Sony Visca Commands Module not working

[Downingjd]

Sony Visca Commands not working on SRG-300SE

• Connection status shows Good
• None of the operations work
• Ip Address and port numbers checked. Port being used was 52381

[nspaine]

Hey @Downingjd I'm a new user of Companion and we had the same issue. We are using ethernet to control the camera via Sony VISCA over IP. Our fix ended up being an issue with IP addressing where our camera (Sony SRG-120DS) was trying to communicate on an IP address that wasn't the same as our local network's IP address (more specifically the network ID's didn't match). We also had to use the latest Beta version 2.0 unfortunately since our Elgato streamdeck wasn't being detected via USB.

I know you mentioned that you guys checked your IP addressing but just a sanity check.

An IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.yyy) is made up of 2 parts: xxx = network ID yyy = host ID

The network ID must match between your local IP address and your camera's IP address! The host ID changes for each unique device (i.e. camera). So in our case we are using a range from xxx.xxx.xxx.200 to xxx.xxx.xxx.209 where xxx is the network ID of our local network and yyy is the host ID, this enables us to control up to 10 cameras (hosts) on the network.

Now you might be asking how you can setup the actual IP address range on the camera itself? Well, it turns out Sony already has a proprietary software that is able to do so auto-magically. It's called the Sony RM-IP Setup tool and you can download it from their website (only compatible with certain cameras so double check on the Sony website which cameras it's compatible with). There should be an "IP assign" button and it should automatically detect your camera if it's connected on the same local network. From there you can set your IP range.

I will say it really helps to have someone knowledgeable of networking/IT that understands how IP addressing works. Speak with the person that administrates your network to make sure you don't use any conflicting IP addresses (in our case we couldn't use a host ID under 200 since it was used by other things on the network).

Update:

Based on comments below, when setting up the camera/companion use the default port and camera ID specified in the camera technical manual. We are using port 52381 and device ID 1 as specified in the manual. Device ID 0 might be reserved for a controller device possibly? Apparently you can send a command to the camera to set the device ID to any value between 0x0 to 0xFFFF using CAM_IDWRITE, but I think you'd have to code that yourself, plus it seems like just having a separate host ID for each camera would probably be fine for most applications.

Also double check that the camera is configured properly according to the manual, i.e. the right switches on the camera are switched. For us we had to set one of the switches to LAN only to enable LAN controls.

[Downingjd]

Awesome. Ty! I’ll try it when I get back from vacation. Great news that you got it working!

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 7, 2020, at 10:10 AM, nspaine notifications@github.com wrote:

 Hey @Downingjd I'm a new user of Companion and we had the same issue. We are using ethernet to control the camera via Sony VISCA. Our fix ended up being an issue with IP addressing where our camera was trying to communicate on an IP address that wasn't the same as our local network's IP address (more specifically the network ID's didn't match).

An IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.yyy) is made up of 2 parts: xxx = network ID yyy = host ID

The network ID must match between your local IP address and your camera's IP address! The host ID changes for each unique device (i.e. camera). So in our case we are using a range from xxx.xxx.xxx.200 to xxx.xxx.xxx.209 where xxx is the network ID of our local network and yyy is the host ID, this enables us to control up to 10 cameras (hosts) on the network.

Now you might be asking how you can setup the actual IP address range on the camera itself? Well, it turns out Sony already has a proprietary software that is able to do so auto-magically. It's called the Sony RM-IP Setup tool and you can download it from their website. There should be an "IP assign" button and it should automatically detect your camera if it's connected on the same local network. From there you can set your IP range.

I will say it really helps to have someone knowledgeable of networking/IT that understands how IP addressing works. Speak with the person that administrates your network to make sure you don't use any conflicting IP addresses (in our case we couldn't use a host ID under 200 since it was used by other things on the network).

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[ThatGuySittin]

Hey @Downingjd did that actually work? Your Sony SRG 300SE is now functioning with this module properly? I have one as well, and no dice here. It is not a networking issue on my end. But this absolutely will not function with the SRG-300SE

[Downingjd]

I haven’t checked. Just got back from vacation yesterday. I’ll update the thread once I try.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 16, 2020, at 9:04 PM, ThatGuySittin notifications@github.com wrote:

 Hey @Downingjd did that actually work? Your Sony SRG 300SE is now functioning with this module properly? I have one as well, and no dice here. It is not a networking issue on my end. But this absolutely will not function with the SRG-300SE

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[Downingjd]

Yea, still no luck. I have all my IP addresses setup correctly. I can see my camera receiving the HTTP requests from my computer when I use sony's interface. But I cannot get companion to speak to this camera no matter what I do. It is a shame because it would be so helpful!

On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 9:04 PM ThatGuySittin notifications@github.com wrote:

Hey @Downingjd https://github.com/Downingjd did that actually work? Your Sony SRG 300SE is now functioning with this module properly? I have one as well, and no dice here. It is not a networking issue on my end. But this absolutely will not function with the SRG-300SE

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/bitfocus/companion-module-sony-visca/issues/5#issuecomment-645102698, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ANCJILXN7JA5GZ7S5FBA4XDRXAQCPANCNFSM4ITKOJYA .

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James Downing

[Worship Minister]c: 503.547.3596 o: 618.544.3517 Highland Church of Christ

[ThatGuySittin]

So I actually figured out a solution on my end. The most recent 2.0 build does not work. I am specifically using build 2.0.0-3c6c944-2273 and I now have full connection

[Downingjd]

What did you do to get it working?

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 22, 2020, at 8:31 PM, ThatGuySittin notifications@github.com wrote:

 So I actually figured out a solution on my end. The most recent 2.0 build does not work. I am specifically using build 2.0.0-3c6c944-2273 and I now have full connection

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[ThatGuySittin]

I simply downloaded the build I mentioned and it worked. Which means something broke in the builds after. Also, make sure your camera id is set to 1, not 0. I also believe id0 sends non working code.

[nspaine]

@ThatGuySittin I'm not sure if it's non working code but it seems like device ID 0 might be set aside by default for a separate Sony controller device? Our camera's technical manual wasn't clear. Also seems like ID 1 as you mentioned might be the default for the camera out-of-the-box, although apparently you can send a command to the camera to set the camera ID anywhere between 0x0 and 0xFFFF, but someone would have to code that.

Updated my comment above.

[Downingjd]

I got it working this morning as well. I did have to do a firmware update on the camera itself and then it started working. I have it working with the build you mentioned as well as the stable build i'd been stuck on for a while which was. 2,0.0-05f8213-2290. Thanks for letting me know it worked! This is such a big improvement in our workflow.

On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 7:16 AM nspaine notifications@github.com wrote:

@ThatGuySittin https://github.com/ThatGuySittin I'm not sure if it's non working code but it seems like device ID 0 might be set aside by default for a separate Sony controller device? Our camera's technical manual wasn't clear. Also seems like ID 1 as you mentioned might be the default for the camera out-of-the-box although apparently you can send a command to the camera to set the camera ID anywhere between 0x0 and 0xFFFF, but someone would have to code that.

Updated my comment above.

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James Downing

[Worship Minister]c: 503.547.3596 o: 618.544.3517 Highland Church of Christ

[qvjester]

Have you found any newer versions of companion work ?

[Downingjd]

Yes. The current version is still working with my setup.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 20, 2020, at 4:07 AM, qvjester notifications@github.com wrote:

 Have you found any newer versions of companion work ?

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[onfire4g05]

Not sure if this will help anyone else, but I found that changing from ID 0 to 1, and then disabling and re-enabling the module seems to get the module working for us.