DL32R connection...

[Weogo]

Hi Folks,

A DL1608 has been rock solid for me for more than a year.
I bought a DL32R, which arrived yesterday afternoon, a few hours before a show I was doing.
I connected it up, and it said it needed to update firmware, so I did that.(The screen said the update could take up to 15 minutes, but it was actually a matter of seconds.)
Wrote a show, loaded it and headed out.
Setup went fine, and the first hour of the show.
Then I lost communication between Ipad and mixer.
I tuned off the Ipad Wifi and restarted.  Rebooted Ipad.  Rebooted router.
Finally, at a short break in the music was able to reboot the mixer and got communication back.
This was a fairly small, not demanding show, so no big deal.

The mixer was on a good UPS, as was the router, so I don't immediately suspect power issues.
The router is an Asus N66 which has worked fine with the DL1608 and the 01V96.

In particular I bought the DL32R for my biggest concert series of the year which starts soon.
This is more than a dozen shows, showcasing some pretty accomplished musicians with 10~15 minute sets, 1 minute or less for set changes.
Everything from solo vocal to five-piece bands to small choirs.
For this, the mixer needs to be rock solid.
The FOH mix position is back in a concrete-walled alcove that is horribly boomy and not a good place to mix. 
For the past ten years I have been using a Yamaha 01V96. 
For the past three years have been controlling the 01V96 with an Ipad from a seat out in the audience.
The 01V96 has no native Ipad support, and is kinda long in the tooth, but has always worked.

Questions:
A)  The manual says after a firmware upgrade to reboot the mixer.
I did this twice, with the mid-show reboot being the third time.
Surely it only takes one reboot for a firmware update to fully load?

B)  The manual specs Cat5, not Cat5E cabling.
The mixer~router cable is a plain old Cat5 cable, about six feet long, which has worked fine with the DL1608 and 01V96.
For such a short length, would a Cat5E make a difference in connection integrity?
I will be trying a Cat5E cable tonight.
 
C) Any other suggestions on what to look at?

For the concerts, don't really want to go back to the 01V96 with a USB cable to a laptop running the Yamaha software and a VNC Server, Cat5 cable to router, and VNC Client on Ipad.
Original plan was to park the DL32R at the stage and not run the mic and drive snakes. 
Now am thinking of running the snakes, putting the DL32R at FOH, just in case I have to switch back to the 01V96...

Will be calling Mackie Monday morning.

Thanks and good health,  Weogo

[WK154]

A. Yes
B. No
C. What were you thinking? A out of box untested kit at a gig, never. Aside from all the uncontrollable unknowns in WiFi alone, best keep that snake handy. Mackie has no reliable wired control surface for this DL and until it does it's off my list of usable mixers, sorry.

[Michael Welter]

That happened to me during one of my training sessions. I was in a hall, which had a balcony. During the session, I went up to the balcony. The staircase is enclosed in concrete blocks, so I wasn't surprised that I lost connectivity. But I had to reboot the DL32R. But that's the only time I've had a connectivity issue. It's been flawless during shows.

[Weogo]

Hi  Wk,

Thanks for the reply.
And your advice is of course spot on.

"C. What were you thinking?"

I was thinking I have a spare DL1608 with the band's scene from last week in that venue, ready to go if needed.
A risk indeed, but a fairly low profile gig in a venue where I have been mixing for more than 25 years and they are fairly confident in my abilities.
Will likely run the snakes for that concert series after all.  Will report back at the end of the summer.

I remember the raised eyebrows in 2003 or 2004 when I bought the Yamaha 0196 and started mixing on it regularly.


Michael,

Any guesses as to why your DL32R needed to reboot after losing connectivity?


Another note from Friday night:
When I turned off and rebooted the DL32 it went down quietly and came up quietly, no pops.  The DL1608 is not so graceful.

I used the mixer again last night and no issues.
The Cat5E cable I used looked to be in better shape than the old Cat5.  Could have possibly been an issue Friday night.
I have a budget Ethernet cable tester and will check it out the next time I'm in that venue.

Thanks and good health,  Weogo

[Michael Welter]

Michael,

Any guesses as to why your DL32R needed to reboot after losing connectivity?

I wish I knew. When I came back in range, Master Fader showed that it was connected, but nothing worked. The connection light on the DL32R was flashing, showing no connection. It was weird. But it's never happened again.

[RoadRanger]

Make sure you're using static IP's, and that you "forget" all other networks on the iPad.

[WK154]

Make sure you're using static IP's, and that you "forget" all other networks on the iPad.

Definitely a wise move, I been bit more than once thinking I'm connected and I was but to the wrong network. RR how'd that Buffalo AP work out for you?

[RoadRanger]

RR how'd that Buffalo AP work out for you?

It's working great - Not sure it has the range that my Netgear had though. It also only works on one band at a time unlike my Netgear router which does both simultaneously.