Driver Install for Diablo Fixture Manager

[the follow]

Hello. I have tried to get the drivers to install on my computer for the Diablo Fixture Manager. I'm using a Chauvet Tiger (Zero88 Diablo). I've tried it on a Win98 machine as well as WinXP. Any ideas how to make this work? I can find the proper folder, but the driver installation wizard can't find the needed driver(s). Please help! Thanks!

 

Mat

[KWR88]

When you install the software, it wil create a Start Menu Group with the driver installation instructions:

 

Start -> Programs -> Diablo Fixture Manager -> Driver Installation Instructions

 

Basically, the drivers will be installed in a folder something like:

 

C:\Program Files\Zero 88 Lighting Ltd\Diablo Fixture Manager\USB Desk Link Cable Drivers

 

Make a note of the path to this folder. When you then connect the USB cable (supplied as standard with the Diablo) and the Windows "Found New Hardware Wizard" appears, you need to browse to this folder and it will then detect the driver and allow you to finish the install.

 

The exact details vary depending on your OS - see the instructions which are installed with the software for full details.

[the follow]

Keith,

 

Thanks for the reply. This is exactly what I do and it says "can't find drivers" or something along that nature. Could it be that the Tiger uses a different driver than the Diablo?

[Paul]

USB associates the device with the driver using a Vendor ID (VID) and a Product ID (PID) number. You can see these in the .inf file in the drivers directory:

 

USBVID_0403&PID_EC30.DeviceDesc="USB Desk Link Cable"

 

These numbers are the same for the Tiger and the Diablo.

 

If Windows is reporting that it can't find the drivers, and you're convinced that you're pointing the Found New Hardware Wizard at the correct directory, then it could be that your cable is faulty and is not reporting the correct VID & PID.

 

There is a tool called usbview which you can use to look at the VID & PID of all connected USB devices to confirm this. Download it from:

 

http://www.ftdichip.com/Resources/Utilities/usbview.zip

 

If the VID & PID reported by the cable don't match those in the .inf file, then your cable needs to be returned to where you bought it from. If they do, then you have a problem somewhere else with your Windows setup which we aren't able to help you any further with I'm afraid.

[the follow]

USBVID_0403&PID_60015&6F756CC&0&2 is what I show, so it must be the cable. This is an expensive cable too! I'm sure my return time period is over since I bought it a year ago. I couldn't get it to work then and had to put a show together so I created my own profile for my High End Stuido Spot 250s.

 

However, I can't get the "Brightness" fader to work, so they are either ON or OFF...I can't fade to black. Would you have any other suggestions on how to assign Brightness control to the Brightness Fader within a custom profile?

[the follow]

Here is what USB View has next to the device:

 

Device Descriptor:

bcdUSB: 0x0110

bDeviceClass: 0x00

bDeviceSubClass: 0x00

bDeviceProtocol: 0x00

bMaxPacketSize0: 0x08 (8)

idVendor: 0x0403 (Future Technology Devices International Limited)

idProduct: 0x6001

bcdDevice: 0x0400

iManufacturer: 0x01

iProduct: 0x02

iSerialNumber: 0x00

bNumConfigurations: 0x01

 

ConnectionStatus: DeviceConnected

Current Config Value: 0x00

Device Bus Speed: Full

Device Address: 0x01

Open Pipes: 0

 

 

I don't see the other info. I found the VID/PID info by clicking START/RUN/devmgmt.msc Do you think I found the right info? Also, I don't see anything in my INF files under Directory Cache. I have a folder for i386 that has about 12 things in it, but nothing for USB Desk Link Cable.

 

Thanks so much guys!

[Paul]

USBView shows VID as idVendor and PID as idProduct, so yes you found the right info.

 

The PID that your cable is reporting is the default one. The PID is stored in an EEPROM chip in the XLR end of the cable (don't try and disassemble it - you have to do it in the right order or you'll break the connections off the PCB). There are 2 possible reasons that your cable is showing the default PID:

 

- The EEPROM is faulty or not soldered correctly.

- The cable somehow escaped the factory without the EEPROM being programmed correctly.

 

If you don't want to return the cable, you could try...

 

- Editing the .inf file to use the default PID, although this is not recommended since it could then create conflicts if you ever use another USB device with this PID. I'm also not sure if the Diablo Fixture Manager will then talk to the cable if the PID is wrong, but you never know, it might!

 

OR...

 

- Download the MPROG utility from the FTDI site (they make the USB chip that is used in the cable), and try to reprogram the EEPROM in the cable. This is tricky, since you first need to install the USB drivers for the default PID (installed in the MPROG directory), then use MPROG to find the cable and reprogram it's PID (use the template file USB-485.ept), then replug the cable so it is discovered with it's new PID and point it at the Diablo drivers.

 

Either way it's not straightforward and you might be better pleading with the place you bought it from that it's never worked.

 

Not sure why your moving lights won't dim. I don't know about the particular ones you have, but I have seen some where you have to put them into a different mode on the fixture itself to get them to dim. Try patching one to the generic channel faders on the desk - that should tell you if the problem is in the fixture or in the profile you have created for it.

[the follow]

Great info here. I'm off to the races