Dash Locks up and can't be closed

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xAPPO
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:24 am

Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by xAPPO »

I am using the latest Dash build 390 with wattvision enabled on Win 7 Pro 64 bit i7 16GB RAM. V4 Pulse meter connection is an FTDI USB using CAT5 UTP pair and cable length about 100m. About every 5 minutes the application completely hangs (not responding) and then most annoyingly you can't quit it - even via Task Manager and trying to 'end process' . There are no errors shown in the Activity panel. Only a complete restart of Windows will work as it locks out the port.

Originally I had tried USB over Ethernet (which I expected to fail) and then my hangs were much more frequent - every minute or so and I was seeing errors like "Bad connection to USB or R....." (truncated in display) and also this dialog 'An unhandled NilObjectException has occurred' but with the direct cable I see no errors at all but I still get the hangs after about 5 minutes. It seems that switching applications exacerbates the issue as the hang mainly happens when the Dash window is not foregrounded.

Is there a later driver aside from the v2.8.24.0 one Windows installs on first USB insertion ? This PC is fairly new and has no other known issues with any app/device.
I've tried another USB FTDI but same issue.
Any ideas ?

K

Update ... Did just see a 'Bad connection to USB message' and a' No response check RS485' but that didn't cause app to hang... when it does hang last activity is always 'Data sent to wattvision.com' I might try disabling that feature.... ..... no it's not that.
Jameson
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by Jameson »

Hello xAPPO,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for using our meters!

Thanks for letting us know. v.390 is kind of a pre-release (did you get it from the all.zip file?). Do you have this same issue with v.383? I would like to narrow down this issue, in case it has to do with the new features of v.390.

Are you using one of our EKM USB to RS-485 converters? v2.08.24 seems to be the latest driver available from FTDI. http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

If you turn off sending data to wattvision.com the EKM Dash still hangs every 5 minutes?

Thanks for your help with this, we will get right on it.

Best regards,
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
xAPPO
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:24 am

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by xAPPO »

Originally I used the version from your usual download link on the website and then when I had the problem I looked for similar posts here and found the 'all' zip - so I think the problem has always been there.

Yes I'm using your EKM converters and turning off wattvision hasn't made a difference. What I have realised is that the 'half used' box of CAT5 I'm using is actually probably nearer to new (305m) and so I'm using a longish length all coiled up. I'll cut down to the 30m or so that I actually need and see if that improves things. I'm sure you'd like to fix the application not being able to quit aspect though as that's really messy.

I'll keep you posted

K
Jameson
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by Jameson »

Thanks for your reply,

305m in length of data wire should not be a problem. We have set up coils of 4000+ feet of CAT5 cable here and can get 1000 out of 1000 good reads. I would also suspect that this would not be causing a stability issue in the EKM Dash software.

Do you have other applications running on your computer that could be interfering? Or do you have limited hard disk space? Just trying to narrow it down so that we can zap this bug more effectively.

We have a test Windows 7 64 bit machine here that I will setup to see if I can reproduce this.

Thanks for any insights you might have.
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
Jameson
Posts: 860
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by Jameson »

Hello,

Just out of curiosity, which COM port is the USB converter becoming on your Windows 7 64 bit computer? Is it COM3 or COM4? Or something else?

I am not seeing the issue you are here on our Windows 7 64 bit machine.

Thanks,
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
xAPPO
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:24 am

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by xAPPO »

This is a fairly new machine ,lots of HD space (SSD) and few apps. Running Chrome and Remote Destop sessions mainly, another .net app. I removed all other USB devices and closed any serial port apps but still the same. it is curious it always fails after the last activity entry of the wattvision update but when you disable wattvision it still fails.

I have just tried running it with no meter activity at all but I expect that will stay running. It's the backgrounding when I use Chrome that it doesn't seem to like. It is connected on COM6. I have another V4 meter and another Win7 64 bit PC that I'll try when I get some time to try and narrow it down.

K
xAPPO
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:24 am

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by xAPPO »

I may be onto something - I've gone a couple of hours now with no hang - I do periodically (maybe 1 in 25) see a "Bad connection to USB or R.." message but the app seems solid....

I've stopped a couple of apps from running .. Skype and Bing Wallpaper but the more likely culprit is my early Xmas present - the new Logitech T620 touch mouse which uses their new USB Unifying radio receiver designed to handle multiple peripherals. I've now just turned the mouse off and reverted to my previous one and it seems to have fixed it.... which kinda ties in with the foreground/background switching which would have had mouse activity. Curiously when I installed this USB receiver I think I saw some FTDI message flash up .. this was before I installed the EKM RS-485 interface drivers. There are 12 peripheral drivers installed by the Logitech receiver ... but 9 of them use Microsoft drivers.. I can't however now see an FTDI one..

I'll keep you posted..

Arrrrgh - the instant I posted this it's hung again :-(
Jameson
Posts: 860
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by Jameson »

xAPPO,

We wanted to make sure that you have downloaded the latest version of the EKM Dash (v0.405). This version has some major improvements to the stability of running on Windows 7 64 bit. Here is the EKM Dash page: http://www.ekmmetering.com/ekmdash

If you run the latest version and find any issues at all, please be sure to let us know.

Thanks and best regards,
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
xAPPO
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:24 am

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by xAPPO »

Thanks for the heads up on the new version which I've just downloaded. Seems to be running well and haven't had any errors or lockups yet.

I'd just ordered an Ethernet interface in case it was related to the USB drivers.... I know you're really efficient at shipping but if by any chance it hasn't left yet can you hold the order perhaps whilst I try the new version. InvID 100002590

I'll post here again in a day or so..

Kevin
xAPPO
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:24 am

Re: Dash Locks up and can't be closed

Post by xAPPO »

The new version seems really stable - whatever you fixed seems to have been the thing that was causing the issue. Thanks.

Forget holding the Ethernet interface order - it's arrived today ... you're just too efficient ;)

K
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