iank99

@Ziglight - "Off Forum" means that Jon has sent an eMail to the original poster which sometimes leads to them being invited to try beta release software. Zero88 are aware of the issue that you've experienced - there are a couple of other posts here complaining about it too.

Have you tried the 'Create Auto Palettes' to see what the desk generates? My understanding is that the function is to create a series of premixed colours that will 'map' to standard gel colours so you don't have to worry so much about building colours from scratch. Even if you do need to mix a colour that's not quite standard - chances are the Palettes will give you a starting point that you could then tweak with the encoders.

There was an feature similar to this in the Sirius 250 & 500 whereby you could 'tell' the desk the outside corners of the performance area so that you could program positions for fixtures then when you moved to another theatre or space - you only reset the corners again and the desk recalculated the position of the fixtures accordingly. However, several factors seemed to work against it - hanging positions of the fixtures feed in to the equations so it becomes 3d trigonometry and also each model of fixture (and sometimes even individual fixtures of the same model) move in different ways per DMX value for pan & tilt i.e. you feed it DMX 127 which fixture A defines internally as 30degrees tilt yet fixture B calls it 35 degrees. To do the function you're imagining would need (I suspect) some complex translation tables for each fixture within the desk and someone would need to compile the tables. In practice - what works out better (otherwise the desk would get dragged down in speed with lots of fixtures using that approach) is to plot the DMX values and send them, then for the designer to go through and tweak the 'wayward' fixtures that are just "off". For that you just need a desk function that lets you solo each fixture quickly whilst stepping through all the fixtures one by one and then 'nudge' them in to place by a few degrees.

Glad to hear you bought it back to life - I always liked using the 250/500 for moving heads. It was a lovely desk for vamping shows too - I guess most folks would say "Use a frog..."

My understanding is that the two boards are electronically the same - the board with the CR2032 was used in a lot of Frogs and Fat Frogs and Illusion 500's The only issue may be if it came from a Frog and it's now going in to a Fat Frog - I think you may need to reset it's internal ID - but a phone call to Keith will confirm if that's the case and how to do it.

I think he meant the manual for the Kam bars...

That's "expected behaviour" - you can't assign the same DMX channel address to more than one fader - which one then takes priority? You can assign multiple DMX channels to one fader - all the channels then track the output "commanded" by the fader. If everything you have is new, then set the 'first' dimmer pack for channels 1 to 6 at DMX address 1 - the 2nd dimmer pack for 7 to 12 at Address 7 and so on. If you need multiple dimmer channels controlled by one fader then you can either look at Page 30 in the manual and do the patch on the desk or if you're using BetaPack 3's you can use individual channel addresses on those.

Not sure what the problem is from your description but it is certainly possible to assign more than one DMX channel address to a fader - you do this in Super User and page 30 in the manual describes the procedure. You don't assign DMX address to presets but to the channels within each preset - the preset is just a handy way of having two separate levels set for the same dimmer channel then being able to cross fade between them.

The 2 issues you mention are very likely the result of the Phantom kernel having to use a register on the host PC to provide a 'consistent' value for the battery and NovRam test (I'm guessing). It could be that they're BIOS values which are published (and can usually be expected to be consistent) but on some PC's they might vary. My understanding is that the software you see for Phantom ZerOS is the same source code as on the desk but running in an emulation environment of some kind - it could be that the emulator rather than using a discrete/value for those two power on tests uses a register on the host PC. When ZerOS gets those values on your PC, they're out of range or simply 'invalid' values - it doesn't "know" it's running in a emulator and so produces the error messages you've discovered. FWIW - I just tried my copy of Phantom ZerOS (on Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit) and it's fine and it works well enough for me to pootle around and check keystrokes when I need to support someone over the phone. We've also got the latest release ZerOS on our hire unit and it works perfectly well, so I guess that the issue is really just the way that Phantom ZerOS is run on a PC. I shouldn't worry too much and enjoy your desk when it arrives with you!

The "Not ready reading drive C" message is a familiar DOS message when the hard disk is unreadable - either through corruption or physical damage. If the desk hasn't been used for quite a while (or perhaps has been dropped) then one of two things could have happened.... A. The Hard drive might be suffering 'stiction' where the lubricant for the platters goes all sticky and prevents them spinning. Allegedly - it can be cured by removing the drive from its mountings, power it up then flick the drive in the horizontal plane to force the platters to move. However - this was a fairly random technique from the 80's when PC hard disks were expensive - no guarantee that it will work. B. The desk might have been dropped causing the read/write head to come unlocked and contact the platters - the drive isn't recoverable from that. In theory - if you can find a small hard disk (the bios on the mainboard may not be able to read a drive larger than 32Mb) Zero88 might have a copy of the utility disk for the desk that allows you to install the software afresh. It shouldn't be too hard to find a copy of MSDOS to put on the drive - it might only be DOS 3.3 (I never had to reinstall software on a 250 or 500 so I don't know to be honest)... It might well be that the desk is at the end of its life - a shame but it does happen.

Oooops - just reread my post - it should be second diode up from the zener!

It's just a double sided PCB - the design is from long before the R&D guys got they're heads around multi layer. Just use some thin insulated wire to bridge around break and just be careful of the insulation melting on the wire as you solder it.

The "crud" on the underside of your DMX card isn't unusual - it's mostly a by product of the flow solder machine process. If the battery is draining so fast, then it has to be damage to the mainboard tracks around the battery - something is shorting the battery to ground causing it to discharge or a component fail. Looking at a circuit diagram, I'd be looking at D42 to make sure it's still a diode and not letting battery voltage on to the voltage rail that supplies it, D42 is located next to the battery - second resistor up from the zener diode.

I use a combination of IsoProp Alcohol and a flux remover - that tends to move most gunk. The RAM should re-initialise when you power the unit and do a rest & boot from Super User. Whilst you're cleaning the board - check the through hole plates around the battery - they might have been corroded and dissolved by the battery leak.

There's no memory battery in either version of the Alcora and the Mk1 didn't do DMX patching. If it's a very early Mk1 then a lot of the chips were socketed so it might be worth popping the cover and pushing home the IC's - sadly this means you have to take the whole desk apart to get to them. There isn't a drive chip for the DMX as such but a buffer that converts the voltage levels from the processor to DMX levels - the output of that drives the DMX led. It might even be as simple as the DMX led is bent away from the window, you won't know until you get the desk open. It could even be the Grand Master fader has failed so the desk can't output. It would be really worth trying to get the desk to a Zero88 dealer who can do repairs. If you contact Keith at Zero - he'll be able to tell you of your nearest.

First port of call - if you've not had it done - is to replace the battery on the processor card and see what the rack does then. So much of the internal workings of the processor on the ID's rely on the battery backed internal RAM that if the battery fails, the RAM gets corrupted and the onboard processors get confused. It's a relatively simple job to do for a Zero88 repair centre - the only issue may be if the battery has leaked and begun to eat the PCB it's mounted on. A phone call to Keith at Zero should get you the name and phone number for the nearest Zero repair for you that can handle the repair.

When you say that you 'lost' them - are they simply not lighting up with a load connected or do the loads switch full on when you plug them in? There is a relatively common (and simple) fault with Beta 1's that centres around channels 3&4 plus channels 5&6, however I would suggest that you find someone with some electronics knowledge (because to solve it involves dismantling the rack to get where you need to solder) or a friendly Zero88 service centre. If it is this fault, then it would be worth having all the racks serviced as sooner or later, the others will exhibit the same problem.

No problem - it is indeed a small world... When this issue happened to me I nearly had heart failure - I thought I'd "bricked" the desk - after I calmed down, I tried the re-install just in case (being an old computer techie one sort of expects a hiccup like this from time to time) and lo - the darned thing worked!

The desk is always in 'programme' mode to a degree - there isn't a mode change switch like on the Sirius. Your problems probably arose because the switch between tracking and non tracking (I think Full is tracking) on the early consoles always created strange memories and values - as you've found. Indeed switching between tracking and non tracking causes similar problems on other manufacturers desks too. The "issue" was "solved" in ZerOS by always having the software running in tracking mode but appearing to be in non-tracking mode if the operator wanted it that way, as a result the cue table doesn't get corrupted if you swap modes.

The buttons on the front panel weren't labelled on early Illusions, one of mine has a card overlay glued to the front panel showing what they do - which was main Fixture functions like beamshape, colour and so on. A later Illusion I sold to someone had the legends screen printed on. They do work with Fixtures - though it's a bit clunky, I do find it easier to mouse around the screen to select and change functions. If your update has failed then could I suggest you try once more - when I updated my original desk to 1.8 the first run fell over because the firmware was updated as well (If I remember correctly) and the updater didn't like doing that as well as updating the software.

Being MultiFunctionKeys e.g. MFK and feasibly useable for other things than Fixture control, why would you want the keys to clear by resetting the patch? You might have macro's or other things programmed on the MFK's that you would want to have stay put. Clearing the MFK's on a full reset makes sense as it puts the desk in a known state but clearing patch might get done simply by a move between venues.

Which version of ZerOS are you using - I've just tried it on Phantom ZerOS and it seems to work OK (not saying that's a guarantee but I think the core is the same as on the consoles)?

It's likely to be an issue with the Version you're running - 6 is quite a way behind. From memory - the move to 7 did include a rewrite of the screen output routines which helped performance. Upgrading is free and relatively easy - use the buttons at the top of this page to go to Products > Lighting Consoles > Solution and you'll see the link for the download there. The process to create the upgrade USB stick can seems to take forever and when it runs, follow any suggestions the upgrade makes (it may want to upgrade the CoProcessor firmware too). Once the desk reboots - I think you'll be surprised!. It goes without saying - save any shows you want to keep BEFORE you start the upgrade process

Vincent - this is not really a solution but some re-assurance perhaps. Multiple Group select does seem to work BUT the onscreen buttons don't latch/stay down as you select the groups - it's only the last pushed/selected group that stays 'down'. This might be intentional behaviour and if it is then it seems strange as there's no other indication except the selection highlights on the output screen showing - if you don't have the outputs window visible then I guess you would think that the groups aren't being selected. Jon will be along in a minute with the answer - I'm sure

As well as being in the industry - I still light shows for a little theatre (and used to light shows in a bigger theatre using Strand kit) and whilst I always thought I couldn't work without an offline editor for my lighting - I've always managed to. My "weapon" of choice is an Illusion 500 (I'd like an Orb but hey...) so I've never had access to an offline editor although I do have a spare console at home but I've never felt the need to pull it out to rework any programming. Perhaps it's the way our theatre works (and that I was taught to work) but I always manage to find time between rehearsals to rework the few cues I get wrong or during a rehearsal if the director really needs to change stuff. From my demo's and handover training of LeapFrog/Solution and Orb over the last few years - I think it's powerful enough with the features in the software that if you come to think within 12 months of ownership "Oh geez - I NEED an offline editor" then perhaps you've come at the desk the wrong way. A remote handset has it's uses but then I come from a background where I'm used to using a flash lead (a hard power extension) to focus my lights - I started off having to wait for a time switch to turn on my dimmer power - the flash lead changed my life. Whilst the remote monitor function is handy to let an SM see the cue list - I've never worked with an SM who wasn't busy enough calling the book to worry about LX cues executing - up a ladder with a 223 in one hand and focus remote in the other, somethings going to get dropped. If you are actively considering ETC (and I presume you're looking at Ion...) then bear in mind the limitations of the remote in relation to it's power management, our most regular customer bought one and has gone through 2 sets of ETC remote batteries in about 12 months... The easiest (or perhaps the best) advice I can give is this - if you've not seen a Solution in your venue, then contact your Local Zero88 dealer and ask them for a demo at your venue so you can see how it does it's "magic". If your local dealer can't do a demo then ask Jon to set one up for you - I think you'll end up being pleasantly surprised.