KLSTR.rdm

Introduction

KLSTR.rdm is a USB-connected tool for RDM diagnostics.

Inside, KLSTR.rdm is just a KLSTR.nano with all of its useful connections broken out. Hence, it can talk to KLSTR.ctrl over a direct USB connection. It's the same device, running a different firmware. This allows for a range of different features, not available to a KLSTR.nano that is fitted inside of a lighting device.

Because KLSTR.ctrl reaches the nano directly over USB rather than through an RDM-enabled node, it acts as a USB-to-RDM converter. KLSTR.ctrl acts as the RDM controller in this setup, outputting its RDM packets over USB.

Images pending. Illustrations are marked Image pending with their intended filename. A few low level details are marked TODO until confirmed.

What is inside the box

Open a KLSTR.rdm box and there is very little to see: a KLSTR.nano PCB with its connectors broken out. No extra processor, no protocol converter, no glue logic.

The nano's USB lines are routed to the enclosure's USB-C port.
The nano's DMX / RDM lines (IN/OUT/LAN) are routed to the corresponding XLR connectors.

Image pending: the inner PCB of a KLSTR.rdm box, showing that it is just a nano with broken out connectors. Suggested paths: /images/klstr-rdm/bonano-pcb-top.png and /images/klstr-rdm/bonano-pcb-connectors.png.

Image pending:/images/klstr-rdm/bonano-box.png , the assembled KLSTR.rdm (bonano) box, so readers can recognise the hardware they are holding.

This is also why a KLSTR.dev board can stand in for the box. If you break the nano's USB out to the board's USB-C receptacle, you have built the same thing.

The signal path

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Three things make that path different from a normal fixture:

USB replaces DMX as the control channel. KLSTR.ctrl speaks to the nano over USB, so all of the nano's DMX ports are free to be used as working ports rather than acting in its bridge-mode.
The nano firmware is different. A nano only behaves this way once it runs the sniffer.klstr.nano build. On standard fixture firmware it will not present itself to KLSTR.ctrl as a connectable USB device at all.
The KLSTR.ctrl build is different. Only the usbNano build exposes USB connected nanos. On the standard build the nano never shows up, no matter how it is cabled or which firmware it runs.

Both ends of the cable need their own special build. These two are equally mandatory, and each is useless without the other: sniffer.klstr.nano on the nano, the usbNano build of KLSTR.ctrl on the PC. Both boxes in the diagram above are labelled with theirs.

They also fail differently, which is the quickest way to tell them apart:

What is wrong	What you see
Standard nano firmware	The PC enumerates the USB device, but KLSTR.ctrl never offers to connect to it
Standard KLSTR.ctrl build	The nano does not appear in KLSTR.ctrl at all

What it can do

RDM controller

Discover, get and set parameters on any RDM device on the line, directly from KLSTR.ctrl.

DMX / RDM sniffer

Watch the raw DMX and RDM traffic on the bus, which is the fastest way to see what a third party controller or fixture is actually sending.

RDM compliance tester

Run a structured compliance test against a device under test (DUT) and get a pass or fail report on its RDM implementation.

The tool list grows with the firmware. Those three are the ones documented in this section.

Two ways to get one

KLSTR.rdm Box (KLSTR.bonano)

The finished article, a nano in an enclosure with a USB port. No hardware work needed, skip straight to the firmware.

Modified KLSTR.dev board

Remove two 0 Ω resistors, add two jumpers, and the board's USB-C receptacle reaches the nano. Same tool, built on the bench.

Whichever you have, you still need both special builds afterwards: the sniffer firmware on the nano, and the usbNano build of KLSTR.ctrl on the PC.

Where to go next

Special firmware

Required for every route. Both special builds live here: flash sniffer.klstr.nano onto the nano, get the usbNano build of KLSTR.ctrl for the PC, then connect over USB.

RDM-Compliance Testing

Start and conduct a compliance test against a device under test.

Use KLSTR.dev hardware

The hardware modification. Skip it if you have a KLSTR.rdm box.

Use KLSTR.dev hardware

Modify a KLSTR.dev board so the KLSTR.nano's USB lines reach the USB-C receptacle, turning the board into a KLSTR.rdm development dongle.