Q Light Controller+

Hi, I've been trying very hard to replace my PC with a raspberry pi to run a basic program on QLC+.

I've installed QLC+ on my pi, but cannot get it to work with my Artnet to DMX converter. With my PC, I was able to change the IP address of the network to match the default IP address for the Chauvet DJ DMX-AN2. In the pi version I cannot access a web browser to change the settings on my DMX-AN2.

The default IP on the DMX-AN2 is 2.0.0.1
QLC+ on my pi can only output to 127.0.0.1 (Artnet device 1) and 169.254.202.8 (Artnet device 2). I was able to change Artnet device 2 when I went into settings, but it didn't seem to work.

I've read online of people using USB to DMX converters. Unfortunately I don't have one, and this project did work when using a PC. I didn't need a special router, I just plugged it straight into my computer.

If anyone has some advice it would be much appreciated. I'm a raspberry pi beginner, but I would love to use it to replace my laptop for art installs.

Thanks!

First consideration: 127.0.0.1 is loopback, which means QLC+ doesn't output anything out of your RPi.
Plug a TV to your RPi and go to the Input/Output tab. You'll see the IP address it acquired.
Then access the QLC+ web interface on that IP and change the IP (to static of course). Reboot and that should be it.
You might need to adjust the ArtNet output interface selected by your project (127.0.0.1 is definitely not right)

Thanks for your reply. Good to know that 127.0.0.1 is a loop back.

I unfortunately did not get things running today. My goal is to get a DMX signal to my LED driver.

My set up is:
-Rasperry Pi 3b
-DMX-AN 2 (Artnet to/from DMX)
-A router (not using wifi, only ethernet)
-My PC
-A monitor

My RPi was giving my two Artnet options. One was displaying the loop back (127.0.0.1) and the other was showing 169.254.31.177

I adjusted my IP settings to:
RPi: 169.254.31.177
Router: 169.254.31.173
DMX-AN2: 169.254.31.175
My PC: 169.254.31.170

I still couldn't get any DMX signal though. The only node visible was the QLC program itself.

I logged into the Web Interface. Here I changed my IP address to Static.
I believe I made a mistake here, I inputted the router code (169.254.31.173). It asked to reboot, then the web Interface lost connection)

After the RPi rebooted, I went into input/output settings and there was only one option for Artnet rather than two.
I then changed my router IP settings to something different (169.254.31.173) in hopes the second Artnet would reappear.
It didn't.

Do I need to reinstall QLC+ on the RPi to get it back to default settings?

Thanks again for your help. I've been making slow progress, and very excited to get things working.
I've attached a picture of the installation in action from when it was hooked up directly to my PC.

Network 101

For Artnet to work you need your network to be in the 2.x.x.x MASK 255.0.0.0 or 10.x.x.x MASK 255.0.0.0 range.
Typical, the router would need a 10.0.0.1 MASK 255.0.0.0 IP-addres.
Now set your PC to a static address of 10.0.0.2 MASK 255.0.0.0 (or you can multi home it, assigning more than 1 Ip address) https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+ ... e&ie=UTF-8
Now set your Raspi to a static address of 10.0.0.3 MASK 255.0.0.0 https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... ion/tcpip/

Now set up your DMX-AN2 ... I checked the manual and it has a default factory IP address of 2.0.0.1.
To change that, you'll have to or change the IP-address of your PC again to something like 2.0.0.2.
With a command window (DOS window), you can verify your IP-address with 'ipconfig /all' and verify if you can reach the DMX interface by issuing a 'ping 2.0.0.1'
Now access the DMX-AN2 using a web browser on your computer and entering 2.0.0.1 in the address.
Change the address to 10.0.0.4 MASK 255.0.0.0, default gateway 10.0.0.1
Apply changes.
Re set the IP-address from your computer back to 10.0.0.2.
Now everything should be able to talk to each other.
Verify with the ping commands: 'ping 10.0.0.1' -> default gateway, 'ping 10.0.0.2' -> you are pinging yourself here (the same if you would ping 127.0.0.1), 'ping 10.0.0.3' -> the Raspi, and last 'ping 10.0.0.4' -> the DMX AN2.
If the pings succeed, now you should have a working network.

[edit: what fixtures are those?]

Hi, I appreciate the thorough information. Thanks!
I was in a bit of a time rush for a couple projects, so I ended up just purchasing an inexpensive DMX to USB controller.
I still have my Artnet to DMX device, and will try these settings once I have my lights back for the install they are in.

The lights in the pictures are ones we made in our shop by rolling LED tape on wooden dowels, then placing them in a plastic tube with parchment paper for diffusion. I wouldn't recommend using dowels as thin as mine, as the LED tape is easily damaged if you're not careful.

Of topic ... use PVC drainage pipes - with the standard available pipe dops you can seal the top. You can also tuck your cables inside...
Is this the waterproof version of LED strip? -> minimum bend radius has to be taken into account. As an external jacket, I used acrylic opal material.

If using unicast art-net then all IP's is fine. Your raspi and artnetToDmx should be in same subnet inder same router and if you have router with dhcp then mask is normally 255.255.255.0 . In your setup you have to add default gateway and use router IP for that.
( I did build route from my vdsl line to art-net dongle and I did use dyndns for domain name. It was possible to contror lights with mobile and using mobile data. )

I have a bit similar setup now in mac+windos. I will build raspi machine during next week and get back after that.