Can't get much to work on the 633 but the demo, which "just works" Using WinXP

Q

Quadphile

New member
Can't get much to work on the 633 but the demo, which "just works" Using WinXP

A while back I got my 633. I played with it a bit and was unsuccessfull in getting it to work. Since i was getting a new computer soon I wasn't willing to put more than the 2 night's effort into it. I could get the fans to change rpm and the backlight to change. Never got the text to work.

The USB serial port is com3, 9600baud...which was default from the install which didn't go terribly well (had the display plugged in before installing drivers)

Here's what I want to do:
Use MBM5 to measure fan speeds, and temperatures if possible. as far as i know, the service handles this.

Use Crystal Control to put text on the screen, winamp song title, ram, cpu usage.

Smart fan control based on the temp sensors connected to the 633. Since I don't have the sensors yet it would be nice to manually crank them down...as well with the sensors it would be nice to have an "off" temperature. The service also should handle this.


Can we start from the beginning here, and let me know what help files i should read as this thing is really testing my patience!

Thanks
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Q

Quadphile

New member
Wintest works fine

Wintest for the CFA-633 works fine, fan control, RPM monitoring and text on the screen, even that live display of RPM on the lcd. I notice that Wintest says COM3 (where the LCD is connected) is labeled as busy until I end task the service.

As well, the baud rate in Wintest does not match the baud in Crystalfontz CFA-633-USB (com3) in device manager. The port properties in device manager is 9600 where Wintest is 19200.

Lastly I'm having difficulty with my power-on circuit, the motherboard header for the power switch needs to be driven HIGH, other than that I can troubleshoot it from there. The power button is supposedly 5Vsb on one pin and then the power button on the other.

Issues:
1. Can't get anything besides Wintest to work (may be running conflicting programs at the same time??)
2. ATX power control doesn't work. I have read the data sheet and closed jp9 and opened jp8 (or was it the other way around? Don't have the data sheet with me here).
 
CF Tech

CF Tech

Administrator
If Wintest is open, nothing else can access the LCD.

Since Wintest works OK, then the hardware is good.

The settings in device manager do not really matter, any program will override the device manager settings when it initializes the COM port. Those settings are left over from old DOS COM port redirects.

Setting up the ATX stuff is somewhat complex to set up. Let's get the software issues resolved, then open up a new thread and we will work through the ATX setup. It is all in the manual too.
 
Q

Quadphile

New member
I agree, about the atx power control. So, let's get the fan controller, mbm and lcd text working. where do i start? right now the 633-monitor process and crystal control 2 are installed and run when the system boots. Wintest will not work until i end-task the process, since it seems to tie up the port.

My understanding of things was that the process handles fans, and crystal control handles the text.
 
D

daks001

New member
Quadphile said:
I agree, about the atx power control. So, let's get the fan controller, mbm and lcd text working. where do i start? right now the 633-monitor process and crystal control 2 are installed and run when the system boots. Wintest will not work until i end-task the process, since it seems to tie up the port.

My understanding of things was that the process handles fans, and crystal control handles the text.
Click to expand...
What screens do you have set up in CC2? What do you have working right now and what do you want to change / add in CC2?
 
CF Tech

CF Tech

Administrator
Quadphile said:
. . . Wintest will not work until i end-task the process, since it seems to tie up the port . . .
Click to expand...
Yep. That is expected. WinTest is only to make sure everything is hooked up OK.

Right now, to get the fan control going, you have to edit some INI files. That is kind of out of my area of expertise. We are working on a GUI that will make it much easier. For now, it cna be done but the INI needs to be set up by hand.

I think one of the beta testers that has done this can point you the thread and give you a hand with setting up the INIs.
 
Q

Quadphile

New member
I have wintest working ok, i have the 633 service installed as well as CC2. neither the service or CC2 seem to work at all.

want:

-fan control
-lcd to work
-atx power on to work (will deal with this a little later in a new thread if I need it, i notice there's an option in the service to enable atx power features. ATX power probably doesn't work because i can't get the service to work first)
-Motherboard montor to read temps and fan speeds



-i currently don't have the thermal sensors, until I get them it would be nice to have manual control of them. so far i have been booting, running wintest to set the fans, and then closing it, which leaves the fans running at the set speed.




can we go in baby steps to verify functionality here, moreover is it even possible to run CC2 and the service together? or does CC2 look after the fans too? Am i even using the right program here, I downloaded CC2 from the CC2 website. the service i googled for since it was used for a review i read from a while back...the article was written probably a year ago now.

If i could get a link to instructions, and you let me know where certain checkpoints are..."follow instructions here, and it should do this" and i can get back what happens. I really believe I'm stuck on a low level here (vs the higher, software level, it seems easy enough).

You can see what i've tried on the picture attached. for some reason CC2 says its stopped and refuses to start.
 
J

jc634

Administrator
OK,

Let's start and check everything.

1. Is the service running? Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Look for a service named CC2Service. Is is Started and set for Automatic Startup Type?

If so, the service is running. Assumming it is running...

2. Next, is the CC2 icon in the lower right of the task bar red (stopped) or blue (running)? Or is it there at all? I will assume that it is there.

3. Double click on the icon and bring up the CC2 configuration screen. Upper left is a window titled LCD Module Selection. Is your 633 listed here? If not, click on the Add New button and add the 633. Make sure it uses the COM3 port and that the Communications speed is set (19200 or 115200, I am not sure which is correct for you module, depends on FW version). Click on the ADD/Modify Module. The 633 should now show up .

4. Add a simple screen. Click on the Insert New Screen. A nice simple one that does not require any "massaging" is the time/date screen. PIck it and hit OK. Click on the Restart CrystalControl2 button at the bottom right. Wait a bit for CC2 to restart.

At this point, you should see the time/date screen on the 633. If not, then you may have to change the communications speed. And try again.

Let us know how this goes and we can get other screens and fan control working after that.

Jim
 
CF Tech

CF Tech

Administrator
When you say ". . . I have the 633 service installed as well as CC2 . . ", that worries me.

CC1 was a user mode program only. We later added on a "633 service" that ran underneath CC1 that would control the fans. That "633 service" is not used with CC2, and will conflict by opening the port.

CC2 is at its heart a service always. That CC2 service works with a couple of user mode programs (the control tray applet and the GUI). This collection of three programs is referred to as "CC2".

If you have the "Crystalfontz 633 Service" in your list of services, you will want to set it to disabled and stopped, then re-start CC2. Or better yet, uninstall the 633 service.
 
Q

Quadphile

New member
Ok, i've got crystal control 2 working. The problem was i was end-tasking cc2_service.exe to gain access to the port so I could control the fans with wintest.

I have Crystal Control working correctly now. Now what do I do to get control of the fans and the ATX power buttons to work...let me know where to post thse questions as a new thread suits them best.

It would appear that starting the service resets the fan control settings from wintest. (If i set the fans and close wintest the fans stay at the set speed...this also worries me because shouldn't the watchdog kick in and default the fans to full bore???).

Will/is there a plugin for CC2 that can handle the fans and temp sensors? That's the big issue, have a fan controller and lcd...kill two birds with one stone! It would also be nice to get the temp and rpm interfaced into moherboard monitor...I heard this could be done with the 633 a while back, but it was unclear what software was used.

BTW, the cpu usage bargraph is cool! I'll see how the other features work, but most likely LCDStudio's being replaced! (it hangs the compuer when booting for a minute, cpu usage sitting at nothing...I have two comuters, one with this 633 and the other with an HD44780 i think it was)
 
C

CF Mark

Administrator
Quadphile said:
I have Crystal Control working correctly now. Now what do I do to get control of the fans and the ATX power buttons to work...let me know where to post thse questions as a new thread suits them best.
Click to expand...
There will be a CC2 update soon that will cover fan control and temp sensors.
 
Q

Quadphile

New member
Where should I watch for the update that will address fan/temp features of the 633? (I've finally got the display running properly, and ATX fcns working...now to get the ability to have fan control at the same time as using the display (starting the service reboots the display and the fans go 100% again)

Right now I like CC2 enough to leave it alone now that its working, but I am unable to have it running because the fan noise is a higher priority than the display
 
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