Problems displaying most screens

MestoMix

New member
Hello,

I'm unfortunately having problems displaying most of the screens properly with the new software. I was previously running v1 without any problems whatsoever.

My system:
3.06Ghz Northwood, 512MB, Windows XP SP2, Crystalfontz 634 serial LCD (blue background/white letters) on COM1 at 19200bps.

If for example I add the Crystalfontz logo screen, I see the following for the duration of this screen:

by Crystalfontz America Inc
by Crystalfontz America Inc
by Crystalfontz America Inc
[ ]

The three lines of text scroll from right to left in unison (each line is successively offset by 1 char), while the box on the left side of bottom line blinks every second or so. This may in fact be an illusion, because I can see the Crystalfontz logo very quickly scroll up and out of view when this particular screen is first started.

If I add the "WA Name & Spectrum Anyl" without actually starting the associated plugin in Winamp, I get a mostly legible display, e.g.:

Diplo - Way More
00:00.00 (05:56)
NA

Notice the 3rd line. This is an artifact from the Email Information screen. Now if I enable the plugin in Winamp, the following happens: the spectrum is displayed on lines 2-3 when it should be on lines 3-4. Additionally, the name information is now gone and is replaced by the time information on line 1. As mentioned before, line 2 is the top portion of the spectrum, but there is also some "interference" in that time data is displayed on line 2 every other refresh of the LCD. Line 4 shows a blinking box.

Some of the following screens seem to be OK:
CPU Usage Big Nums
CPU+HDD+MEM+SWP Histogram
Email information (setup for this screen really ought to mask the password though)

I've tried to change COM ports and baud rates but without success. I suspect the source of the problem may lie in my system but I have no idea what it could be (since v1 worked great). Perhaps there are some memory/buffer management issues in the software?

Anyway, I hope my description of the problems is clear. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Martin
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CF Mark

Administrator
Some very weird problems there.

I suggest that you start from scratch and reconfigure CC2.
In the "cc2-service" directory, there will be a lot of INI files.
Stop CrystalControl2, then delete these INI files.
Then open up the CC2 configuration (double click the tray icon), and re-setup your module and screens.
 

MestoMix

New member
I've uninstalled/reinstalled CC2 several times but without success.

I 've also changed the module baud rate to 9600 as well as switched COM ports, but I get the same failure characteristics regardless.

I'm using the the exact hardware and cabling provided with the LCD kit, i.e. serial 634 with a ribbon cable connected to the pass-through bracket. A 9-pin cable then connects to the serial port on my motherboard (Asus P4B533-E).

Thanks for the help,
Martin
 

Tentacle1

New member
Hi, i have got the same problem as the topic starter, with the White/Black 634 serial on Com1 19200 baud.

The wintest worked in my case, but the CC screens are blurred and scrambled. Some seem to work althow the blinking cursor stays in the screen mostly on the bottomleft corner but sometimes on other places on the left.

I made some pictures and placed them here.

Very strange indeed. I hope you can do something about it, as the wintest showed no problems.
 
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MestoMix

New member
Tentacle1,

Thanks for including those pictures--I should have done that in the first place. They show exactly what I'm seeing. It's a bit of a relief to see I'm not the only one with this strange problem. Anyway, I am confident that it can be fixed!

By the way, I've just run WinTest--each demo works perfectly.

Best regards,
Martin
 
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CF Tech

Administrator
At least one of the screens looks like maybe wrap and scroll are on for some reason.

Look at the back of the LCD, what is the version?

Does CC2 depend on the stored EEPROM settingd?
 

MestoMix

New member
The back of my LCD says:
SDK204-634 v2.2
s/n 201836

When I test my bootscreen with the "soft reboot," it says
KD204-634 v2.0.

I have never run this utility until now, but I will try saving a bootscreen to it and see if it affects CC2.

Update:
I modified the bootscreen a few times, and stored all settings to EEPROM, but this had no influence on CC2. I'm not sure if any settings are actually being saved. Whenever I do a soft reboot, I see:

[ logo ] CRYSTALFONTZ
[ logo ] AMERICA, INC.
KD204-634v2.0 19.2kb
www.crystalfontz.com

The screen then goes blank with a cursor in the top left, until I hit the 'OK' button to confirm the boot test. Only then do I see the screen that is represented by the boot screen software.
 
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MestoMix

New member
Admin,

I've been away from home, so I haven't had a chance to zip up the files yet. Since Tentacle1 is experiencing the same exact problem, it should be okay to refer to his files.

I'll include mine as well when I get home.

Thanks,
Martin
 

steigrafx

New member
I have the same or similar problem with my 632.

I noticed MestoMix is running with an ASUS motherboard. So am I (P4C800-E Deluxe, P4 3.2).

Tentacle1, do you happen to be using an ASUS m/b too?
 

CF Mark

Administrator
Thanks.
After looking through those, i cant see an obvious problems.
It must be a core problem with the CC2 service or 632/634 plugin code.

BTW, are you guys using USB or Serial 634s?
 
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