Help with GX!

GX and Typhoon hardware, this includes, displays, cables and accessory cards.

Moderator: Mods

Post Reply
markc
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:04 pm

Help with GX!

Post by markc »

Hi Guys,

Firstly thanks for the GX, I am really pleased with it so far, well up to a point.

I am running Vista x64, all goes well, the drivers install as does LCDStudio. On first time install all is ok, the unit works but if I reboot or shutdown, upon re-start all I get is the GX logo or idle message. To get it working again I have to unplug it or stop start the driver and these only work some of the time, otherwise I have to uninstall and re-install the drivers etc...

Device manager shows the Display as working properly, DeviceCoreTray.exe (does not actually show anything in the tray, should it?) shows the drivers loaded but more often than not there is nothing under Displays and when there is then there is nothing listed under the sessions. I have tried everythng I can think of so far, running all the programs as Admin, running them as WINXP SP2 Compatible.....

Also, DXDefaults runs but does not list a display even if it is working. It is all pretty much hit and miss to get this thing to actually display anything.

Have I missed something, is there any advise you can offer to help please.

Thanks

Mark

Ray
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 742
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: Earth.... I think..
Contact:

Post by Ray »

The "display is idle" jumping around is a good thing if you have that you can run studio or lcdinfo (which should have been added to your statup items) to display information.

Reinstalling the drivers should rarely be needed, when your display is non responsive can you restart the 'matrix orbital drivercore' service and see if that brings it back alive?

We are aware that most software still needs quite some polish and we are working hard on doing that and making the user experiance as pleasant as possible.

Dgephri
LCD Guru
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2004 8:18 am

Post by Dgephri »

to add to these comments, perhaps a master "GX troubleshooting" thread?

So far, since installing mine yesterday I have:
Turned it Red using the GXDefaults.exe program
set up LCDstudio and made a basic config with clock and Winamp
started up Winamp and enable the plugin in Options/Visualization/LCDStudio

In little issues so far, I woke this morning and saw "display is idle"
tried reloading the config file
had to "Exit and run from TrayBar" then reload my config file then restart Winamp and "Start Plugin" to get my visualization back.

I check the device in System/hardware but couldn't find a Power setting so I don't know what kicks it into "Device is Idle" mode, but shouldn't we be able to control that eventually?

Also, each time I start WinAmp I have to re "Start Plugin" to get the display visualization working again.

Little stuff, but I figure it helps you trouble shoot for better results in revisions. ;)

Talamakara
LCD?
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 10:37 pm
Contact:

Post by Talamakara »

Im looking to buy a GX, have these issues been fixed?

Lokaltog
LCD?
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:22 pm

Post by Lokaltog »

Talamakara wrote:Im looking to buy a GX, have these issues been fixed?
No.

I just downloaded the latest drivers. I'm running Vista x64 and my display doesn't work at all. I experience the same issues as "markc", and at this point my display is worthless. I've been trying to get it to work for some time now, but it just ends up showing a huge GX logo and I can't use the GX software or LCD Studio to set up or communicate with my display. What a waste of money.

If you're planning to buy a LCD display, I recommend one of the regular character LCD's, as the drivers for these displays actually work, and you can use really good software like LCD Smartie to control the displays. My LK204-24-USB works like a charm, and I've never experienced any trouble using this display.

Ray
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 742
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: Earth.... I think..
Contact:

Post by Ray »

Lokaltog I suspect this is a vista64 issue, can you go though my list posted here and let me know there what is and isn't working for you and I'll see what I can do for you to get it fixed.

Lokaltog
LCD?
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:22 pm

Post by Lokaltog »

Ray wrote:Lokaltog I suspect this is a vista64 issue, can you go though my list posted here and let me know there what is and isn't working for you and I'll see what I can do for you to get it fixed.
Ok, I went through your troubleshooting list, and here's my situation:

- The driver is installed, and I don't have any yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager. I got the display working when I first installed the drivers, but after a reboot, nothing worked.
- The MCE remote doesn't work, but a blue LED in the display (by the IR receiver) lights up when I press a button on the remote.
- I can only see the GX logo on my display, and the "Display is idle." message never shows anymore.
- The Drivercore service is running.
- I can't get the display working with LcdInfo or LCD Studio.
- I can't see my display in the GX Defaults application, so I can't adjust brightness/contrast or boot logo. When I first installed the drivers and got my display working, the GX display still didn't show up in the device list in GX Defaults.

Thanks for your help. I hope you have a solution so I finally can use my GX display. :)

Ray
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 742
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: Earth.... I think..
Contact:

Post by Ray »

Could you verify for me that the driversettings.xml file in the "Matrix Orbital Drivercore' folder in program files still contains these settings?

Code: Select all

<DriversState>
  <Driver Guid="90009fe4-57c2-4c51-9ed3-e5842399dc37" Configuration="" />
</DriversState>

Lokaltog
LCD?
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:22 pm

Post by Lokaltog »

Ray wrote:Could you verify for me that the driversettings.xml file in the "Matrix Orbital Drivercore' folder in program files still contains these settings?
Yes, this is the contents of my driversettings.xml file:

Code: Select all

<DriversState>
  <Driver Guid="90009fe4-57c2-4c51-9ed3-e5842399dc37" Configuration="" />
</DriversState>

Ray
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 742
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: Earth.... I think..
Contact:

Post by Ray »

I'll contact you by email to run some additional diagnostics.

markc
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:04 pm

Post by markc »

Ray wrote:Lokaltog I suspect this is a vista64 issue, can you go though my list posted here and let me know there what is and isn't working for you and I'll see what I can do for you to get it fixed.
How can you say this is a Vista Issue? Vista can only work with the drivers you write for it. Do you possibly think it could be DRIVER Issue!

Ray
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 742
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: Earth.... I think..
Contact:

Post by Ray »

markc wrote:
Ray wrote:Lokaltog I suspect this is a vista64 issue, can you go though my list posted here and let me know there what is and isn't working for you and I'll see what I can do for you to get it fixed.
How can you say this is a Vista Issue? Vista can only work with the drivers you write for it. Do you possibly think it could be DRIVER Issue!
I'm sensing some hostility here :)

You misinterperted what I said (or I did a poor job explaining what I meant) when I said 'Vista64 issue' (note I did not just say vista issue) I meant I was suspecting it was an issue that only shows on the 64 bits version of Vista since I had not seen that specific issue on any other operating systems.

Second I said I was suspecting it was an Vista64 issue. Until an issue is investigated and resolved as far is I know everyone is allowed to have his or her suspicions, weither the suspicion is Vista, the current moon phase or the disturbed squirrel vs gopher ratio near this customers apartment its only a suspicion. You are in your full right to disagree with my suspicions though :)

I worked with Mad_AP (from the other thread) and Lokaltog to get this issue resolved. It turned out to be a bug that only showed on vista64 in the dll that detects the drvier and actually talks to it (note the driver itself was actually fine). A fix will be available in the upcoming software update and in the meantime a quick fix is also available here

markc
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:04 pm

Post by markc »

Ray,

I apologise, I did not intend to sound hostile in this or the other thread I posted to.

I will try your suggested fix when I get the GX out of the loft.

Also, I will just add that my frustration had to be vented, your fix was only posted 2 weeks ago, I and I am sure others have had this issue for nearly 9 months. In fact I started a thread back on the 12th July 2007, admitedly I did not respond but there was no real solution given apart from restarting the drivers and that you were aware that the drivers needed polishing, well like I said that was back in July and you still have not released updated drivers or firmware.

Lets face it, you were aware of all the issues and have still not fixed them. Perhaps I am alone but I would have thought that the majority of users purchasing devices like the GX run high end machines with the latest OS and in my view a generous percentage of them would be running x64.

This is not personal, this just reflects on MO as a Company, resources shoud be allocated to provide the correct support and to develop working drivers for Operating Systems the devices are documented to support, otherwise the consumer shoud be made aware of the issues prior to purchse. Had I been told that Vista x64 had driver isseus with the GX then I would never have purchased one.

Sorry to rant again....

Ray
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 742
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2001 4:00 pm
Location: Earth.... I think..
Contact:

Post by Ray »

markc wrote:Ray,
I apologise, I did not intend to sound hostile in this or the other thread I posted to.
Thats okay, I'm not easily offended :)
Also, I will just add that my frustration had to be vented, your fix was only posted 2 weeks ago, I and I am sure others have had this issue for nearly 9 months.
Venting is always good :) In all honesty since your report in juli and the other two early feb we had no reports of this bug. Since you did not respond I figured the issue was solved cause seriously if it wasn't you would be back. When more reports came in early feb we where able to fix the problem a few days after the reports.
Perhaps I am alone but I would have thought that the majority of users purchasing devices like the GX run high end machines with the latest OS and in my view a generous percentage of them would be running x64.
If they are they are definitly not using the forums or our support channels to report their issues. Given the fact only 3 persons reported a REALLY annoying bug (have to agree with you on that one) in 8 monts I'd say the number of actual vista 64 bit users is really really slim or atleast in our customer base.
This is not personal, this just reflects on MO as a Company, resources shoud be allocated to provide the correct support and to develop working drivers for Operating Systems the devices are documented to support, otherwise the consumer shoud be made aware of the issues prior to purchse. Had I been told that Vista x64 had driver isseus with the GX then I would never have purchased one.
And here lies the base of the problems you are having if we knew there was a breaking issue with Vista64 we would just fix the issue like we did two weeks ago when it was brought back to our attention, It's not like 'yeah vista64 is broken, we know that, we know why but you know what we don't really feel like fixing it, let 'm wait half a year'

While I would like to have a huge lab with lots of different hardware and operating systems and a bucketload of time to test our products on each and every combination reality is we can't. Vista64 was tested by plugging in the unit see if it got detected and responded, that it did. That it didn't got detected and you had to replug it after the every reboot slipped through the cracks. Should we have done a better job testing it? definitly. Is this test now included in the standard test script? It sure is!
Sorry to rant again....
Thats ok, rather have you ranting at me then beat up some random old lady in the streets to get your frustations out :)

Post Reply