How do i set up RPI 4 with QLC and bitwizard?

[LokeThorsteinsson]

Hi fellow QLC+ Users

I've bought an RPI 4 and a bitwizard DMX interface (With FT245RL Chip) and i've been trying to set it up. But i unfortunately havent been able to get very far.

I first flashed the bookworm img to my sd card, but ran into a problem where the QLC GUI didnt lauch on startup (even when i had a monitor connected) I could acces QLC through the web interface, but when i looked at my monitor, i only had the normal RPI commandpromt.

So i "downgraded" to the bullseye img, and that did the trick concerning the monitor problem. (Dont know why though)

My problem now is that i have no idea how to access the file "/usr/sbin/qlcplus-start.sh" to add the three lines of code for the DMX hat to output DMX.

Have anyone had the same problems as me? And if yes, how did you fix it?

[mcallegari]

Hi, older versions had the launch script in

Code: Select all

/etc/init.d/qlcplus

[LokeThorsteinsson]

Hi, older versions had the launch script in

Code: Select all

/etc/init.d/qlcplus

Thanks for the quick reply

Im kinda new to this RPI/Debian language and only used to the normal Windows filesystem.

Can you point me in the right direction on where/how i can find/access the different files.
Cause i dont see either file when looking in the sd card on my windows computer.

[mcallegari]

Windows cannot browse Linux partitions.
You need an extra tool to do that. Google is your friend then

[markzvo]

As you are a Windows user, follow this instruction. You will need a keyboard, mouse and monitor connected to the Pi

On the Bullseye image, exit QLC+ so you are at the command prompt.
Log in (usually with pi/raspberry), then type
sudo nano /etc/init.d/qlcplus
Make your changes to the file then hit Ctrl+O to save the file, and then Ctrl+X to exit the file editor
That's it, you've edited and saved changes to the init.d file !

[LokeThorsteinsson]

Thanks for all the help!

I found a tool called Ext2fsd that allowed me to browse the linux file system on my windows computer.

I have now updated my image to the newest bookworm and i have added the three lines of code just before QLCPLUS_OPTS

I have a small program up and running and im using a Novation Launchpad to trigger the different scenes and that works as it is supposed to.

But im still not able to output via the Bitwizard board. I know the bitwizard board uses UART as the communication standard to talk to the RPI but i dont see that option as the output on the "Universes configuration" tab. I've tried the GPIO option, but that didnt work.

Am i missing something obvious?

I have attached pictures of the qlc-start.sh file and of the universes tab
https://ibb.co/yFWMS61
https://ibb.co/JHDzRps

[GGGss]

(As a general notice: keep your input device on a separate universe - by this, future conflicts are avoided.)
I don't have a Pi at my disposal right now, but the UART pins are on the GPIO strip, so my best guess now is to set the GPIO option in the output screen.

There are some pointers, though ... https://www.qlcplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15646
and even more here : https://www.qlcplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13955

(Disable Bluetooth and enable UART)

[LokeThorsteinsson]

So, i finally got it to work!

I had several problems, but Roger from Bitwizard was a godsend and helped me through it all

A little summary of what all the faults where:

GPIO 18 didnt output 3.3v (fixed that with:)
raspi-gpio set 18 op
raspi-gpio set 18 dh
Instead of the other three lines

UART wasnt enabled fixed that with:
sudo raspi-config
Option 3 "interface options"
then P6 "serial port". Then "login snell: no", and
"hardware enabled: yes".

After UART was enabled another output had been added in the QLC+ output section.
So instead of GPIO output, i had to choose "[UART]ttyS0"

Hopefully this thread will help others struggling with the same things i were

[mcallegari]

Thanks for sharing. I have updated the PDF documentation accordingly.