Strand 300 Networking problem

[Bryson]

Hello all,

 

Having just installed a PC in the booth finally, I thought I'd dig out the old copy of WYSIWYG console edition and get that working for my "usual" rig at least. But there's a problem. The network card in the 300 appears to be dead. Or at least, I think so. Here's the setup:

 

Acer PC with 2 network cards. One is connected to the main building network, the other is connected to the 300 directly. Both network cards work (as I've swapped them over and they both work on the building network) and all the cables check out as well. The TCP/IP settings on the card connected to the 300 are IP: 198.168.0.31 and Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Network properties tells me that the cable to the 300 is unplugged (it isn't).

 

Strand 300/250. Connected directly to the Acer. It has the network card in the end slot (I assume this doesn't matter?) nearest the case wall. Networker is ON. Net_1 is set to start at 1 and end at 1536 (the manual says 2048, but I can't get it to go any higher) and Net slot is 1. I don't know what to set "Network Video Slot" to, so it's off right now. It has an IP of 198.168.0.68 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0

 

As far as I can tell, I've set it up right, but the PC is not getting a thing.

 

Any ideas what is wrong here? Or is, as I fear, the Network card a non-starter?

 

Obviously, I'd ring Strand if I could, but...well, you know...

[paulears]

not wishing to add a stupid comment, but woudn't you want a reversed lead to go from 300 to acer, rather than the straight cable to connect to the building network?

[Paul_R]

Hi Bryson,

Sorry I cannot help with the actual Strand setup, and although you say the network cables check out OK, you do know that to link two network cards directly you *probably* need to use a 'x-over' cable rather than a 'normal' cable?

Had to ask as this could either be the most un-helpful post of the year or a eureka moment!

 

Regards,

Paul

 

Edit: Must type quicker!

[Tom Baldwin]

Bryson,

 

Since you have connected the PC to the 300 directly (i.e. without an intervening hub or switch), you'd need a crossover Ethernet cable (TX and RX pins swapped). A straight cable (1:1 pinning) wouldn't work. Easiest way to decide if an Ethernet cable is straight or crossover is to hold the two plugs side by side, so you can clearly see the wiring colours through the plastic shell. If they run in the same order in both plugs, it's a straight through cable.

 

You can fix this problem either by getting a crossover cable (should be available through High St. PC retailers at exorbitant prices - good luck) or any obvious mail order electronics supplier should be able to sort you out.

 

The alternative is to plug the PC and the 300 into a switch or hub, using straight through cables. The spec of the hub or switch isn't important for this application - do you have IT support on site? They might well have an old one kicking about that's perfectly good for this application.

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

 

EDIT: Must also type quicker!

[Bryson]

Bryson,

 

Since you have connected the PC to the 300 directly (i.e. without an intervening hub or switch), you'd need a crossover Ethernet cable (TX and RX pins swapped).

 

*slaps head* Sorry, I thought we were living in the 21st century....all my other gear is auto-sensing! :(

 

 

You can fix this problem either by getting a crossover cable (should be available through High St. PC retailers at exorbitant prices - good luck) or any obvious mail order electronics supplier should be able to sort you out.

 

I'll make one.

 

The alternative is to plug the PC and the 300 into a switch or hub, using straight through cables. The spec of the hub or switch isn't important for this application - do you have IT support on site? They might well have an old one kicking about that's perfectly good for this application.

 

Well, we have...me. I do have a switch spare, so I'll try that and see if it works before I get out the cat 5 tool....

[peternewman]

I've also unfortunately been caught out with non auto-sensing stuff, in fact I've a vague idea it was an Acer laptop. Another thing to watch out for, especially if it's showing as connected and still not working, is that in my experience Windows is pretty useless at working out which port to use, I frequently have to disable wireless when connecting to something wired, and vice versa, I guess it depends which one starts first, but it's a PITA when you want to use both interfaces.

[Bryson]

OK, so they are now connected with a crossover. Windows no longer thinks the cable is unplugged and there are lights flickering on the network card in the PC and the 300. However, WYSIWYG CE is not convinced. I get:

Unable to connect to console. Your driver appears to be installed correctly, however a connection to your console could not be established. Please ensure your console is connected before attempting to restart the application

 

I'm able to ping the 300 and it replies, so I'm definately physically connected, it must be a duff setting.

 

See above for how I have the network settings set on the console and the PC. I've tried setting NET VIDEO to off, but that doesn't make any difference.

 

Any ideas now?

[gareth]

Install the Strand networker software on your PC. Make sure your PC is in the same subnet as your desk, and that the address is correctly reflected in the 220node.cfg file (IOFTP needs this information in order to function). Run the IOFTP program, and use the WHO command - you'll get back a list of nodes currently visible on the network, which should be the desk and your PC. Let us know how that goes ...

 

Do you own, or have access to, an xConnect dongle?

 

NET VIDEO shouldn't make any difference, by the way - all it does is tells the desk which network video slots to broadcast its video displays in.

[Ricky Ng]

Install the Strand networker software on your PC. Make sure your PC is in the same subnet as your desk, and that the address is correctly reflected in the 220node.cfg file (IOFTP needs this information in order to function). Run the IOFTP program, and use the WHO command - you'll get back a list of nodes currently visible on the network, which should be the desk and your PC. Let us know how that goes ...

 

Do you own, or have access to, an xConnect dongle?

 

NET VIDEO shouldn't make any difference, by the way - all it does is tells the desk which network video slots to broadcast its video displays in.

 

HI ALL,

I am working inside a theatre with a local arts institution. It has a Strand 300 board. Actually I was always thinking of linking it to a PC by networking until I read your post. Please excuse me for my questions as I am quite a newbie. My questions are: How to obtain the Strand networker software? Does it come free. How to check whether my strand 300 is equipped with a network card? My idea is to use the PC as a backup for the strand 300. I would grateful for a step by step procedure to setup my strand 300 to network with the PC.

Thanking you all for the answers.

[gareth]

How to obtain the Strand networker software?

Visit Strand's website and download the Networker software from the Software section (under the Support menu). Make sure you download the version which matches the operating software that you have on your console (or download the newer OS at the same time).

How to check whether my strand 300 is equipped with a network card?

Have a look at the back panel of the system box - if there's an RJ45 network connector there, you've got one!

I would grateful for a step by step procedure to setup my strand 300 to network with the PC.

That's quite a big question! Your best bet is to download the manual from the website, and read up on the networking sections, then ask here if you have any specific queries that you want help with.

[Bryson]

How to check whether my strand 300 is equipped with a network card?

Have a look at the back panel of the system box - if there's an RJ45 network connector there, you've got one!

 

 

*Waves arms* Danger, Will Robinson. :)

 

Not necessarily, Gareth. The 300 connects the panels with RJ45 connectors running the Sbus protocol, so make sure you discount the block of 4 RJ45 connectors and look for one at the other end of the back panel, where the expansion slots are.

[gareth]

Not necessarily, Gareth. The 300 connects the panels with RJ45 connectors running the Sbus protocol, so make sure you discount the block of 4 RJ45 connectors and look for one at the other end of the back panel, where the expansion slots are.

D'oh - you're dead right, of course. I hardly ever come into contact with 300-series desks, and I'd forgotten that they use RJ45s for the panel interconnections.

[strand600X]

sounds like a stupid suggestion but you have installed the strand msi file to make the wyg talk to the desk haven't you?

it is available on the website.

I haven't used the CE edition but I do use the perform and there are things you need to set up in the live screen I.e you need to tell it it needs to connect to the strand network and not the ETC one.

Sorry if im teaching grandma how to suck eggs

baz

:D

[JMC]

It's also worth mentioning that although the networker software is free to download and install on the console (in fact it's mandatory with recent software versions), you may not have the required password on the console in order to use the net functionality. This is an additional paid item.. If you don't already have a network card (which will be in one of the 3 expansion slots on the right, as you look at the processor from the rear) then you probably won't have this functionality. In this case you will need to contact strand/a reseller for a password, and cross their palm with silver etc.. List price is £600! You can check if you have this functionality by going into the Report screen and looking at APPLICATIONS. If there's one there called NET, you're fine.

 

If in the unlikely event you have the application, but no network card, it's a common cheap intel card. I'll look up the exact model and chipset if you don't have one.

[bruce]

Since you have connected the PC to the 300 directly (i.e. without an intervening hub or switch), you'd need a crossover Ethernet cable (TX and RX pins swapped).

 

*slaps head* Sorry, I thought we were living in the 21st century....all my other gear is auto-sensing! :D

 

(apologies for jumping back to an old post)

 

The lack of auto-sense-ability is to be expected in this case. Most equipment which is advertised as "auto-sensing" or "auto-negotiating" simply means it will negotiate speed and duplex settings; nothing else.

 

Some switches (but never end-user devices) will also autosense whether they should be set up as MDI or MDIX, so with these devices a crossover cable may not be needed. But if you connect two end-user devices directly together, they won't have this functionality, so a crossover is always needed.