Description:

• This driver has been deprecated. There is a new Neothings/Universal driver that can handle all the current Neothings models. So please use that driver instead, and please move to that driver if you are using this one, so that this one can be dropped as redundant at some point.

This driver is for the Neothings Avalon component video/audio matrix switcher. The Avalon is basically a separate video and audio switchers in the same box, so you can switch audio and video separately.

Each output can have an input mapped to it, so the driver provides you with a field per available audio and video output. The current value of that field is the number of the input mapped to that output. You can write to the field to map a different input to that output. Note that zero is used as a mute. So if you write zero to an output field, that is just basically saying, nothing is mapped to this output. There are also a set of output fields that will switch both audio and video at the same time.

The Avalon comes in a 6x2 and 8x4 configuration, and the driver supports either. You will be prompted during driver installation as to which model the driver should expect to find, just to remove any guesswork from the equation.

Quirks and Limitations:

The 1.0 firmware has a bug that will cause it to send an invalid message if you make changes via the front panel. Only a small handful of units went out with the 1.0 firmware, but some of them are out there. As long as you control it via CQC you should be fine. And, even if you do cause the invalid messages to be sent, the driver will recycle and catch back up again. But it does make the driver go offline and reconnect, so there will be a short period where the driver is out of contact if this happens. The 1.1 firmware and beyond, which are likely to have, has taken care of this problem.

Connection Details

The Avalon can use a serial or USB connection. When connected via USB, you must load a 'virtual com port' driver that makes the USB connection look like a serial port. So in either case the CQC driver treats it as a serial device. The connection parameters are 9600, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, and no flow control. The speed is low, but the amount of data is small and the device sends asynchronous notifications of any locally made changes, so the speed is good enough for the job.

Driver Fields

This section lists the fields that the driver makes available, their types, minimum and maximum values, etc...

Name	Type	R/W	Description/Limits
AOutputX	Card	R/W	For each available audio output (2 or 4 based on the model) there will be a field of this sort, where X is the output number. Its value represents the audio input that is currently mapped to it. Write to it to change the mapped input. The legal values depend on the model and will be 0 through 6 or 0 through 8.
FPLight	Bool	R/W	Indicates the on/off status of the front panel LEDs. Write to it to turn the LEDs on or off.
OutputX	Card	W	If you want to set both audio and video output X to a particular input, then use these fields. There will be one for each available output (2 or 4 based on the model), where X is the output number. So it is basically like writing the same value to AOutputX and VOutputX.
Power	Bool	R/W	Get or set the power state of the Avalon. Write false to put it into standby and True to power it on.
VOutputX	Card	R/W	For each available video output (2 or 4 based on the model) there will be a field of this sort, where X is the output number. Its value represents the video input that is currently mapped to it. Write to it to change the mapped input. The legal values depend on the model and will be 0 through 6 or 0 through 8.
Version	String	R	Indicates the firmware version of the device.