Strand 300 weirdness

[LavaASU]

We have a strand 300. The other day during a long tech it started randomly deleting subs. Then about half of them would come back at some point and about half had to be re-recorded. I had 4 subs that this happened over and over on, 2 that it happened a couple of times, and a couple of others that it happened once. The frequency it happened seems to directly correlate to how often a particular sub's bump button was used. However by the end we were being very careful to ensure that we were not accidentally bumping anything else (like delete!).

Weird thing number 2 is it sometimes (nearly always on boot, occasionally during operation) will capture channels (they show on the monitor) at values. Typically it's values that it was used on before we lost control of those channels. We then have to type in a zero (or another level) from command and once we clear that zero regain control. Taking control with the wheel works as well. Clear and strand-clear (including 3x each) do not release them. Not really an issue at startup, but I had this happen during a show a few weeks ago which was obviously a rather large issue.

Anyone seen this or have ideas?

 

[BurkeTheJerk]

I haven't seen these exact issues, as I have never used a 300 console, but Strand is notorious for software problems. For two years I used a Lightboard M, and figured similar issues (subs not working properly, patches deleting themselves, the entire board freezing like a cranky Windows XP computer) were related to it's age, but when my school "upgraded" to the Preset Palette II this summer, it had/has similar problems.
Our solution: Always have a backup.

 

[bharrell]

From your description, it's difficult to identify if it's a hardware issue or software. In the event that the hardware is still working properly, you could likely benefit from running 220CLEAN. This will clear out memory, scandisk and defrag the system. This is a maintenance utility that should be run on a regular basis.

Make sure and save your showfile before doing this. Any files on the C drive will still be there.

Exit the software normally, as soon as you hit the softkey to confirm the shutdown procedure, press the Q key on an external keyboard about once a second until a command line appears (with a bunch of Qs on it). Delete all of the "Q"s and type 220CLEAN. Then follow all of the prompts to complete all maintenance actions. If there are any errors on the software files, reinstall the software. When complete, restart and load the showfile.

If you still have issues it is likely a hardware issue and you can seek a solution from one of Strand's Century dealers. I recommend either Vincent Lighting, Century Lighting Services, Murphy Lighting (in the US) or Sceneworks in Canada.

 

[bharrell]

While you may have had issues with aging consoles in the past, I don't agree with the assessment that all Strand consoles have software issues. There are end of life issues with any computer at a certain point, however, if your school is having issues with a current product, you should contact your local dealer or the factory to sort those out.

There are thousands of Palette consoles out there that are working perfectly fine and Strand wants to add your school to that list.