Setting up a PC client on an Ion

I want to put a touchscreen backstage in our auditorium to run the magic sheet software. I've been doing research and found that I can use a client PC. How would I set that up to the Ion? Also how much would it cost?

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  • I never realised that. I assumed that merely connecting up the primary console to a remote PC with Nomad running would enable client functionality. I take it that the channel count is irrelevant and the criterion is simply the presence of any Nomad dongle? I have a 512 channel output dongle, so I could use this in conjunction with an ETC Ion which has 1024 outputs enabled, couldn't I?
  • Yes you could. For a dongle the output count is irrelevant if the machine with the dongle is running as client
  • On that note, if I want to connect the console and client PC together, without needing any other additional devices on the network, can I simply use a crossover Ethernet cable between the two and enable DHCP on the Ion?
  • You can, but i would recommend to use a switch and static IPs because else the startup sequence and its timing matters. With the switch and a static IP there's less that can go wrong
  • Unfortunately, I don't have any network switches spare. Will a crossover cable with each device assigned a static IP address not suffice?
  • It still requires both devices to be switched on not too​ long from each other. If either starts and doesn't find anything on the other end of the network cable it will switch off its network interface. Unfortunately this time depends on the manufacturer of the network interface and is rarely documented.
    It can work well for a while and one day you go for a smoke between starting the PC and the Ion and then it doesn't. And i will not work again until you shut both devices down and start them again close to each other.
  • Hi Aaron - yes you can try this. It may or may not work. Worse is, if you get it working one day and then the next day where its needed badly, and you forgot to turn both products on at the same time and maybe other unknown factors like cable length, dhcp servers and the such arise and it doesn't work, and hours of troubleshooting pass without a solution.
    I don't recommend this type of working enviornmemt. Its just not worth it.
    An unmanaged switch is not that expensive.
  • I just thought I’d provide an update on my experience of this.

    Since trying the method of connecting Ion and client directly last year, this has worked every time I have patched the two together without fail. Even if the two devices have been powered on at completely different times, a connection has always been established.

    Actually, using either a crossover or straight cable in the chain has achieved successful connections. I suppose that must be because either the NIC of the Ion or that of the connected computer (MacBook Pro) is equipped with auto-MDIX.

    I just thought I’d put this out there in case anyone else was in the same situation of requiring only a single computer to have connectivity with a console but had been dissuaded from connecting the two with a cable by responses like above. Given the correct conditions are satisfied, it works flawlessly.
  • Hi Aaron,

    thanks for the info about using a crossover cable instead of switch - yes it CAN work, but my experience is that it brings another possible fault into the troubleshooting equation that is more problematic than helpful.

    Too many open points like does this version of console hardware negotiate automatically, does this version of laptop hardware negotiate automatically, does it only negotiate if both are powered up at the same time (and if one is powered up minutes later, then it won’t connect)...

    Small, unmanaged switches do not cost the world, and can always be useful and minimize failure points.

    If the world was about to explode unless I could get the PC and Ion connected, and there was no switch, would I use the crossover cable between them? Yes.. , then look for a switch and then celebrate myself as the Hero the Saved Earth!

    Though in reality, I would take the extra effort to source an unmanaged switch, so as to allow a stable connection always between the two.
  • UuCould it not be argue, however, that having a switch is adding extra complexity to the equation with an additional point of failure? Yes, I know it’s the established means of doing things, but it’s more electronic circuitry placed in the signal chain, is it not?

    I think people immediately seem to come to the judgment that it won’t work when in reality I’ve tried this in a few different setups where I’m not dealing with sACN or anything fancy and have encountered no issues of the varietiy mentioned here. Actually, apart from the first time I tried out a direct connection, I have always used a straight patch cord, which has worked just fine for me.
  • I'd like to agree with Aaron, adding the switch does just add something else that could go wrong/get unplugged etc.

    When using Nomads on a Mac I just run a very long standard ethernet cable straight out of it to an artnet to dmx box at the stage with fixed IPs at each end and no switch and never had any issues.

    Ten years ago I agree it wouldn't have worked as autosensing was quite new and so you might have needed a cross over cable etc, but if the machines are more current than that it should work.
  • In our case, an ETC Element (XP motherboard) and a ThinkPad, running Nomad, this combination is very sensitive to start up times. If I don't start them at the same time (wihtin a couple of minutes) I usually will have to restart the Element to get them to connect. A small, unmanaged switch is about $50 ? so no big deal really.
  • From the hundreds of calls that I have attended to here at ETC Support where customers had issues connecting two devices with a network cable, at least 90% of the time, adding an unmanaged switch between the two devices solved the problems they had. So - here the old adage that adding another device adds one more possible problem Point that could get unplugged doesn't fit the statistics.
  • It's a good practice to gaff-tape together and/or tie off all power connections that are "mission-critical."
  • Salazar said:
    A small, unmanaged switch is about $50 ? so no big deal really.
     

     
    Here in Burbank, CA, US, Fry's Electronics has them starting at $9.99 USD.
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