Catalyst/PixelMAD question

So I have been using my Catalyst for over 3 years now with no problems at all. I recently bought some Acclaim Pixel Tubes. After looking at the forums and reading about PixelMAD, i decided to just map out these tubes in Catalyst and use it to run them. Nothing major. Each tube is 30 pixels and I have 24 tubes. I got with the tubes an artnet to DMX box from Acclaim also.

So put it all together and tested everything in the shop. At first I noticed that if I stopped a video or faded it to black the tubes would freeze. I figured that this was because at 0 there was no information being sent over Artnet and the tubes did not know what to do. I downloaded the newest version of Catalyst and found an option to have a continuous artnet stream. So I turned that on, and it seemed to fix the problem.

Once I got everything all setup at the show another problem came about. I would play a video file, and then at random times, never the same, and totally out of the blue, the video would freeze. I thought maybe the Catalyst was having a problem, but then I went back to it, and the video on the monitor was still going. It is as if the Catalyst stopped outputting DMX. I don't know what to do about this, but if I switched to a different video, it would start up again. Using a Hog III console.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for the help.

sounds like a network issue?
are you using both Mac NIC's or just one port?
what else do you have on the artnet network (consoles etc)
Are the DMX values moving on the Artnet HUD?
what type of switch / hub are you using? does it support broadcast? - try switching to unicast.

Can you send a screen grab of the artnet HUD's

Simon

I am only using one port on the MAC. I have it connected directly to the Acclaim Artnet box. The Acclaim Artnet box is the Acclaim X-Net8 if that helps. So nothing else on the network. On the artnet screen I can see it sending data out. On the screen that shows all the DMX values being sent out over artnet, I cannot seem to get that screen to show anything other then zeros, even when it is working. It says the IP address is 0.0.0.0. I don't know how to change that. I will try and post some screen shots when I can. I am going out of town for a festival this week ( not something the Catalyst is on ) and so it may be after I get back from that.

Thanks for the help.

Sounds to me like a network issue.

First guess: a switch with broadcast storm protection enabled.

As soon as network broadcast traffic reaches a certain level the switch will prevent any further broadcast transmission for a certain time.

This must be switched off for use with artnet.

It can also be an artnet interface issue. A lot of the cheaper solutions don´t have enough memory to work when sending a lot of artnet universes. With broadcasts the device has to listen to all information sent...

I don't actually have any sort of hub or switch in line between the computer and the Artnet box. I just plugged one to the other. I usually always use a switch to do things, but since I was only using one Artnet box, I just plugged it in. Could that be the problem, that I am not using any sort of network device in between the MAC and the Artnet box?

Are you using a crossover cable or a "regular" network cable?
Direct device-to-device should always use a crossover cable.
Hope this helps. :)

DO you have an IP set for the output port within the artnet range? Something in the 2.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x range within the apple network window in system preferences?

At the top left, click apple>system prefs. Go to the network> click the ethernet adapter that has the orange dot next to it, from the drop down labeled as configure ipv4 and set to manually, create an ip address like 2.0.0.1 and the subnet should be 255.0.0.0. Press apply at the bottom and quit system preferences. Relaunch catalyst. In the catalyst control window, the top device should have the IP address listed. And if your in the HUD and you open the DMX Artnet window, the interfaces tab should also show that ip address. Also may want to make sure that in the same window under the interface tab that you have the output universe is set to artnet broadcast 255.255.255.255.

A crossover cable shouldn't be necessary as all the intels auto negotiate to the mode needed. But you could try that. Other then that, try another ethernet cable.