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Novara CP-3008 DCS Not recognising anything
derekmalone
Posts: 11
in AMX Hardware
Hi, Just got a CP-3008 to program and cannot connect or see it. The DCS software say "No communications port detected, if you are using a USB to serial converter, try a different USB port" Now clearly I am not using a USB port as the CP3008 has a LAN port, I have tried firewall, different networks but same problem. Anyone had this issue with these units?
Thanks ! D
Thanks ! D
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My guess is you're using the wrong software, I just checked but even if I don't have anything connected it just says that I need to tag a device for programming.
Quite possible. Make sure you're using the AMX DCS software and not AMX Solecis DCS or Novara DCS software. Make sure you have the latest version too...
Panel is been returned to AMX. Definetly using correct s/ware.
I tried it with about 12 panels here, and I noticed that I needed to reopen the saved files or reopen the application as through the menu it would return the error you got.
That is most likely the same issue you're experiencing. And will experience again with your next panel.
~Jorde
This panel programmed has locked up 4 times for client, amx advised upgrade firmware as unit locks up when no ethernet connected - ok, then next week after same problem repeated another firmware upgrade to "properly" address the locking up lack of ethernet cable problem. Why are they releasing untested products and waiting for the field to debug for them. Are they so under pressure just to release new products that ev they are not tested to the most basic level. End result the client is enraged, and as an integrator I am losing confidence in AMX.
This is the fight I'm currently waging with AMX. We've been ####### over by the last four products that we've used that have been new to market from AMX. But that is something that I'll take up in another thread.
Here are my findings on how to work with this horrible little device:
1) Make sure that Bonjour is up to date on your machine
You can't just run the installer on the Apple website to update an existing installation. You can't just uninstall and reinstall Bonjour (as the uninstaller doesn't actually remove Bonjour from your machine - go figure).
To uninstall Bonjour so you can upgrade to a newer version, use the instructions at this link:
http://arai.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/completly-uninstall-and-remove-bonjour-service-and-files-mdnsresponderexe-and-mdnsnspdll/
If Bonjour is not up to date, it will find your Novara keypad on the network but report it's IP address as 0.0.0.0. The result is that the DCS software will lock up for 5 minutes and then throw up an error message when trying to query the device. I have NEVER had an IP address of 0.0.0.0 reported by Bonjour for a NetLinx, so obviously the CP-3008 is running a slightly different implementation of Bonjour.
I wasted hours figuring this out, and Tech Support had no idea how to resolve it.
2) Make sure the firmware is up to at least 1.2.28
If you don't the stupid thing will lock up constantly and you will lose a huge amount of face with your customer.
AMX, get your QA for new products sorted out! How about making sure they go through some real world testing before unleashing them on us.
We are now at the point where we have wasted about 5 man days of labour on a single device that is only tasked with turning a projector on and off. Add to that the amount of face we've lost with the client over this thing and it's been extremely costly.
Do not spec this product into any jobs for a couple of months until AMX make it work properly.
We had the exact same issue, they let us spend days on it as well. So it's taken about 3-4 days worth of labour that we can't send to the client and on top of that we come across as amateurs. I was able to explain to the client that unlike with the netlinx systems they have that I can't do anything else than tell it to turn on a projector.
So I basically had to tell them it's a shitty product, or rather that there are issues in the current firmware.
What really strikes me as odd is that they let several dealers go through this pain. They kept telling me that 1.2.27 fixed ALL the issues related to network and that as far as they know there shouldn't be any issues so it has to be something else.
Strange thing to tell your dealer if you're working on a another fix (1.2.28), I can understand that it takes some time but if you tell me that I can tell my client that it will be fixed within a week or 2 and that until then we can't fix it. That would've been much easier than running around at the clients' trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
So basically AMX has let several dealers in the dark about the issue other than a "it should be fixed with 1.2.27".
Combined with all the issues we've been having and were similar practices were used (with the new netlinx "hot"fix). Where we were also left in the dark about what was happening behind the scenes. So we're left in the dark and thus we have to leave our clients in the dark as well. Possibly with the wrong information.
This is really making me lose faith in AMX's products.
Hello,
When you first start up the AMX DCS application a window pops up and asks to "Select the System Controller." In order to communicate with the CP-3008 you will need to select "Novara CP3000." The Novara 3000 is an Ethernet product while the enova AVX-400-SP is not. So it seems since the message you received indicates it is trying to talk out the serial port to the “enova AVX-400-SP.” When the "Enova AVX-400-SP" system controller is selected the application checks all available serial ports to see if the AVX-400-SP is connected to one of them. It checks both the serial and the USB ports.
Hope this helps.
Hello,
I am sorry you had to go through this. Just for information sake. The 1.2.27 release was an immediate hot fix to run the system without the Ethernet cable in. But this hot fix also needed the user to modify the webs configuration to make the fix complete. The 1.2.28 removed the need to adjust the webs configuration.
It happens when you select the 3000 series and then try to access anything from the Tools Menu (try "Show Attached Device(s)" and you will get:
That's what he's probably having as well.
using 1.2.27 icm with a disabled web server didn't fix it however, the 1.2.28 hotfix did however (I got it before the firmware was actually released).
So, for the ignorant amongst us, why are the AVX-400 options visible when you're in CP-3XXX mode?
I have a CP 3017 that is not holing programming. I have a projector, a TV and a Kramer HDMI Matrix that is being driven. I have updated firmware to the latest and still not working. I have AMX Australia looking at it and they are putting it through to the US. Still nothing. it is a large program but not near the maximum lines of code.
let this be a warning, if its that many devices and any more complicated then what a universal remote could handle USE A NETLINX SYSTEM. The Novara's do not seam to be able to handle the large program.
But if anyone has any thoughts would be great.
Hi, try having a look at the following tech note on the AMX web site :
http://amx.com/techsupport/techNote.asp?id=918
Cheers