Changes for page Toolbox Basics

Last modified by Alexander Mott on 2024/03/19 21:00
From version 48.1
edited by Alexander Mott
on 2023/12/12 22:45
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To version 27.1
edited by Alexander Mott
on 2022/10/10 22:08
Change comment: There is no comment for this version

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28 28  
29 29  = Connecting to Devices =
30 30  
31 -In order to connect to any lighting devices, your computer must be physically connected to the lighting device or the lighting network. Typically, this is achieved via TCP (i.e. Ethernet or WiFi) or USB (usually a USB-A to USB-B cable), though some older devices may require an RS-232 serial connection or a different USB cable.
31 +In order to connect to any lighting devices, your computer must be physically connected to the lighting device or the lighting network. Typically, this is achieved via TCP (i.e. Ethernet or WiFi) or USB (usually a USB-A to USB-B cable), though some older devices may require an RS-232 serial connection.
32 32  
33 33  Any Toolbox tool which requires connecting to a device has several buttons and fields at the lower left which relate to device connection:
34 34  
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84 84  1*. If the lighting network is on the building LAN, then you may need to reach out to the building's IT department for instructions on how to access the lighting network or VLAN.
85 85  1. Use a Cat 5a or Cat 6 cable to connect your laptop to the lighting network at an open port
86 86  1*. Most newer laptops will require some sort of adapter in order to connect to a Cat 5a/6 cable
87 -1. Configure your laptop's network settings ([[FAQ page>>https://wiki.chiefintegrations.com/FAQ/How%20do%20I%20change%20my%20computer%27s%20network%20settings]]) to be compatible with the lighting network:
87 +1. Configure your laptop's network settings to be compatible with the lighting network:
88 88  11. Navigate to Control Panel>Network and Internet>Network Connections
89 89  11. Locate the network adapter that is connected to the lighting network
90 90  11. Right click the network adapter and click "Properties"
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106 106  11*1*. You can verify this by opening the Windows Command Line tool and running "ipconfig" command to view your current adapter settings
107 107  1. Open Toolbox and then open the desired tool
108 108  1. Connect to the device:
109 -1*. If you have created an address book (see [[Export to Address Book>>doc:SHOWRUNNER™ Setup Guide.SHOWRUNNER™ Installation Guide.Preparation.Toolbox Basics.WebHome||anchor="HExporttoAddressBook"]] below), then select the device from the drop down menu
109 +1*. If you have created an address book, then select the device from the drop down menu
110 110  1*. If you have not created an address book, then you should click the Pencil Icon to open the Manual Connection Menu:
111 111  1*1. Leave the connection type as "TCP"
112 -1*1. Type in the IP address or Hostname of the device you wish to connect to
112 +1*1. Type in the IP address of the device you wish to connect to
113 113  1*1. Generally, the "Auto Detect" box should be left at "Auto Detect", though if you know what type of connection you need then you can manually change it
114 -1*1*. CEN-GWEXERs with Authentication enabled require manually setting the connection type to "TSL/SSL"
115 115  1*1. Leave Model, Hostname, and Serial fields blank
116 116  1*1. If the device has authentication enabled, expand the Advanced options and input the username and password
117 117  1*1. Click "OK"
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121 121  1*. If the device has just recently powered up, it may take a few minutes to completely wake up before it can be connected to
122 122  1*. If you have issues connecting, see [[Troubleshooting a Failed Connection>>doc:SHOWRUNNER™ Setup Guide.SHOWRUNNER™ Installation Guide.Preparation.Toolbox Basics.WebHome||anchor="HTroubleshootingaFailedConnection"]] below
123 123  
124 -== Troubleshooting a Failed Connection ==
123 +== Device Discovery Tool and Address Book ==
125 125  
126 -Sometimes, a connection attempt will fail and you will need to do some troubleshooting to figure out why exactly the connection could not be established. Toolbox will give different error messages, though sometimes it can be helpful to attempt to connect with another software such as PuTTY just in case the error message is more informative from the alternate software.
125 +Address Books are useful ways of managing multiple jobs that each have many devices.
127 127  
128 -"Device refused to identify"
127 +== Troubleshooting a Failed Connection ==
129 129  
130 -* This message typically means that the device is not online or could not be connected to
131 -* This message may also occur when a device has blocked your username or IP address due to making too many incorrect login attempts
132 -** IP addresses are blocked for 24 hours by default, but you can attempt to circumvent this block by changing your IP address and trying again
133 -** Users are blocked for 30 minutes by default, and it is only possible to circumvent this if another user has already been created, otherwise you must wait for the block to expire before connecting again
134 -** The below commands are useful if you are able to connect to the processor through some other means (specific commands may vary depending on the device):
135 -*** ##listblockedip## and ##remblockedip## commands can be used to view/unblock an IP address
136 -*** ##listlockeduser## and ##remlockeduser## commands can be used to view/unblock specific users
137 -*** ##setloginattempts## and ##setlockouttime## commands can be used to modify how many login attempts are allowed before blocking an IP address and how long an address will be blocked
138 -*** ##setuserloginattempts## and ##setuserlockouttime## commands are used to modify how many login attempts are allowed before blocking a user and how long that user will be blocked
139 -*** ##setlogoffidletime## command can be used to modify how long you can be inactive before the processor automatically logs you out
129 +"Device refused to identify" (also happens if too many login attempts are made with the wrong username/password)
140 140  
141 141  "Device not found in database"
142 142  
143 -* This message typically means that the version of your device database is out of date and the device being connected to is not in it. Use Crestron's MasterInstaller tool to ensure that Toolbox and all installed Crestron components are up-to-date
144 -
145 -See our FAQ for additional tips:
146 -
147 -* [[I can't connect to my processor via Ethernet?>>https://wiki.chiefintegrations.com/FAQ/I%20can%27t%20connect%20to%20my%20processor%20via%20Ethernet]]
148 -* [[I can't connect to a 4-Series processor via USB?>>https://wiki.chiefintegrations.com/FAQ/I%20can%27t%20connect%20to%204-Series%20processor%20via%20USB]]
149 -
150 150  = Basic Tool Usage =
151 151  
152 -== Device Discovery Tool ==
153 -
154 -Crestron's Device Discovery Tool is used to "discover" any Crestron devices which are connected to your laptop. The most useful feature of the Device Discovery Tool is the ability to export all discovered devices to either a "Device Summary" text file or an Address Book. Discovered devices are listed in a scrollable list on the left side of the menu, and double clicking a discovered device will bring up additional configuration options on the right side. Below is an overview of the Device Discovery Tool UI:
155 -
156 -[[image:device discovery tool numbered.png]]
157 -
158 -1. Device Model - gives the specific model of the device type
159 -1. Device Type - gives an idea of what function the device serves ("Control System", "AV", "Lighting", etc.)
160 -1. Connection and Firmware Information
161 -1*. Ethernet connected devices give their hostname, IP address, and firmware version
162 -1*. USB connected devices give their hostname, serial number, and firmware version
163 -1. Discovery Summary - gives a summary of how long it took to discover devices and how many devices were discovered at each connection type
164 -1. Discover Devices button - press this to restart the discovery process
165 -1. Export... button - use this button to export discovered devices to either a Device Summary or Address Book (covered in more detail below)
166 -
167 -=== Export to Device Summary ===
168 -
169 -The Device Summary is an important documentation tool provided by Crestron. It is a .txt file containing a comma-separated-values of all networked devices, and is useful to capture which devices are online, what their current IP and hostname settings are, what version of firmware they are on, and their MAC address and serial number.
170 -
171 -To generate a Device Summary in Toolbox:
172 -
173 -1. Connect to the lighting network and open Device Discovery Tool in Toolbox
174 -1. The Device Discovery tool will automatically report how many Ethernet devices have been discovered
175 -1. Verify that the expected number of Ethernet devices have been discovered, including any TSWs, GLPACs, DIN-CENCN-2s, etc.
176 -1*. Note that only Crestron devices will appear in Device Discovery; non-Crestron devices (such as Pharos or Enttec DMX controllers) will not appear in Device Discovery Tool
177 -1*. If no devices are discovered, verify that your computer is connected to the network and your IP address is compatible with the network
178 -1*. If some devices are missing, there may be an issue with your DHCP server settings or the network wiring
179 -1. Click the "Export..." button below the list of discovered devices
180 -1*. If this button says "Address Book", then Toolbox needs to be updated
181 -1. Click the Write Device Summary button and save the Device Summary to your computer
182 -1*. Though saved as a text file, the Device Summary is actually a table of comma separated values
183 -1*. Renaming DeviceSummary.txt to DeviceSummary.csv will allow it to be opened and manipulated in common spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc
184 -1**. Note that this .csv will have whitespace, so it may be beneficial to "clean" it using Excel's "=TRIM()" function
185 -
186 -Below is an example of a Device Summary for a fully-configured Zūm Wired job:
187 -
188 -* DeviceSummary.txt:
189 -[[image:https://wiki.chiefintegrations.com/download/SHOWRUNNER%E2%84%A2%20Setup%20Guide/SHOWRUNNER%E2%84%A2%20Installation%20Guide/SHOWRUNNER%E2%84%A2%20Installation%20and%20Network%20Setup/ZUMNET-JBOX%20Setup/WebHome/1655487020590-542.png?rev=1.1||alt="1655487020590-542.png"]]
190 -* DeviceSummary.csv:
191 -[[image:https://wiki.chiefintegrations.com/download/SHOWRUNNER%E2%84%A2%20Setup%20Guide/SHOWRUNNER%E2%84%A2%20Installation%20Guide/SHOWRUNNER%E2%84%A2%20Installation%20and%20Network%20Setup/ZUMNET-JBOX%20Setup/WebHome/1655487132138-904.png?rev=1.1||alt="1655487132138-904.png"]]
192 -
193 -=== Export to Address Book ===
194 -
195 -(% class="box warningmessage" %)
196 -(((
197 -This section is under construction: please check back at a later date for more information
198 -)))
199 -
200 -Address Books provide a convenient way to easily connect to different devices without the need to remember different IP addresses or credentials.
201 -
202 -Note that when exporting devices to the Address Book, it is possible to add devices by either Hostname or by IP Address. On systems with a DHCP server, it is recommended to add devices by Hostname, but only after the final hostnames have been set for all devices.
203 -
204 204  == Text Console ==
205 205  
206 -== File Manager ==
207 -
208 208  == Network Device Tree View ==
209 209  
210 -See our other pages on [[device addressing>>doc:SHOWRUNNER™ Setup Guide.SHOWRUNNER™ Installation Guide.Device Addressing.Addressing Devices from Toolbox.WebHome||anchor="HNetworkDeviceTreeView"]] and [[verifying online status>>doc:SHOWRUNNER™ Setup Guide.SHOWRUNNER™ Installation Guide.Device Addressing.Verifying Online Status.WebHome||anchor="HNetworkDeviceTreeView"]] for more specific information on how to use the Network Device Tree View for those purposes.
139 += Toolbox Quirks =
211 211  
212 -== Script Manager ==
141 +Toolbox has some unique quirks that can sometimes cause issues.
213 213  
214 -= Miscellaneous =
215 -
216 216  == VPT COM Server ==
217 217  
218 218  Whenever Toolbox is open, Toolbox also starts a separate process called the Crestron Toolbox VPT COM server. This process appears in the system tray with the following icon when active: [[image:1663630447432-699.png]]
219 219  
220 -Occasionally, something might go wrong with the VPT COM Server process which will prevent Toolbox from functioning correctly. To solve this problem, take the following steps:
147 +Occasionally, something goes wrong with the VPT COM Server process which will prevent Toolbox from functioning correctly. To solve this problem, take the following steps:
221 221  
222 222  1. Close Crestron Toolbox
223 223  1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open Windows Task Manager
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227 227  1*. If the VptCOMServer process is still running after Toolbox has closed, select it in Task Manager and press End Process to stop it
228 228  1. Once VptCOMServer is stopped, open Toolbox and see if your issues have been resolved
229 229  
230 -== Alternatives to Specific Toolbox Tools ==
157 +== Text Console Alternatives ==
231 231  
232 -Sometimes it is necessary to connect to a Crestron device for troubleshooting using a computer that either does not or cannot have Toolbox installed on it. In these instances, third-party software can be used to replace some of the Tools in Toolbox in order to allow immediate troubleshooting of the lighting control system.
159 +== File Management Alternatives ==
233 233  
234 -The Text Console tool can be substituted with [[PuTTY>>https://www.putty.org/]], a free and open-source Telnet and SSH client/terminal emulator. [[SecureCRT>>https://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/]] is another option with some more capability than PuTTY, but note that it is a paid software which requires a license to use. The File Management tool can be substituted with [[WinSCP>>https://winscp.net/eng/index.php]], [[FileZilla>>https://filezilla-project.org/]], or [[CyberDuck>>https://cyberduck.io/]]. These are all free FTP/SFTP clients that do not require any license to use.
235 -
236 -Note that any Text Console or File Management alternatives are only suitable when connecting to Crestron devices over TCP/IP (Ethernet). When connecting to a Crestron device using these third-party programs, use port 22. Connecting to Crestron devices over USB is only possible using Toolbox because these devices do not use a standard communications protocol for USB communications.
161 +== Package Update Tool Alternatives ==
device discovery tool numbered.png
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