back up and server confusion

Hi Claire -

You may have a network problem. If the backup became a server, it's because it lost communication with the server. Since you restarted and it did not offer "Backup" as a startup option, this reinforces to me that something has gone wrong on the network. Things to check (when you are no longer in the technical rehearsal) include: Is the Ethernet switch working? Have you tried to connect to a different port on the switch? Has the cable gone bad? Is the Ethernet port on the Congo jr working?

If you are running with an ETCNet2 system, the reason you didn't see levels changing after updating your presets is because the Congo jr had higher priority on the network than your original server, keeping the server's levels from getting to the dimmers. When you shut down the backup, you should have also regained control of your dimmers.

Are the roles of the server and backup assigned in the Backup Configuration dialog (found in the startup window's Settings dialog)? Or are server and backup determined by startup order?

I hope this helps -

Sarah 

hi sarah.

Thanks for your quick reply.

i checked the ethernet cable, port at the back of the desk and all other things, and also the settings in the back up console, and everything is fine.

the back up is set up to run as a back up in its settings, regardless of order of start up..

ive just tried running it again and the same problem occured. the backup starts up as a back up then just changes to a server when it wants to!

under network on the server, it said back up when  i started it up, then when it changed to server it also changed to server under networkint the servers browser.

my congo is set to a priority of 10, so it can work with unison, and i checked the back up and it also has a priority of 10.. isthis all right??

thanks for your help!

claire

This sounds very much like an intermittent network problem somewhere in the link between server and backup.
- The backup has communication with the server for a time, then loses it and so it takes over.

This fault isn't necessarily at the backup end - it's just as likely to be at the server. 

When a backup takes over, it also increases its priority by 1 step to ensure that a server that has gone haywire can't affect the show.

The best suggestion I can make at present is to swap out both of the cat5 cables with 'known good' ones, and if the problem persists try a different network point for each console.

It may be worth trying connecting the two Congos together via a small portable switch rather than through the installed network, to ensure you've got good cat5 cables.