You may only use 1 D-command fader pack at a time

[Burmansound]

Hi everyone. I've been using my 40 channel D-command for years with only minor issues (fader touch sensors), but yesterday, I opened a session and the control surface didn't react. I looked at the peripheral settings, and the ethernet port was disabled and there were no controllers assigned.

So I went ahead and re-enabled the ethernet port and reassigned the controllers (1 left, 2 left, main, 1 right, 2 right) as usual, but I got the error "You may only use 1 D-command fader pack at a time".

What caused the D-command to become unassigned? Is there a backup battery I need to replace?

I can get any combination of 3 units to work (1L, 2L, main or 1R, 2R, main) but as soon as I add a 4th unit, I get that error.

I trashed the PT prefs to no avail. Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Ellis

PT v 12.4.0.294, Mac OS 10.8.5, 2008 8 core MacPro with 12G RAM

[Stig Eliassen]

Wasn't fader expansion included in a firmware update back in the day? It almost sounds like your console reverted back to an older version. Just thinking out loud here....

[Burmansound]

I don't remember the update that allowed 40 faders of D-command, but it was a long time ago - I can't remember when we didn't have 40 faders. You think the firmware in the D-command might have reverted back? D-command firmware is at 10.0.0.0. I'll check and see if there is anything newer.

Ellis

[Burmansound]

I reset the firmware in the main unit, then updated it (back to 10.0.0.0). Still getting same error. I guess I'll try resetting firmware in the fader units too.

Ellis

[Burmansound]

I figured out the problem. For some reason, FIVE units show up in ProTools (Left 1, Left 2, Main, Right 1, and Right 2). I thought I needed to assign all five in groups of eight channels. Turns out, I only need to assign Left 1, Main, and Right 1 and I get all 40 channels to work. Left 2 and Right 2 seem to be bogus - if I assign either of them instead of L1 or R1, nothing gets assigned.

I set it up years ago, so I don't remember if it always showed five units (you can only have 3 active units, hence the error I was getting). Maybe it was always this way, or maybe something changed. Something definitely did change, because all of the units disappeared from the peripheral assignment list a few days ago, which is what prompted me to reassign them in the first place.

Is there a backup battery in the control surface units that needs to be replaced? These are around 10 years old.

Thanks,

Ellis

[Buccanears]

Interesting. There's no backup battery in the units.

[Pete Gates]

Sounds like you've put the fader packs into multi-mode.

Pete