then work flawlessly for the rest of the night.... or it may happen again at any given time.

I have tried having the lights disconnected (everything as 'normal' up to an open end DMX cable) and everything seems to run fine (monitored via the output window in freestyler). I have noticed when fully connected, the more data being sent (ie moving head pan / tilt data) the more likely it is to crash. If i run with just pars it seems to be stable but weirdly, when just the moving heads are on it seems to be stable????
The USB - DMX has a light (Red = Ready, Green = Data Tx / Rx), as expected during par only it pulses green, during all on it is solid green (due to continual moving head pan / tilt data), when failed it stays at red with an occasional flicker of green.

Software wise, I have tried a fresh install of freestyler and reimported my current back up to no avail. (yet to try a previous version)
Windows, everything is updated (drivers / windows update)

Is there a way of pulling a crash log to see what may be happening to cause this? as i say it has been faultless and only just started to do it.

Software:
Windows 11
LoopMidi
Freestyler 4.1.7
VDJ - latest

Equipment:
Acer Predator NEO 16
USB - DMX512 lixada
2 x Mini moving head's (nominally programmed to do colour change / gobo change & pan / tilt in figure of 8),
2 x RGB Par's (programmed to colour change),
2 x RGB Micro Par's (4 par head on bar programmed to colour change)

Thanks for any help in advance.

[pspencer1983]

UPDATE: just done a skate disco for 2hrs with my back up laptop with...
exact same backup installed and exact same lighting / usb etc etc..... everything ran flawless.
I'm at a loss...
I've checked all settings across the two (within freestyler) and all the same.

[Rod_Horning]

I am wondering if you are having a USB issue Acer Predator. Have you tried a different USB port?

[pspencer1983]

Hi Rod,

Yes lol, its been in every hole possible. I wondered the same, but now experiencing the same failure over 2 laptops... although they are both acer just different models (Predator & Nitro).
I tried the usb - dmx cable on both laptops with no lighting connected and only freestyler running, connected cable, then started freestyler, opened cues and tap triggered, worked for about 30 sec then the disconnection noise from laptop. Looked at freestyler (which didnt crash) and output window proved to be responding to correct cue selection. Looked at the dmx cable led, solid red (powered only). around 10-15 sec after the laptop made connection noise and led returned to the correct state (green for data RX TX) to which cue was selected.
I then rebooted and reconnected in the above order, proved to do the same thing but then freestyler locked up (required restart of freestyler).
I've now bought another very similar USB - DMX cable and had exact same issues, if not worse....
I tried tonight running the new cable via a usb-c - usb-a hub with the full setup connected, lights, speakers, mixers etc etc.... ran all cues randomly from VDJ.... spot on for 5hrs.

could it be a possibility there is too much data overwhelming the cheapo usb - dmx cables as it seems to fail when most data is being sent ie moving head pan / tilt continually moving (figure of 8) with gobo and colour changes????
Ive checked all the usual suspects within windows (usb sleep etc)

[Rod_Horning]

Is your USB to DMX device like the ENTEC open DMX or like the ENTEC PRO DMX? If it is like the open then that may be the problem.

[pspencer1983]

the dmx device is only a cheapo ebay lixada device, i have another which is unbranded which appears to be more stable.

51UcVCkLzcL.jpg

if i connect direct to laptop it drops out (with the windows disconnect noise), if i connect via the usb-c hub it seems to be stable.

startech-usb-c-hub-image-1.jpg

This is the case for both laptops. I'm starting to think that because this started to happen a few months back, could it be pointing more toward a windows update rather than freestyler / device? I only picked freestyler as the culprit due to it crashing and wanting to send microsoft reports etc...

I had my main laptop running last night as wanted to go through all fixture files i use to confirm everything was addressed correctly. Connected via USB-C Hub, not one drop out whilst playing. The only thing I did find was my Microbar had a dodgy macro only addressing channel 1 (I don't use macro's), so I redid this to point it at all channels according to the manual. Again during testing, not one drop out.

[Rod_Horning]

I am not an electronics engineer but, based on your last post, I'LL GUESS that the output level of the Lixada device is low or fluctuates a bit low. I will hazard a guess that the hub is more tolerant of a low input signal than your computers and that the hub emits a stronger, more consistent, signal to your computers.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility that a Windows update could be the issue but since everything seems to work with the hub that doesn't seem likely to me.