Chapter 2. Installing MagicQ Software & Drivers

The GeNetix GN2, GN5 and GN10 have optional USB connection, enabling them either to be used in USB or Network mode.

When a GeNetix node is connected via USB to a PC (Windows, Mac or Linux) with MagicQ running then the GeNetix node runs in USB mode as a MagicQ interface connected directly to the MagicQ application.

In USB mode it is treated just like a MagicQ Wing or Interface with the configuration being controlled from within MagicQ rather than from within the GeNetix node. In this mode the node configuration is unused, although it is retained for when the node is used again in Network mode.

When in USB mode, the DMX outputs are configured in MagicQ from the Setup Window, VIEW DMX I/O. For GN5 and GN10 the MIDI, Timecode and 10Scene port are configured in MagicQ from the Setup Window, VIEW SETTINGS. The configuration is stored in the MagicQ show file as normal.

The node indicates USB mode on its front panel when in USB mode.

The node continues in USB mode even if the USB link is lost or MagicQ is stopped. To restart the node in Network mode, disconnect the USB or shut down the MagicQ and then power the GeNetix node on and off.

Note that the GN2 can run in network mode but still be powered from USB - provided that it is not connected to a PC running MagicQ – if MagicQ is detected it will be switched to USB mode.

The drivers for older MagicQ products are included in the MagicQ download.

C:\Program Files (x86)\ChamSys Ltd\MagicQ\MagicQ Wing Drivers

Disconnect all MagicQ Wings and Interfaces except the one you are trying to install the driver for.

Open Device Manager. This is found in different places depending on the version of Windows, but it can normally be accessed by opening Control Panel and then selecting System, and then selecting Device Manager.

Device Manager lists all the devices on your system. The MagicQ device is normally listed at the bottom under Universal Serial Bus Controllers but it may be under any other section. It may be listed as a ChamSys or MagicQ device or just as a FTDI device. If you can not find it then try disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable to the device - the listing should update and indicate to you which device is being plugged/unplugged.

When you have identified the device then right click and press Update Driver.

Select "Browse My Computer for Driver Software (Locate and Install Driver Software Manually)". Do not let Windows search for a driver.

Select the option "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

Select "Have Disk". If you cannot find "Have Disk" then click on items in the list until you get it.

For PC Wing Compacts the drivers are in C:\Program Files (x86)\ChamSys Ltd\Magicq\MagicQ Wing Drivers\PC Wing Compact\CDM 2.08.24 WHQL Certified\ftdibus.inf

PC Wing Compacts require MagicQ software version 1.5.8.0 or above.

For all other products the drivers are in C:\Program Files (x86) \ChamSys Ltd\Magicq\MagicQ Wing Drivers\FTDI\chamsys.inf

If the MagicQ USB wing periodically disconnects and restarts then check the Windows settings for your USB ports - Windows may be shutting down the USB ports when it incorrectly thinks they are idle. Click on Control Panel, System, Device Manager and scroll to the bottom to get a list of the USB devices. For each USB Root Hub click on Properties, Power Management and make sure that the option "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is NOT selected.

On some Windows systems the Update Drivers dialog will not show the driver files even though they are correctly in the MagicQ Wing Drivers folder. In this case try copying the whole MagicQ Wing Drivers folder to the desktop (using Windows Explorer) and then try to update the drivers again.

On new installs of MagicQ, show files are stored in Documents/MagicQ/show/ in your home folder.

If you have upgraded MagicQ from an old version, then your show files may instead be stored in one of the folling locations:

If MagicQ does not store settings after a restart - it forgets the number of universes, IP address or DMX I/O settings - then this is likely caused by Windows restricting write access to the folders where MagicQ stores this data. Check permissions.

To check if permission settings are causing issues, try to run MagicQ as administrator. Right click on the MagicQ desktop icon and select run as administrator from the options menu.

	MagicQ should not be run as an administrator in normal operation - this is only recommneded as a troubleshooting step. Complete functionality is available as a normal user.

Windows controls the level of access to system folders through the User Account Control Settings. This can be found in Control Panel, User Accounts, Change User Account Control settings. Setting this to "Never Notify" will make Windows less restrictive. Note that for security reasons this is only recommended for stand alone systems dedicated to MagicQ which are not connected to the internet - please make sure you understand the implications for your computer, before changing this setting.

On all versions we recommend you disable Computer sleep and turn off App Nap to avoid MagicQ being shut down inadvertently.

If you get the message "Cannot write file" when trying to save a show file, or your settings changes are not saved then check that the MagicQ folder and all its subfolders have both read and write permission.

If you get a message starting with "MagicQ needs to write to the install folder…", you will need to check the permissions of the "MagicQ" folder. There are detailed steps in the troubleshooting chapter.

To install the downloaded .deb file, run the following command in a terminal:

sudo dpkg -i magicq_ubuntu_vx_x_x_x.deb

Replacing the filename above the the name of the downloaded file.

Automatic scaling for high resolution screens is disabled by default as with some screens it made the MagicQ user interface too big.

From version 1.8.0.4 you can create a file called .magicq_init.sh in your home directory (/home/USERNAME/.magicq_init.sh) and make sure it has executeble permissions.

# ~/.magicq_init.sh

# Uncomment the following line if you want MagicQ to try to scale automatically
#export QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1

# Uncomment and adjust the following line if you want to manually decide how to scale MagicQ
# You can specify a fractional number (e.g. specify 1.5 to make it 50% bigger)
#export QT_SCALE_FACTOR=1.0

# If you have multiple screens that need different scaling, uncomment and set the following
# line to a semicolon-separated list of scale factors
#export QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS=1.5;1.0

See https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/highdpi.html#high-dpi-support-in-qt for more information on the environment variables in this file.