Introduction to Q-SYS Control (Part 5)

Alright, welcome back.

Let’s discuss third party control plugins available in Q-SYS.

These plugins provide an easy way to quickly create great user interfaces

that can be used across multiple designs.

Once you have installed a plugin from our Asset Manager, from a 3rd party,

or one that you wrote yourself,

the plugin files will be located in the Assets or Plugins folder

located in My Documents, QSC, then Q-SYS Designer folder.

Here are some important “how to’s” if you need to install a plugin that is not available in Asset Manager.

Included in Q-SYS Designer is a Q-SYS plugin helper file.

This application takes a .qplug file and copies the plugin to the plugin folder.

If you are installing an update to as existing plugin,

this helper application does not check for other versions that may exist in other subdirectories,

so an updated plugin may not overwrite the original file.

This update process happens outside of Q-SYS Designer, so when a design file is opened,

Designer will check the GUID and the version of the plugin located in the design.

If Designer detects a different version located in the plugin folder,

a message will appear with an option to load the newer plugin version.

Keep in mind that if you open a Designer file that includes a plugin

in the schematic that is not installed in your computer,

Designer does not install the plugin on your computer or place it in your computer’s plugin folder.

If you want access to it for additional designs, you’ll need to install it.

The Q-SYS Asset Manager functions as a repository of QSC developed plugins.

Asset Manager provides is the fastest way to gain access to the latest and greatest plugins,

and allows for version plugin control and up-to-the-minute updates.

If you take a look at Asset Manager, you will find quite a long list of plugins available for download and install.

At the top right of the window you can also verify what version of the plugin is installed on your computer

and what is the latest version available for download.

This makes updating plugins very easy.

It is also important to note that technical support for plugins is based on the creator of the plugin.

QSC only provides full support for plugins created by QSC, and is limited to the

amount of provided support for plugins created by our partner companies.

If you run into any issues or need help setting up a QSC developed plugin,

please check the help files available in Designer or online help webpage as well.

Q-SYS also supports the use of encrypted plugins for developers with a need to protect their code.

This means that any necessary edits will require access to the original unencrypted source file.

This encryption is provided by a PlugIn Tool application which can be used to encrypt

both .qplug plugin files as well as .lua control scripts.

These encrypted plugin files can be installed as a .qplugx file

using the same Q-SYS Plugin Helper mentioned earlier.

Let’s put some of our new knowledge to use, shall we?

Start by asking yourself some basic question:

Does this issue involve the incoming control of Q-SYS, or is this outgoing control from Q-SYS to another device?

Also, what is the method of control such as GPIO, serial, or IP,

as well as what devices are involved in the control system.

It’s also helpful to know which control protocols are being used to not only control Q-SYS like QRC or ECP,

but also 3rd party device API’s.

This information will be critical to troubleshoot a design.

Next, performing a WireShark Packet Capture or P-CAP for our Q-SYS support team can often help gather useful

information to diagnose an IP control issue for a variety of IP control problems.

While the QSC support team can’t be experts on every 3rd party device protocol,

WireShark can help verify which commands and responses are being sent between devices

to better understand why or why not a control is functioning.

There are two primary applications for troubleshooting Q-SYS with WireShark:

verifying incoming control communication received by Q-SYS,

and verifying outgoing control from Q-SYS to other 3rd party devices.

Either way, the same troubleshooting principles apply.

First, we need to setup WireShark to point to the correct LAN connection of the computer.

Then, apply a “Filter by IP Address” that should be set up an IP address of the 3rd party device.

Next, set the “Filter by Port Range” to the port number used by the control IP communication.

Typical port numbers for Q-SYS control systems include 1702 for ECP or 1710 for QRC control.

These filters can go a long way to limiting the IP traffic you receive in a capture which can make diagnosing

issues easier and much faster.

Once a P-CAP has been performed, this file can be displayed in WireShark to examine

the flow of communications between devices.

If your control system is using Q-SYS ECP on port 1702,

you should be able to see commands and responses formatted for that protocol.

Or, if your system is using QRC on port 1710, JSON formatted communication will now be visible.

You can also see time stamps, the source and destination of IP addresses of the communication,

as well as the IP protocol and data size of the communication.

WireShark is also able to display a P-CAP as a color-coded,

back-and-forth dialog between two devices to provide an exact detail of the control communication.

Potential problems to look for include dropped packets and timing issues.

For example, if you find a “RC” coming from the Core, this usually means the 3rd party device has

not maintained the keep-alive timing of 60 seconds to maintain the IP connection.

Other device timing issues can be discovered here along with

issues such as verifying the proper End of Message or EOM is used.

That’s it for Control for Quantum! Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next time.