Control/Dimming - Need Help! Control software for unknown board (pics inside)

[JackGeorge]

Hello, and thank for anyone that can help on this problem.

I have a client that recently switched to my company to provide lighting solutions for there club. They have an old stage with a set of controller cards inside. I thought they were DMX due to the 3 pin xlr connections, but i tried all my dmx hardware on them with no luck. The the client brought me there old computer w/ a rs-232 to 3pin xlr plug. The computer had died some months back (before i was a vendor.) It was some type of software that handled dance floor controlling. I tried to salvage the hard drive in it with minimal luck. the most i could come up with is the old software package was named "MSI" or "ONEALSO".

Pics of the controller boards.

[Sony]

3 Pin is actually not always DMX, in fact...true DMX should always have a 5-Pin XLR connector. Only the cheap DMX units come with 3 pin connectors because they are cheaper.

The only thing that I know of that uses 3 Pin XLR for lighting is NSI/Leviton's MicroPlex a.k.a. MPX, but I am sure there are others. Someone else may know more!

[NickJones]

Looks safe.... This could be any type of el'cheapo Chineese brand, your chances of finding any info on this is minimal, but then again, you have CB's 5000 members to help. As for the software, MSI is a large hardware manufacturer, try sticking a boot CD like BartPE into the computer, that way it will boot, then trawling through program files to find the software.
If you need more help with this PM me.
Nick

[len]

If I were you, I'd trash the whole thing.

1. Whatever it is there's probably no support for it.
2. who knows how long before it goes down again, and then it becomes YOUR problem.
3. Even if it works, anything you replace it with will be so much more advanced than whatever that is.

You can get a cheap pc and any one of the software based lighting controllers for far less than the aggravation you'll collect working on that thing.

[NickJones]

True, but I can restore files in about 10 mins, and when you first takeover a venue, they wouldn't be to happy if you have to go out and spend heaps of money strait away.
Getting back files is not hard.
Nick

[church]

The boards look like a self assembled kit, the artwork used for the boards is not particularly good. However more importantly the lamps look to be wired directly into the pcb through the screw clamp connectors. If this is the case and this is handling mains voltage you are dealing with an unapproved installation which should be disconneceted. The electrical code in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. (Not sure which comuntry you are in) all require the use of approved enclosures (or enclosures manufactured from a minimum thickness of steel with no holes larger than a specified diameter) for use as housings of control circuits, switches etc. This is mounted on a wooden panel with all the circuits exposed.

[Chris15]

Um, I would guess it's running RS232 onto the XLR.
Boards look custom.
Depending on the client, would the msi they refer to be a .msi installer?
I doubt those boards are carrying mains, there are no visible triacs etc that would actually carry mains volts and the cabling is too skimpy.

Is there a power supply board not in shot? Any chance of higher res photos?

What do these controllers connect to?

Sorry not many answers and more questions...

[epimetheus]

Originally Posted by Chris15

Um, I would guess it's running RS232 onto the XLR.
Boards look custom.
Depending on the client, would the msi they refer to be a .msi installer?
I doubt those boards are carrying mains, there are no visible triacs etc that would actually carry mains volts and the cabling is too skimpy.

Is there a power supply board not in shot? Any chance of higher res photos?

What do these controllers connect to?

Sorry not many answers and more questions...

I agree, probably RS232 over the XLR connection. The first board there with the XLR connectors looks like it is the controller board with one or both of those large IC's being microcontrollers. The second board, with the cabling attached, looks like it has PWM chips that are being controlled by the first board. I bet the lights are DC. If you could get some higher res photos maybe we could identify the chips. Also, does the floor actually power up and light up? If it does, could you measure the voltage of one of the lights?

[JackGeorge]

OK, Some answers to questions you all had.

Originally Posted by NickJones

Looks safe.... This could be any type of el'cheapo Chineese brand, your chances of finding any info on this is minimal, but then again, you have CB's 5000 members to help. As for the software, MSI is a large hardware manufacturer, try sticking a boot CD like BartPE into the computer, that way it will boot, then trawling through program files to find the software.
If you need more help with this PM me.
Nick

A: Computer hard drive is shot, i do a lot of computer work and could only salvage a few files. I did a low level. It was running win 95'.

Originally Posted by len

If I were you, I'd trash the whole thing.

1. Whatever it is there's probably no support for it.
2. who knows how long before it goes down again, and then it becomes YOUR problem.
3. Even if it works, anything you replace it with will be so much more advanced than whatever that is.

You can get a cheap pc and any one of the software based lighting controllers for far less than the aggravation you'll collect working on that thing.

A: I wanted to put a new system in (scrapping this one) but they haven't moved on any of the quotes i gave them (go figure) I was going to put in a LED system (doesn't need to be bright)

Originally Posted by epimetheus

I agree, probably RS232 over the XLR connection. The first board there with the XLR connectors looks like it is the controller board with one or both of those large IC's being microcontrollers. The second board, with the cabling attached, looks like it has PWM chips that are being controlled by the first board. I bet the lights are DC. If you could get some higher res photos maybe we could identify the chips. Also, does the floor actually power up and light up? If it does, could you measure the voltage of one of the lights?

A: The bulbs are 110v (Location New Mexico, USA) There are small boards in the center of each cluster that takes a voltage from the main board (in pictures) and switches over the 110v. Didn't look like a triac but of course i didn't get pics of that.

Originally Posted by Chris15

Is there a power supply board not in shot? Any chance of higher res photos?

A: HIGH RES pictures. 10mp 2.5mb/each
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3



Pinout, if that helps:
RS-232 --> XLR 3pin
pin 3 --> pin 2
pin 5 --> pin 1+3



Thanks for all that have chimed in!

[waynehoskins]

Sure looks like custom boards to me, from a prototyping place. May be RS-232, may be something completely different. Most certainly not any standard lighting protocol.

Now, what I would do if I were building that old system, is put the power devices (triacs, SCRs, whatever) in the backboxes and just run control wires to them from the PWM (if it really is dimming) or whatever the second board is. It could be latches, shift registers, whatever.

Also of interest, there are a lot of empty sockets on there.