2k1Toaster

Ok, after working my arse off for a month tackling the evil that is Vista, I have finally won. It was a very difficult victory, and I had to actually ask for help in creating a new dll interface for the low level USB calls which is definately not my speciality. I would like to take the time to thank Gudon Malamud, a very good dll library programmer, that allowed me to pick his brain for about 3 weeks.

Ok, so first off, this new release (if it wasn't apparent immediately ) completely changed the way the Fusion Brain talks to the PC. For most people, they dont care as long as it works, and that is fine. It now works.

Before we had distinguished seperate Brains via their VID/PID combination. This method was easy to program for, but a pain in all other aspects. It means you cant have 2 Brains with version 1 on the same PC. Well this is no more. The vid/pid now does what it is supposed to be used for. A Vendor ID and a Product ID. XP and Vista create "instances" of devices each time you plug it in. This is why your computer doesnt have to reinstall your printer every time it restarts or you power cycle it, yet can have 100 of the same make/model printer connected and choose which you print too how you want. I have done the same thing.

These instances each have an "Instance ID" which is a very boring string of numbers and ampersands like this: 5&38631973&0&1 This is unique to each device plugged into a unique hub. So the average Fusion Brain user will only have 1 connected to some port. You will only have 1 instance. But if you have 3, you can now choose which to send to.

The coding behind multiple of the same VID/PID is not yet there in this beta release, but all the architecture is there. Right now it needs a unique instance ID per unique VID/PID. This will be abolished within the next few weeks when this release goes post-beta.

Now to find this instance ID, you need to go to your Device Manager, and select it from the driver's details tab's dropdown. (That's a lot of possessive nouns! )





Now you need to take this ID, and put only the ID part (in the above it is 5&38631973&0&1) in a file named VIDPID.inf so in the example it would be into a file called "VID_04D8&PID_000C.inf".

So this should set everything up correctly.

I have the entire installation procedure documented in the "ReadMe.txt" file.

You can download the new drivers and new software here:
ZIP: http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/T...a%20v2.0.0.zip
RAR: http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/T...a%20v2.0.0.rar

This is in beta right now. If there are any errors, please let me know.

Some things I added is allow an analogue input to be used as a digital input for controlling digital outputs. What I mean is thatyou can connect a button from the +5v to v_input on an analogue sensor, and using the configuration options, you can either have:
(a) An output that is on as long as the button is held down
(b) Toggle the state of an output every time the button is pressed

The logging right now is turned off as I develope it.

Digital inputs have sort of been finicky right now so they may not compltely work.

But the biggest improvement is the driver, and the biggest change is the install procedure.

Make sure you completely uninstall the old driver first.

READ ME.txt

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turbocad6

so would each brain always come up with it's own Instance ID & always the same? if you unplug one & plug in an identical one will it always know which is which?

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

2k1Toaster

As far as I have tested yes. It ties itselft to the vid/pid combo and a port. So as long as one is plugged into Port A, and the other to Port B they should have a static instanceID.

If you take the brain plugged into A and switch it with the one in B, the computer will not know. Since the port and vid/pid will be the same, it doesnt know you switched them. But as long as you leave them alone or know which goes to which port, it will work fine.

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scotty562

I got everything installed. I'll be playing with it the next few days. The driver wouldn't install correctly the first time. It took me a while, but the end result was if I put

[ClassInstall32]

at the end of the Fusion Brain.inf it worked. Everything seems to be good so far. I don't have to close the program with the task manager anymore = D.

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2001 SS Camaro carputer

2k1Toaster

So you put that at the end of the inf instead of in the middle and it worked? Hmm... Odd. Are you on XP?

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scotty562

Indeed I am on XP. I put it right at the end of the file. I am running into issues when changing usb ports and I think I locked the brain up at one point. XP stopped recognizing the brain until I turned the power off to the brain and then plugged the power back in. I'll write everything down that I find and let you know.

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2001 SS Camaro carputer

2k1Toaster

"When changing USB ports"? Could you elaborate? Are you plugging/unplugging while the program is running or to different ports?

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scotty562

Right, I plugged it into a different port on the laptop. The program was not running at the time. I was actually moving from a different location in the house. When I hooked everything back up is when this happened. I'm not exactly sure of what was plugged in, in what order caused the issue, but I'll keep an eye on it. If I can make the issue repeatable I'll be sure to let you know.

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2001 SS Camaro carputer

2k1Toaster

Ok, thanks. I havent seen this. I have tried everything to error it out. I even paused the program in debug mode after the try/catch to make sure it is connected, and the handle is correct, and yanked t out... The program cancelled out of the communications loop well, and the brain kept its light status. As soon as I plugged it back in, it started up again...

If you can reproduce it, please let me know.

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2k1Toaster

Ok another release of the software! This fixes a few issues that popped up in the last release. It is much more stable, and faster even. The CPU usage has even been reduced.

There is a new skin designer as well. This fixes the issue with the blinking brains button.

I urge you to download the newest versions and try them out. Again this requires the 2.0 versions of the drivers.

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ctsoccer13

I've been having some issues installing the drivers. I emailed you at the address in the Readme.txt.

2k1Toaster

If you are on an XP system, sometimes it likes to see [ClassInstall32] in the inf near the end. Try that and see if it installs.

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ctsoccer13

It installs with that, but then I get the error "This device cannot start. (Code 10)"

greenman100

try unplugging and replugging the device several times.

This Code 10 has come up once before.. are you Jan?

ctsoccer13

Jan? No, I'm not Jan.