RGB Pixel Computer Network Setup (2018)

[@CanispaterChristmas]

I hope this clears up some confusion around the "separate network" stuff. Let me know if this helps.

[@mr.h3377]

CanispaterChristmas who's I had this when I set up my show, pi can be daunting

[@innovativehomeautomationto7112]

Thank you very much. I’m someone of a nerd as well but I was having a hard time last night. I end up getting everything to work on a separate Network And I’m just using a dedicated PC for it. Thank you for the response.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Glad you got it going!

[@alexandercooke1186]

How could anyone dislike a Jeff video! They are the best videos of all time!

[@CanispaterChristmas]

👍

[@mjmiller2008]

All your videos are detailed and explain so first time users can get set up.. way better than other videos.. started mine last month for this Christmas . Lol

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Don't feel bad. Some people work on this all year long! :) Some wait until Christmas Expo in July to get things started.

[@jbllewis1125]

Keep up the great work. I think that your videos are getting better each time. I look forward to seeing your new videos. I like the new divided shelve on the wall behind you.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Thanks! My excellent woodworking skills put to good use for all my screws and nails! Kinda messed it up tho (went the wrong way on the supports so the centers are larger), but it will work.

[@RLeeErmy]

Great info on network setup! Thanks as always Jeff. I know I've watched this one at least twice.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Haha, Thanks! Probably one of the more difficult parts if you don't have the background in it.

[@todbillmeyer3302]

First, thank you for all the time you spend helping so many. My ??? if I have a F16v3, do I always have to have it wired directly to a computer? Can I load a program into the board and then unplug the computer??

[@CanispaterChristmas]

You need some sort of scheduler/player. Your options are a computer running xSchedule or a Pi/BBB running FPP.

[@innovativehomeautomationto7112]

Please help me out. I have all this working (I am using the Felcon player to control Wled) but I am not able to reach my WLed controller from my PC. I need to be able to reach it with xlights so i can push the update regarding my controller from xlights when i change around my props or pixel count.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

You can put everything on your home network. Everything will magically work. If your lights start to stutter or generally act weird, then you can use the separate show network thing. The problem is, your PC doesn't know how to deal with the show network. There are things you can do to get around that, but especially for testing, run everything on your home network to avoid having to deal with it. Once you get the show to several universes worth of data, you may need to move it off to a separate network. I mainly do it 'cause I'm a computer nerd. 😂

[@toyotaspeed90]

While I have yet to do anything (except update our router for other reasons... now have the old router that I might use)... I think there was something missed (though may have been for simplicity sake). You mentioned for static routing to just choose a high number and then hope the router doesnt auto assign something - most routers, from the last 10 years, allow you to log in and reserve those IP addresses so the router will never use it.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yeah, the people I'm speaking to don't know how to spell router! lol! People come into the hobby with varying skill sets. Computer people don't have any problem with this, but there are others that have absolutely no experience with computer networking and I went for the "best guess" I could think of.

[@trendkilla254]

Where is the video showing linking two or more of the pi-caps together? I want to start next year in July with maybe 1 raspberrypi with a picap on it and then halloween add another few props, and christmas another few as I learn more. How do I put three different controllers into 1? Or pixelsticks? I'm not sure which route to go. I understand the IP adresses would be 1 number off but which program do you set these up in? Which video have I not watched yet?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

I don't think I have one. This is FPP master/remote: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKmvooiioNtraJI You might be better off just getting a Falcon F16V3 controller and growing into that instead of spending money on Pis and PiCaps.

[@morrydavis]

Followed you video but after I switch to different subnet I can no longer connect to FPP How does this work if you have a WLED server that needs connection to FPP via wifi

[@morrydavis]

UNless this requires a second router configured for the other subnet

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Probably more than I can do with comments. Try checking into the xLights zoom room (xlights.org) and ask one of the folks in there. They should be able to talk you through it.

[@BikesBrewsBBQs]

Jeff your videos are awesome... I have a question about the network setup, I have set my show network as a 192.168.2.x network. When I am working on a sequence in XLights, if I want to test/preview that output to the house/props how do I achieve this if my desktop computer is on my house network? I think I would need to go into my network settings on the computer and point the IP address at the show network (which means I also need to keep a LAN connection to the show network) is that correct? Thanks for the awesome content!

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yes. It's easiest to plug into the show network to do something like that. Assumes you won't do it often. There are other ways to do it, but it depends on your setup. There are other ways around it depending on your networking foo, but plugging into the show network & changing the computer's IP is easiest.

[@chadwaldrip51]

I have a question about setting up a show network configuration between my PI and a E682 controller. The E682 has a static adddress that uses the same subnet as my home network, so i can easily connect to it for configuring. If I put my show network on a different subnet and change my controller's address to the same, then how do I get back to the configuration page of the controller? Thanks! I've learned a lot from your videos.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

The simple way is to plug your computer into the show network and adjust the IP address accordingly. The complicated way is to enable routing between networks on the FPP network page and add a route to your computer every time you want to change the config. It's best to set up the "show net" part when you put the lights out because you probably won't need to change anything once the show is live. I own my own router and can set up a route there so any device on my home network can communicate with the show network as long as the Pi is running. If your ISP owns the router, you probably can't do that.

[@chadwaldrip51]

@@CanispaterChristmas Thanks for the information!

[@mrteausaable]

After I separate the show network, do I connect the wired RJ-45 from the PI to the Falcon board directly or to the separate router? If you have diagram it will be great. With this setup, can I get to the Falcon board web page via the home network computer?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

You CAN connect the Pi directly to the Falcon or you can go through a switch - whatever you need for your display. There is a trick to get to the Falcon from your computer after this setup. I usually just connect my computer to my show network to make changes to the Falcon. You'd have to use the Pi as a router (check the box at the bottom on the network page), you need to add a route to the computer and you need to set the gateway on the Falcon to the Pi. Most people don't like the hassle and just connect the computer to the show network.

[@YourProductPartnercom]

Thanks for this! What if I want to use wireless for the show network? Ie 2 pi (master/slave) or a espixelstick?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Well, then you're getting into more of the DIY aspect of the hobby. LOL! This is showing a typical setup with someone who has one Pi running the whole show (wired from eth0) and controlling from the wlan0 interface on their home network. If you are running master/slave Pis, you can still have them sync off your home network since the sync traffic is much much lower and should be able to function with everything else (obviously depending on the load on your home network). If you set up a separate access point for the show traffic, then you can use that for the WiFi connections and do what you want. If you plan to run espixelsticks, I'd definitely suggest a separate WiFi access point just for the show. Also, I'd suggest checkout the forums for people that are running those kinds of setups. I'm the single Pi kind of guy and everything is wired so I may not be much help here.

[@rudybharatt635]

A pleasure watching your video thank you I have LOR would love to have set up like yours.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

👍

[@morrydavis]

Jeff, good episode, my question is if I use a raspberry pi running falcon player and a teensy3.2 with an octows2811 I shouldn't really have any network traffic because data is just going from player to teensy to octo then to lights via the ports on the octo controller. Am I missing something?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Morry, I'm not familiar with those boards you mention (though I did look them up to see what they were), but if data originates and ends at the Pi, there will be no network involved for passing data. The setup in this video is for a more traditional display setup with data from a computer (Pi in this case) feeding pixel controller(s) needing E1.31 data to drive the lights. Also, are you sure FPP supports those boards? I honestly don't know for sure. That's more of a Captain Murdock/Dan Kulp question. :)

[@morrydavis]

@@CanispaterChristmas Wow thanks for the fast response, I have setup xlights using dmx assinging groups of lights to different com1, com2,com3,com4,com5 ports and it seems to work.

[@seibertdr]

Jeff, do you have to have both. Or you use one or the other?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

The Pi needs a connection to the internet to fetch the time (unless you have a clock chip added to it). Is that what you mean?

[@seibertdr]

@@CanispaterChristmas I think what I am asking is do you need to have a computer and the Pi to control and run a light show. Or can you use either. Thank you Jeff.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Oh! No. If you have a computer that you don't mind tying up to run your show, you can use that with xSchedule. The Pi running FPP is just a less-expensive version of that.

[@Nawlinsboy]

@@CanispaterChristmas off topic to the OP but I discovered this today. For only $12 I think that's a good addition. For everyone I'm referring to the pi clock chip.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yeah, you really only need it if the pi doesn’t have an internet connection. If it does, it keeps time using NTP.

[@Illumination-Extravaganza]

Thanks for all the great resources you have posted! I have a question? this really should not be so difficult, but I am having difficulty getting the Pi to send the data to my Falcon F16 V3. I can log in using a browser on both the controller and the Pi. wifi works fine on Pi. I set the eth0 IP on the Pi to 192.168.2.51, GW is set to 192.168.2.1 and the f16v3 I set to 192.168.2.50 GW 0.0.0.0. I have tried many combinations and I still cant get the FPP to run a simple light show to the controller. Test mode doesn't work from pi to f16v3, but test mode does work locally from F16v3 interface, so I assume there is no proper communication between the 2 devices. I have double checked E1.31settings and I am using standard patch cable, any suggestions. Thanks for your help Bryan

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Is the WiFi on the Pi set to the 192.168.2.x network also or your home network? Also, what is 192.168.2.1 (router?)?

[@GMDII]

So i created my light show on my main computer. i have a show computer set up (Not a Raspberry Pi). Do i have to copy the entire Show folder to the show PC? or can i just send the playlist or what?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

I'm not an xSchedule user so you'd have to ask Keith, but I believe you only need the FSEQ files, music if you have any and anything related to xSchedule or just copy everything. The XML files will be small in comparison to the FSEQ files.

[@Alan_Hans__]

Changing from 192.168.1.* to 192.168.2.* doesn't necessarily separate the 2 networks. It's actually governed by the netmask on computer, pi and maybe router. If the netmask was used as shown (255.255.255.0) then the Pi is limited to the 255 addresses in the 1.* or 2.* range. If the netmask is changed to 255.255.0.0 then it can access 192.168.*.*. Network setup can be complicated and I've been trying to work out a "simple" method of explaining network setup to put into the ACL 101. It's relatively easy to get a working network but it can be a nightmare getting everything connected and keeping 1 lot of traffic away from the other.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

I'm guessing the "bad words" filter triggers on IP addresses! This was held for review. LOL! Right. I did try setting my computer to 255.255 to see if I could see both networks, but the router in the Pi appears to be doing a good job of isolating them. I'll have to try setting everything to 255.255 & enable routing to see if that still keeps everything separated. I suspect the Pi's router isn't advertising the route or my home router isn't smart enough to hear it.

[@potatotech7378]

So this is what I would do if I want to connect my BBB to internet using the ethernet cable out from the pi?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

That's how my Pi is set up. I can't remember if I had to do anything special on the BBB though. Try it and see. :)

[@johnrusch2903]

I'm looking to free up my laptop so are you still recommending this Pi player on amazon? CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Basic Kit (2GB RAM) $62.99? Do you think a case with fan is a good idea?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

That's probably more computer than you need for this, but yes, it works great. It does get warm and a fan is not a bad idea, but I don't use one. Mine reports CPU temp around 70C which is warmer than I prefer, but it hasn't burned up yet. 😂I'd put a fan on it if it hit 75. The one outside stays under 60C. That kit comes with some small heatsinks for the components that tend to get warm (haven't compared without them). I highly recommend a good SD card (I have one linked in my Amazon store). Also, there seems to be a bug in FPP (at least something changed recently) if you use a VFAT USB stick for your media drive. Either format it as an ext file system (which means you won't be able to use it in a Windows machine to copy media) or just use the SD card for media (which is why I recommend a good SD card. lol!).

[@mjmiller2008]

Now with this setup are you able to unplug the router cable and it would continue to run fpp off raspberrypi wifi?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yes. The Ethernet output is for running the controllers and lights, but you can still control it from your home network over WiFi.

[@lightsonmatfield4031]

I just ordered a second pi for my show that I will be using with relays. My First one is running all my pixels

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Cool!

[@Astro25man]

Need a video how to setup the Falcon controller for the 1st time and how to setup Xlights to the controller

[@CanispaterChristmas]

There are tons of xlights videos on videos.xlights.org that may be helpful. I know Keith has gone through some setups with xlights and getting it to program the Falcons. As for the Falcon, have you seen the F16 or F48 video I've done? I walk through the web interface, but I'm guessing you mean needing to know exactly what to set something to? :) I'd recommend this video as a starting point: videos.xlights.org/xlights-beginner-seminar-september-2018_979bab63d.html It's long but I believe covers what you need. Feel free to reach out if that doesn't help.

[@johnnykat21]

Awesome vid. I've learned a lot from so I thank you for taking the time to make these videos. But any way to explain what's the next step after setting up a second network. I've tried what you have done and even though I set my controllers to be on that network it never seems to work. I know this could be a lot of things. But maybe you hold the key. Lol.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Thanks! Keith mentions that in his video. Basically, enable routing in the Pi, set the gateway on the controllers to your show network (eth0?) address and add a route on your computer to the show network. It's more of an advanced topic I wanted to avoid. It's not terribly complicated, but you CAN mess some things up dinking with the routing table on your computer and I didn't want to be responsible for that. lol!

[@johnsonfamilylights3720]

So is an active connection required to run FPP? Or can I design the whole show in xlights and then save the show to a flash drive and run it all on the pi without any connection to my computer or network and run it as a standalone?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Hey Matt! The only reason for an active connection is to fetch the time. If you want to go stand-alone, you just need to add a clock chip to the Pi as time affects the scheduler.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Additionally, I did notice a bug when playing around with a clock chip and set FPP to use it, but I believe I saw a pull request come across before I could enter a bug that fixed it and I haven't gone back to check. I'll try it again and let you know.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Maybe a different Johnson Family. Sorry for the confusion if you aren't Matt. haha

[@johnsonfamilylights3720]

Yeah, different Johnson family....I'm nowhere near his level....but hope to be one day! lol

[@emil1794]

I would really like to have bought one of them. but they do not send them to Denmark

[@CanispaterChristmas]

They don't sell what in Denmark? Pi's?

[@emil1794]

@@CanispaterChristmas falcon controllers

[@JT-ou8mk]

I would like to be you when i grow up, lol. Would love to see a video on the wiring. I have mentioned it before, but was not clear in my meaning. I think i understand or can figure out most of the power. what i have never seen is coming out of the controller going TO an element. Is it ONE cable/pigtail/cat5 in addition to power? Are you running power and data with one cable, how long? For some reason this is the only part that has me stumped...

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Haha! Thanks young man! You have a couple of options. Connectors on the controller have +, -, data and clock if your pixels need it. You can come off each "port" with a single pigtail for the lights. I tend to over-engineer this at times and will sometimes just take minus/GND and data from the controller and provide my own +12V to the pigtail through a fuse (bypassing the power distribution of the controller). Either way is fine. If I expect the load to be higher than the 5amp fuse on the controller, I will either inject power at one or more points along the string OR, just feed directly from the power supply (through a fuse). Sounds like a great idea for a video now that I think of it more. Does that explanation help?

[@JT-ou8mk]

A little. I understand the power basics and after watching you create your "box o wires", I believe i have the basics. Really wanting to see the wiring from say your fence line, back to wherever they come into a power source. "Here is my wiring coming from my controller/power source out to the fence" video would be great. Also I am a crusty 50 y/o former Navy dude, lol!

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Awesome! Thank you for your service! My Dad was in the Navy many moons ago. I went into the Air Force right out of high school. Saw the world and came home for more school. I’ll put a video together covering some wiring options.

[@nodent]

Thank you for that, I would presume that the PI figures out how to got out to the internet for updates and time keeping.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yes, if one of the network interfaces is on a network with internet access, it will fetch the time and check for updates.

[@thesainiglowsign2948]

Hi sir I want training this cours what's fees

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Click on the coupon code in the description and check. The link is to Udemy.

[@gabosola]

I follow all the steps. I get connected with the Wlan IP, but as soon I disconnect the Pi from the router I lost access to the PI.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Which version of FPP? I had similar problems before 2.5.

[@MarkWRoberts]

Hi Jeff, I am going to once again email you directly as I have too many questions to blow up the YT comments section. Struggling a bit, ok a LOT...

[@CanispaterChristmas]

👍

[@backyardgifts9461]

Im guessing the Raspberry Pi 4 is whats new now?

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yes. The 3 still works, but I ran a 4 with 2GB RAM and it was fine.

[@chrisw1462]

@5:38 "The..computers on 192.168.1... know nothing about any computers.. on 192.168.2..." Careful here... This is not true simply by default. Most consumer WiFi routers only route to the WAN port (a.k.a. the Internet in most cases) and back. The Wifi and Ethernet ports are treated, collectively, as a Hub, which means everything connected to that side of the 'router' sees everything else - hubs don't route, they just repeat all the data on every port. For every port you want to keep separate, you have to have more computing power and more memory, which is more expensive. An Ethernet Switch can split traffic based on network addresses, which will mean your Pi and Lighting Controller will never see your internet traffic. If you have an old WiFi router, you could configure it as an extender and set it's IP and Mask ranges to do the same thing, but cheap Switches are much easier to use - pretty much plug and play.

[@chrisw1462]

Linux, on the Pi, can be programmedt to, basically, route the Ethernet separate from it's Wifi adapter. That would let you update the animations over WiFi, and the Ethernet connector would only see the light controller traffic. This would be a very nice thing to integrate into the Falcon Player RasPi iso. Maybe even have it monitor one of the I/O pins on the Pi, and a switch could disable WiFi to ensure no interruptions and a bit better security. The AusChristmasLighting video you link here makes both of these points quite well.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Agreed, that video has very good information. We get people from various backgrounds interested in the hobby. Some are extremely technically-minded and have no problem with what you say. Others believe you are speaking a foreign language as they know how to turn on a computer, but that's about it and have never dealt with a Pi let alone linux. We can usually walk the latter through getting everything set up. Not sure I fully understand your comment about integrating routing. Falcon Player has a "route between interfaces" feature in the network setup section so that may already exist? I think it just sets up iptables between the two. We warn against making the Pi directly accessible from the internet. I get what you say about security, but most are not worried about it if it's behind a firewall. Yes, it's an attack surface, but a small one, typically short-lived (usually only on during the lighting season), not super critical in the grand scheme and generally easy to recover if needed. The main point is to enjoy what you're doing in the hobby and if extremely locked down security is your thing, then by all means have at it. Many are just happy to get the lights blinking. lol!

[@chrisw1462]

@@CanispaterChristmas I agree about security, it's a very minor concern on this platform. For the routing, I didn't know that was already an option in FPP - I did see it later in the other video. It's great they made it so easy.

[@donrebeko]

Jeff, for me, connecting my computer to the "show network" to access the Falcon controller was not an option. For more detail on how to access the Falcon Controller(s) with your computer after separating the networks I found this page: www.brianhensley.net/2017/10/network-setup-falcon-player-fpp-falcon-f16v3-controller.html It worked for me. Thanks for another excellent video.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Yeah, I stay away from telling people how to manipulate their routing table. It's really easy to mess everything up. I added a route to my personal router so any device on my home network has access to my show network. It's a much easier option, but not available to everyone.

[@donrebeko]

@@CanispaterChristmas " I added a route to my personal router"

[@JT-ou8mk]

Seriously should not be this difficult. eth0 set to 192.168.1.200 wlan set to 192.168.1.202. I can ping the wlan, but as soon as I unplug it loses the Pi...

[@CanispaterChristmas]

It CAN be frustrating. eth0 is your show network. The third number should be different from your home network. Assuming wlan is your home net, so try something like 192.168.2.200 for eth0.

[@JT-ou8mk]

lol, my home PC had shut down it's on board Wifi. now to see if i can get the pi to talk to the alphapix 16

[@CanispaterChristmas]

I've had my share of computer issues this week myself! lol!

[@grogsailor]

Your CFOL Link goes to an adult chat site... think it should be CFOLights.com not what you have.....

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Interesting. I got 2 people telling me this the same day and it's in all of my videos. Wondering if something changed recently.

[@CanispaterChristmas]

Thanks for reporting this. Changing them all....

[@grogsailor]

@@CanispaterChristmas No problem and thanks for the GREAT Videos... I'll have my first show this year and I owe a lot to you and the community for showing the way.