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Electronic Theatre Controls Inc

Unable to Turn Dimmers On Individually in Obsession 4.4.2

Problem

When you type DIMMER # @ on the face panel you get an error message on the saying the Dimmer is not patched. As a result you can not turn unpatched Dimmers on in the Obsession console

Solution

This is actually not a bug but a feature of the new software. Part of the 4.4.2 release includes EDMX functionality. In an EDMX system, only one device can control a dimmer value at a time. What device has control is determined differently depending on the device. In Unison systems it is dependent on the DMX Mode of the zone, In DMX nodes it is dependent on either port priority or active signal. In the Obsession it is determined by the dimmer being patched into a channel. This is set up so you do not accidentally turn on a dimmer and steal control of it from another device. While the end result is no control of a non patched dimmer, in an EDMX system this is actually a desired behavior.

There are two fast and easy workarounds to resolve this problem.

  1. If you are working with an EDMX system, simply create a dummy channel that contain the DMX/EDMX values you may want to control from the Obsession. Bear in mind doing so will prevent them from being controlled by another device.
  2. Is you are not working in an EDMX system, go to SETUP, select 15 HARDWARE SETUP and then Option 6 to turn EDMX off. You will need to reboot the console for changes to take effect and then you can turn dimmers on or off as you could with older software versions.
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