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Help - LED Reader board always "dark" next morning

richrath

chief n editor
Hello, we're in the sign business, but just make simple little yard sale and real estate signs that you plop into the lawn. About a year ago we purchased a double side LED reader board from what ended up being an unscrupulous seller in California, no service after the sale.

Anyway, sign has worked ok for the most part, until recently as we've had an ongoing issue (read below)-



XMplayer LED reader board is always “dark” (can barely see the sign images) every morning. We manually enter bright/dime times (our sign doesn't have a solar eye)



We run the program on “async” XMPlayer 3.1 (latest version). When we schedules items:



#1 (Play program). Select the slide and then we run the sign for a 24 hr period (00:00:00 to 23:59:59) valid date “unlimited” We only run one slide, not scheduling several



#2 (Brightness setting “Bright”). We want the sign to be on full bright (255) from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m



#3 (Brightness setting “Dim”). We want the sign to be on dim (25) from 8:31 p.m. to 6:29 a.m.



We then submit this schedule to LED sign. BUT, every morning when I come into the shop, the sign is at “dim”, almost unreadable (though the slide is running the ads). I have no idea what time the sign goes "dim"....all I know is that when I come into the shop @ 8 a.m. next day, it's barely viewable (but again, slide is running)



What’s going on here? This scheduling regime used to work fine. Do we need to do a major reboot of the LED board (how would we do that?) and/or is our software faulty?



We’re open to any and all suggestions! THNX!
 

ams

New Member
I found this on the internet that may be helpful.

"
Are you using a Synchronous or Asynchronous setup?

Synchronous would have a Windows based computer in the sign that drives the display.

Asynchronous would be an ARM11 or ARM9 controller.

1. We create a series of ads to run on the LED sign via XMplayer Express

2. We then send the program of ads to the LED sign via “Sync” then “Send” on XMplayer Express

Don't use xmplayer express - I'm pretty sure the manufacturer of the DBStar control system you are using doesn't make or maintain this software. So you could could see many issues.

It is best to work with stable versions -

Software

http://www.anthonykarnowski.com/mystuff/XMPlayer_3.1.44.zip

Manual

http://www.anthonykarnowski.com/mystuff/xmplayer_3.1_Manual_7_2014.pdf

3. The ad programs appears and runs on the LED sign

4. Using MXplayer 3.1, under “Setup” and “Scheduled items” we enter “Brightness Settings” (dim for night time use, brighten back up in a/m for day use). Then, this data is sent to the LED sign (sign does dim at the set time)

If synchronous, what time is the computer set to? If Asynchronous, the controllers have a web-based management page and a function to query time. Open a web browser to http://IPaddress. Default IP's are 192.168.1.228 for ARM9 and 192.168.1.128 for ARM11. What time and date does the controller or computer think it is? On Xmplayer 3.1.xx versions, the control menu offers a function to update time and date.

  • How many items are in your schedule list? - many overlapping schedules can cause your issue.
  • What time are your schedules set to start and end? - Usually if a user wants a program to play all day, they will set a start time of 0:00:01 and an end time of 23:59:59
  • What time are your brightness schedules set to? Why isn't a sensor being used? Is a sensor present? Under the control menu in software, check and see if a sensor is present by the sensor backward read function. If a sensor is present and functioning, the brightness schedule may not work, depending on the controller version and type.
  • Are power off and power on functions being used? Ensure your power on and power off features are within a 24 hour cycle. Example power on 7:00, power off 23:00
  • Have you tried setting a timed reboot? The scheduler in Xmplayer software offers the ability to reboot the controller daily at a set time
 
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