631 stops and shuts off

[CF Mark]

As you have found, different drivers/CC2 wont fix this problem.

Try disconnecting the SCAB from the LCD, see if it then runs ok.

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[Clegg]

I removed the SCAB device from the setup. so now its just the 631 plugged into the usb header on the mobo, and thats it. The device before used to just lock up, now it turns off (the backlight) and wont come back to life until I reboot the PC.

Sorta is becoming annoying as I use the 631 to montor disk free space on my HTPC which can fill up fast with HD content being recorded.

Any idea why other tools work fine with the 631 but CC2 is the only app that seems to exhibit this problem?

I also plugged in a 635 and a 633 and both worked fine for extended periods.

The system spec is a Biostar 7050-M2 motherboard with a AMD 4200+ X2 CPU and 1GB of ram. Nothing OC'd everything at stock timings. No vid card, no sound card (all on board) the PSU is only feeding the Motherboard , CDRom and a IDE HD.

 

[Clegg]

just looked in the log file and I am seeing lots of this fromthe time that the CFA-631 just stops working:

WARNING  20070708-170422-64.050643s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170423-64.565281s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170423-65.076996s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170424-65.592636s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170522-124.038088s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170523-124.552781s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170523-125.068372s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170524-125.581064s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170622-184.043154s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170623-184.557808s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170623-185.069514s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170624-185.584160s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170722-244.049214s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170723-244.564818s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170723-245.079475s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170724-245.594337s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170822-304.057240s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170823-304.570888s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170823-305.084551s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170824-305.596288s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-170849-331.270221s run_thread#1571: have dropped 22 packets in a row, triggering LCD re-init in 15sec
WARNING  20070708-170904-346.273634s run_thread#1588: trying scheduled re-init of LCD module
ERROR    20070708-202839-0.045001s lcd_setup#1066: could not init the com port
ERROR    20070708-202839-0.045907s init_lcd#1397: could not initialize the lcd module on port "\\?\ftdibus#vid_0403+pid_fc0c+cf00000141a#0000#{86e0d1e0-8089-11d0-9ce4-08003e301f73}"
ERROR    20070708-202913-1.108991s load_settings#734: no port found for automatic port usage
ERROR    20070708-202913-1.109644s lcd_setup#1066: could not init the com port
ERROR    20070708-202913-1.110241s init_lcd#1397: could not initialize the lcd module on port "auto"

This happened after I set it to auto for the com port... it does this on both me hard setting a port and not.

 

[Clegg]

I changed USB drivers and even installed other versions of CC2 again now without the SCAB connected and I still get this:

WARNING  20070708-205804-906.165677s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-205805-906.680314s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-205805-907.193002s serpak_send#75: no reply, dropping packet
WARNING  20070708-205854-956.231207s run_thread#1571: have dropped 22 packets in a row, triggering LCD re-init in 15sec
WARNING  20070708-205909-971.236778s run_thread#1588: trying scheduled re-init of LCD module

I believe at the re-init is when the LCD just shuts off and the backlight turns off.

 

[Clegg]

uninstalled all CC2 and CC Service stuff, and installed LCD Smartie and its running like a champ, no issues.

Maybe you guys should look at the Crystal.DLL that LCD Smartie uses to find out how they keep the 631 working? I dont like LCD Smartie at all... but it works. I just wish CC2 did also.

 

[CF Mark]

The problem occours with CC2 as it pushes the LCDs a lot harder.
CC2 updates the LCD at up to 20 times per second (thats a max of 200 packets/second).
Because of this, coms errors show up more often.

LCDSmartie updates at no where near the same speed as CC2, so this problem wont show up as often.

 

[Clegg]

Hmm... thanks for the insight. Is this some hardware limitation with the FTDI chip on the 631 that it cant filter noise and just locks up?

Hopefully a reason/fix for this is found... I took my 631 and put it on 2 other new(er) machines I have and loaded the CF drivers/CC2 and I get the same drop out randomly within an hour. But I plug it into an older Athlon XP rig and it runs for days... Something about the new USB 2.0 ports thats breaking it?

 

[jc634]

It does seem to be somewhat random. CCadmin did a stress test on his computer and had the problem. I performed the same test on my computer and it worked w/o a problem. Less than 1 year old Asus P5W DH MB and C2D 6600 CPU.

I'm putting together a new machine with an MSI K9A MB and AMD 4400+ X2 CPU this weekend. One of the 1st things I will do is to see how that 631 works with that configuration under "stressed" conditions.

 

[Clegg]

Any word on this?

Is there any way to get the CC2 software to maybe slow down its communication attempts? CC2 is FAR more CPU efficient than LCD Smartie. I just reloaded my rig that has the 631 in it, all new drivers, etc... (XP) and the 631 dies in record time showing a dual core bargraph.

Wish there was just a good easy option for this... which is why I wish CC2 worked with the 631 properly, cause making screens in CC2 is brillaint.

 

[dwkdiver]

I Got Mine Going

I too had the same issue long ago. I believe that CC is RF sensitive in a bad way. Nothing would fix my screen freezing up after minutes (and it worked for a year without an issue and you may still want to blame the new drivers and CC2 latest release BUT DON'T because it works for so many and now me).

Try to reroute your cable away from the motherboard AND all fans. If that doesn't work get a very well shielded cable and give it a shot. Mine started working again after upgrading my MB. It's been running for days without any issues.

I thought CC2 was never going to work for me, but now its AOK!!!!

Hope this helps.