2 PCs connected to control Soundwebs?

hilts01

I work in an Auditorium were there are 2 PC's connected to the 9088ii soundweb hub and then 6 9088s are daisy chained up. The 2 pcs are connected to a network switch then 1 network cable from the switch goes to an IP - Serial converter, then out to the 9088ii hub's serial port. (Phew!)

I think the idea is that if one of the PC's 'dies', the other one can continue to control things. We have used this setup with 2 display monitros for some time and it has worked fine and been stable with both PC's sync'ed so if we move 1 slider on PC1, the same slider moves on PC2's screen. This setup is very handy because we can control the Mics on PC 1 with its relevant screen and the inputs on PC2 rahter than trying to squeeze eveything onto 1 PC screen.

Just recentley, we have upgraded the 2 PC's and since doing this, we cant get the PC's to sync up, they sync up only patiallly, for instance, the mute button would work on say DVD on both PC's but the volume slider will work on only PC1. Also its like PC1 overides PC2 and vice versa depending on which PC was used last...
a bit of a headache this one, does anyone else use 2 PC's to control their soundwebs in this way?

Dan Lynch

\hilts01\ wrote:

the mute button would work on say DVD on both PC's but the volume slider will work on only PC1.

You have a problem with the serial port drivers on one or both PCs. Something is interrupting comms.

\hilts01\ wrote:

Also its like PC1 overides PC2 and vice versa depending on which PC was used last

That is exactly how multi-pc control of Soundweb works. Commands are executed in the order that they're received regardless of the source.

Dan

hilts01

Thanks for your prompt response Dan.

Both PC's do control the soundwebs but when i hit the mute on the mics on say PC1 it doesnt seem to show up on PC2 even though the mute has worked on the soundwebs.????

The other thing to mention is the ip to serial converter has 2 outputs going to 2 serial cables, one of these cables goes to the Hub which i guess is correct, and the other is not connected upto anything, could this be why im not getting displays sync'ing as above? should the other serial cable also be plugged in to a processor for instance?

Dan Lynch

The serial converter drivers on the PCs aren't configured correctly. Each PC should be using one of the serial ports. If one cable is unplugged, you should have one functional PC and one non-functional PC. Since you say you can control the system from both PCs, that means that both PCs are trying to use the same serial port. That's not ever going to work because the serial converter has no way to know which PC is supposed to receive serial messages coming from Soundweb. You need to get the serial converter configured so that each PC is using a different port.

Dan