# A working fixture that looks broken

- **MCP resource:** rdmbench://help/looks-broken
- **Version:** 0.2.0
- **Runs on:** macOS 15 Sequoia or later, Apple silicon or Intel
- **Needs:** An Enttec DMX USB Pro with its DMX/RDM firmware (major version 2)
- **Price:** Free

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.