Atmolight via rs232 over ip (1 Viewer)

[kdschlosser]

Not sure where this should go. There are so many forum posts about Atmolight

I just got this wonderful gem of a wifi module for my Arduino. The 5 dollar ESP 8266. One of the features of the wifi module is a data passthrough mode. works great I am able to use a virtual serial port for the computer to talk via rs232 to the module without a headach of coding. just had to repoint to Serial1 on my Mega 2560. Here is the problem I am encountering, my Computer is 35 feet away from the TV. and I can run a wire over to it to connect via lan but wireless seemed the way to go. But the Atmowin software will not open the virtual Serial port. I have tried about 15 different flavors of Virtual Serial port software. and not a 1 works. I get an error 2. I use all kinds of terminal software with no problem. as well as eventghost. I am not sure as to why Atmowin has a problem with it. I know it has nothing to do with the actual connection. It has something to do with opening the port. Atmowin only sends 4 Hex codes on connection via usb and doesn't actually recieve any data from the Arduino. This should work without a hitch. I am not a C++ programmer. but I know it has to be something relatively easy to fix. If there is anyone about that is still developing this software please shoot me a line. And Raspberry Pi is not an option for me because of having to do some crazy hack to get it to work with HDCP.

and one other question. will there be support for Live mode in MediaPortal 1.10 or 1.11?

Thanks again
Kevin

 

[Lightning303]

Hey

Not sure where this should go. There are so many forum posts about Atmolight

The right place is https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/forums/ambient-lighting-system.671/

If there is anyone about that is still developing this software please shoot me a line.

Nope, sadly there is nobody activly working on AtmoWin, atleast not that i know of. Though @Rick164 is probably the one to ask.

and one other question. will there be support for Live mode in MediaPortal 1.10 or 1.11?

Why wouldnt it be? Its been supported directly by MediaPortal since 1.6, and im not aware of any plans to "unsupport" it .

 

[kdschlosser]

I might be using the wrong terminology for the last one. but the led's shut off once i stop watching a video. maybe i missed a setting somewhere. but i am pretty darb sure i just about clicked on everything trying to get the serial to work.I guess i am going to have to mess with the source myself. if i can find it that is. there are a whole mess of outdated pages.

 

[azzuro]

@kdschlosser :
the wifi module is connected direct to PC or on home network ?
on network will be very fine. but atmowin should support Wifi/ethernet protocol ...

 

[kdschlosser]

ummm.... Atmolight uses Atmowin and if i used BOB with a raspberry pi. i believe it can do UDP or some other IP based protocol. But Atmolight with Atmowin and an Arduino is serial only. but with the wonderful world we live in there is a thing called serial over IP. and the wificard I have for the Arduino is bit banged right into a Serial UART chip on the Arduino. so all the Arduino see is serial data. And works great. It doesn't know any different. the TCP stack is built right onto the wifi chip so I have to que it up like an old school modem but instead of dialing a number i have it punch in an ip connecting to a socket on my computer which is then brought to the OS as a serial port.
but Atmowin doesn't want to answer the proverbial phone (and no it is not a dialup connection) it's the easiest way to explain it because i have to give the wifi module AT commands just like i was back in the old BBS days.. I have no idea as to why because every other serial based app i try does just fine. data sends and recieves at 115200 perfectly. it has something to do with the file that's made on the computer (windows does makes files for connections just like linux). it's got something to do with that. I don't know what an error 2 is tho from Atmowin.

 

[Lightning303]

ummm.... Atmolight uses Atmowin and if i used BOB with a raspberry pi. i believe it can do UDP or some other IP based protocol. But Atmolight with Atmowin and an Arduino is serial only.

Not sure if im understanding you right, did you already test AtmoLight with Boblight? Because AtmoLight does support Boblight, aswell as Hyperion for a little while now. So Maybe a Pi with a WiFi dongle and Boblight/Hyperion would be the easiest route. Have a look at the AtmoLight release thread if you did not test it yet (link down below).

and the wificard I have for the Arduino is bit banged right into a Serial UART chip on the Arduino. so all the Arduino see is serial data. And works great. It doesn't know any different. the TCP stack is built right onto the wifi chip so I have to que it up like an old school modem but instead of dialing a number i have it punch in an ip connecting to a socket on my computer which is then brought to the OS as a serial port.

I actually have a ESP8266 module myself and even made a similar project to yours with it, so im following on what you want to do and how the module works .
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...8266-wifi-module-and-ws2812b-rgb-leds.129229/
Not sure though if the ESP is powerfull enough to handle all this data you want to send to it. In my tests i came very near the limits of this little module. At one point i tried to send 24Bit RGB values for 16 leds every 16,6ms (60Hz/fps), but the module couldnt keep up. But maybe i missed something .

I guess i am going to have to mess with the source myself. if i can find it that is. there are a whole mess of outdated pages.

AtmoLight Thread with latest releases: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/atmolight-1-15-1-0-2015-01-12.125633/
AtmoWin Thread with latest releases: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/atmowin-1-0-0-8-release-thread-no-bug-support.125361/
Our GitHub with the sources to all of our Ambilight software: https://github.com/ambilight-4-mediaportal

@azzuro Maybe you can move this thread into our own forum? Thanks

 

[azzuro]

Sure

 

[kdschlosser]

if you could see what I have going on over here i think you would understand a little bettter. and why i really don't want to use a raspberrypi and so many translators to get it to work. K.I.S.S. is my motto. bouncing from AtmoLight to Atmowin to BOB...blah blah blah it would be more crap I would have to learn. I am already up to my eyeballs in code. last 2 weeks have been a crash course in C++. I am trying to keep the processing for almost everything centrally located I have 5 TV's running media portal. over 10 thousand movies stored on a server. hdhome run streaming in radio to media portal vi, get this of all things security camera software. i am pulling 50 live traffic feeds from the net. as well as another 10 at my hyouse, security shades flood protection weather, lights,. just added my fireplaces. If anyone was going to have a problem because of wireless transmissions it would be me. but the whole house is controlled from a series of servers in my "movie theatre" well it will be once i get the screen and projector. couple more weeks. It makes it easier to manage. server tells everything what to do and when to do it. Now. i am not sure about HDCP but i do know without a major hack it will not work with a raspberry pi. unless i am misinformed. So that would pose a problem with bluray movies and atmowin correct?? again I have not done a huge amount of research on it yet. . but if I could get the serial transmission over IP 115200 is not a problem, and that is what Atmowin uses to talk to the Arduino.I don't know if you are using bitbang mode when you have tested it, but sure as hell speeds up that little chip just dumping data straight into the uart without having to process it. which only limits it to one connection. do you have any idea as to why Atmowin is unable toopen the port and what error 2 is???

Thanks again
Kevin

 

[Lightning303]

bouncing from AtmoLight to Atmowin to BOB...blah blah blah it would be more crap I would have to learn.

AtmoLight is not bound to AtmoWin anymore, if you were to use Boblight or Hyperion you would not need AtmoWin. AtmoLight would pick up the video frames, like it does now, and then send them via network to your Pi running Bob/Hyperion. No need for AtmoWin. No need to learn anything but how to setup a Pi with Bob/Hyperion.

Now. i am not sure about HDCP but i do know without a major hack it will not work with a raspberry pi. unless i am misinformed. So that would pose a problem with bluray movies and atmowin correct??

I dont know why you think HDCP is a problem. AtmoLight grabs the video frames like it always has done and sends them on, just to another location. And HDCP has never been a problem. Im not suggesting you build one of these "capture all video sources with a pi" setups, but just a Pi with a Wifi Dongle and leds attached to them (through an extra Arduino though if you are using WS2812B).

do you have any idea as to why Atmowin is unable toopen the port and what error 2 is???

No.

 

[Kotik]

Off topic here but is hyperion worth investing the money? Currently using atmowin and happy with it but reading lately good stuff about hyperion.

As far as i understand one would need to get a Pi to run hyperion over it. So my question is what are the advantages of using hyperion over atmowin. Keep in mind i will still use Atmolight as my frame grabber.