Jenni71 Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 I have two 16 channel amps. One had the power source failure issue. I had the power source replaced by C4. When the tech brought it back he plugged in the connections from the switch, but it doesn't work. All the connections on the amp that always worked are fine, but none of the rooms that are connected to the second amp play music. Do I need the tech to program something even though it was already programmed? He simply connected the unit, said it got an IP address, set up the connections from right to left (which seemed weird), so the first two inputs were empty with the last 6 connected, and he did no programming.What do I do now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 He did not test it before he left? Shame on him. If it was hooked up correctly there should be no need to program anything. It should just work. I would recommend you call your dealer back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 He's useless...is there anything I can do to get this working correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Call another dealer that knows what he is doing...that would be my suggestion.Unless you're competent in programming and setting up the system and have the appropriate software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 But, I thought that programming wasn't required for this..only placing the connections in the right places. Does this job require programming or is it simply a hardware connections issue?I have used 5 separate dealers, and each one has gladly taken my money (tens of thousands of dollars), and have left with me a system that doesn't work properly in some way or another. I even called the customer service management, and he personally recommended a guy who came to my house and delivered this amp, put the connections in place, and never tested it (and got it wrong - not one of the rooms on the second amp works). So while I know the party line is to "call the dealer", that is simply not a good option for me right now.I am a computer programmer, and have a technical mind, so I can handle this if someone would be kind enough to tell me what to do next. I have matched up the red and black connections with the audio cables for each input. When the amp power source died, I was the one who moved a few of the rooms off the burnt amp onto the working amp, and all of those rooms are working for sound fine. What next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 jenni71I am sorry to hear that you have had such poor results with you C4 system. Let's see what we can to to help you.It would be helpful to understand the physical connections in your system for our diagnostics. It is important that the C4 system be programmed to know the physical hookups between the components to be able to switch all the components to the correct input and outputs. If the physical hookups don't match the programmed logical hookups you get no sound or sound in the wrong places.It sounds likely that there is a discrepancy between the physical connections and the logical connections in your system.You said you have two 16 channel amps which are also known as 8 zone amps. There are two channels per zone because it is stereo so 16 channels equals 8 zones per amp. Since you have two amps you have at most 16 discrete zones of left/right audio.I am being very basic here because I do not know your level of understanding of the setup of your audio system. If I am starting off too basic please tell me.Since you have two amps the outputs of your audio sources (e.g. a disk player) must be split so they can be feed to each amp. There are several ways you can split the audio:1. Use a C4 audio matrix switch. This will take an input and switch it to several outputs. This is probably the best way to design a system with multiple amps.2. Use a "Y" cable to split the audio from a component to each amp.Can you look at your system and determine which of the methods above are used? If it is a C4 audio matrix switch you will have an extra component that both amps are hooked to. If it is "Y" cables you will have a cable that splits the connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 I have a matrix switch.Thank you for your help, btw. I really appreciate it.I have 14 zones that need to be active (8 of which currently work and 6 that don't) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 Maybe these photos will help:http://c4stuff.weebly.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharmdsmith Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I've seen some amps max volumes get set to zero mysteriously. I'm not sure if you can check that with composer he though.*edit* I pulled up HE and you can check it. Go to the new amp under monitoring. Then select properties at the top right. In the middle you will see each output. Select each one and check the max volume setting. Make sure it's not zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 Thanks pharmdsmith, but I don't have either of the amps listed in the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharmdsmith Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 They should be there, at least one of them. Since you said one works correctly. You're dealer may have named it something else, but it's there. Can you post you're project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 I've posted my project here: http://c4stuff.weebly.com/ (at the top of page) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharmdsmith Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 oh boy! Any chance you can map what "outs" of the switch are going to what "ins' of the 2 amps? Also can you tell which rooms the "outs" of the amps are going to? It looks likes it labeled in the picture, at least some of it. Your project only has a switch in it. The "ins" have the sources which is correct, but then there are 16 room endpoints on the switch. The outs on the switch should be going to the amps and then the amps have the room endpoints. Your bindings are wrong, which is your issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdvr Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Just to be clear, Jenni.You are saying that one of your amps work?thats amazing.BrentP.S. Hire the SOHO shop they will do remote work and are qualified to fix this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharmdsmith Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 thats amazing.my sentiments exactly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 LOL at his project...I'm surprised any of the rooms work...maybe that's an old backup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdvr Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 In fairness it could very well be an old backup.But this was not done by the dealer Control4 recommended to her.Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 Hi Guys,The dealer that did this(installed the C4 system) is a "Diamond dealer" (whatever that means). And, the personal recommendation from the Control4 head honcho (the dealer that does HIS house) is also a "Diamond dealer" (he's the one that rehooked up the new power supply amp and left it without testing).Both amps were working fine and 14 zones of sound worked fine up until the power supply blew on the one amp. I also had the computer as a source stop working in one of the offices a while back, called another Diamond dealer, who sent a kid with an attitude. The dealer charged me $400 to diagnose that the structured wiring throughout the house must be fried, and I would need a whole new wiring job, at which point I told him the house and the wiring is only 2 years old and the speakers worked, so how could the wires be fried. I later got the computer source working myself by eliminating variables and trial and error. So needless to say I stopped using them.Then I had another dealer (not Diamond) come out for multiple issues - no C4 button working, programming my new Blu Ray and flat screen in master bed, and music in the theater (which plays movies and TV but you can't listen to music). That guy was half the hourly rate of the other guys so I thought this would be better. He spent 10 hours and $750 of my money and got NOT ONE of the items fixed!Regarding the matrix and amps, I've moved all the connections so they now all match, meaning...matrix1 out = amp1 input 1matrix2 out = amp1 input 2, etcmatrix9 out = amp2 input 1and all the rooms match the audio numbers meaning I found out from my second to last tech that AMP 1:Kitchen = Room 1 = Working for MusicTheater = 2 = Never worked for musicMy Office = 3 = Working for musicHusband's Office = 4 = Working for musicDeck = 5 = Working for musicBackyard = 6 = No speakers YetSon's Room = 7 = Working for musicDaughter's Room = 8 = Working for musicAMP 2:Game Room = 9 = Not workingNo rooms working on second ampI just made the backup I uploaded 2 days ago, so that is the current project. It's almost as if once you disconnect hardware from the system, and reconnect it, it no longer works - it loses its programming. This also happened with an external hard drive I'm using for mp3s. It was installed with the original system. It is called Western Digital External HDD in the project. I disconnected it from the USB port to put a 1TB hd in because it was erroring every time I tried to upload music. I did some spyware and virus removal on it and it seemed fine, so I plug it back in to C4 and it shows offline. It won't connect. Why would a dealer install it this way without the amp listed in the project? Who can I report this dealer to? Is there any sort of monitoring of dealers? The only way this system will operate/make changes is with a dealer. I understand why this is done - because most customers can't operate the dvd player, nevermind this system, so they'd probably mess up their own setup. But as a customer, who after 4 years still can't find a competent and fair minded local dealer, Control 4 is a $50,000 pile of junk without a good dealer. So without some sort of dealer regulation or oversight, I'm screwed, no? Is there any website that shows a review of dealers sorted by area?Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni71 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 Your bindings are wrong, which is your issue.What are bindings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Your bindings are wrong' date=' which is your issue.[/quote']What are bindings?Bindings are the internal programming in the C4 system that tell it how the physical connections are configured.The C4 system has to know what device is attached to input #1 on your matrix switch so it can switch to that input when needed. For example if you have a CD played on input #1 of the matrix switch and want to play a Cd the system will know that it needs to switch to input #1 on the matrix to access the CD played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdvr Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Jenni,give us the general area you are located in, and I bet someone can give you a recommended dealer.Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letran Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 +1 on monitoring bad dealers. There's a few out there. There should be some sort of homestars grading referral system out there for C4 dealers. I've hired a few contractors from homestars and they worked very well.http://homestars.com/on/torontoCheck it out. It is a noble idea and works well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Sounds to me like the OP got back a different amp unit (does happen, if a unit is in for RMA and is not repairable, you could get a different unit).If you have a different unit than previously, it would need to be identified in the project by a dealer. The driver is already there, and all the driver's bindings in software would still be OK, but you'd need to delete the network connection to the old one, and identify the new one.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharmdsmith Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 ^the project the op linked us to doesn't have any amps in the project to identify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 uhmmm.... Yeah.... That'd be an issue.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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