A working fixture that looks broken

Some settings make a healthy fixture look dead, stuck or wrong: it will not move, ignores the desk, lights with nothing plugged in, or moves the wrong way. The report lists them under Device state, near the top, because they explain a symptom before any fault does. Rule each one out before opening the unit.

Most of them are changed from the fixture’s own menu; its manual says where. The bench reads them and says what each does.

Won’t move

• Shipping lock: the fixture locks its head (or part of it) for transport, and will not move until the lock is released. A head that will not pan or tilt with this set is not a motor fault.
• Device locked: the fixture refuses setting changes until it is unlocked, often with a code from its menu. Not a fault, but it is why a new address or mode does not take.

Dark, or ignoring the desk

• Reduced power state (standby, shutdown, full off): the fixture still answers RDM but will not output.
• Preset playback: the fixture plays a stored scene, or all of them in turn, and ignores live DMX. Switch playback off at the fixture.
• A preset scene that holds nothing: playback, the signal-loss setting or the power-up setting points at an empty scene, so the output there is dark rather than the look someone meant. Store the look into it (rdmbench-cli capture-preset 1 stores the current look as scene 1), or point the setting at a scene that has one.
• A self-test is running: the fixture will not follow the desk until the test ends. If the report says it does not end on its own, stop it with rdmbench-cli self-test off.
• Boot-loader mode: the fixture is waiting for a firmware upload and cannot work until it gets one, so most of the report goes unanswered. Load firmware with the maker’s own tool.

Lit with nothing plugged in

A fixture can be set to do something on its own when there is no DMX: at power-up with nothing connected, or when the signal drops. It may go to a level, play a scene, or play all its scenes. A fixture lit on the bench with no cable in, or one that carries on after the desk is unplugged, is doing what this setting says. That is allowed by the standard and is not a stuck output.

The report lists this only when the setting puts something out. Holding the last look when the signal drops is the common default, and it is not listed: a fixture frozen on its last look after the desk is unplugged is most likely doing that.

Never full, never dark

• Maximum level capped (a topset): the output will not reach full.
• Minimum level held (a preheat): the output never goes fully dark.
• Burn-in running: every output is forced to full for the hours shown, usually to season new lamps.

None of these is a fault, and each explains a dimmer that “won’t go out” or “won’t come up”.

Moves the wrong way

• Pan or tilt inverted: the head moves the opposite way to the desk. Right for a fixture hung upside down; otherwise it is why it “moves backwards”.
• Pan and tilt swapped: the desk’s pan channel drives tilt, and its tilt channel drives pan. A setting for a side-mounted fixture.

Identifying

A fixture identifying right now flashes, moves or strobes to show where it is. That is identify, not a fault. Click Stop Identify in the toolbar to end it. Some fixtures end identify on their own after a set time, and the report says how long.