I posted this on the LOR forum in response to a user who was having some difficulty getting the addressing correct on his E682. In general I think the confusion comes from not understanding that address assignment on the E68x controllers is really a 2-step process.
You will encounter the term "socket" in this discussion and in the documentation. We normally think of a 'socket' as a physical electrical connector. In this case 'socket' is a computer networking term that refers to a "virtual" connection, an imaginary wire if you will, that carries one universe of DMX data from our show PC to the E682. The E682 supports 6 sockets, so you may have 6 separate universes sent from your PC to the E682, each using one "socket".
The first step in configuring an E682 is to determine which universes the board needs to respond to. Typically, but not always, these will be sequential universe numbers, and typically, but not always, the first controller will start with universe number 1. Once you have identified which universes you need, you then use the UNiverse command to map those 6 universe numbers to the E682s sockets: S1 thru S6.
The second step of the process is to assign the pixel strings to those sockets.
Let me give an example of configuring a system consisting of two E682s controlling a total of 32 50-pixel strings, beginning at universe 1 channel 1, with all pixel addressses being assigned contiguously (no gaps). (I'm not going to go into the pixel type/length configuration here, this is focusing on addressing).
Since we start with universe 1, we will assign the first 6 DMX universes (1-6) to the first controller. This is actually the default configuration that ships with the controller, so normally you don't have to change anything, sockets 1-6 will already be assigned to universes 1-6. What this is telling the controller is that those 6 virtual DMX wires between our PC and the E682 are bringing in universes number 1 thru 6 to this E682. If we did have to do this manually we would type 6 UNiverse commands: UN 1 1, UN 2 2, UN 3 3, UN 4 4, UN 5 5, UN 6 6 (and of course we would end with a SAVE 0!)
Now the 2nd step of configuring an E682s addresses is to assign the individual clusters of pixel strings to channels on those 6 sockets (and by doing that we are assigning them to the DMX universes that we previously assigned to those sockets). Again, since this is board number one,and our configuration matches the factory default, we don't have to do anything. Cluster 1 starts with socket 1 channel 1 and runs thru socket 2 channel 90. This is a total of 600 DMX channels (510 in the first universe <remember 511 and 512 are NEVER used> and 90 in the 2nd universe, total 600). 600 channels = 4 strings * 50 pixles * 3 channels per pixel.
Cluster 2 begins at the ending point of cluster 1, +1, or 2-91 and runs thru 3-180. Similarly, cluster 3 begins at 3-181 and runs thru 4-270, and cluster 4 begins at 4-271 and runs thru 5-360.
So, even though we've assigned universes 1-6 to the 6 DMX sockets on this board, as it turns out we're only using the first 5.
Now, let's continue with our remaining pixels on the 2nd E682, and this is where it gets interesting. First we need to decide which 6 universes to assign to our 6 sockets on the 2nd E682. Remember, we only used a portion of universe 5 on the first controller, and we want all of our addresses to run with no gaps, so the 2nd controller will begin by using the last part of universe 5. That means controller #2's sockets will be assigned to DMX universes 5 thru 10. To do that we use the UNiverse commands:
UN 1 5
UN 2 6
UN 3 7
UN 4 8
UN 5 9
UN 6 10
This would be a good time to point out that YOU SHOULD NEVER DUPLICATE A UNIVERSE NUMBER when assigning sockets to universes. Start out with the specific universe numbers that you need, and if you don't need all 6, then just assign the unused ones to the next universe number(s) in order. When using Multicast (which is what the E68x controllers presently use), there is no problem sending a universe to more than one controller. That's one of the advantages of Multicast.
OK, now we will set the DMX start addresses for the clusters on the 2nd E682. The first board ended with cluster 4 using up thru socket 5 (universe 5) channel 360. So, the 2nd E682 should start with universe 5 channel 361. Remember we enter the DMX addresses as *socket* numbers 1-6, not universe numbers, so we will use the command: DMX 1 1 361 to set the first dmx address of the 1st cluster to Socket 1 channel 361. Since socket 1 on this board is assigned to universe 5 this will give us the result we want, a start address of universe 5, channel 361.
Cluster 1 will run from 1-361 to 2-450. So we use the command DMX 2 2 451 to assign socket 2 (univ 6) chan 451 thru socket 4 (univ 8) chan 30, to the 2nd cluster. Notice here that this cluster actually uses 3 different universes, parts of universes 6 and 8, and all of universe 7.
Command: DMX 3 4 31 sets cluster 3 to use 4-31 thru 5-120, and command: DMX 4 5 121 sets cluster 4 to use socket 5 chan 121 thru socket 6 channel 210. (If you notice, it's easy to know what address to use in the DMX command because we just use 1 more than the ending address of the previous cluster). And please don't forget to SAVE 0 when done...
As a check, E682 #2 uses chans 361 thru 510 of universe 5 (150 channels), all of universes 6 thru 9 (2040 channels) and 210 channels of universe 10, for a total of 150+2040+210=2400 channels, which is the correct channel count for 800 pixels.
And the 2 boards together use a total of 4800 channels (all of universes 1-9 = 9*510=4590 plus 210 of universe 10, total 4800). 4800 channels = 1600 pixels, so everything seems right.
You will encounter the term "socket" in this discussion and in the documentation. We normally think of a 'socket' as a physical electrical connector. In this case 'socket' is a computer networking term that refers to a "virtual" connection, an imaginary wire if you will, that carries one universe of DMX data from our show PC to the E682. The E682 supports 6 sockets, so you may have 6 separate universes sent from your PC to the E682, each using one "socket".
The first step in configuring an E682 is to determine which universes the board needs to respond to. Typically, but not always, these will be sequential universe numbers, and typically, but not always, the first controller will start with universe number 1. Once you have identified which universes you need, you then use the UNiverse command to map those 6 universe numbers to the E682s sockets: S1 thru S6.
The second step of the process is to assign the pixel strings to those sockets.
Let me give an example of configuring a system consisting of two E682s controlling a total of 32 50-pixel strings, beginning at universe 1 channel 1, with all pixel addressses being assigned contiguously (no gaps). (I'm not going to go into the pixel type/length configuration here, this is focusing on addressing).
Since we start with universe 1, we will assign the first 6 DMX universes (1-6) to the first controller. This is actually the default configuration that ships with the controller, so normally you don't have to change anything, sockets 1-6 will already be assigned to universes 1-6. What this is telling the controller is that those 6 virtual DMX wires between our PC and the E682 are bringing in universes number 1 thru 6 to this E682. If we did have to do this manually we would type 6 UNiverse commands: UN 1 1, UN 2 2, UN 3 3, UN 4 4, UN 5 5, UN 6 6 (and of course we would end with a SAVE 0!)
Now the 2nd step of configuring an E682s addresses is to assign the individual clusters of pixel strings to channels on those 6 sockets (and by doing that we are assigning them to the DMX universes that we previously assigned to those sockets). Again, since this is board number one,and our configuration matches the factory default, we don't have to do anything. Cluster 1 starts with socket 1 channel 1 and runs thru socket 2 channel 90. This is a total of 600 DMX channels (510 in the first universe <remember 511 and 512 are NEVER used> and 90 in the 2nd universe, total 600). 600 channels = 4 strings * 50 pixles * 3 channels per pixel.
Cluster 2 begins at the ending point of cluster 1, +1, or 2-91 and runs thru 3-180. Similarly, cluster 3 begins at 3-181 and runs thru 4-270, and cluster 4 begins at 4-271 and runs thru 5-360.
So, even though we've assigned universes 1-6 to the 6 DMX sockets on this board, as it turns out we're only using the first 5.
Now, let's continue with our remaining pixels on the 2nd E682, and this is where it gets interesting. First we need to decide which 6 universes to assign to our 6 sockets on the 2nd E682. Remember, we only used a portion of universe 5 on the first controller, and we want all of our addresses to run with no gaps, so the 2nd controller will begin by using the last part of universe 5. That means controller #2's sockets will be assigned to DMX universes 5 thru 10. To do that we use the UNiverse commands:
UN 1 5
UN 2 6
UN 3 7
UN 4 8
UN 5 9
UN 6 10
This would be a good time to point out that YOU SHOULD NEVER DUPLICATE A UNIVERSE NUMBER when assigning sockets to universes. Start out with the specific universe numbers that you need, and if you don't need all 6, then just assign the unused ones to the next universe number(s) in order. When using Multicast (which is what the E68x controllers presently use), there is no problem sending a universe to more than one controller. That's one of the advantages of Multicast.
OK, now we will set the DMX start addresses for the clusters on the 2nd E682. The first board ended with cluster 4 using up thru socket 5 (universe 5) channel 360. So, the 2nd E682 should start with universe 5 channel 361. Remember we enter the DMX addresses as *socket* numbers 1-6, not universe numbers, so we will use the command: DMX 1 1 361 to set the first dmx address of the 1st cluster to Socket 1 channel 361. Since socket 1 on this board is assigned to universe 5 this will give us the result we want, a start address of universe 5, channel 361.
Cluster 1 will run from 1-361 to 2-450. So we use the command DMX 2 2 451 to assign socket 2 (univ 6) chan 451 thru socket 4 (univ 8) chan 30, to the 2nd cluster. Notice here that this cluster actually uses 3 different universes, parts of universes 6 and 8, and all of universe 7.
Command: DMX 3 4 31 sets cluster 3 to use 4-31 thru 5-120, and command: DMX 4 5 121 sets cluster 4 to use socket 5 chan 121 thru socket 6 channel 210. (If you notice, it's easy to know what address to use in the DMX command because we just use 1 more than the ending address of the previous cluster). And please don't forget to SAVE 0 when done...
As a check, E682 #2 uses chans 361 thru 510 of universe 5 (150 channels), all of universes 6 thru 9 (2040 channels) and 210 channels of universe 10, for a total of 150+2040+210=2400 channels, which is the correct channel count for 800 pixels.
And the 2 boards together use a total of 4800 channels (all of universes 1-9 = 9*510=4590 plus 210 of universe 10, total 4800). 4800 channels = 1600 pixels, so everything seems right.