Task 7: Verify and Troubleshoot Installation

At this point, you have already viewed the RADs’ LEDs and DRs' LCD screens to verify that they are functioning properly and that the proper RAD and DR models were installed (if the HAL was pre-configured). Although the LEDs and LCD screens provide valuable information, you can glean even more information from within Halogen.

note: If you do not have a configuration file, you may want to create a simple verification configuration so you can test that the installed devices are working properly. See Task 7: Verify and Troubleshoot Installation for details.

To verify the EXP, RAD and DR configuration:

1. In the Halogen software, connect to the HAL and view its configuration. (Click Connect in the application toolbar to open the Connect to Device dialog box. Click the Connect button associated with the HAL you are verifying.)
2. Verify that the EXPs, RADs and DRs are connected and configured properly. Look at the Hardware Workspace. Are there any orange Device Missing, Device Mismatch, or Device Unexpected messages? If not, congratulations! Everything is A-OK. If, however, one or more of these device messages are present, you have a little extra troubleshooting work to do.

note: It's possible that some of the ports on the HAL have been configured for devices that will be connected sporadically (for example, RAD or DR devices on a rolling A/V cart). In this case, you will see Device Missing messages on any configured port to which no device is currently connected. But in this situation, the condition is expected and no troubleshooting is needed.

tip: If you want to double-check which physical hardware device you are viewing within the software, try using the Locate feature. For details, see Locating a Device. For more details on how to troubleshoot a device mismatch, see Resolving Device Mismatch, Missing or Unexpected.

After verifying that the EXPs, RADs and DRs are configured correctly and working properly, you should perform an audio test. You can perform this test the old-fashioned way by wandering about and checking the actual audio, or you can perform your audio test from within the Halogen software. To do so, start the audio and then view the audio flow in the Processing Map (in the Processing Workspace). Open output block properties and view their meters in real time. Or, if needed, add a meter block where appropriate for verifying the audio. You can also, of course, view the Signal and Overload LEDs on the RADs, the HAL, and/or the EXPs to verify that the audio signal is flowing correctly.

We already delivered our lecture on the benefits of saving your configuration to a backup file – so we won’t do that again. Instead, we’ll just tell you how to do it.

Even if you do not have a pre-defined configuration file or the necessary information to create one for your system, you can still test that the installed devices can send and receive audio signals. Use Halogen to create a simple verification configuration. This procedure assumes that you have installed and connected the HAL and all the EXPs, RADs, and DRs, and have verified that the devices are communicating successfully (by viewing their LEDs or LCD screens.)

To perform a simple verification of audio signal receipt and transmission:

1. Open the Halogen software and view the Hardware Workspace.
2. Connect to the HAL you want to test. Because you have not loaded a configuration file into the device but you have installed the EXPs, RADs and DRs, the software reports device mismatches. HAL is reporting that it is not configured for the EXPs, RADs and DRs it detects on its ports.
3. To quickly fix the device mismatch problems, hover your cursor over each Device Mismatch message. A tooltip appears telling you what device HAL detects on that port:

Configure the port to match the detected device. You can do so by dragging and dropping the correct EXP, RAD or DR from the hardware palette onto the port, or you can select the correct EXP, RAD or DR from the Model Picker (accessed by clicking the arrow on the right side of the port).

warning! If you have installed a pre-defined configuration file, you would rarely use this functionality. The Device Mismatch message serves as an alert that an EXP, RAD or DR was installed or configured incorrectly. Simply changing the model to match what is detected erases this alert, obscuring the fact that a mistake was made. And, most importantly, replacing a configured device with another model removes all instances of the original model from the Processing Map. The system designer would be rather unhappy, don't you think? In this case, however, when you’re simply creating a configuration to test the transmission of audio signals, adjusting the ports to match the devices that are installed makes your job much easier! We do recommend, however, that you check your EXP, RAD and DR installation against your drawings to confirm that they are in the correct locations. In addition, you can use the Locate functionality (see Locating a Device) for further verification.

4. Move to the Processing Workspace and wire the inputs and outputs you want to test. For details, see Adding a Processing Block to your System and Wiring Blocks.
5. When you have completed the simple audio flow required for testing purposes, save the configuration to a file (by clicking Save or Save As in the application toolbar, and then saving to a file). This is now your verification configuration file.
6. Load the file into the HAL (by clicking Load in the application toolbar, and then selecting the verification configuration file you just created).
7. Perform your audio test.