Spectralite Controllers

The Spectralite Controllers panel lists every Spectralite hardware controller it can hear on the lighting network. Because discovery and configuration both go out as broadcasts, a controller appears even when its IP is on a different subnet from the host. You can reconfigure it in that case too. Each row shows the controller's current state. Its edit action opens a configuration dialog. For a walkthrough of every option, see Network Setup.

Related concept: Output.

ToolbarCopy Anchor Link

The Search field filters controllers by name or IP address.

Controller tableCopy Anchor Link

ColumnsCopy Anchor Link

Click a column header to sort by that column.

• Name is the display name of the device.
• IP is the network address the device currently reports.
• Uni is the starting universe that the device consumes. It is a 1-based number that matches the patch panel. Spectralite converts it to the correct Art-Net or sACN wire universe for the device's protocol.
• Firmware is the firmware version the device reports. A dash means that the firmware does not report it.
• Status is the connection state badge, described below.

The firmware version is the only telemetry column. To read the node's telemetry, hover the Status badge. A tooltip shows the firmware version, temperature, uptime, free heap, DMX frame rate, render mode, and dropped-frame count. The Edit dialog shows the same figures as a live block. Each figure shows a dash for nodes whose firmware does not report it.

Render mode and dropped frames are highlighted in two cases:

• The node shows its test pattern or locate blink instead of live DMX.
• The node drops frames because its strip is too long for the configured rate.

Status indicatorsCopy Anchor Link

Nodes broadcast every five seconds. Each state depends on the time since the last packet. Hover any badge to open a tooltip with the node's full telemetry.

• Online (green) means Spectralite heard the node within the last fifteen seconds.
• Missed (outline) means no packet for more than fifteen seconds.
• Offline (red) means no packet for more than twenty seconds.
• Rebooting (outline) means the device flagged itself as rebooting, usually after a save that requires a restart.

Row actionsCopy Anchor Link

• Edit (pencil icon) opens the configuration dialog for this controller. Firmware updates and factory reset are in this dialog.

• Quick add fixture (plus icon) patches one linked generic-led-bar Fixture for this controller, with one part per output. Its addresses follow the node's packed layout from its Start Universe. Spectralite sizes each part to the LED count of the output it drives, so a node with strips of different lengths still patches as a single Fixture. When the outputs differ in length, the fixture editor lists those lengths read-only as Bar lengths.

  If you later change the lengths on the node, the parts resize in place. The Fixture keeps its place in every layout, its group membership, and the effects assigned to it. For a controller that already has a linked Fixture, Spectralite shows a warning and adds nothing.

Editing controller configurationCopy Anchor Link

The Edit dialog groups fields into identity, output, and network.

Read-only fieldsCopy Anchor Link

• Device ID is the unique hardware identifier burned into the device.
• Device Type is the firmware build identifier, for example spectralite-node.
• Telemetry is a live read-out of the node's firmware version, temperature, uptime, free heap, DMX frame rate, render mode, and dropped-frame count. The values update while the dialog stays open. Each value shows a dash when the firmware does not report it.

Identity and outputCopy Anchor Link

• Name takes one to sixty-three characters. The dialog rejects an empty name.

• Start Universe is a 1-based universe number that matches the patch panel. The minimum is 1. Spectralite converts it to the correct Art-Net or sACN wire universe for the device's protocol. Strip length and color mode decide how many universes the device uses.

• LEDs per Strip is an integer from 1 to 1000 and must match the physical strip length. A value higher than the real length truncates output. A value lower than the real length leaves trailing pixels dark. When the strips differ in length, enable Set per output to enter a separate count for each of the eight outputs. A line below the field shows the total pixel count and the number of universes the device consumes at the selected color order. A change to this setting reboots the device.

• Color Order sets the byte ordering for the attached strips. It has thirty options, split between three-channel orders (RGB, RBG, GRB, GBR, BRG, BGR) and four-channel orders for RGBW strips. The default for a stock Spectralite Node is GRBW.

• Protocol sets the protocol that the device receives pixel data on: Art-Net or sACN (E1.31). Art-Net is the default. The change applies live with no reboot, and the device holds its last frame across the switch. Discovery, identify, and RDM stay on Art-Net in both modes.

  A device set to sACN holds its last frame when no enabled sACN output covers its universes. The dialog flags this case. The Network Setup walkthrough covers the IGMP-querier requirement on the switch for sACN multicast.

• Test Mode makes the device run a rainbow pattern locally and ignore incoming pixel data. Use it to identify which physical device matches a table row.

• Signal Loss sets what the outputs do when pixel data stops arriving. Hold last frame keeps the last received frame lit indefinitely. Blackout (the default) turns all outputs off after a timeout in milliseconds. A timeout of 0 holds forever. Any other value must lie between 500 and 3,600,000 (one hour).

NetworkCopy Anchor Link

• Use DHCP makes the device ask a DHCP server for an address. If no server responds, the device falls back to an AutoIP link-local address. When Use DHCP is off, the device applies the three static fields below on every boot.
• Static IP is the device's IPv4 address. It is required when DHCP is off.
• Gateway is the IPv4 address for the default route. It is required when DHCP is off. The subnet router address usually works.
• Subnet Mask is the IPv4 mask that sets the local network size. It is required when DHCP is off.

Click Save Configuration to send the updated settings. The dialog tracks delivery live:

• Configuring… shows while the dialog waits for the device to acknowledge.
• Applying configuration… shows while a device that needs a reboot comes back.
• Configuration applied shows once the device confirms that it adopted the settings.

If delivery fails, the dialog shows the reason inline with a Retry button. If the dialog is closed, a toast names the controller that failed.

A badge next to the device's Status badge shows the same delivery status:

• An orange Reconfiguring shows while the push is in flight.
• A red Config failed opens the editor when you click it.
• A brief Applied shows once the device confirms.

After a change that requires a reboot, the device reappears in the table within about five seconds. See Network Setup for the full walkthrough.

Device actionsCopy Anchor Link

Below the network fields, the dialog has two device-level actions that are separate from saving configuration.

• Update firmware… opens the firmware update dialog for this controller, described below.
• Factory reset wipes the controller's saved configuration (name, universe, network settings, LED setup) and reboots it to firmware defaults. A confirmation dialog guards the action because you cannot undo it. The reset keeps the device's provisioning credential and its anti-rollback firmware-version floor, so the node keeps its identity and still refuses older firmware. The node drops off the network briefly, and Spectralite finds it again after it restarts.

Updating firmwareCopy Anchor Link

The Update firmware action pushes a new firmware image to a node over the network, so you do not have to open the enclosure. A network update never touches the node's identity credential. The credential is stored in EEPROM and survives both a network and a USB re-flash.

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

• The node is provisioned and reachable on one host interface. The image transfer is a direct (unicast) TCP stream, so the node must share a subnet with exactly one host network interface.

  A routable node needs an address on the same subnet as one host NIC. A node on a bare direct-attach cable works too. With both ends unconfigured, each end picks a link-local address (169.254.x.x). Spectralite then connects to the node over the interface that its discovery arrived on, with no manual addressing.

  Spectralite refuses these nodes, with a reason that names the case:

  • a node on a foreign subnet
  • a node behind two overlapping host NICs
  • a link-local node that it cannot match to one directly attached interface

• The interruption is acceptable. An update begins as soon as you click Start update. During the flash and reboot, the node's output freezes and may go dark. Plan updates for a dark stage.

• You have a firmware bundle. Spectralite ships each firmware release as a single signed bundle (.slfw) that carries the image with its version, size, digest, and signature. The node flashes only images signed by Spectralite. It rejects an unsigned or tampered image and keeps its current firmware.

Running an updateCopy Anchor Link

During the flash, the node's output freezes for a few seconds and its LEDs may go dark. This is normal. Do not power-cycle the node during a flash. A power cut mid-write is the one action that requires a USB recovery.

1. Compare the node's reported firmware version, shown in the Status tooltip and the Edit dialog, against the bundle's version.
2. Open the node's Edit dialog and click Update firmware….
3. Click Choose bundle… and select the .slfw file. The dialog shows the bundle's target version and digest. If the bundle is corrupt or unreadable, the dialog refuses it here with a reason, before anything reaches the node.
4. Leave Canary checked for the first node. Spectralite requires a single canary node to reach Healthy before it allows a batch of further nodes. A bad image thus stops at one node and does not reach every node. When the canary confirms healthy, batch updates unlock, and you can clear the checkbox for the rest.
5. Click Start update and watch the phases: Connecting, Transferring, Rebooting, Confirming, and Healthy. The same state appears as a small indicator on the node's row.
6. Let the confirm window run. After the reboot, Spectralite confirms that the node reports the expected version, answers a fresh challenge, and matches its config. This takes up to about thirty seconds. Do not abort early.

You can always re-run an update. The node advances its anti-rollback floor only after it confirms healthy, so you can push the prior image again.

When an update failsCopy Anchor Link

The dialog shows a typed reason on failure:

• Node not eligible / wrong subnet means the node needs a routable address on a host subnet. A link-local node needs a direct attachment to a single host interface that has a link-local address.
• Could not reach the update host means the node never connected. Check power, network, and the host firewall.
• Rejected: signature / version means the image failed verification on the node. The node kept its working firmware.
• Version mismatch means the node returned on a firmware version other than the one that Spectralite pushed. Confirm the right image and re-run.

TroubleshootingCopy Anchor Link

Devices not appearingCopy Anchor Link

1. Check the power and Ethernet cables.
2. Make sure that the device and the host share the same physical lighting network: the same switch or VLAN. Discovery is broadcast, so the device does not need an IP on the host's subnet to appear.
3. Check the host's firewall settings. UDP port 46244 must be reachable inbound.
4. Watch the device's LED strips during boot. A cyan flash means the Node fell back to AutoIP. See Boot Indicators.

No output to deviceCopy Anchor Link

1. Make sure that Start Universe matches what Spectralite sends.
2. Make sure that the network interface of the output in Edit > Outputs matches the subnet that the device is on.
3. If colors look wrong, check Color Order. If pixels at the end of each strip stay dark, check LEDs per Strip.

Intermittent connectionCopy Anchor Link

1. Check cable quality and connector seating.
2. Monitor for packet loss on the switch or router.
3. For busy networks with many universes, prefer gigabit switching and wired connections over Wi-Fi.

Related panelsCopy Anchor Link

• RDM Devices: the neighboring tab in the Fixtures workspace, which discovers third-party RDM responders behind Art-Net nodes.
• Address Space: universe allocation across all outputs
• Fixtures: fixtures patched to discovered controllers
• Network Setup: full walkthrough of every field
• Art-Net Setup: host-side Art-Net configuration