Hello, I'm an tech savvy user looking for some help integrating a Speakercraft MZC66 with an Escient E2-100 music server. I picked up the Escient through Ebay (yea I know but I can't pass up a good deal) and I originally got the Speakercraft from a B-stock reseller (believe it or not actually authorized) and have been using the MZC fairly well since I installed it. One of my friends is a Speakercraft dealer so I have EZ-tools setup and have used it to program my system thus far.

Now the problem I am running into is that I don't quite know how to get my MZC and Escient talking (sharing meta data) despite having the latest firmwares for both and also have an RSA1.0 with the Escient Fireball firmware flashed. I was wondering if anyone could give me some guidance or tips to get the Escient meta data to display on my MODE 3.1 keypads? My friend who is the Speakercraft dealer has never integrated with an Escient before so he didn't know how to do it so I would like to try to figure this out on my own.

Do I need to program specific virtual buttons in the MODE keypads? When everything is connected correctly, how do you access the Escient Fireball from the MODE 3.1 keypad? What options are available to access?

I would greatly appreciate any help that can be provided by the community.

Thank you,
Phil

make sure the rs232 port on the escient is set up correctly and make sure you have the correct cable between the 2.. get a null modem adapter, if it fixes your problem you have the wrong cable..

that's all I have to add as I do not know the speakercraft piece..

Tanks cma, I'll check my cable as I have both straight through serial and null modem cables available. I've already got my Escient setup to accept external control through COM4.

Ahhhhh the joy of D.I.Y.! Wow think of all that money you saved! So why not come here and ask people who make a living installing this stuff for advice? I have a better idea, why not ask somebody who knows what they are doing before you go and buy stuff that you want to "figure out" on your own? You have a friend who is a speakercraft dealer yet you still chose to buy b-stock from the internet? I hope you saved enough money on your MZC system to cover the money you wasted on that fireball because it is not compatible with the system.

Ahhhh Vincent.... Where do I start. First off, I also do custom installs I am just doing this for myself as a project since I am always tinkering. While I admit custom install work is not my day job I do enjoy the work and help my friend out from time to time with his business on the side. Second, both Escient and Speakercraft have confirmed that the E2 line of the Fireball servers are compatible so I don't quite know where you come off with your information. Though if for some reason it cannot be made to work, I still have touchscreen interfaces that can drive everything as a backup.

The B-stock purchase was an impulse where an authorized reseller lost his shirt while trying out pushing merchandise through auction and was something no one could pass up. I purchase all my hardware and interface pieces through my friend so lay off if you don't mind. As for why don't I ask someone who knows what they are doing, that is what I thought I was doing here but if this is the type of response I get, that may have been a bad choice.

I fully respect the work and skills of custom installers and have attend CEDIA myself and various product trainings in the past from some now defunct media server hardware products to Control4 and Kaleidescape but I have never had the chance to take Speakercraft or Escient training. I am always trying to learn the next interface and technology to improve my skills and knowledge (Ok, Speakercraft and Escient are neither the next great thing nor that advanced). I was really hoping for any help and advice from the "experts" rather than a flame. I have always believed in learn through doing so your negative comments cannot sway my beliefs and when I fall into a "deal" I will always tinker and experiment to learn from it what I can.

so.. are you the "Science Guy"?

An old college nickname since I tend to get as excited about electronics as Bill does about science but right now I feel like the stuck in interface hell guy!

If you have touchscreen interfaces why in the world would you want to control it via the Mode keypad anyway? The interface between the two is only worthwhile if you have a small music collection, live off of playlists, or simply have nothing better to do with your time but stand there and wait.

Try a short null modem cable however I am fairly certain that unit is not compatible with the system.

Thanks for the suggestion Vincent and sorry for my rant earlier. With me, especially when I'm playing with my own setup, the answer to the question about why use MODE when I have touchscreens is more of a why not have both just in case I don't want to pull the touchscreen out of the dock I still have a way to select a song or play list. I'll definitely give the short null modem cable a try through. It is also something I want to learn how to do even if it only offers a small amount of functionality. Since I don't yet have an iphone I don't carry an interface around in my pocket...yet that is.

Thank you,
Phil

make sure you have the most recent software and firmware on your computer< then do a firmware up date on EVERYthing, starting with the MZC itsself

Problem fixed! A big thank you to cma, cb1, and Vincent. I checked my cable once again and I am using a null modem serial cable so all set there. I reflashed everything on my Speakercraft side (MZC, RSA, and MODE 3.1) and also redownloaded the Master and Slave programs I am using (12 zones in all). I still didn't have the meta data working but I at least made sure everything was current. Then, on a whim I tried messing around with other source options. It turns out with the latest firmwares and the latest EZ-Tools options there is specifically an Escient Fireball Server source available rather than using AUX as in the SpeakerCraft documentation for interfacing with an Escient Fireball. Once I changed the source and appropriate address for my RSA, everything is now working!

Thank you all again for the replies and suggestions and once again sorry to Vincent for harping on him earlier. I'm definitely going to share this with my friend who is a SpeakerCraft dealer to make sure he doesn't run into this problem in the future.

Phil