Q Light Controller+

First I want to thank you for offering this awesome light controller on raspberry pi! I used to take my expensive laptop to gigs but now use a headless and wireless pi zero 2w and it has been flawless. I have even been considering opening the fixture and physically embedding the board for simple and clean setup. My programmed light shows are sent from an iPad via Bluetooth midi.

There are a couple issues however that I would like to share with the community.

1. I have been unable to figure out how to use the onboard pi zero 2w Bluetooth. I have made the connection but it is unstable and only works for a minute or so. I have had to use an external widi device and it works flawlessly. It would be nice to figure out how to install a lean and stable BLE midi “only” stack. Then the rather pricey widi adapter could be used elsewhere in my rig setup.
2. The latest bullseye works right out of the box with no issues other than no onboard Bluetooth midi. I finally after many obstacles got bookworm (which has better Bluetooth options but still no joy) up and running but will not connect to my windows hotspot. Other pi zero 2w reported similar. I have exhausted every source I have found there currently (12-6-24) is no fix for this I’m afraid.

These are not QLCPlus issues but hopefully others can save time that I have wasted trying to solve. Or if anyone has solutions they can point me in the right direction.

Thanks again for awesome program

Hi, thanks for sharing your findings.
For bluetooth issues I suggest a good old search on the Raspberry Pi forums or in general linux forums.

For Wi-Fi connection issue I can probably help but I need more details. Does it connect to a non-Windows hotspot?
Are you familiar with NetworkManager and the nmcli command? If so, we can debug what's going on from a command line

I am familiar with both. I appreciate the offer to help. My wife is understandingly pissed at me about the amount of time I have invested trying to solve this problem. I have exhausted everything in this forum has to offer so my expectations are not to high.

I live in a rural area where internet access is only through my phone. My carrier has limited hotspot connections to only one (not sure how, maybe hiding the ssid) so the only way to get two or more devices on the network is to connect my laptop and then turn on windows hotspot.

Bookworm will connect to other wireless networks like my iPhone but not my windows hotspot. Bullseye will connect instantly to either. I have verified US settings and forced 2.5 mhz settings. I have used nmtui, nmcli. It sees the network and prompts for password, but never takes it.

Here is a twist though…
Normally, once a device is connected to my phone’s hotspot, nothing else can connect to it. However, bookworm sees the iPhone and makes a successful connection even while it’s connected to the laptop (not supposed to be able). But it won’t connect to the laptop directly. Go figure.

As I said, it’s not a QLC problem so I’m just gonna hope that more sophisticated Pi os developers can figure this one out in future updates.

Update: Wifi issues fixed. Not sure what it was but now created a new image and wifi is working on Bookworm as expected. I made static ip and write protected the image that is confirmed to be working. Making a writeable copy that I can continue to troubleshoot the bluetooth issue. wish me luck.

Using github AI I have created a bluez install that is midi only and is stable. I can post the script here if you think it is appropriate.

However in order for QLC to recognize the connection I have to close QLC+, connect the IPad and then restart QLC+. This will not be acceptable for a headless application. Does anyone know of a way to make these connections before QLC+ loads for my pi zero 2w?

caryjulietate wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 5:56 pm recognize the connection I have to close QLC+, connect the IPad and then restart QLC+.

And what connection are you talking about here? Midi? or Wifi?

Thanks for inquiring! I am referring to the Bluetooth midi connection. The wifi is not really a concern once deployed in its final application.

Woow - midi connection through Bluetooth... one may expect complex troubleshooting.
For QLC+ to recognise an input controller, it has to be live before you start QLC+. QLC+ does not plug and play, so if an interface is connected while running, it won't let you use it. If there is a glitch in your Bluetooth connection, QLC+ will lose this input.
I'd go for a solid wired connection... somehow...

You can set bluetooth devices to auto-connect by manually pairing using bluetoothctl, then setting that mac address as trusted:
$bluetoothctl
$pair [mac address]
$trusted [mac address]

The device should now auto-pair when in range.