Request - Default OLA plugins to FTDI devices - Ability to Enable/Disable plugins through Rocket Show #79
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@DavidOpgh Agree. I assumed, requests like this will come in the future. We need to make sure to not duplicate the OLA interface in Rocket Show, because this would be too much. But the common use cases should be covered. I need to research deeper into this topic (I don't even know what FTDI is). |
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@moritzvieli IMO new users should be able to plug in one of the these inexpensive FTDI Open DMX interfaces and have RS work, something it doesn't do now. To use a FTDI interface users not only need to understand how to enable/disable OLA plugins but also how the FTDI plugin conflicts with other plugins. What I found in the current OLA implementation used by RS the user needs to disable 3 OLA plugins (because of conflicts) and enable the FTDI plugin (which is currently disabled by default) to get a FTDI interface to work. IMO this makes RS very difficult for a lot of potential users to implement when it doesn't have to be. The main issue that needs to be addressed is making RS support FTDI interfaces by default. To do that I found these 3 plugins need to be disabled using these commands And this FTDI plugin needs to be enabled After giving it a little more thought this is how I might go about implementing it in RS Users with FTDI interfaces would then be supported in RS by default. Users with interfaces requiring the Enttec Open DMX and Serial USB plugins would just need to uncheck the box and reboot. Users with StageProfi interfaces would have to enable the plugin manually. After thinking about it more I agree there is no need to implement a more robust OLA interface at this time unless there are more issues with the OLA plugins and USB DMX interfaces. From what I've seen these are the only plugins that have conflicts. |
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After thinking about it more I believe the complete solution based on my findings would be: A radio button control on the Settings.Lighting page with the label "DMX Interface" and 3 options. Option FTDI Open DMX USB would Option Enttec Open DMX and Serial USB would Option StageProfi and all others would |
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Enhancement in OLA required: OpenLightingProject/ola#1979 |
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Thanks for the update. The new OLA UI for Pi5 helps mitigate this issue. It would be helpful if the Settings.Lighting page would at least show you what Output port DMX device Rocket Show thinks is connected instead having to go to the OLA Settings. |
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@DavidOpgh Not sure, whether those 3 options would cover all use cases/devices properly. I'm currently thinking about an approach where only one plugin would be activated at a time and you'd have to select the most suitable option (or even get assisted by being able to select the device used, if it's a well-known one). Because currently there's no use case for rocket show to have more than one plugin activated imo. What do you think? |
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I don't know if those 3 option would cover all the use cases. I agree there is no reason to have more than one plugin activated. Although having more than one active appears to cause no harm accept in the one case of FTDI devices (unless you have experience with other DMX interfaces?). The only instance having one plugin active at a time might be if you were testing out different interfaces, which would make you enable/disable different plugins. The end result is to make it as easy as possible for a new user to connect a DMX interface. I would give the user the option to select from a well known interface or manually enable/disable plugins for a DMX interface that is not well known. |
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@DavidOpgh Just implemented a simple select now on the test channel. Maybe you can check it. I found it difficult to add supported devices, because each one would be needed to test. So maybe, the users just need to try it out a little bit. But the switch is quite fast at least. Let me know, what you think. |
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OK - thanks! I'll check it out. |
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Checked it out the latest beta.
FYI - The OLA server seems to be working fine. I can use the Console web page to send DMX signals manually to the device. 2024-11-11 11:37:54.227 INFO c.a.r.a.TransportController : Received API request for transport/play java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.util.List.size()" because "repeatFor" is null 2024-11-11 11:37:54.273 INFO c.a.r.a.TransportController : Received API request for transport/stop |
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Just to say, OLA provides the conflicts field in PluginStateReply to let you know what plugins you need to disable to enable the one you want to:
If your software only handles one universe, or your users are only likely to need it, that should be fine.
You could leave that option permanently enabled, but USB Serial will then conflict with FTDI (which is fine if you only ever enable one plugin at a time). It may be worth a forth option where Rocket Show doesn't touch the OLA config at all and just sends on a universe of the users choice, for more advanced users who want to do something more complicated with the OLA backend (e.g. DMX over IP or multiple interfaces etc). P.S. Your visualiser/designer is very impressive and it's great to see the Open Fixture Library data being used too! |
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@DavidOpgh Thanks for testing! Can you export the designer project for me? Seems like there's an issue with a fixture. @peternewman Thanks a lot for your input! Highly appreciated! |
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@moritzvieli - Never mind. It is working correctly. It was an issue with the PI5 I set up for testing. Once I opened the Designer project I got the notification about it being migrated. I just saved the project and the composition played without issues. |
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@DavidOpgh @peternewman Just pushed a change to the test channel, where the user can configure multiple OLA plugins. The conflicts are displayed as well, if the affected plugins are activated. Currently, only one universe can be used in Rocket Show. In the future however, I think multiple ones will be supported. The code is prepared in some locations, but the interface is not yet allowing it. |
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@moritzvieli - I'll check it out! |
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@moritzvieli - RS update does not show me a new test version. It's telling me the 2.4.4 version from a couple weeks ago is the latest. |
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@DavidOpgh i picked the wrong channel, unfortunately. it's already live. i updated the test-channel now as well. 🙈 |
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@moritzvieli - The update appears to be working well. I do like the warning message if there is conflict. |
IMO one the biggest challenges to getting RS up and running appears to be the OLA Plugins.
I request changing the default enabled OLA Plugins to support FTDI USB DMX interfaces.
Maybe have a radio button selector to choose between a handful of popular interfaces that would enable/disable the needed plugins.
I would also request the ability to show the list of loaded OLA plugins and their state with a selector to enable/disable them through RS.
Something like this would make it so much easier for users. There wouldn't be a big need to SSH or log in locally to the Pi.
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