634 VER's & Boot setup

Mod-Junkie

New member
Does it matter what version my 634 is in order for boot setup
software to work?
And if so what versions does it work with?
I have A 2.00 and I can't seem to get the program to write to the EEPROM.:confused:
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Mod-Junkie

New member
Okay, I did get it to write to the EEPROM but the boot screen just flickers during the boot, Is this an OS problem or am I just doing something wrong?
I have tired all of the "at power-on settings" it just does the same thing.
BTW, I'm running XP Home on an ASUS A7V8X-X MOBO w/ AMD Athlon XP 2600+
 

CF Mark

Administrator
The bootscreen editor is a little useless with the USB LCDs, since they dont "light up" until windows has loaded.

The serial LCDs will show the boot screen from when the PC is turned on, until windows/software loads.
 

Mod-Junkie

New member
Well, I forgot to mention that I have the serial version,
And it starts to flicker toward the end of the OS boot like when the windows screen shows the little bar at the bottom of the the screen and then it kind of flashes the boot screen and then turns off. But after that Crystal-Control boots and everything runs fine.
So I'm not sure what is wrong:confused:
Maybe There is some sort of setting in my MOBO config that I don't have enabled or something, Because like you said it should
light up right when the power is turned on.
 
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CF Tech

Administrator
The serial version will power up when windows initializes the port. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter some versions of windows will "probe" the port, which causes the screen to blank :(

You can make the serial version power up right away by connecting "+5v(LCD)" and "+5v(LED)" together on J2. Please be careful if you try this change. If you are not familiar with electronics and soldering, please find someone who is to help you.

This change will show the boot screen for a while immediately after power is applied, but it will still get clobbered by windows during boot.
 

Mod-Junkie

New member
Well, I'm Not sure if I'm up to that but it doesn't matter,
I still think it's the coolest thing I've installed on my computer.:cool:
I wonder if Windows has a fix for this issue?:rolleyes:
 

Dr.2K

New member
So I guess since I have a usb setup with the 634 I cant use the boot editor, rite? But I still get the Crystal Fontz boot up screen, why is it I cant change it so my edited boot screen will replace that one? Besides this my crystafontz works great! No problems at all with software or hardware. Its a great piece of work!
 

CF Tech

Administrator
You can use the boot editor on a USB display. It is just that your screen probably won't show for very long before it gets clobbered by something else.
 

Dr.2K

New member
I see :confused: , but I do see the default crystalfontz display displayed pretty long during boot up. So I thought if I use the boot editor it would replace that default boot screen to the one I had made. However, I cant seem to change the boot screen no matter what I try with the boot editor. I have pressed the save button numerous times but it always seems to only show the default crystalfontz boot screen. :confused: :confused: :rolleyes:
 

CF Support

Administrator
Forgive me for asking, but have you:

1. checked the com port/speed setting in the program vs your display?

2. sent the screen to the EEPROM?
 

Dr.2K

New member
Yes, I have. The comport is #3 and speed rate is set to the highest level. I have no issues :) running my crystalfontz and I am VERY happy with it.

Yes, I have sent my edited boot screen to the EEPROM numerous times to no vail :(. What do you think could be causing the problem?
 

CF Support

Administrator
Be forewarned, the boot screen program doesn't give an error if the com port is already open. You should try closing all applications that could be talking to the display, uncheck auto-update, and then store the settings to the EEPROM.
 

Dr.2K

New member
Well I dont know what application could be talking to the display besides MBM, but MBM doesnt start to load until windows is already loaded anyways. I will try again with the auto-update unchecked and see if that helps.
 

CF Tech

Administrator
MBM does not use the COM port, so it would not be a factor. It could be that your display has a problem with the EEPROM functionality.

Try using WinTest to do the procedure outlined in the second post of this thread:

https://forum.crystalfontz.com/showthread.php?threadid=127

That will "manually" save the screen, and take any possible trouble with the boot screen editor out of the picture. If that does work, we will go back to trying to figure out what is going on with the boot screen editor, if it does not, then we will get your display back here to check it out.
 

Dr.2K

New member
CF Tech said:
MBM does not use the COM port, so it would not be a factor. It could be that your display has a problem with the EEPROM functionality.

Try using WinTest to do the procedure outlined in the second post of this thread:

https://forum.crystalfontz.com/showthread.php?threadid=127

That will "manually" save the screen, and take any possible trouble with the boot screen editor out of the picture. If that does work, we will go back to trying to figure out what is going on with the boot screen editor, if it does not, then we will get your display back here to check it out.
Well I ran wintest, but it said it could not open any comports. What do I do next?
 

CF Tech

Administrator
WinTest tries to open ports COM1 to COM9. If it complains that it cannot open any com ports, then:

1) all of your COM ports are already opened by other applications
-- or --
2) you have no COM ports
-- or --
3) all of your COM ports are set to numbers greater than COM9

Take a look in device manager to make sure you have COM ports and what theit COMx number is.

Then try to shut down software until WinTest can open the port when you start it.
 

Dr.2K

New member
CF Tech said:
WinTest tries to open ports COM1 to COM9. If it complains that it cannot open any com ports, then:

1) all of your COM ports are already opened by other applications
-- or --
2) you have no COM ports
-- or --
3) all of your COM ports are set to numbers greater than COM9

Take a look in device manager to make sure you have COM ports and what theit COMx number is.

Then try to shut down software until WinTest can open the port when you start it.
Well, in the device manager under com ports it only has the crystalfontz com port 3 opened and I see no other ports listed.
 

CF Tech

Administrator
Then either something already has COM3 open, or the USB driver installation has some trouble.

Is it possible for you to call our tech support?
 

Dr.2K

New member
Sure will do. But first I am going to do a fresh install of windows due to some other issues. Thanks.
 
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