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    Chris Fracaro
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Accessing Paradigm from a PC

I work, on a per-production basis, in a Net3 facility which owns an Ion. The Net3 system controls Musco fixtures for the arena floor, Lumenpulse fixtures for the seating area, a DRd rack (which I typically control directly from the control module to provide nondim power), and eight Chauvet Rogues.

In 2017 or 2018, during a meeting with the ETC rep/installer, I was told I could access Paradigm via a PC by typing the address into the URL thus allowing for the control of levels, timed events, etc. I witnessed this on the rep's PC and deemed it quite handy if ever I needed it, with my joke being I would have to buy a laptop PC. I owned an iMac & an iPad at the time.

June 2021, the Ion began having booting issues. It was sent to ETC for repairs. Since then, a more serious discussion about having a backup console or option of some sort has taken place with the least expensive solution being the best (only) choice.

Because a PC could access the Paradigm allowing for houselight & game light controls, my big idea was to sell the idea of buying Nomad base. I would create a showfile with only the Rogues patched. I would control the houselights - if certain blocks of fixtures needed to be darkened - via my laptop.

Being able to simply plug a PC into the switch and gain access to the Paradigm has proven to be not that simple.

With the Ion active in the system, when I access Paradigm, controls are there. However, this defeats the purpose.

Without the Ion active, Paradigm is "not connected". I rebooted the connection and and my network setting asks if I want to apply an IPv4 configuration to the USB 10/100/1000 LAN connection.

At the time, the facility was still active with attendees leaving and a press conference ongoing, so not-knowing what would happen if I pressed "Apply", I did nothing.

Obviously, I don't want my Mac to be the DHCP provider. I don't know if that's what's going on. I'll check. However, I'd appreciate the Knowledge Base telling me how to access Paradigm via a PC -- without sending the entire arena full of spectators into darkness.

  • Hi Chris,

    From the looks of the second screenshot it looks like there is no DHCP server in your system. An IP address of 169.254.xxx.xxx is a tell-tale sign of a "link local address", an IP address that an adapter picks at random when there is no DHCP server and no static IP assigned.

    In order to access your Paradigm system at 10.101.10.101 you need to be in the same network range as it. There's two options to do that : either, you can either assign a static IP address to your computer in the right range, or you can set up a DHCP server.

    There are pros and cons to both of those approaches. What I would probably do to start out is assign the PC (or mac in your case) a static IP address as it sounds like it's the only thing that is not static on the network at the moment.

    We have a list of our recommended IP ranges here : https://support.etcconnect.com/ETC/Networking/General/ETC_Network_IP_Addresses

    For a PC do something in the range 10.101.1.101 to 10.101.1.252. Then to use it, change that dropdown that currently says "Using DHCP" to "Fixed IP" or similar, then enter the IP and subnet mask which should be 255.255.0.0

    Once that is done, you should be able to access the Paradigm system by typing 10.101.10.101 into your browser.

    Hope that helps!

    -Tom

  • in reply to tomsteer

    Hi Tom,

    Thank you for your quick response. Yes, I do feel like I'm in a Bobblehead Fred video.

    The Ion was introduced into the system 3 months after the event space opened. Before then, I am assuming Paradigm was the DHCP server.

    When I received the Ion back from repairs, I looked through Network Settings and thought I spotted a DHCP server box checked. I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

    Originally, I believe the thought was the Ion could easily play along in the system without much of an intrusion, but then it was decided by me that the Ion needed precedence in the system.

    In my ideal work world, ETC would have remote access to the Paradigm to monitor updates & settings.

    The next time I'm at the facility (Thursday, i believe), I'll have made those changes to my Mac and take it from there.

    Thanks again!

  • I'm having the same problem with my Acer Laptop and I've tried to do what tomsteer has explained but it somehow doesn't work for me...

  • in reply to narni

    Hi Narni,

    The problem above was a mac, and an Acer would be a PC - have you been able to successfully set your PC to a static IP address? What do you see when you type the Paradigm IP address into a browser?

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