Fusion Control Centre MDX & Configurator -- Major Update 22/12/2008

**2k1Toaster** · 12-27-2008, 03:52 AM

And I never sleep

**2k1Toaster** · 12-27-2008, 03:53 AM

Originally Posted by JohnWPB

Ok, sorry, something else I just ran into.....

I started tweaking the label names, and when I change one, MDX crashes for some reason.

For Analog in 1 I had a label of "Temperature 1". I loaded the XML in the configurator, double clicked the temp 1, and changed the label to "Computer Temp". I saved out the XML. When I run MDX, It errors out (Has caused a problem and needs to close, just a generic error). I opened the configurator, changed it back to "Temperature 1" and saved it, ran mdx and it ran correctly. I did this 3 times, just to verify that it was the changing of a label causing it. With the label as Temperature 1, I can open, close, open, close the MDX, soon as I change it with the configurator and save it, it crashes on loading.

It's possibly changing the label in one location of the XML and not updating another part or something?

If you need to remote into my machine again for testing, just let me know.

Can you run in debug mode and screenshot the error

**JohnWPB** · 12-27-2008, 04:50 AM

Yes, it is running multiple times without fail! Very nice! I even ran it through an extreme test

I turned on one relay, and another off. Unplugged the USB and power to the FB. Plugged in the power and the USB to the FB, and the one relay came on, and the other remained off! ! !

VERY NICE!

Sorry, never ran a debug on the FB as of yet, need to look where to turn it on.

As for the screen cap of the error, it is just a generic error, "Has caused an error and needs to close" no useful information at all.

**2k1Toaster** · 12-27-2008, 04:54 AM

It will have useful info when run in debug mode. In the start folder there is a shortcut to MDX with "DEBUG" in its name. That will run it in debug mode.

**mx270a** · 12-27-2008, 11:26 PM

Under what circumstance would someone use the timer delayed output shutoff? I assume you have people using this feature since it has been carried over from the v3 feature set? In my mind, when I heard you were going to add PWM to the v4, I was thinking there would be 1 byte per output. 0 would be off, 255 would be on, and any number in between would be the PWM scale.

If the 7 PWM bits are all 0, is the output completely off, or is it still on like 1% of the time when the state bit is on?

**mx270a** · 12-30-2008, 11:38 AM

2k1, I think I found a bug in the driver. On my system, the only thing I have connected is a v3 FB. I wrote an auto-detect routine to connect to the first FB, looking for a v4 first, then looking for a v3. Here is what happens.

If I start the program and run FindMyDevice(0, 4), it returns false just like it should.
I then run FindMyDevice(0, 3), and it returns true, because it found the v3 FB that is connected.
If I then disconnect, and try to connect to a v4 again, this time FindMyDevice(0, 4) will return true, even though no brain is connected. At this point, it thinks it has connected to a brain that doesn't exist. I can then disconnect and try to connect to a v4 FB again, and it will now have figured out that there isn't one, so it will return false.

**mx270a** · 01-05-2009, 11:35 PM

Got my v4 FB today. Very nice. Form factor is compact. The blue LED is so bright I put some electrical tape over it so it wouldn't blind me.

A few days ago I started writing code based on the bytestream format the 2k1 posted in this thread. Right now, I can toggle the outputs on and off, and read all the inputs.

- I cannot get the PWM part to work. I have a slider to control that, and if it is less than 127, it puts the output into PWM mode. However, the output LED never dims.

- The timer to shutoff doesn't work for me either. I've tried 0, 1, and 3 seconds, but the outputs remain on after I quit sending data to the FB.

**greenman100** · 01-06-2009, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by mx270a

Got my v4 FB today. Very nice. Form factor is compact. The blue LED is so bright I put some electrical tape over it so it wouldn't blind me.

A few days ago I started writing code based on the bytestream format the 2k1 posted in this thread. Right now, I can toggle the outputs on and off, and read all the inputs.

- I cannot get the PWM part to work. I have a slider to control that, and if it is less than 127, it puts the output into PWM mode. However, the output LED never dims.

- The timer to shutoff doesn't work for me either. I've tried 0, 1, and 3 seconds, but the outputs remain on after I quit sending data to the FB.

PWM and timers aren't in the public firmware yet. They'll be released soon.

**mx270a** · 01-06-2009, 02:46 PM

Ah, that explains it. Thanks.

**UniqelyCommon** · 01-07-2009, 02:51 AM

Well, I'm at a loss. I have reinstalled the drivers as explained (of course including the deletion of v4) and see the following in Device Manager:

and I make sure that FusionConfiguration.xml has

Code:

<brain id="My Fusion Brain 0" version="3">BRAIN ID 0</brain>

and yet when I run MDX (in administrator mode, Vista doesn't like me running it straight like everything else) none of the buttons are responsive and the inputs all read "0.00" In v4 there was at least some "noise" reading.

I also created a copy of the MDX directory to play with to make a custom file (again, with the "version" declaration included) and this time the input changes based on the sensor (IR distance) and the buttons "click," but none of the LED's light up or the attached relays "click." Perhaps this is due to my "irritating" usage of "quotes"?

I tried running a fresh install of MDX on a fresh (updated, SP3) install of XP (different machine) but it didn't even want to run there. Even running with the debugger command Windows closes with no real explanation other than the classic "There was a problem and needs to close. We're sorry that your life is so pointless." Maybe I get custom messages?

Aaaaanyway, I might just go back to v4 if this is just a weird "I have gained the displeasure of the Supreme Electron" occurrence

, but the easiness of the new DLL is appealing. Sorry for the wrench, thanks for the help (and what a swell product)!