Mackie DL32R locked up during show

[WK154]

How about you John, since you were the OP?

[JohnMHoyt]

How about you John, since you were the OP?

Bought a new DL32R and no longer have the exact same problem. Previously, when it would lock up, all iPads would lose connection. Recording to disk would stop. A shutdown and restart of the DL was the only way to recover.

Now, it seems my airport is having problems. We have 5-7 iPads and iPhones and during shows, one, two or even all will go red and disconnect ...  the system is running fine at this point.
Disconnecting the iPad from the AP and back doesn’t fix it, putting the iPad in airplane mode doesn’t fix it.
Rebooting the dl32r fixes it
Rebooting the airport AP fixes it

No, the DL nor iPads are not static.

Might try it tomorrow if I have time at the next show and see what happens.

John

[WK154]

One other thing you can try is to replace the Ethernet cable. Use a CAT6 and keep it as short as possible. Avoid any potential EMI issues. It seems odd that two DL32R's act almost the same way.

[WK154]

A little history on Ethernet cables as used in the Audio Industry. When the Behringer X32 first came out a run of Cat5 (as specified by Behringer then) especially 100ft. or more runs started to give intermittent results (sound familiar?). Some savvy people pointed this out to Behringer and suggested they use STP (Shielded Twisted Pair cable instead of Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP). EMI and ESD problems disappeared. Guess what Behringer X32 and other high end brands are using for their Ethernet connections today? I don't believe that long runs are the only ones with problems depending on the source of the interference. I don't know how long your cable to the router is but there's a known solution by using a  STP cable. The mostly plastic routers aren't the best but at least one etherCon (Neutrik) connection at the mixer end would help. This of course would require some surgery to the DL32R input using etherCon. Caution here Cat5e and Cat6 connectors are not interchangeable. You can also just use a shielded RJ45 connector with the complimentary chassis connector (less drastic but more fragile). Too bad Mackie couldn't learn from Behringer and other manufacturer about this problem. Since UDP (Unreliable Datagram Protocol) is used (IICRC) commands can get lost without any error recovery. You then have a sync problem. I have long suggested that TCP/IP be used for Command and Control (not for streaming audio) on these mixers but the myth that it is slower has been proven to be false especially in heavier traffic. Since current chip-sets are 10/100/1000 that's 10 times (roughly speaking) then what is being used in these mixers the speed issue could have been avoided altogether. TCP/IP is just harder to program with. Mandolin the next layer above UDP is not quite up to the job in error recovery it seems. As you can see there are lots of other possible causes for your problem.

[JohnMHoyt]

Stp 1.5ft cable in use from airport to mackie.  I’ll change it out when I get a chance, again

[WK154]

After chasing down some pics on both the DL32R Ethernet and the Airport Express connectors it appears both have shields so a STP should be OK (I don't own either product). This unfortunately points more to the DL32R software. The quality of the cable  however does matter, especially if the connectors are improperly installed. Although the N spec includes PRP ( see  https://info.belden.com/hubfs/resources/technical/other/drastic-improvements-in-wireless-reliability-webpage-pdf.pdf?hsLang=en&t=1539972123614   ) it's optional and not in these devices. It would be a boon to UDP.

[JohnMHoyt]

Commercially made cable, but who's to say it didn't get bumped or something, even though it's in a road case.

I replaced with another cable, of another brand, after certifying with my tester.   The old one also checked out okay, but hey, worth trying.

[WK154]

It appears that Mackie is aware of the problem (according to Dan in another thread , I think he is still a Beta tester for them). So now it's time to wait for Mackie to fix their code.   Nothing like working with a time bomb. I would send it back and hope for a better unit since not every DL32R user seems to have this problem or do they?. Same scenario as their white noise problem.

[WK154]

While on the subject of network cables Mackie's manual still states a CAT5 cable for the router to DL32R interconnect. Well you be hard pressed to even find a CAT5 cable since they have been replaced by CAT5e since about 2003 (15 years ago), long before the DL32R existed. There is a BIG difference between a CAT5 and a CAT5e cable in electrical properties. Nothing is said about a shielded cable which is highly recommended in this environment. Time to correct the manual especially for those users not into networks. Same problem exists in the DL16/32S manual.