ADDERLink INFINITY dual Manual v30
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20
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATION
OPERATION
FURTHERINFORMATION
INDEX
AdderLink Infinity browser-based configuration utility
The browser-based configuration utility within all TX and RX units requires a
network connection between the ALIF unit and a computer on the same network.
The configuration utility allows you to perform many important functions. Please see
Appendix A for TX unit details and Appendix B for RX unit details.
It is possible to gain access to the internal configuration utility via any of the ports
located on the front panel of each ALIF dual unit. For temporary connections on ALIF
dual units, you are recommended to use the Management port. There is no Management
port on ALIF 1002 models, so use the System port instead.
To connect a computer to access the configuration utility
1 Connect a CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 link cable to either the Management (ALIF dual only) or
System port socket on the front panel. The port automatically configures itself, so no
cross-over cable is required (but is supported if you do use one).
2 Connect the other end of the link cable directly to the network port of your
computer.
To access the browser-based configuration utility
1 Temporarily connect the ALIF unit and your computer, as discussed left.
2 Run a web browser on your computer and enter the IP address of the ALIF port that
you are using.
The default settings are as follows:
TX units RX units
Management port 192.168.1.42 192.168.1.42
System port 169.254.1.33 169.254.1.32
Teaming port 169.254.1.43 169.254.1.42
Note: Where the port addresses of a unit have been changed and are not known, providing it
is appropriate to do so, perform a manual factory reset to restore the default addresses.
The opening page of the ALIF configuration utility should be displayed:
You can find further information about the configuration pages for the TX and RX
units within separate appendices later in this guide:
• Appendix A - Transmitter (TX) unit configuration pages
• Appendix B - Reciever (RX) unit configuration pages
Use the menu options to choose the required configuration page
Û ALIF dual only
Temporary link from your computer to the System port
Temporary link from your computer to the Management port
ALIF dualALIF 1002 (or dual)
21 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX PERFORMING AN UPGRADE ALIF units are flash upgradeable using the method outlined here. However, for larger installations we recommend that you use the AdderLink Infinity Manager (A.I.M.) to upgrade multiple ALIF units. When using the method below, the ALIF unit will be upgraded in sequence. IMPORTANT: Upgrades must be performed on both the transmitters and the receivers at the same time. Mixed firmware operation is not supported. WARNING: During the upgrade process, ensure that power is not interrupted as this may leave the unit in an inoperable state. If the upgrade process is interrupted and fails, it may be necessary to switch to the backup firmware image in order to regain operation. See right for details. To upgrade a single unit via network link 1 Download the latest upgrade file from the Adder Technology website. Note: There are separate upgrade files for TX and RX units. 2 Temporarily connect the ALIF unit and a computer via a network (see AdderLink Infinity browser-based configuration utility section for details). 3 Run a web browser on your computer and enter the IP address of the ALIF unit to be upgraded. 4 Click the Firmware Upgrade link. Within the Firmware Upgrade page, click the Choose File button. In the subsequent file dialog, locate the downloaded upgrade file - check that the file is correct for the unit being upgraded. The file contains main and backup images, you can choose to upgrade either the Main or the Backup. 5 Click the Upgrade Now button. A progress bar will be displayed (however, if your screen is connected to the unit being upgraded then video may be interrupted) and the indicators on the front panel will flash while the upgrade is in progress. 6 The indicators should stop flashing in less than one minute, after which the unit will automatically reboot itself. The upgrade process is complete. Finding the latest upgrade files Firmware files for the ALIF units are available from the Technical Support > Updates section of the Adder Technology website (www.adder.com). Note: It is possible to downgrade the AdderLink Infinity firmware. After installing the older firmware, perform a factory reset on each AdderLink Infinity in order to clear the configuration file. Note: If you have an ALIF unit at v3.3 or higher, and you wish to downgrade its firmware via A.I.M. v2.5 to v2.9 (so as to use it within an A.I.M. v2.5 system), this can only be done via the copper interface and not the fiber interface. Note: Please read the important advice in the section Firmware version 3.3 (or greater) before attempting installation or upgrades. OPTIONS SWITCHES A pair of Options switches are located on the rear panel of every ALIF unit. Switch 1 - firmware image select Each ALIF unit retains a backup firmware image which can be used in situations where the primary firmware becomes corrupted (most often through failed upgrade operations). Using the backup firmware will allow you to regain operation of the unit. Option switch 1 OFF Normal operation using the main firmware ON Operate using the backup firmware image Option switch 2 is reserved and must remain in the OFF (up) position for normal operation.
22 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX In operation, many ALIF installations require no intervention once configured. The TX and RX units take care of all connection control behind the scenes so that you can continue to work unhindered. FRONT PANEL INDICATORS The six front panel indicators on each unit provide a useful guide to operation: Operation Indicators These six indicators clearly show the key aspects of operation: • NET On when valid network link is present. • SER On when the AUX (serial) port is enabled and active. • AUD On when audio is enabled and active. • USB On when USB is enabled and active. • DV I On when the DVI Video channel is enabled and active. • PWR Power indicator. HT
23 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX This chapter contains a variety of information, including the following: • Getting assistance - see right • Appendix A - Transmitter (TX) unit configuration pages • Appendix B - Receiver (TX) unit configuration pages • Appendix C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units • Appendix D - Troubleshooting • Appendix E - Glossary • Appendix F - RS232 ‘null-modem’ cable, General specifications. • Appendix G - Fiber modules and cables • Appendix H - Mounting options • Safety information • Warranty • Radio frequency energy statements GETTING ASSISTANCE If you are still experiencing problems after checking the information contained within this guide, then we provide a number of other solutions: • Online solutions and updates – www.adder.com/support Check the Support section of the adder.com website for the latest solutions and firmware updates. • Adder Forum – forum.adder.com Use our forum to access FAQs and discussions. • Technical support – www.adder.com/contact-support-form For technical support, use the contact form in the Support section of the adder.com website - your regional office will then get in contact with you. Further information HT
24 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX APPENDIX A - Transmitter (TX) unit configuration pages This section covers the browser-based configuration utility for the AdderLink Infinity TX (transmitter) unit. The TX utility has ten pages, titled as follows: • System Configuration • System Messages • Video Configuration • Statistics • USB Settings • Firmware Upgrade • Security • Reboot • AIM Manager • About
25 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX Unit NameName details that you can alter to distinguish this unit from all others. The name entered here will be read by A.I.M. units (if used) for administration purposes. Unit DescriptionAllows you to optionally add a description of the unit, such as its location. Useful when many ALIF units are being used. System portThis section determines the IP address, netmask and gateway details for the main Gigabit Ethernet port located on the right side of the front panel. The default IP address is 169.254.1.33 which is the zero config IP address that allows the unit to work immediately in point-to-point mode. You are recommended to change this to an appropriate address in the private IP range 192.168.xxx.xxx The default netmask is 255.255.0.0. If you change the IP address to the private range, you are recommended to change this to 255.255.255.0 The default gateway address is 169.254.1.1 Management port (ALIF dual models only - not shown in screenshot left)Determines whether the port on the left side of the front panel is enabled and which IP address details it should use. The default IP address is 192.168.1.42. You are recommended to leave this address unchanged (or at least keep such addresses constant across all of your ALIF dual units) so that all visiting engineers will know which address to use. Teaming portDetermines whether the SFP socket on the right side of the front panel is enabled and which IP address details it should use. The default IP address is 169.254.1.43 which is the zero config IP address that allows the unit to work immediately in point-to-point mode. You are recommended to change this to an appropriate address in the private IP range 192.168.xxx.xxx The default netmask is 255.255.0.0. If you change the IP address to the private range, you are recommended to change this to 255.255.255.0 The default gateway address is 169.254.1.1 Note: Before the Teaming port can be used for connection via a network, you need to ensure that the System port has been configured away from its zero config IP address. Enable optionsThese checkboxes allow you to determine which peripheral options will be used: Video, audio, USB and serial. Serial port optionsThese allow you to match the serial configuration being used by the attached PC host. Identify unitWhen clicked, these buttons cause the front panel indicators to flash to assist with identifying the ALIF unit within a rack. • The Identify Unit (short) button flashes the indicators for five seconds. • The Identify Unit (long) button flashes the indicators for one hour but can be overridden by clicking the Identify Unit (short) button. ThumbnailThe Thumbnail shows snap shots of the video feeds that are connected and reports the video resolutions/color depths that have been detected. Click the Refresh Thumbnail button to update. Target Multicast ConfigurationThe items within this section are required if a multicast group is being arranged i.e. many receivers connected to the one transmitter. For the video port(s) and/or audio channel, you need to enter the multicast IP addresses. In each case, the first address relates to the System (Gigabit Ethernet) port and the second address to the optional Teaming port. In previous revisions of firmware, the destination IP address for video was decided by the RX. If multiple RX units requested the same video source then all had to provide the same multicast destination IP address. In revision 3.3 and above, the TX now decides the destination IP address for video and automatically informs any interested RX units. In a system with a mix of new and old units, both RX and TX units must be configured with the same destination IP address for video. Note: All multicast addresses for each service endpoint must be unique across the whole ALIF installation. TX System Configuration
26 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX TX Video Configuration Peak bandwidth limiter percentageThe TX unit will employ a ‘best effort’ strategy in sending video and other data over the IP network. This means it will use as much of the available network bandwidth as necessary to achieve optimal data quality, although typically the TX unit will use considerably less than the maximum available. In order to prevent the TX unit from ‘hogging’ too much of the network capacity, you can reduce this setting to place a tighter limit on the maximum bandwidth permissible to the TX unit. Range: 0 to 95%. Note: All of the following controls are available separately for each video port: Background RefreshThe TX unit sends portions of the video image only when they change. In order to give the best user experience, the TX unit also sends the whole video image, at a lower frame rate, in the background. The Background Refresh parameter controls the rate at which this background image is sent. The default value is ‘every 32 frames’, meaning that a full frame is sent in the background every 32 frames. Reducing this to ‘every 64 frames’ or more will reduce the amount of bandwidth that the TX unit consumes. On a high-traffic network this parameter should be reduced in this way to improve overall system performance. Options: every 32 frames, every 64 frames, every 128 frames, every 256 frames or disabled. Enable Magic EyeThis feature, enabled as standard, aims to reduce the effect of dithering - a technique used by some graphics cards to improve the perceived quality and color depth of images by diffusing or altering the colour of pixels between video frames. The Magic Eye feature increases the frame rate and eliminates unnecessary network traffic by ignoring the color dithering where it occurs. If the video source is not noisy or dithered then you can switch off Magic Eye to enable full colour accuracy. Use Default DDC and Choose Default DDC When the Use Default DDC option is unticked, AdderLink Infinity will use the EDID that is reported by the monitor connected to the receiver unit. However, if you tick the Use Default DDC option, you can then select from a range of preset video resolutions from the Choose Default DDC drop down box. Once selected, the TX will report itself capable of only supporting this one video resolution. Please note that all of the listed video resolutions are single link DVI with a maximum pixel clock of 165MHz and a 60Hz refresh rate. Enable Hot Plug Detect...When this option is ticked, every time the monitor is changed at the receiver unit, a hot plug detect message will be sent to the graphics card of the PC attached to the TX unit. Period of Hot Plug Detect signalThis is the length of time that a hot-plug detect signal is applied. The default of 100mS is sufficient for the majority of graphics cards, however, a small minority may need to be given a longer a period. Frame skipping percentageFrame Skipping involves ‘missing out’ video frames between those captured by the TX unit. For video sources that update only infrequently or for those that update very frequently but where high fidelity is not required, frame skipping is a good strategy for reducing the overall bandwidth consumed by the system. Range: 0 to 100%. CompressionDetermines the (AFZ and AFZ+) compression method used for video transmission. Choices are: • ‘Pixel perfect’ - only uses pixel perfect AFZ, • ‘Adaptive’ - guarantees frame rate, builds to pixel perfect, • ‘Smoothest video’ - forces the maximum compression, or • ‘Advanced’ - allows you to choose a fixed compression mode: To get here1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel. 2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used: http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port) If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset. 3 If necessary, click the Video Configuration link.Note: ALIF dual screenshot shown above. ALIF 1002 models will provide options for a single video port. • ‘AFZ only (pixel perfect), • ‘AFZ+ Minimum compression’, • ‘AFZ+ Middle compression’, or • ‘AFZ+ Maximum compression’.
27 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX TX USB Settings Enable Dummy Boot KeyboardWhen ticked, the TX unit reports a virtual dummy boot keyboard to the attached PC to ensure that a keyboard is always reported when the PC boots up. The dummy boot keyboard uses one of the 13 USB endpoints, therefore if all 13 endpoints are required elsewhere for USB devices (or a KVM switch only supports two HID devices) then it can be disabled by deselecting this option. See also Reserved Port Range below. Disable Hi-Speed This option allows you to force the system to run at the low/full USB speed of 12Mb/s, thus forcing USB 2.0 Hi-Speed devices to adapt to the lower rate. Hub Size Using this option you can select whether the transmitter should report itself as a 13 or a 7 port USB hub. Some USB hosts are only able to support 7 port USB hubs. If this option is set to 7, then only 7 USB devices are supported by the PC. Reserved Port Range For some devices, e.g. touch screens, you may wish to ensure that they are always reported to the same USB port number so that the USB driver will always find the device. This option allows you reserve up to 8 ports for certain devices. At the RX unit, the devices are assigned to the reserved ports. If a port reservation is to be applied, then the dummy boot keyboard should be disabled. The default value for this option is ‘0’, i.e. disabled. See Port Reservation on RX unit for further details. TX Security USB EncryptionThis setting determines whether encryption should be applied to the USB data passed across the link. Note that video data is never encrypted. Control Encryption This setting determines whether encryption should be applied to the control data passed across the link. Note that video data is never encrypted. Secure Web pages with password When ticked, this option enables https security so that the configuration pages are only accessible to the admin user with a password. Change/confirm passwordThese options allow you to change the admin password for the system. To get here1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel. 2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used: http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port) If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset. 3 Click either the USB Settings or Security links, as appropriate.
28 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX TX AIM Manager Enable AIM ControlClick this button to allow an A.I.M. (Adder Infinity Manager) box to take control of this TX. When the button is clicked, the TX unit will be rebooted to allow the A.I.M. box to discover and control it. TX System Messages Enable system messagesTick to allow the creation of status and error messages by the unit. Send system messages to remote Log ServerChoose this option to send the system messages to a remote server via the network. Provide the IP address of a suitable server here also. To get here1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel. 2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used: http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port) If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset. 3 Click either the AIM Manager or System Messages links, as appropriate. AdderLink Infinity servers use the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for all Syslog traffic. Store system messages in unitWhen ticked, this option will store system messages within the memory of the unit. Click the View messages button to view the list or the Clear messages button to delete the list. Update NowClick to save and implement any changes that you make.
29 INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION OPERATION FURTHERINFORMATION INDEX TX Statistics TX Firmware Upgrade TX Reboot Enable collection of bandwidth statisticsALIF units can record data transfer statistics from the System port and plot them on a graph for troubleshooting and optimization purposes. When you enable this option, you will first be presented with a pop up from which you can choose which aspects you would like to graph: Data throughput, various packet rates and/or frame rates. SubmitClick this button after ticking the above checkbox to plot the chosen statistics on a pop up graph. UpgradeUse this page to upgrade the main or backup firmware image on the unit. Please see the section Performing an upgrade for details. Reboot Use this page to perform a reboot or a factory reset. Please see the section Manual factory reset for details. To get here1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel. 2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used: http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port) If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset. 3 Click either the Statistics , Firmware Upgrade or Reboot links, as appropriate.