This summer I was able to train on the Ion in NYC by ETC. I have all the manuals and updates and even a couple of the Polar Capture Visuals. Unfortunately, I have been unable to connect my Element to my laptop and use Polar Capture and the manual that was supplied to me to retrain myself or teach my students how to use the Element. The best part of the training I received was the visualizer was already set up to work with the manual. I guess I am wondering if anyone has any advice on connecting the ETC Element to my laptop (I am using the Student version of Polar Capture) or if anyone has the Capture files (c2s) that would work with the Level 1 and 2 manuals for the EOS family consoles. As always, thank you all for your advice and help.
Hooking up Laptop to ETC Eos Family Console to teach
- Thread startermrcancun5
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This summer I was able to train on the Ion in NYC by ETC in hopes of instructing my students on how to use our Element. I have all the manuals and updates and even a couple of the Polar Capture Visuals. Unfortunately, I have been unable to connect my Element to my laptop and use Polar Capture and the manual that was supplied to me to retrain myself or teach my students how to use the Element. The best part of the training I received was the visualizer was already set up to work with the manual. I guess I am wondering if anyone has any advice on connecting the ETC Element to my laptop (I am using the Student version of Polar Capture) or if anyone has the Capture files (c2s) that would work with the Level 1 and 2 manuals for the EOS family consoles. As always, thank you all for your advice and help.
Lafalot
Active Member
You might find this useful:
http://www.etcconnect.com/community/wikis/products/knowledgebase-connecting-congo-and-eos-family-consoles-to-a-visualiser.aspx
The files used at the trainings are 'exe' files or executables, created from Capture. The executables should have been on the USB that was handed out at the training. There is also a document on the USB about setting up the capture executables with a console or with offline. Even still, feel free to contact me for more in-depth info.
http://www.etcconnect.com/community/wikis/products/knowledgebase-connecting-congo-and-eos-family-consoles-to-a-visualiser.aspx
The files used at the trainings are 'exe' files or executables, created from Capture. The executables should have been on the USB that was handed out at the training. There is also a document on the USB about setting up the capture executables with a console or with offline. Even still, feel free to contact me for more in-depth info.
I have the USB and the files, but I still can't get the Element to communicate with my laptop and can't seem to find the PDF that explains how to set up capture executables with the console. I have visited that wiki page concerning setting up the visualizer, but feel like I am missing something. I have a crossover cable that I am using, and even set up a "Loopback Adapter" but still no luck. Thank you for your help and time. I really appreciate it.
It would be really useful to know what sort of laptop, the operating system, and how you are connecting the two devices. Knowing this basic information would eliminate a lot of variables in debugging your issue.
At this point it is not possible to know if your issue is with the physical connection, the IP networking, a firewall, or the application. The loopback adapter is only useful if you are running EOS offline on the same laptop. The crossover cable is likely unnecessary since Element, and likely your laptop are equipped with NICs that can automatically detect and set the Tx/Rx accordingly.
Is it safe to assume you are trying to connect the Element to the laptop with only a cable? If so, how are these devices getting their IP addresses? Is Element set up as a DHCP server? Can you ping the laptop from Element and vice-versa? If so, then you may need a firewall rule to allow the Capture Polar executable through. It may also be necessary to disable every other NIC (loopback, wireless, etc.) in order to coerce the Capture Polar executable to listen on the NIC you are using.
At this point it is not possible to know if your issue is with the physical connection, the IP networking, a firewall, or the application. The loopback adapter is only useful if you are running EOS offline on the same laptop. The crossover cable is likely unnecessary since Element, and likely your laptop are equipped with NICs that can automatically detect and set the Tx/Rx accordingly.
Is it safe to assume you are trying to connect the Element to the laptop with only a cable? If so, how are these devices getting their IP addresses? Is Element set up as a DHCP server? Can you ping the laptop from Element and vice-versa? If so, then you may need a firewall rule to allow the Capture Polar executable through. It may also be necessary to disable every other NIC (loopback, wireless, etc.) in order to coerce the Capture Polar executable to listen on the NIC you are using.
I will try following the steps on the pdf provided. To answer previous questions, I am running Windows 7 and have set up the IP and Gateway so that the console and laptop can communicate, and have made sure that no firewall is active and my security software is disabled. I have even been able to Ping the Console using my laptop, so I think I am on the right path there. I will see if following the steps on the pdf will fix the issues with having the console communicate with the laptop. Thanks everyone for your help and advice and I will let you know of my success or failure come Monday.
So I tried the steps on the pdf and even hooked up an unmanaged network switch. Still no response from the capture software.
Here is my setup, maybe somebody can see something is setup incorrectly.
The element settings for the network are as follows:
Status is Online
Obtain IP automatically is disabled
IP address is 10.101.97.101
Subnet Mask is 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway is 10.101.97.101
sACN is checked for both Local Area Connection and Default (Priority 100, Draft Version v0.2 is selected)
net2 - EDMX is also checked for Local Area Connection and Default (Priority 10)
Output to Visualizer is checked.
Allowed Output Addresses: From (blank) to (blank) with ADD not highlighted; underneath it reads From 1 to 65536 with REMOVE highlighted in yellow
Interface protocols:
Multiconsole is checked for Local Area Connection set to Standard Network
Sensor Feedback is checked
RDM is checked
WiFi remote is unchecked
UDP Strings is checked
DHCP services is enabled
First IP Address is 10.101.97.101
Number of addresses is 500
Subnet mask is 255.255.0.0
Routed is checked
Default Gateway is 10.101.97.101
Update Service (TFTP) enabled
TIme Service (SNTP) enabled
Mode: Server
ETC Net2 Time is enabled
External Time Server is disabled
My OS version is 2.1.0.9.0.2
Image Provisioning Version is 1.1.0.9.0.25
Welcome Screen Version is 2.0.1.9.0.7
Laptop is Windows 7
IP address: 10.101.97.103
Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway is 10.101.97.101
I have all Firewalls and Security Programs disabled. I have been loading the Capture Intro Training.exe file and try to patch 1-4 and bring them up to full, but get nothing. When I ping the console from my laptop, I get a reply of less than 1ms, 4 packets sent and 4 received. When I try to ping the laptop from the console, it just keeps repeating "Reply from 10.101.97.103 in 0ms TTL=128" so I don't know if this is good or bad.
Again, I thank everyone for their help and patience.
Here is my setup, maybe somebody can see something is setup incorrectly.
The element settings for the network are as follows:
Status is Online
Obtain IP automatically is disabled
IP address is 10.101.97.101
Subnet Mask is 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway is 10.101.97.101
sACN is checked for both Local Area Connection and Default (Priority 100, Draft Version v0.2 is selected)
net2 - EDMX is also checked for Local Area Connection and Default (Priority 10)
Output to Visualizer is checked.
Allowed Output Addresses: From (blank) to (blank) with ADD not highlighted; underneath it reads From 1 to 65536 with REMOVE highlighted in yellow
Interface protocols:
Multiconsole is checked for Local Area Connection set to Standard Network
Sensor Feedback is checked
RDM is checked
WiFi remote is unchecked
UDP Strings is checked
DHCP services is enabled
First IP Address is 10.101.97.101
Number of addresses is 500
Subnet mask is 255.255.0.0
Routed is checked
Default Gateway is 10.101.97.101
Update Service (TFTP) enabled
TIme Service (SNTP) enabled
Mode: Server
ETC Net2 Time is enabled
External Time Server is disabled
My OS version is 2.1.0.9.0.2
Image Provisioning Version is 1.1.0.9.0.25
Welcome Screen Version is 2.0.1.9.0.7
Laptop is Windows 7
IP address: 10.101.97.103
Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway is 10.101.97.101
I have all Firewalls and Security Programs disabled. I have been loading the Capture Intro Training.exe file and try to patch 1-4 and bring them up to full, but get nothing. When I ping the console from my laptop, I get a reply of less than 1ms, 4 packets sent and 4 received. When I try to ping the laptop from the console, it just keeps repeating "Reply from 10.101.97.103 in 0ms TTL=128" so I don't know if this is good or bad.
Again, I thank everyone for their help and patience.
You might try changing this to use the Release Version (I can't recall if Capture requires the released version, but I suspect it does.)
This is not your issue (as your computer's IP is 10.101.97.103), but I will point out that it is not a good idea to have your DHCP service's first IP address be the same as your console. ETC starts this range at 10.101.50.101 by default. If you want to keep the third octet the same (97) then I would recommend that you start your first address at 10.101.97.102 to avoid the DHCP server handing out the same address as the console to another device causing a conflict.
Again not your issue, however, unless you are going through a true router (very few systems are) you do not need to check the Routed network checkbox.
If changing to the Release Version of sACN above does not solve this issue, there is a diagnostic program available called sACNView. This free, open-source tool allows you to see exactly what sACN data is on the network, from which source(s) are transmitting , and the levels for each address. It is very powerful and a handy tool for troubleshooting networked sACN systems. I would recommend installing this on your computer and running it in addition to Capture when you are bringing up channels on the console to see what your computer is seeing. This will help narrow down if the issue is from the console or from Capture (or somewhere in between).
This means that your computer is replying in no time (0ms) and that the reply can go through 128 different switching devices (TTL = Time To Live). All in all, means you have no apparent latency and your console and laptop can see each other on the network.
OK. I tried the sACN on release version and that did not fix the issue. I also ran the sACNview and it did not appear that my laptop is picking up any sACN data from my Element. I say appear because I could be using the software incorrectly. At this point I would pay for someone to set this up or for a laptop that was loaded and ready to go. Sorry, just frustrated...but still very optimistic. 
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