LM-1 no connection

[JCD]

Hi folks,

I will need my Nistune board in the near future but I’m having trouble with my Innovate LM-1 controller.
The only setup where it is possible to connect to a PC is on my old laptop COM1 port.

As I would like to replace that with a new one, I started testing the LM-1 on another PC at home.
It’s not new neither and it runs Windows XP.
I thought I’d start there because it has a COM1 port as well.
I can’t have Logworks connecting to the LM-1.
On the laptop the settings of the COM1 are 19200bps, 8 databits, no parity, 1 stopbit, flow control Xon/Xoff.
I’ve set the COM1 on the desktop similar.
Every time it’s giving a popup telling “LM Datalogger Application has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
Although the LM-1 display changes from “No Sensor Power Connected” to “Serial Interface”.

Then I acquired a USB to Serial adapter.
On the box it mentions FTDI.
With the USBview.exe from the Nistune website I can see “idVendor: 0x0403 (Future Technology Devices International Limited)”.
The same here – no connection and Logworks closes.

I tried on a more recent desktop with Windows 10 but it’s just the same.
Downloaded and installed a fesh version of Logworks as well.
I tried altering settings, even the advanced ones like buffer times but to no avail.

Then I’ve been watching at the TXD and RXD signals on the COM 9-pin connector with the oscilloscope.
In the situation where it works (Logworks on the laptop) I can see a repetitive pulse train of 500us on TXD and the data coming in on the RXD in repetitive pulse trains of 10ms, and this during about 2 minutes untill all data has been transferred.
In all other setups these pulse trains are there as well but only once.
There is some polarity change on RTS in all setups but there is action on the DTR pin only in the working setup.

I still can’t figure out if this is a hardware problem or a software problem.
Is there anyone here that has experience with this or that could shed a light on this.
I’m starting to see hammers and angle grinders when I close my eyes
Am I getting too old for this?

[Matt]

This seems like a question for the Innovate forums. When you attempt connection from Logworks it will stream connection requests to the LM/LC and that will then start replying

It seems like your PCs are not seeing the replies at a guess. I'm not sure why they are not working on both PCs. Does Nistune work even though logworks doesn't?

Serial port settings inside windows should not matter, since that is done by logworks inside their software (baud rate etc)

Only can suggest trying another type of FTDI converter cable?

[JCD]

Hi Matt,

I'm not much further yet.
I posted the issue on the contacts page of the Innovate website and a friendly chap from Autometer.com replied that There unfortunately is not a way to get your Windows 10 computer to talk to the LC1.
That might explain the issue with my W10 desktop but not with the XP one.

Only can suggest trying another type of FTDI converter cable?

For peace of mind I bought the Innovate #3733 COM-to-USB adapter but that did not solve any issue.

When you attempt connection from Logworks it will stream connection requests to the LM/LC and that will then start replying
It seems like your PCs are not seeing the replies at a guess

I had a look with the scope on the TXD and RXD lines (oldscool).
On the old laptop when all works it is the case like you say. Question answer from LM-1 and this for about a minute untill all data is transferred.

20201018_095610a.jpg

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In the case when it doesn't work I see the same but only one occurence. So one question, one reply and then nothing.

Serial port settings inside windows should not matter, since that is done by logworks inside their software (baud rate etc)

This is not the case in the situation where it doen't work. I adjust then these settings manually.

The version of Logworks on the old laptop (where connection to the LM-1 is possible) might be different than the one on the desktop.
I'll verify this later on this week.

[Matt]

It goes back to the PC sends the LC-1 data request once, and then it gets a response, but the PC is not seeing the response

Interesting that the Windows baud rate settings are being used by logworks program. However the drivers might be the actual issue. It's almost like the RX line on the PC isn't seeing anything.

I would suggest running a terminal sniffer program in the middle. Something like 'device monitoring studio'

Also another thing you can try is get a DB9 connector and connect RX and TX together. Then use a terminal program to send TX data, and you should see it come back in RX. See the AEM section of this forum for the terminal program we use there

[JCD]

The issue is solved now.

On my laptop I have Logworks 3.07 and this works with the LM-1 and Windows XP.
On the desktop I downloaded the last version of Logworks which is the 3.38 and this doesn’t work with the LM-1 and XP.
I installed 3.07 on the desktop and it’s fine with both the COM port and the USB via an adapter.
Next step now is to look for a new laptop.

Thanks to Max from Autometer for helping me with the software version and thank you Matt for your support and for still being here for your customers after all these years

[Matt]

Yes many years!

This threw me off with Windows XP (and that newer version being an issue on XP):

I tried on a more recent desktop with Windows 10 but it’s just the same. Downloaded and installed a fesh version of Logworks as well.

Nistune still runs on windows XP (newer installer packages don't support it) but not many other programs do. Pity, since it is quite quick compared to Win10 etc. Anyway good you got it sorted