Light O Rama mDM-MP3 User manual

mDM-MP3
miniDirector with MP3 Player
User Manual
September 24, 2007
V1.01
Copyright © Light O Rama, Inc. 2007, 2008

Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................. 4
What’s in the Box..................................................... 4
Hardware Utility Version .......................................... 5
Important Considerations ........................................ 6
Hardware Description .............................................. 7
Front Panel .......................................................... 7
SD Card Slot .................................................... 7
Status LED ....................................................... 7
Audio Output .................................................... 8
Rear Panel ........................................................... 8
RJ45 Network Connection................................ 8
Terminal Block Pins.......................................... 9
Shows 1, 2 and 3 Trigger Inputs....................... 9
Power Input Reasons ....................................... 9
Attaching an External Power Supply .............. 10
Power Jumper.................................................... 11
Show Programming Overview ............................... 13
Show Programming (SimpleShowBuilder) ......... 13
Show Programming (Hardware Utility <1.6.4).... 14
Show Programming (Hardware Utility >1.6.4).... 20
Interactive Trigger Connections............................. 27
Updating the mDM-MP3 Firmware ........................ 28
Specifications ........................................................ 31
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Introduction
The Light-O-Rama mDM-MP3 miniDirector with MP3
player is a compact, powerful show director
designed to take the place of your PC. It directs a
network of LOR controllers while simultaneously
playing MP3 audio files. Three trigger inputs allow
shows to be started by external events like switch
closures or motion detectors.
The Windows Showtime software is used to design
and build Sequences (light controller commands that
may be choreographed to audio/music.) These user
created sequences and/or pre-programmed musical
sequences available from LOR are then arranged
into Shows. These Shows are transferred to an SD
card. The SD card is inserted into the miniDirector,
which then directs the LOR controllers in your
display and plays any associated audio. Interactive
Christmas and Halloween displays are possible
using the trigger inputs.
What’s in the Box
Your mDM-MP3 includes a 128 MB (or larger) SD
card and a user’s manual. This manual is also
available at www.lightorama.com ►Support ►
mDM-MP3 User’s Manual.

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Hardware Utility Version
If your Hardware Utility has a LOR MP3 tab on the
upper left, you will be able to put a show on the SD
card of your miniDirector. If you want to put more
than one show on the SD card, you must have
Hardware Utility version 1.5.8 or later. If you want to
use the trigger inputs, you must have Hardware
Utility version 1.6.4 or later.
The version of the Hardware Utility appears in the
title bar to the right of “Light-O-Rama Hardware.” If
the version number is less than what you require or
there is no version number at all, then you need a
new Hardware Utility. The latest version is available
for download at www.lightorama.com ►Support ►
Software Downloads. Click the Download button to
the left of the Hardware Utility and run the installer.
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Important Considerations
The miniDirector is normally powered by the nearest
Light O Rama controller or a USB485B PC adapter.
Use a 50’ or less CAT5e LAN cable to connect the
miniDirector to either of these devices. Longer
cables may have an unacceptable voltage drop that
may cause erratic operation of the miniDirector.
SD cards must be formatted FAT16 (or just FAT.)
SD cards supplied by LOR will already be formatted
FAT16 and ready for use.
Not all brands of SD cards will work with the
miniDirector. Lexar Media and SimpleTech are
known to work.
Individual MP3 audio files are limited to 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes the audio file will continue to play,
but control of the lights will not continue. This does
not mean that the miniDirector can only control a 10
minute show, only that no audio file in your show
can be longer than 10 minutes.
A 128 MB SD card can hold approximately one hour
of MP3 audio and controller commands.
Songs (audio files) for use with the mDM-MP3 must
be encoded as MP3 files. Constant Bit Rate (CBR)
at 128K bits/second is best. See www.lightorama.com
►Support ►“How to and considerations: Ripping
CDs to MP3s”

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Hardware Description
Front Panel
The picture below shows the front panel of the
miniDirector. An SD card is inserted into the slot.
SD Card Slot
The SD card is inserted into the SD card slot with
the gold connectors facing down. Press the card into
the slot until it “clicks” into place. To remove the
card, press the card into the slot and it will spring
eject.
Status LED
•Blinks once per second if the miniDirector is
powered but no SD card is inserted.
•Steady on during an active show. Blinks off
during the show if the network speed is too
slow to handle the complexity of the show.
•Steady on if the miniDirector is connected to
the Hardware Utility – no SD card should be
inserted when connected to the Hardware
Utility.
•Blinks two short on pulses and then one off
pulse repeatedly if the miniDirector is waiting
for a trigger input to start a show.
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•Blinks rapidly if the SD card is invalid or
defective.
•Blinks one long on and a short off repeatedly
if in the bootloader. This means that the
firmware is not loaded. See the Updating the
mDM-MP3 Firmware section to load firmware.
Audio Output
This is a standard 1/8” stereo mini-jack. It supplies
line-level output. You can directly plug headphones
or FM transmitter into this jack. Use amplified
(powered) speakers or an amplifier with regular
speakers.
Rear Panel
The picture below shows the back panel of the
miniDirector. The RJ45 jack connects to the Light O
Rama network of controllers. The six pin screw
terminal block allows you to connect show triggers
for interactive displays and/or to power the
miniDirector from an external power supply.
RJ45 Network Connection
Use this connector to connect to your controllers, a
wireless unit and/or a Windows PC through an
RS485 adapter.

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Terminal Block Pins
Pin Description
1 Start show 1
2 Start show 2
3 Start show 3
4 Ground
5 +5 volts DC output
6 +9 volts DC output –or–
+9 volts DC input
(Read Attaching Power Warning Below)
Shows 1, 2 and 3 Trigger Inputs
The trigger inputs (pins 1, 2 and 3) are internally
pulled up to +5 volts DC by a resistor and must be
connected to ground (pin 4) by a switch.
A trigger signal must be at least 11 milliseconds long
to guarantee that the miniDirector will detect it.
When the show is copied to the SD card using the
Hardware Utility, you can select whether the trigger
switch input for that show is to be normally open
(default) or normally closed. A normally open switch
closes the circuit when you activate it, a normally
closed switch opens the circuit when you activate it.
Most motion detectors have normally closed
switches and open the circuit when motion is
detected.
Power Input Reasons
Normally, power is supplied by the attached
controller through the RJ45 jack. There are a
number of reasons why you may want to use an
external power supply with the miniDirector:
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•the miniDirector is more than 50’ from the
nearest controller or the controller is an older
model that cannot supply enough power
•the miniDirector is to be connected to a PC
without using a USB485B powered adapter or
an attached controller (I.e. using a USB485 or
SC485 adapter)
•the miniDirector is to be put on a timer or
switch to start and stop the show (See the
Power Jumper section below in this case)
•the miniDirector is to be used with an RF-V4
wireless unit, so it is not connected to a
controller which would power it.
Attaching an External Power Supply
[WARNING: Read carefully]
If you attach an external power supply to the
miniDirector with incorrect polarity and the
miniDirector is connected to one or more controllers
and/or a USB485B by a cable, you will most likely
burn up the power supplies in the attached devices.
Always disconnect the miniDirector’s RJ45
connection when first connecting an external
power supply in case you make a mistake in
polarity.
Connect the positive lead from the 9 volt DC power
supply to pin 6 of the rear terminal block. Connect
the negative lead to pin 4 of the terminal block. Plug
in the power supply and be sure the Status LED on
the miniDirector blinks, if it does not, the positive and
negative are probably swapped. Try swapping the
power supply leads. If the Status LED blinks, the

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power supply is properly connected. Once the power
supply is properly connected, you can safely attach
the RJ45 cable to your other devices.
Power Jumper
The Power Jumper is in place by default and is not
normally removed. If you need to access the Power
Jumper, remove the four screws from the bottom of
the case and lift the top half of the case off.
Leave this jumper in place if:
•The miniDirector is to be powered by the
nearest controller, the normal case
•The miniDirector is connected to a PC via an
SC485 serial port adapter and no controller is
also connected to power the miniDirector and
SC485. In this case you will have to attach an
external power supply to the miniDirector to
power it and the SC485.
•The miniDirector is not connected to a
controller or a USB485B adapter and has an
external power supply connected to it and this
supply is to be used with an attached RV-V4
wireless unit.
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Remove this jumper if the miniDirector is to be
powered by an external power supply that will be
used with a timer or power switch to turn the
miniDirector on and off. If the jumper is left on, the
attached controllers may continue to supply power to
the miniDirector, so it will not obey the timer or
power switch. If the miniDirector is not attached to
controllers by a cable, but rather by wireless units,
then leave the jumper on, otherwise the power from
your attached external supply will not reach the
wireless unit.

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Show Programming Overview
There are two ways to create an SD card with shows
on it for the miniDirector.
1. Simple Show Builder – this application
creates a single, non-interactive show. It is
simple and intuitive to use.
2. Hardware Utility – this application allows
access to the full capabilities of the
miniDirector. Multiple shows with interaction
are possible.
The next three sections explain how to use these
tools to create show(s) on the SD card.
There are two Hardware Utility version sections. One
for the older Hardware Utility versions (prior to 1.6.4)
that can not use the interactive triggers, and one for
newer Hardware Utility versions (1.6.4 and later) that
allow access to the interactive capabilities of the
miniDirector.
See the Hardware Utility Version section for
information on determining and upgrading your
Hardware Utility version.
The miniDirector does not have a real time clock.
Any scheduling information specified during
show creation will be ignored. This includes
playing shows once per hour or half hour.
Show Programming (SimpleShowBuilder)
Simple Show Builder is a Light O Rama application
that greatly simplifies the creation of a show on the
SD card for your miniDirector. It allows you to create
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one show consisting of a list of musical and non-
musical sequences without using the Hardware
Utility. This show can not use interactive triggers and
any scheduling information will be ignored by the
miniDirector because it does not have a real time
clock.
The Simple Show Builder process takes only a few
minutes in a small number of self-explanatory
screens. Simple Show Builder is available for
download at www.lightorama.com ►Support ►
Software Downloads. Click the Download button to
the left of Simple Show Builder and run the installer.
Use Windows Explorer to run the Simple Show
Builder by double clicking it. The path to it is usually:
C:\Program Files\Light-O-Rama\LORSimpleShowBuilder.exe
Show Programming (Hardware Utility <1.6.4)
This section describes show programming for the
miniDirector with Light O Rama Hardware Utility
(HWU) versions 1.5.8 to 1.6.3. These versions of the
HWU do NOT support the interactive trigger inputs,
but they do support multiple shows.
Start the LightORama Control Panel if it is not
running by clicking start ►All Programs ►
LightORama ►Light-O-Rama Control Panel. The
Light-O-Rama light bulb icon will appear in the
system tray on the lower right of your screen.
Start the Hardware Utility by right-clicking the Light-
O-Rama Control Panel light bulb and then selecting
Hardware Utility from the menu. You will see the
following window:

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Click the LOR MP3 tab on the upper left and you will
see this window:
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Make sure the Old Firmware box in the Scheduling
/ Show Options section is NOT checked. Make sure
the radio button “Play anytime powered” is selected.
You can build up to nine (9) shows, their names are
Show01, Show02, … Show09. Use this window to
set up a single show. When you click the Create
Show button later, a new window will pop up
allowing you to name this show and set some other
options.
Only one show can play at a time. Shows play in
order from 1 to 9.
Use the Select How Show Plays section to chose
one of the following:
•Loop through Showlist continuously – this
show will play continuously once it starts
•Play through Showlist one time only – this
show will play through one time and stop
Use the MP3 Player Showlist section to add
sequences to the show.
•Add Sequence button to select a sequence
to add to this Showlist
•Remove Sequence button to delete the
selected sequence from the Showlist
•Move Up button to move a selected
sequence up in the Showlist
•Move Down button to move the select
sequence down in the Showlist
For example, click the Add Sequence button and
you will see an Open file box listing the sequences

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loaded on you PC. The sequence file Open window
follows:
Choose a sequence from this list and click the Open
button. The sequence will be added to your show.
Repeat this process until all the sequences you want
in your show have been added. In the following
example, five sequences (and any associated music
files) have been added to the show:
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Now that this show has been setup, you must select
some final options and transfer this show to the SD
memory card. Click the Create Show button and
you will see the following window:
Pick a Show number from the Assign this show a
number drop-down menu.

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Use the Final Options section to select the following:
•Lock Step – This option causes the
miniDirector to send all controller commands
ahead of time for the next time slice and then
give a global “everybody do their commands”
command. This has the effect of eliminating
the communication line delays when you
have a large number of controller/channels.
This is a recommended setting. This option is
not supported by CTB08 and MC-P cards and
requires firmware version 3.0 or above for 16
channel controller cards.
•Add file to SD card to set the MP3 player’s
internal clock – This option will be ignored
because the miniDirector has no real time
clock.
•Comm Speed – Use these radio buttons to
select the RS485 communications line speed.
It is best to leave the speed at 57.6.
Use the Select Drive with the SD card section to
choose the SD card. The drop-down menu will
default to the first removable drive on your system. If
you forgot to plug the SD card or SD card writer into
the PC, do it now and click the Refresh Drive List
button.
Finally, click the Place Show on the SD Card
button to write the current Show to the SD card. You
will see this window when it is done:
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Repeat the above process for each show to be
transferred to the SD card.
Show Programming (Hardware Utility >1.6.4)
This section describes show programming for the
miniDirector with Light O Rama Hardware Utility
(HWU) versions 1.6.4 and later. These versions of
the HWU support the interactive trigger inputs.
Start the LightORama Control Panel if it is not
running by clicking start ►All Programs ►
LightORama ►Light-O-Rama Control Panel. The
Light-O-Rama light bulb icon will appear in the
system tray on the lower right of your screen.
Start the Hardware Utility by right-clicking the Light-
O-Rama Control Panel light bulb and then selecting
Hardware Utility from the menu. You will see the
following window: