3.1.7. b2826 Problems with USB LTC Widgit.

Name: Justin
Date: Oct.16.2010
Software Version and build number: 3.1.7 b2826
Number of external displays:2
Connected USB Devices: USB LTC Widgit
Networked Devices: 2 - DP2000
Detailed description of the problem:

Upgraded from version 2.3.0 software on the hog 3. After managing to complete the upgrade i noticed problems with the LTC Widgit in regards to receiving Time code. It would work just after booting up the board, but then after a while of not receiving code it seemed to not acknowledge when code was being run again. Ended up running the show manually and then rolled back to 3.1.5. Everything seems to be running fine now.
  • Ok So I just finished running a fairly complex show manually cause the LTC Widget is still acting up. I really don't want to roll back to 2.3.0 but will if it proves to be the best option. Can anyone think of a way that I ca fix my problem that I'm dealing with? I wish there was a way to see if the Widget was showing a status of online or offline like i used to be able to do with the I/O processor.

    Is anyone else having the same problem as me?
  • When this occurs are any of the LEDs on the front of the USB LTC Widget lighting up? Primarily the important one would be the "forward" led since that indicates it is receiving LTC timecode.
  • Hey Chris.
    When this happens, the only light I see is the Link LED, Sometimes the Forward Light will light up but Active doesn't Light up. When everything is playing nice i will get Forward Active and Link to light up but when there are issues its just the Link light that lights up.

    I'm going to roll back to 2.3.0 today and hopefully if you can think of a solution I will roll forward again. I will check the Processor Speed of the DP 2000, Maybe there just too old or something and causing stability issues. For starters they are the DP2000 without the DMX in on the front they only have the Outs.
  • Ok, So I've decided not to roll back mostly because I don't have a disk with 2.3.0 and I could Download that but it would take forever on the ship. Also Mitch doesn't feel that the Software has anything to do with the problem. I kinda agree. If the widget sits for too long without receiving code it doesn't click into Active mode when Code is rolling. The Link LED and the Forward LED light up but thats it. If I POST while code is rolling or just before then it works.

    The DP's that we have are the DP2000 and they are both running at 75MHz, also the LTC Widget is Model : WHIII, Timecode, USB
    Serial: 61FL1003029
    Date: July 23, 2003

    Any more info you need from me just let me know.
  • Ok so rolled the desk back to 2.6.0 cause I found a disk for that. Widget is working like it should however when I view TC in the Time Code Toolbar it doesn't run smoothly but it runs and thats all i care about at this point in time. However now when I try to save a backup to my Zip disk it fails doing that stating that it failed to write to archive. However I can save a backup to the internal HDD and copy it over to the zip disk (when the Zip Disk is playing nice)

    I am going to send the show file to Mitch and possibly yourself if you think it would help figure out a solution that will allow me to put the desk back to the newer version of software or a newer version of software rather than be running fairly old software.

    Thanks again for the help.
  • It sounds like like your timecode input signal is marginal. It may have lot of noise in it, or the signal level could be too high, or too low. Also make sure the timecode isn't going through any kind of audio processing (compressor/limiter, EQ, etc.).

    You said the timecode doesn't run smoothly in the time code toolbar. That means the console is getting a valid timecode update every once in a while, but it's choppy. Timecode is a constant signal. The audio feed is sending 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... But the console is hearing something like noise, 2, noise, 5, noise, 8. The console does its best to fill in the gaps, but if the updates are noisy enough it will eventually give up.

    You can try increasing the "Regenerate Frames" value to try and run through the gaps, but this will only mask the symptoms, the underlying signal problem is still there. Work with the timecode signal until the toolbar runs smoothly and the forward LED is on solidly.
  • Hey Eric.
    The Time Code Signal is fine as the Forward LED is on continuously, so I know that's not the problem. I've heard from other people that were using the same setup as me that they had to roll back as far as 2.2.2 to get the widget working properly. Does High End still produce the IO processor? As I can't find it on the site. Also my Zip disk isn't working properly as a result of rolling back to 2.6.0, so I'm going to roll forward in increments and hopefully get everything playing nicely together. I can't go all the way to 3.1.5 cause thats where the problems started but I'll go as far as I can.

    Any other suggestions?
  • Justin,

    We discontinued the IO processor several years ago. I agree with Eric that it sound more like a problem with your incoming timecode. You might try adjusting the volume of the timecode signal as this often results in problems for others. I have also seen instances where a timecode signal was mixed with audio.. I had to plug in a speaker and listen to the timecode to find this problem. You can try that and you might find noise or volume changes.
  • Hey brad.
    Thanks for that but I'm pretty sure my Timecode signal is fine as I've seen it run smoothly with a software update but thats when I started having the widget issues. I think the widget is on its last legs. I'm currently running @ 2.6.0 and everything is running as it should so I'm staying there, until people from the office want to put on a new show and realize the problems that are here with the widget.

    Thanks for all the help tho.
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