Boygroup problem

hi there,

Several tryings with boygroup - no succes.

This is a basic setup for tests: a server connected to my routers network with cable and a client through wifi. Firewall and file sharing enabled. In the servers Broadcast Ip field (in Inspektor) I entered the network router`s IP, and to the “Client” pin I attached an IObox(string)with the IP of the second PC. The boygroup from server is working, Ctrl+B on a LFO node which turns to blue. When I start the client vvvv on the second PC, popup an empty window with the title of server IP. In the server Boygroup node the client is seems to be connected when I start it, “Bridge count” and “Active briges” output pins are also OK. But in TTY renderer I get the following message: “network detected corrupt data from machine 1 (big problem)”.

How can I get the Servers LFO node output pin in the clients window?

I tried to understand boygroupping looking at the takethat example from girlpower, but is not clear which part of the patch have to be in the server machine and which in the client PC? Which is the correct order of starting things? I also read the Boygroupping basics tutorial, and I made everything according to the description but no luck. Maybe is a network problem? Or could be problem if the server is running version beta 29 of vvvv and client version beta 28?

boygroup-test.v4p (15.3 kB)

thats exactly the problem.

server and client are supposed to run exactly the same version of vvvv. specifically between b28 and b29 there have been changes to the boygroup-protocoll which cause such “big problem”.

so try that first and then spend your client a cable. wifi is a no-go for serious boygrouping.

good luck.

Hi joreg,

That was the problem. Working with the same versions it works. Thank you very much!

Another question… After I connected succesfully the server and client machines, boygroupping not works as I expected.

I made a simple example patch for test with a LFO node. The LFO (1) node period value is constantly changing by another LFO (2)node. When I boygroup only LFO (1) it will be mirrored on the client side too. But the period value of the mirrored item is not changing like its pair from the server. And this is the same vice versa, when I change the value on client side, the values on the server will not reflect the changing. They work independently. Only when I boygroup the whole group of nodes they work in sync. But this is the same to have the patch on both machines and start them separately, without beeing connected.

The goal of boygroupping, I believed, is to receive values from one machine to use it in realtime in another one. But I don`t understand how to do that…

LFO boygroup.v4p (3.7 kB)

please read: boygrouping basics
this should clear things up…

I read that, but not works. In the first scenario from that page LFO node is sending a changing value, but on the client side, the mirrored damper node it not received it… Exactly how I described in my own example.

Finally it works!

Till now I built the boygroup server patch in a separate window, I saved it, and after I started vvvv in server mode I opened it again, and after that I opened the patch which I want to boygroup.

Now I built the boygroup server patch in the server window itself and in this way the boygroupped nodes receive the data from the server machine. This was not mentioned anywhere and I don`t know for sure if this is the right mode. Anyway, thanks you guys for your help which pointed me the right direction.

on the server you open your main patch with the blue nodes, but on the client you don’t have to open any patch… was that the misunderstanding?

Hi tonfilm, thanks for your interest.

No, first I have to open a server window from the vvvv root directory with the “vvvv.exe /server” command, and after that the project patch. I can not open directly the prepared project patch with the “myproject.v4p /server” commandline parameter in server mode. It will open but not as server. The vvvv button in the taskbar not displays “SERVER” in this case.

Another thing which I dont understand is the "Broadcast IP" field in the servers boygroup node in Inspektor. I tried first with my routers adress "192.168.1.1" and it not works. Also not works with "localhost" and nor with my external IP verified on the internet. When I looked finaly the working boygroup server node I saw that accidentally I entered "192.168.1.255". I dont know why, only this value is accepted, but this is not the real one. What is in fact this Broadcast IP? Thanks.

I found the answer for the problem with the IP adress. “192.168.1.255” is for the all LAN.

But the first question regarding the start of server mode is still… a question. It is the right behavior what I described in the post above? It is normal that the prepared patch can not be started directly in server mode with the “patchname.v4p /server” command? Somebody knows the answer please?

hola,

when starting vvvv with the /server flag the Boygroup (Network Server) should automatically have its Broadcast IP set to a broadcast IP like 192.168.1.255. you shouldn’t need to change anything there as long as your pc does not have multipe network cards.

also starting a patch from the commandline should work together with the server flag, like eg:
vvvv.exe /o patchpath.v4p /server

Ok, I understand now.
Starting a patch as server the command must begin with the root exe, and after that the path to the project file, and then the server flag. I know these are very basic things, but I`m not a programmer. I want to learn only those things which helps me in my concrete projects. Thanks joreg for your explanations.

see:
vvvv.exe
is the command you use to start vvvv from a command line or a .bat file.

then:
/o filename.v4p
is a parameter to vvvv to open a filename.
another such parameter is
/server
to start vvvv as a boygroup server.

there are many more commandline parameters and the order in which you apply them does not matter.

Yes, I tried and it works. Thank you again.