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ZerOS 7.12 Released


Jon Hole

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Hi Kevin,

7 minutes ago, kgallen said:

But there are some "limitations" with staying with the "red" fixtures though aren't there - like not being able to do fixture swap-out/morphing?

Yes - there are limitations with non-library fixtures, such as reduced effectiveness when performing a fixture swap-out, and reduced accuracy with the Colour Filters.

Edward

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Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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5 hours ago, Gerran said:

The red entries in the fixture schedule trigger the 'something's wrong' button in my mind.

We'll also be reducing the brightness of the red in 7.13 to help mitigate these alarm bells!

ZerOS has always (within my time, at least!) stored patched fixtures within the showfile and used that if the library fixture was different. However, as the library format hardly ever changed, no one ever knew and so it caused no problems. Over the past couple of years we've made significant improvements to the library, and so we needed to provide an "upgrade" mechanism to utilise these new features (and a way of indicated this was possible).

Jon Hole
Global Product Manager, Systems and Control

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Thanks again for your reactions. I've been able to "upgrade" all my fixtures, luckily all fixtures were 1:1 findable, all names were Identical, so no trouble there. 

So far I've seen no issues with the fixtures. I suspect my custom colour pallets are a bit off compared to before, but since the theatre is in use as cinema theatre during the summer, extensive testing will have to be done during intermissions. 

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So I've updated ZerOS on one of my desks and dipped my toes into the Philips Hue water. The desk picked up my already linked lamps (all two of them) and I could turn them on and change the colours - all pretty simple.

However I'm a bit bothered about adding new lamps to the hub. I don't see anything that says you can do it through the desk, to do it with the app requires the hub to be unpaired but then the app still won't connect to the hub even though my phone is on the same network as the desk and the hub. Is this because that network doesn't have an Internet connection?

Since the desk network is never going to have an internet connection (because the desk isn't supposed to be connected to the Internet and because it isn't convenient in the middle of a festival field) do I have to reconnect the hub to my home network to add or remove lamps?

Or am I just missing something here?

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Hi David,

11 hours ago, Davidmk said:

However I'm a bit bothered about adding new lamps to the hub. I don't see anything that says you can do it through the desk, to do it with the app requires the hub to be unpaired but then the app still won't connect to the hub even though my phone is on the same network as the desk and the hub. Is this because that network doesn't have an Internet connection?

Since the desk network is never going to have an internet connection (because the desk isn't supposed to be connected to the Internet and because it isn't convenient in the middle of a festival field) do I have to reconnect the hub to my home network to add or remove lamps?

Or am I just missing something here?

Hue Smart Bulbs and Smart Plugs should be paired with the Hue Bridge first, prior to connecting the Hue Bridge to the console. To pair Smart Bulbs and Smart Plugs with a Hue Bridge, the Hue Bridge needs to be connected to the Internet. This allows the Hue Bridge to discover the devices, and update their firmware if required.

Once the Hue devices have been paired with the Hue Bridge, the Hue Bridge can then be connected to the console's network.

I have updated the ZerOS manual, to make this procedure clearer...

https://zero88.com/manuals/zeros/setup/devices/philips-hue

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Edward

Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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1 hour ago, Edward Z88 said:

pair Smart Bulbs and Smart Plugs with a Hue Bridge, the Hue Bridge needs to be connected to the Internet. This allows the Hue Bridge to discover the devices, and update their firmware if required.

OK I can see how the Internet connection is useful but it isn't as smooth as the rest of the implementation. It's a shame that it is the hub that needs to access the net because a phone or tablet can usually do that while connecting a wired device could be problematic out on site. Especially in the middle of a field.

What it means in practice is that all the Hue devices you have need to be known to the hub before you go out and that in turn means you will allocate all those channels whether you are using them or not. Is there a chance that the desk could allow you to select which devices to patch from those known to the hub?

I'm guessing that the hub doesn't need Internet access to remove devices, does it need access to add more of devices it already knows about? Is there any way that the app could connect to the hub even if some functions (like add an unknown device) would be unavailable?

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Hi David,

1 hour ago, Davidmk said:

OK I can see how the Internet connection is useful but it isn't as smooth as the rest of the implementation. It's a shame that it is the hub that needs to access the net because a phone or tablet can usually do that while connecting a wired device could be problematic out on site. Especially in the middle of a field.

Don't forget, that the primary purpose of the Hue Bridge is a consumer, domestic product, which is designed to be sat on a home network the whole of its life. The Philips Hue support in ZerOS is aimed at venues that may wish to use Hue as house lights or theatrical practicals onstage. Such venues probably have a building Internet network that they can plug the Hue Bridge into to get the lamps paired. Then it is just a case of plugging the Hue Bridge into the lighting network for control.

1 hour ago, Davidmk said:

What it means in practice is that all the Hue devices you have need to be known to the hub before you go out and that in turn means you will allocate all those channels whether you are using them or not. Is there a chance that the desk could allow you to select which devices to patch from those known to the hub?

No - ZerOS will always patch all paired Hue devices. Once patched, their fixture numbers can of course be customised.

1 hour ago, Davidmk said:

I'm guessing that the hub doesn't need Internet access to remove devices, does it need access to add more of devices it already knows about? Is there any way that the app could connect to the hub even if some functions (like add an unknown device) would be unavailable?

Yes - the Hue Bridge will always need Internet access to pair new devices.

You should be able to connect the Hue app to a Hue Bridge, even if the network doesn't have Internet access. However, if ZerOS is controlling the Hue Bridge, this wouldn't be beneficial, because when ZerOS is paired it will act as the master controller, and override any other control devices, such as Hue apps.

Edward

Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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Hi David,

7 minutes ago, Davidmk said:

I'll re-check this. I found that, even though I thought I had unpaired the desk, the app just hangs and will not connect.

You can have multiple "control devices" paired to the Hue Bridge at once. However, if ZerOS is active, it will override all other controls.

When your Hue Bridge is not connected to the Internet, what is your network setup? Are you still using DHCP IP assignment?

Edward

Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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I've done some more thorough testing full results have been emailed but what I've found is that it is probably my Pixel phone causing the issue. A Galaxy tab seems to connect OK

However...

Although it connects and although the desk is unpaired, when I switch the lights on with the app they go off after a couple of seconds. I had to disconnect the desk from the network to get control through the app.

 

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Hi David,

17 hours ago, Davidmk said:

I've done some more thorough testing full results have been emailed but what I've found is that it is probably my Pixel phone causing the issue. A Galaxy tab seems to connect OK

However...

Although it connects and although the desk is unpaired, when I switch the lights on with the app they go off after a couple of seconds. I had to disconnect the desk from the network to get control through the app.

I have replied to your email.

Edward

Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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For the benefit of anyone following this issue...

The app isn't supposed to connect while the desk is paired to the Hue hub. 

If you want to add anything to the hub it has to be on a network that has Internet access. The network you have your desk on should NOT have Internet access.

It follows, therefore, that you need to connect the hub and the device with the app on to a different network to add devices.

If you want to use the app for other reasons while the hub is on your lighting network then obviously your Apple or Android device needs to be on that network. You may get a message warning you that there is no Internet - do not ignore this as you may have to accept it to get connected properly and for the app to work. You also have to unpair the desk and hub.

Be methodical and patient and it should work in the end. Try not to be in the position of connecting the app while under pressure, do it before you are in in trouble and it should all just work when you need it.

Don't forget to re-pair the desk and hub when you are finished with the app.

This should be a nice addition to the solutions available but it is a marriage of theatre and domestic technology and your mindset needs to accommodate this.

Have fun!

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  • 1 month later...

Hello,

I have FLX full board and FLX-S48. I have tried to up to date ZerOS 7.12 from 7.11 before up to date to 7.13 the latest version. However, on both console, I have followed the instruction and the monitor showed that turned them off and tried to reboot them. However, The monitors are blacked out and they are not reboot. On FLX S48 keeps flashing the LED of MFFs buttons and LED of the page number keeps circling on FLX full board. I have tried to launch test mode and follow the rebooting process on the manual but, it does not work on both console. Does my process of up to dating have some problems? How could I fix and up to date to ZeroOS 7.13 successfully?

Takuya

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Hi @Takuya Chinen,

2 hours ago, Takuya Chinen said:

The monitors are blacked out and they are not reboot. On FLX S48 keeps flashing the LED of MFFs buttons and LED of the page number keeps circling on FLX full board. I have tried to launch test mode and follow the rebooting process on the manual but, it does not work on both console.

It sounds like you may have managed to install a corrupt version of ZerOS 7.13 onto your consoles.

If you are now unable to boot your consoles normally, they will need to be recovered. Please delete the original copy you installed, and then download a fresh copy of ZerOS 7.13 from the link below...

https://www.zero88.com/storage/downloads/ce1b318a-ab8f-44f6-ab43-8b90b50c6132/ZerOS-7.13.exe

Firstly, please try accessing the ZerOS Start-Up Tool, which will allow you to perform a fresh installation of the console's software. Please see the link below, for information on accessing and using the ZerOS Start-Up Tool...

https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/trouble-shooting/zeros-startup-tool

If you cannot access the ZerOS Start-Up Tool, you should be able to recover the FLX console using the installation method described here...

https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/software-updates/zeros-usb-creator

If you cannot access the ZerOS Start-Up Tool on FLX S48, the internal storage card will need to be re-flashed. Please email your console's serial number to support@zero88.com, and we will then be able to advise the best steps to get the console up and running.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Edward

Edward Smith
Product Specialist

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/11/2022 at 4:38 PM, scottydog75 said:

Tried ZerOS 7.12 on an event this weekend (full size FLX), had the most peculiar issue where I had a 'dead' touchscreen zone on my external montior. I tried recalibrating several times to no joy. I ended up downgrading to ZOS 7.11 which then worked OK. Dead zone confirmed by using the 'draw' function after calibrating the screen; it was a diagonal zone extending from the bottom right corner.

Just to close the loop on my particular touch screen issue - this now resolved when using ZerOS 7.13. Weird!

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