Support for dot2 (node ma3)

Krzysztof Korzeniowski · Jan 14th 2022

Why doesn't ma3 node support dot2?

It's probably not too difficult to add a few lines of code - so that the device can work with the dot2 system as well as with ma2 and ma3.

A lot of people are still working on dot2 - because it's a very intuitive and simple table.

This would be a good option for people who would like to get dot2 node1K - which is no longer available for purchase.

hoss · Jan 14th 2022

My guess is it's way more than a few lines of code. Additionally it just adds a testing vector that I'm sure manufacturing doesn't want to take on for a discontinued product line.

I'm sure it would be very helpful to some, but at some point they need to move forward and not look back.

Clintos · Jan 16th 2022

It would be nice if my AppleTV could play my old VHS tapes but unfortunately products move on.

Krzysztof Korzeniowski · Jan 31st 2022

It would be a very cool and universal solution for MA3 hardware (node and wing) to work with OnPC MA3, MA2 and dot2 software.

sandersalden · Jan 31st 2022

But… how? The buttons aren’t there…

The onPc node is a nice solution to add parameters to an onPc system but I can’t see how you would use an MA3 command wing in gMA2 or dot.2

Krzysztof Korzeniowski · Feb 1st 2022

The MA3 console can work in MA2 mode - I don't know how the keys and owls are assigned there - but wingma3 could work with ma2 onpc in the same way. After all, it's just a USB device.

sandersalden · Feb 2nd 2022

The missing hardware buttons are replaced with software buttons on a screen on the console.

Pyroaxel · Feb 4th 2022

Would that even be possible? To my knowledge the Dot network communication is over IPv6.

Krzysztof Korzeniowski · Mar 11th 2022

It would be nice if someone from MALighting commented on this topic.

DanielK · Mar 11th 2022

Hi guys,

please let me add some points here - hope I can clearify some things . In general we always have a look where we can add compatibility for our existing users. But sometimes there are reasons against this:

Unfortunately the implementation of compatibility here is not just a few lines of code. As hoss already mentioned we would need many efforts and development time to ensure connectivity, calculation and the work on processes we need to fulfill here. Of course this time would be missed for other projects.
Next to this it has also technical reasons. Especially the structure of networking, communication and parameter distribution changed massively in grandMA3 compared to dot2. As Clintos already said....products move on.
Another technical aspect is that the performance of a grandMA3 system increased a lot. Compatibility to former generations is always a compromise. So at some point it seems to be an advantage for the user, but a kind of bottleneck for the whole system afterwards.

And at the end we must not forget that we can use the grandMA3 Nodes. We can control them via Art-Net and sACN, so a proper workflow for many users.

We totally understand the requests of compatibility, but at some point we just want to avoid some issues for the user that might become relevant after some time, even when it looked like an advantage at first.

I hope that makes sense :-).

Support for dot2 (node ma3)

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