SACN failing on Netron EN4

NETRON
1

I am using QLC+ to send SACN to a Grandstream managed switch with a Netron EN4 and a City Theatrical Multiverse transmitter as clients.

The Multiverse transmitter accepts the SACN and all of the fixtures respond to the controller without issue.

The Netron node handles the SACN feed erratically. I’m consuming SACN on two output ports. Here are some of the issues:

  • If only the first hundred or so DMX addresses are sent from the controller, the Netron sometimes indicates that it is receiving the SACN data as indicated by a solid blue light. However, this is intermittent and the light will often change to blinking blue.
  • Another group of fixtures starts at address 201. When these fixtures are in universe 1 of the controller the Netron always blinks blue.
  • When the same universe of SACN data is mapped to both output ports, I often get blinking red lights.

In all cases, the City Theatrical Transmitter continues to flawlessly consume the SACN feed.

Everything works if I switch to Artnet, but my ETC multiverse fixtures consume only SACN, meaning that I have to loopback universe 1 (SACN) and duplicate it on Universe 2 (Artnet), complicating the infrastructure.

This seems like a bug in the Netron firmware, as the SACN data is not an issue for the multiverse transmitter, and working Artnet seems to role out any connectivity issues. Possibly the SACN protocol requires something that I’m missing in the router or switch configurationbut the lighting network is an isolated VLAN.

It’s also eerily familiar to:

I’d prefer to get everything working using SACN only to reduce the complexity and make trainign others easier. One last remark is that the Netron controller sometimes becomes corrupted after working through different configurations, requiring a device reset. That issue is far less frequent and I believe unrelated.

Any thoughts on how to get the controller to work properly with SACN?

2

@Celilo - Welcome to the Obsidian forum.

Sorry to hear you are having issues with the EN4. The support team will know best, but to help them can you provide some additional information.

What firmware version is installed on your EN4? If not, 3.0.1 you should update and try again.

Are you using a console to send sACN or PC? This should make no difference other than helping direct where to find /check settings. Also what version of ONYX (please list last four digits, current is not helpful when describing as a maintenance build is scheduled to be released soon).

As I think through node settings, make sure that sACN sync packets match on both the nodes and controllers (either enabled or disabled). As example on my setup they are disabled.

The nodes are a great product and what you described is not normal. Again, I would suggest starting with checking firmware. If you haven’t used the NETRON CLU utility yet, I would recommend downloading it and using it to upgrade the nodes. Once there, report back. Support may have a better response, but start with this until then.

Hope this helps,

Watson

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I’m running firmware version 2.9.4, which is the latest release in the downloads section of the product page. I now see that 3.0.1 version is available from a different firmware page. I will upgrade the firmware when I have access to the Netron hardware. I will be upgrading the PC platform next week, so I may wait until them to make the change.

I am not using Onyx. I am using QLC+ on a Linux PC

I do not see an sACN sync packets option in the Netron EN4 on firmware version 2.9.4. Nor do I see it in my QLC+ controller. I do have the option of selecting a “transmission mode” of full or partial, if that might be an alternate terminology for ACN sync packets.

4

Hi @Celilo

Sorry to hear you have encountered these issues. @Watson has covered all the important parts here.

I suspect that updating to firmware 3.0.1 with resolve these issues. I suspect this may be related to the IGMP settings in your managed switch. Netron firmware 3.0.1 includes various improvements to IGMP handling, which should resolve the issues you encountered.

If you have a PC, I would recommend performing the firmware update using our Netron Central Utility, which can be downloaded from the link below…

Please install this app, and launch it. It should automatically discover your EN4. Please then go to the Firmware Update tab, and click the upload arrow below Update Firmware for the EN4. The firmware update will then begin, with the progress shown on the EN4’s display. Please note - the update from v2.x to v3.0.1 is a major update, and as a result the EN4 will be factory reset in the process. The EN4 must be manually reconfigured following the update.

The “sACN Sync” functionality @watson describes, is new in v3.0.1.

I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Edward

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Thanks, that sounds like a good possibility. I’m moving form Linux to Windows when my new PC arrives shortly, so I give it a try then and let you know how it goes.

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If you need this resolved urgently, firmware updates can be performed via a browser. However if you are happy to wait until you have a Windows device, it is best practice to use the Netron Central Utility app.

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Thanks for the info. I’m aware :slightly_smiling_face: I originally updated the firmware via my browser. I have a windows PC that I could use if I simply plug it into a network port on the lighting vlan.

I’ve already implemented a workaround using both SACN and ArtNet, so no rush.

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I successfully installed the latest firmware using CLU, and it created some additional issues related to other functionality changes in the software. SACN seems to “mostly” work. I’ve included detail, but the bolded/italicized section below cuts to my current issue.

I am outputting to a Springtree Wall Station on Port 1 and returning the Wall station signal to Port2. Port 3 sends DMX to my House dimmers and my Multiverse Transmitter gets an SACN feed.

I am outputting universe 1 and 2 to SACN, with Universe 2 being a replica of Universe 1

My Netron configuration is:

Port 1: Out, Universe 2, SACN (I use Universe 2 to prevent retransmission of data from the Springtree input from looping back to the Springtree on port 1. I did not have this issue with the older firmware). That said, I don’t really know the design intent.

Port 2:IN, Universe 10, SACN, Universe 1, signal loss:Stop sending

Port 3: Disabled

Port 4: Out, Universe 1, SACN

My controller works fine.

When I turn off my console, I expect that the Springtree device will sense a termination of the DMX signal and turn on. When my console software is disabled (Meaning that my controller software is completely exited), I expect Port 1 to blink blue, indicating no signal. What actually occurs is that port 1 alternates between blinking red and blue. The DMX view of port 1 shows phantom data that is no longer being sent.

This was not an issue in the old firmware and appears to be a bug.

Additionally, I’m wondering if you have a signal flow diagram for the EN4 that explains how it should work. It’s not clear between the two firmware versions if incoming DMX data from one of the EN4’s ports is supposed to be sent to the other outputting ports by default or only if merged? Should retransmission of SACN or Artnet be sent to the other EN4 ports or just to the upstream network devices? The behavior has changed dramatically between firmware versions; maybe that was just part of the SACN issue?

On the old firmware, I was setting the input port to an unused universe, and then doing a backup merge into port 4 with retransmission to sacn to get to my multiverse controller. Other than having to use ArtNet, that worked great until the firmware upgrade.

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Hi @Celilo

If a port of an EN4 loses an sACN/Art-Net signal, by default it will hold the last values (flashing red/blue port indicator). Therefore, if the console is no longer outputting data, the EN4 will continue to send the last values, and your Springtree device will not enter DMX loss mode.

To change this behaviour, please go to the EN4’s System > Device Settings webpage, and change the Signal Loss Hold Timeout option to 0 seconds, rather than Forever. Now when sACN is lost from the controller, the DMX port will disable (no LED indicator), and the Springtree device should enter DMX loss mode.

I’m a little confused here - has Port 2 been configured to send sACN Universe 1, or sACN Universe 10?

If a Port has been configured as a DMX Input, you can then choose the universe number, and sACN/Art-Net. When a DMX source connected to this port is active, this universe will then be sent from the EN4 to receivers on the network, plus any other ports of the EN4 that are configured as outputs, set to receive this same sACN/Art-Net universe.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Edward

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Thanks Edward. I originally was bringing in port 2 on universe 10 when I was using the backup merge with the previous firmware. I now understand that the SACN not re-sending to ports on the node itself in the prior firmware was a bug and my approach had to change once that was working.

Thanks for the info regarding Signal Loss Hold Timeout!

The new version is working as I originally expected.

One last question. If I select no protocol on input port 2, my assumption is that the data on that port does not get redistributed to other ports in the node unless a merge is set up. Is that true?

11

Hi @Celilo

No problem at all. Glad the EN4 is now behaving as expected.

That is correct - if a port is configured as an input, but no protocol is configured, that universe will not get sent anywhere - neither onto the network nor to other ports.

Edward

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Thanks again for all of your help Edward!

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