Patch 2 issue (DaveG)

[DaveG]

Hi Support,

Decided it best to create a new thread and maybe easy to follow.

Okay current status.

Installed clean CD & Drivers  (still installs as "USB Serial Converter"
hardware did not connect & no blue USB light lit)

Copied 1.1 patch into folder
tried firmware update - device not found

Copied 1.2 files into folder
Tried updating device driver "USB Serial Converter" to 1.2
result:  "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware"

Driver is still reported as the FTDI Ltd 2.00.00 one.

-------------------

Looking at the inf file I notice that the PID & VID's are set as
VID_0403
PID_BB80

The driver is using
VID_0403
PID_6001


What is more strange, when I run the FTDI Uninstall, it reports removing VID_0403&PID_6001

Not sure if it means anything but worth noting I thought!

-------------------------------

Really am lost now, no idea what to try next!

[Roadrunner]

Dave,

Can you get it back to how it was on initial installation from the disc?

I completely removed all trace of my original RB using uninstall from Add/remove programs, deleting manually anything left and removed the drivers from the original installation by using the uninstall option in Device management area. I had RB connected to USB while I did this

I then reloaded from the original disc with mine but did not connect RB or install the drivers. I then uploaded the latest patch and copied the files to the relevant locations. I also noticed that their is in the Drivers folder, a sub folder named Out - this appears to have a copy of the driver as well (in my case the older drivers). So with nothing to loose I deleted this older driver so it did not exist.

I then connected the RB and went through the Device manager route again to update drivers. When it got to the Have disc screen I could only see the .INF file but I cicked open and it took me back to the other screen - so rather than click have disc again i clicked on the line of entry available which was Airnav and low and behold it loaded.

As you know you have helped me out in the past as my computer skills are rubbish. try this it worked for me and I even repeated this on my mian PC with SBS1 running in the background! with no prblems. I also had both systems running on thew same PC for a little while but it did not seem to cause any problems.....

[AirNav Support]

Ok, checking through any support queries we have had one other customer email us about a similar issue (as Doro is now resolved) however we have not heard back from the customer since yesterday so he may have resolved it as well.

We have had about 20 installs of the beta version so far without any issues. If this is not conflict with drivers with SBS or an Icom radio can anyone confirm whether they are using the latest beta on Vista?

[Roadrunner]

My Laptop and Desktop are both running XP

[DaveG]

okay after many tries today and clearing out old files etc & rebooting before each try....

Nothing...   No way can I get a connection to the box, blue light is out!
When drivers (from CD) do install they install as "USB Serial Converter" then 1.2 drivers cant be used to update as it says wrong hardware etc.

Lost, cant think of anything else to try.  Looks like a black paper weight on the desk at the moment :(

Whatever is the problem it is in the 1.2 drivers or firmware update, as the box worked before that, given the issues we know about (lockup and disconnects)

So 1.2 has introduced something that is the problem.  If it is with the ICOM, then FTDI must know about it, but icom & RB works okay together before 1.2.

Could it be in the firmware, hence why I cant load any drivers now!

One main question...

If the Box is now at Firmware 1.2, and the only way to get the driver for 1.2 installed is by updating the 1.0/1.1 how is this possible if now driver are installed?  As you cant seem to get 1.0 or 1.1 working if box is at 1.2 firmware.  Anyway just guessing as I've no idea :(

I'll await some info from Airnav.

Hope everyone else has a trouble free upgrade (I mean that) and prove that 1.2 fixed previous issues.

Last but not least:  As other are using 1.2 RB & SBS-1 I guess there is no clash here, but is anyone else got ICOM software installed with USB Connections?

Cheers
Dave

[HH]

Hi DaveG,

sorry for you that you didn't get it running for now.

MAYBE the "USB serial converter" entry in the device manager means that the firmware upgrade failed. Why? Because the FTDI-Chip used in the RB does nothing else then converting data from the microcontroller from serial to USB format. That's because USB data is much more complex then serial data was (as used with RS232 i.e.) and the conversion is outsourced from the microcontroller to the ftdi-chip.

So my guess is, that the drivers recognize the ftdi-chip by saying "USB serial converter" but due to failed firmware upgrade there is no connection to the main RB microcontroller which would identify with "AirNav Radarbox" to the device manager.

Just a guess but maybe it helps.

Markus

[DaveG]

cheers HH,

Before I do this, does that mean if I install the box in my main PC (Vista) and it work firmware is proved to be good?  (guess it would)

Will await reply before I start testing again!

[palmar]

"USB serial converter" is the default descriptor that comes with the original USB connection to a FTDI chip. It seems RB uses a descriptor "Airnav Radarbox". SBS-1 e.g. uses "Beavis".

If you still see "USB serial converter" your FTDI chip EEPROM inside the box has most likely lost its "Airnav" descriptor and the customized VID/PID. The Airnav installation routine then cannot identify your box as RB anymore and a set of SBS or ICOM or even default drivers is pulled from somewhere. (Just a guess)

It is also to note that the ftdi....sys and ftdi...dll files seem to have significantly changed from the "public" FTDI/SBS/ICOM version. Whether they are customized in a way that they support RB only is a question to be answered by AN. For the DLLs the search path is local exe folder first, so it may make sense to place these there in order not to confuse other applications. For the sys file there is no work around though, I believe.

[DaveG]

okay tried on a fresh PC. (Vista)

Same results as other PC (XP)

So does this say the original Firmware update failed?  When it did the update (after drivers) the firmware connected to the box okay and displayed the window that said version number and sat there for 10 mins whilst I had no idea if it was doing anything !!  see previous post in other thread.

Okay if we say the firmware has failed, question now is how to recover or reflash the firmware, guess this is question to AN.

[AirNav Support]

You should have been able to flash back to version 1.1 however if the firmware on there has got corrupted then the firmware updater won't recognise it. Which is the error you are getting when you try that.

Gonna get our hardware guys tomorrow to have look and see whether anything can be done. Otherwise RTB and we will send you another. Hold on though till our hardware guys confirm tomorrow as they will have a better idea.

[HH]

cheers HH,

Before I do this, does that mean if I install the box in my main PC (Vista) and it work firmware is proved to be good?  (guess it would)

Will await reply before I start testing again!

YOU did it DaveG ;)

You finally solved at least my questions why my installation on 2 PCs were that notchy.

I have a laptop and desktop where I installed AirNav Radarbox and a third which I didn't upgrade with the beta 1.2.

On BOTH PCs where I upgraded the RB I have Garmin Software (Mapsource). For the connection to my Garmin GPSMAP with Mapsource I remember there were special USB drivers installed (with FTDI chips you have the possibility to assign special IDs for password or authorization purposes).

OK. Now I have another quite clean PC for testing purposes. No Garmin on that or any other stuff like that. Guess...

Upgrade with ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS beside giving other locations for the drivers which I finally pointed to the Airnav Directory/Drivers (btw I never had the dialogues which were described by AirNav Support with the other 2 PCs, but used to Windows I fumbled through nevertheless).

Running the software was also ok, beside unplugging the Box after starting the software first and then restarting the software.

So my guess is, it might be quite obvious why some have those problems. It might be other ftdi-drivers for certain software. If you have a PC with no SBS, iCom or Garmin or other USB connected gadgets that might be the right machine to test another installation.

Markus

UPDATE: The problems might be isolated to USB devices which needs passwords/ authorization. SBS and Garmin need them, I'm not sure about iCom.

[DaveG]

You should have been able to flash back to version 1.1 however if the firmware on there has got corrupted then the firmware updater won't recognise it. Which is the error you are getting when you try that.

Gonna get our hardware guys tomorrow to have look and see whether anything can be done. Otherwise RTB and we will send you another. Hold on though till our hardware guys confirm tomorrow as they will have a better idea.

Okay thanks shall await more info.

Raises one other question that will/may affect me and others....  Will this unit work with other equipment on the same PC using FTDI drivers?  If not that will be a major problem...

[Roadrunner]

You should have been able to flash back to version 1.1 however if the firmware on there has got corrupted then the firmware updater won't recognise it. Which is the error you are getting when you try that.

Gonna get our hardware guys tomorrow to have look and see whether anything can be done. Otherwise RTB and we will send you another. Hold on though till our hardware guys confirm tomorrow as they will have a better idea.

Dave, when I updated mine on the laptop I found I did not need to re-run the Firmware upgrade again on the Main PC. just get to the right driver and then have the new ANRB.Exe.

[DaveG]

Dave, when I updated mine on the laptop I found I did not need to re-run the Firmware upgrade again on the Main PC. just get to the right driver and then have the new ANRB.Exe.

Trouble is, I cant get a hardware connection as drivers will not install, so no firmware can see the box.

[AirNav Support]

DaveG:

I don't think you can make a generalization like that yet as customers have posted and emailed who said it worked fine using other FTDI drivers for SBS.

Having two drivers should not affect each other as they are being used for different devices. We don't seem to have a definite conflict with a definite OS or device yet. Lots of our test PCs have lots of drivers for USB devices and no problem so far. Its looking more like a firmware corruption or the unit failed at wrong time.