DiGiCo Support - Optocore is broken again…
(3 minute read)
How do I fix optocore when remapping optocore still throws an error? Follow these five steps.
Verify your network ID. Press “Network” at the top right of the master screen, confirm that the network ID is as intended. (Note that you should only use odd IDs for consoles without a mirrored engine)
In Setup > Audio IO, Confirm that the Con Send port is “1.0#” in the “Connect” column to the left of the window where “#” is the the network ID assigned in step 1 (i.e. 1.01).
A common error is when moving a showfile built on the offline editor to a console with a network ID different than 1, the console will not properly adjust the Con Send port to 1.01 and it must be manually changed under the connection tab at the top of the window.
Confirm that every Con Receive port matches the intended console (i.e. FOH is sending to monitors on Con Rev 1.03 where FOH is network ID 3).
Go through every Optocore device connected to the Optocore loop to verify the correct number of input and output cards are present, including all SD racks, Con Send + Receive ports, OrangeBoxes, and any other Optocore-enabled devices.
You can press “Conform All Ports” to accomplish this quickly but this is NOT RECOMMENDED in a live environment as it could result in unintended consequences if something is misconfigured outside of the console. This is generally intended for initial start up, programming, and testing on a system.
Finally, verify that output card control is correct on all consoles by going through each Optocore connected device from step 4. At the bottom of every output card on an Optocore device there will be a row of boxes that describe what the output card type is as well as the card owner. This can be edited ONLY when “Setup Optocore” is selected at the bottom right hand of the Audio IO window. The checkboxes will turn a more vibrant shade of green check or red “x”. All output assignments MUST match on every console Audio IO for Optocore Remapping to work.
There are two states that the output card can be in.
1) There will be an “X” followed by the type of card (i.e. DAC, AES, etc)
2) There will be a number followed by the type of card. This number indicated the Console ID in control of the output card. If the output card is not assigned to the correct console, go to the console in control of the card, select setup Optocore, press the checkmark to release control. This will allow another console to take control.
If a console has control of a card(s) that another console does not yet see, you can press “optocore details” under the “setup optocore” menu. There will be a button that is called “Broadcast Only My Outputs IDs”. Use this BEFORE remapping to push the information to other consoles that do not yet see the output card claimed by the intended console.
Once all consoles have matching mapping, a remap from any console should result in optocore being error-free.
Hopefully the above helped you sort your Optocore troubles. Step five is usually when people get tripped up.
Additionally, there has been a long standing rumor in the audio world where you should delete and re-add your con send and con recieve ports, remap, then add them back. This was more due to the fact that port and card assignments usually did not lineup, not due to any sort of bug within the firmware. It is easier to do this as a troubleshooting step than to walk through making sure each showfile matches. My qualm is that deleting these means you have to repatch. If I am onsite, I prefer to take a photo of each audio port on one desk, then walk to the other and confirm it before remapping.
Optocore is an incredible protocol and tool to be able to use in DiGiCo ecosystem. It allows for immense flexibility. Now with the addition of DMI cards on the newer consoles and the OrangeBox format converter, the possibilities are vast.
