I’m attempting to use Stage Caller to send to 3 wireless devices: 2 iPod touches and one iPad. I’ve created 3 sessions - one for each device. The devices do not consistently appear in the Directory box in the MIDI Network Setup window.
All of the devices and the computer have strong Wi-Fi signals and they do not ever drop out.
I’m using a brand new Airport Extreme router. The iMac’s OS is Mountain Lion, I believe. The devices are a bit older; I’ll check on that and update this post. There is an Apple TV in the room and one of the devices is sending wireless video to it.
Is there some other setting I should check? It’s very frustrating and we open in 1 week.
This is strange. It seems like a Mac OS thing - most of the problems we’ve experienced have been the device losing WIFI, not the WIFI losing the device. To confirm - in the past, when I’ve had IP MIDI issues, the device stays in the Directory window, but briefly drops out of the Participants window, and I have to re-connect. The only time I lose it from the Directory window is when I quit the application, or leave the WIFI network.
Just to double check a few things (I’m sure you’ve tried these all, but…)
Is the Mac hardwired to the router?
Are you running 10.8.5?
What OS are the devices?
Are you running the devices in Airplane mode?
Do you have “background” mode on?
You’ve updated to the most current release of StageCaller (I know, I’m sure you’ve done that, but…)
Can you clarify how the device is sending wireless video to the Apple TV? Is this also a device you’re triggering via StageCaller?
Do you ever lose the Apple TV?
Also - I’m assuming you’re running QLab 2 or SFX - something that does not have integrated OSC - but if you DO have OSC available, have you tried it? We’ve found it to be far superior to Apple’s IP MIDI.
One thing that might help would be turning on the “heartbeat” function. I find it to be both reassuring and possibly increase stability in the ongoing MIDI dialogue between device and computer.
Again, this is in your settings page. You can set it to whatever note (1 to 127) and time increment you want. I’d suggest, with 3 devices, that you set it to widely different notes, just so you can glance at the screen and be sure you’ve got all 3 quickly. Using MIDI, you can simply use a free MIDI monitor (I love snoize’s “Midi Monitor” which is here: http://www.snoize.com/MIDIMonitor/
Just be sure you launch MIDI Monitor first in your launch sequence (you can even put it into your startup items). I set it to remember only the last 3 or 6 or 10 events - just enough to keep it in the window. Then I tuck it off into the corner. It’s very reassuring…
Please let us know if any of these questions/fixes solve your problem, or if you’re still struggling!
Thanks Rob. The program is a bit more stable. I’m not sure why, and different problems are arising as the originals resolve. It’s an ambitious undertaking: 3 devices and an enormous design (not including the wireless devices), so I don’t have the time to attend to it. I’m going to try and get to it today, as it’s quite important to the storytelling of the play.
Great - let us know if you need help, once you get the time to troubleshoot more. I know what it’s like to be trying to keep everything flowing smoothly on a complex show.
Hi - I have this exact same problem! It happened around 1hour before our first audience and we scrambled to try and figure it out. Couldn’t get it to work and had to resort to backup cues. A hair pulling experience!
So, does anyone have a solution or troubleshooting tips for this problem? We are running Qlab 2 on a MacPro, and sending to 2 iPhones (3GS and 4). We have a wireless router hard wired into an ethernet port on the Mac. This wireless network is dedicated to just StageCaller traffic.
We open on Monday and I will have around 1.5 hours to try and get this working. Any advice would be great!