Connect the widget and find the fixture

The bench talks to a fixture through an Enttec DMX USB Pro, called the widget here: USB on one side, a DMX line on the other. Connecting opens the widget, then searches the line for every fixture that answers RDM. The first one found is selected and its report is taken.

Before you connect

The widget needs its DMX/RDM firmware, the fixture needs RDM switched on, and a terminator belongs in the fixture’s DMX output. If connecting fails or nothing is found, see When no fixture is found.

Picking the port

Choose Fixture → Connect… (⌘K) (macOS). The sheet lists the serial ports this computer has. Ports that look like the widget come first, marked likely widget, and the first of them is selected. Each row shows the widget’s name and serial number, and under it the device path (/dev/cu.usbserial-…) (macOS) / (COM3, for example) (Windows) / (/dev/ttyUSB0, for example) (Linux), which is what the command line takes.

Every other port is under Show all ports. An adapter cable that does not look like an Enttec widget ends up there, so try that list before deciding the widget is missing. If you plugged the widget in after opening the sheet, click Refresh.

Connect opens the selected port. Use Simulator connects to simulated fixtures instead, so you can learn the app with no hardware.

The checkbox on the sheet lets the bench check for a newer manufacturer PID library when you connect: one request to github.com, with nothing about your fixtures sent. With it off, or with no network, the bench works the same with the library it has.

Finding the fixture

Connecting runs discovery: the bench searches the line and lists every fixture that answers in the sidebar. The status line at the foot of the sidebar says what it is connected to. Run it again with Fixture → Rediscover (⌘R) (macOS) after plugging in another fixture or changing a cable.

If the sidebar says No fixtures found, or a unit appears under Could not be listed, see When no fixture is found.

Under Line, the bench compares this discovery with the last time it looked at a line: a unit missing since then, or a new one that has arrived. At a bench the last look was usually the previous job, so these are notes, not faults. Once every unit has a report (Fixture → Scan All Fixtures), the same section says what is wrong between them, such as two fixtures on overlapping addresses.

Fixture → Disconnect turns off identify on any fixture that is identifying and releases any levels the bench was holding, so nothing is left flashing or lit on the bench.

From the command line

rdmbench-cli ports lists the serial ports, with a * beside those that look like the widget. rdmbench-cli discover searches the line and prints the UID of each fixture found. It picks the first widget it finds; --port names one, and --sim uses the simulator.

Once a fixture is found, see Read a fixture’s report.