Thread: Fusion Brain Setup FAQ

Originally Posted by TundraScout

Newbie with a working FB! Great product guys...

I have a couple questions and some constructive criticism (ment to be taken as being helpful):

1) It took about 2 hrs of trial and error to get it to work, but it is working. Would you guys care for some assistance in building a single PDF'd manual complete with troubleshooting guide and advanced users section? There is a ton of information on this forum and it would help IMHO to capture the hard info in one reference location, not to mention keeping happy customers happy (like me) and saving you time from having to help people with "The simple stuff".

My issues thus far include:
Identifying which software is esential, (just to get it to work).
Identifying the order of file installation
Identifying Files that needed to be modified (when, why and how)
Terminology consistancy - Multiple references to the "Hardware ID" - but what is really needed is the "Instance ID" ( that one ate up most of my install time)

2) On of the outputs (The lightbulb) cycles on and off rapidly when turned on with the default software configuration. If you decrease the rate with the "LED SPEED" button, it crashes the program. Is this a known issue, is there a fix, or is this just unique to me?

3) I bought a temperature sensor with mine, and I have not found a "sample" setup to display its input value. When the next software version is released, could you put that in as a "Getting Started" helper?

I'd like to help out as I think this is awesome.

What kind of volume can you produce these boards at? i.e. if I need 100 of them in a week, can you make that happen? A friend of mine is thinking of creating a production product based on it.

Thanks Again,

TS

We will take all the help we can get! PDF manuals are on the list... Believe me! We just have had no time at all. Anyone willing to write a manual gets extra brownie points!

We can provide high quality images of the board/sensors to anyone willing to help us out there. I will try to make this as detailed as possible for reference.

Now to help with your issues:

Identifying which software is esential, (just to get it to work).

I can definately see how this would be confusing. The current version is MDX. However the configuration program for this is still being developed. (by me ) Right now all the important stuff is definately coded in. Things such as text, fonts, and rotational images are not programmed in right now.

Here is the installer program:

EXE (97,215Kb): http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/M...0Installer.exe
RAR (93,574Kb): http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/M...0Installer.rar
ZIP (94,925Kb): http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/M...0Installer.zip

Those links will never change, I just continue to update the file. Included in the installer is (a) The main MDX program that controls the Fusion Brain (b) the MDX Configurator program which will set up all your inputs, outputs, graphics, ect... (c) the MDX Updater which will continuously check for updates since it is technically still beta, and download the updates (c) the .NET 2.0 Redistributable package which is required for all of those programs to work since they are written in C# which is a .NET language (d) and the DirectX 9.0c redistribuatable package which is required for the main MDX program because the graphics is handled by DirectX now which is one of the major changes from Version 2 (Currently latest version on the website).

Also includes some sample skins, and importantly functions for all of our current sensors (including the thermometer).

Identifying the order of file installation

Drivers then program. The program requires the drivers be installed allready to communicate with the Fusion Brain.

The current drivers are the Microsoft WinUSB Drivers:
ZIP (12,913Kb): http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/MDX/Drivers.zip

These drivers are compatible with Windows XP and Vista. It uses the WinUSB drivers, which came out last february after the release of Vista even. So if you have a new copt of Vista, then it should be a very fast install because all it has to do is register that the Fusion Brain is connected. However if you have Windows XP or Vista that came out between Summer 2006 and February 2007 you will need to install the WinUSB CoInstaller which these drivers do automatically. So the install will take longer. These drivers are very very generic Microsoft written drivers so you actually only need to install the big piece one time for the life of your operating system's install.

The software includes the dll files it needs already, so those hardware drivers and the installer package are all you need to go from the box to using it.

Identifying Files that needed to be modified (when, why and how)

The file "FusionConfiguration.xml" is the only file that needs to be modified. It contains all the settings for I/O ports, logic control, graphical interface and required external files. That is it! You can use the configurator to modify this file (I always suggest keeping a backup just incase) or you can edit it manually in any XML editing program as it is a standard XML file. If you need help with syntax, please email us or post a question in our Software subforum here on mp3car.com and we will help you out as fast as we can. The configurator however does pretty much everything right now.

Terminology consistancy - Multiple references to the "Hardware ID" - but what is really needed is the "Instance ID" ( that one ate up most of my install time)

Actually this is a Microsoft problem... Windows XP and Windows Vista use different terminolgy. Vista uses Instance ID I believe. XP uses Hardware ID I think. At least this was true as of early 2007. However no more do you have to dig around there. Use the configurator, and it will automatically identify your connected Fusion Brains. Things have improved greatly since Version 2!


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Ok, now for the rest!

As for the LED speed crashing it, I have never heard of that before. Perhaps the timer value is set too high? Anyways, drop version 2. Download MDX. Version 2 is pretty much dead and will be abondonned as soon as this new configurator is finished.

For the temperature sensor, there is now a function for this in MDX. Just attach an analogue input to the function and put the output through a variable-set to output. Really easy now!

And if you need over 20-ish or 30-ish, then we need to order more from our manufacturer, which can take 2 to 4 weeks depedning how busy they are, or if any delays come up. For instance from our last sale, we ran out so we ordered more and it took about 3 weeks. We also offer volume discounts for large orders.