node-opendmx
v0.0.4
Published
Node.js interface for Enttec OpenDMX USB (and compatible) dongles
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Node.js OpenDMX USB Interface
This library lets you control DMX512 devices via the Enttec OpenDMX (or compatible) USB dongle.
Driver installation
To use this library you need to install the OpenDMX device driver first. Additional installation instructions can be found here and here.
Library installation
Use NPM to install the library using:
npm install --save node-opendmx
Usage
Create the OpenDMX controller interface:
let dmx = new OpenDMX();
Create a DMX device. In this example a simple RGB light (3 channels) is created. Pull requests for additional devices are welcome!
let light = new Devices.LEDRGB();
Add the device to the collection of devices along with a starting channel. Since the RGB light uses 3 channels, the channels 1-3 in this DMX universe are now occupied.
dmx.addDevice(light, 1);
Change the light to red color (just for example)
light.red();
Render the DMX universe
dmx.render();
Your LED light should now switch to red color.
light.off();
dmx.render();
Your LED light should now be switched off.
Common driver related issues
Instructions below are for Debian / Ubuntu or Raspbian distributions.
The kernel driver can't be compiled
Make sure you have the necessary build tools installed.
sudo apt install git bc bison flex libssl-dev make
The USB dongle is recognized as /dev/ttyUSBx instead of /dev/dmx0
Most likely you did not blacklist the default serial driver. Check the section "Blacklist the other serial drivers" in the installation tutorial.
If for some reason blacklisting the serial driver doesn't work you can remove it from your system entirely using these steps:
- Find your current system architecture using
uname -a
- Move the file
ftdi_sio.ko
from/lib/modules/<your_architecture>/kernel/drivers/usb/serial
to a location where the system can't find it. - Move your DMX device driver
dmx_usb.ko
to the folder above - Run
sudo depmod
The file /lib/modules/<your_architecture>/modules.alias
should now contain some new entries similar to this:
alias usb:v0403p6006d[1-9]*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in* dmx_usb
alias usb:v0403p6006d0[4-9]*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in* dmx_usb
alias usb:v0403p6001d[1-9]*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in* dmx_usb
alias usb:v0403p6001d0[4-9]*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in* dmx_usb
The DMX device can only be opened as root user
You need to create a udev
rule to automatically change device permissions once you plug in the dongle:
- Find your dongle's vendor and device ID using
lsusb
. You will find both IDs asID <vendor ID>:<device ID>
in the output. If for example your output reads:Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
then0403
is the vendor ID and6001
is the device ID. - In
/etc/udev/rules.d
create a new file and name it50-dmx.rules
. Add the following content to the file:
ATTRS{idVendor}=="<vendor ID>", ATTRS{idProduct}=="<device ID>", SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ACTION=="add", MODE="0660", GROUP="plugdev"
Replace <vendor ID>
and <device ID>
with the values you found above. You can also adjust the GROUP
value to match your requirements. Afterwards reboot your system, plug in the USB controller and it should have the requested permissions.
Current limitations
- Only Linux is supported at the moment
- Only one dongle at the same time is supported
- No USB serial devices can be connected at the same time due to driver conflicts