AirNav Systems Forum
AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com => AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com Discussion => Topic started by: Jordan on June 30, 2009, 04:41:21 PM
-
does it only happen to me that every once in a while the software shows that the hardware got disconncted although its still connected?
when it says that, the USB LED blinking evey second and i am not touching a thing..
basiclly all i need to do is to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable, but im afraid that if ill do it every time its giving me this error it would give the box an electric shock everytime and it will be destroyed...
if it matters, it is connected (and generally working great) to a laptop
its been happening to me ever since i bought it last week.
thx for your help.
-
Not sure what you mean about the electric shock. Don't worry about that.
If your getting disconnects with your laptop make sure the RB is getting enough power in the USB port and also trying changing the USB cable and see whether that works better.
-
I thought about the power thing as well, but then again, if its working for a long time with no problem, why would it suddenly have a problem with the power?
and if you say that there is no worries about disconnecting and reconnecting thats great.
-
Jordan,
Are you running RB on a laptop or a desktop PC?
Dose RB disconnect whilst you are using the PC, or old when you leave the PC alone for a while?
-
Its on a laptop.
well i have the laptop right next to my PC, and most of the time im just looking at it without touching...does it have anything to do with it?
-
Yes, indeed it could. The laptop might have a power saving function that switches off or reduces the power to the USB ports afer a period of what it sees as inactivity. Such power saving can also switch off laptop monitors and/or stop the HD from spinning too.
-
the thing is, that as "plugged in" its not suppose to turn off anything, only when it on batteries, and at home its always plugged in.
-
Are you sure about this? Are you running Vista or XP?
I've never had an issue with my laptops, but I'm sure I remember people here talking about BIOS settings as well as the standard Windows power saving settings.
The test here really is - does the disconnection happen if you are using your laptop rather than just watching it?
-
very sure i made those settings myself..and rechked now. its XP.
basiclly its not actually an issue, becasue its not that it works slow or anything like that (the refresh rate is the quickest, 100ms). this is the only "problem" (its just more annoying then actually a problem)
-
OK, just confirm that you have right clicked on the Windows desktop, selected Properties > Screen saver > Power > selected 'Always on' and made sure that all options are set to 'Never'.
I can't remember what was said about the BIOS settings, somebody else will have to jump in here.
Plan B is to try a different USB cable. Just confirm that you are using the standard length USB cable and that you are not using an extender or USB hub?
-
Does sound like power saving on the internal USB hub. Check in device manager whether the option to "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is ticked for the USB hub the Radarbox is plugged in to. If so, untick it. It's normally ticked by default on most laptops.
-
OK, just confirm that you have right clicked on the Windows desktop, selected Properties > Screen saver > Power > selected 'Always on' and made sure that all options are set to 'Never'.
I can't remember what was said about the BIOS settings, somebody else will have to jump in here.
Plan B is to try a different USB cable. Just confirm that you are using the standard length USB cable and that you are not using an extender or USB hub?
it is connected straight to the laptop..and yes standard.
Does sound like power saving on the internal USB hub. Check in device manager whether the option to "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is ticked for the USB hub the Radarbox is plugged in to. If so, untick it. It's normally ticked by default on most laptops.
couldnt find that setting choice there, never worked great with that device manager..
-
Hi Jordan
I found that any kind of flourescent lighting can trip my RB over.
Without fail every time I switch the one on in my loft near to it, it will disconnect.
Whether it's the emissions from the tube itself or even the power circuitry nearby, it does effect it.
Just a thought anyway.
A TV remote I once had used to set my wireless doorbell off, there's a lot of stuff out there in the ether!
-
couldnt find that setting choice there, never worked great with that device manager..
Its on the Power Management tab. In Device Manager, expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section. In there, you'll find one or more USB Root Hub entries. Right click each one, and Properties. Then go to the Power Management tab, and untick the box to not allow the power to be turned off.
I had exactly the same problem on my NC10 laptop. Solved by unticking as described.
-
Ok unticked them all, thx a lot hope this will sort it out!
t1mb0, the flourescent didnt make any problems so far (and thats what i have in my room)
-
Also having problems.
Tried this, no help - However mine is doing this when im on my laptop aswell as when it is on in the night :S
Any Ideas?
Thanks.
-
Would like to also add that over time, this has become much more frequent, to the point where im not using Radar Box because it will do this. It happens in all my USB ports.
-
Try changing the USB lead, that maybe the issue here also make sure the USB lead is not near any high powered lights or anything else which may have some electrical interference.
-
Thanks Support - Great assistance as always.
Just had a thought. There is a large distance between the box and the laptop, A large "dangling" distance, as the cable is not resting on anything. Could this cause this?
Thanks again.
Jonjo
-
The dangling should not be an issue. How big is the distance though?
-
At a guess, 120cm. I will try and decrease the dangling, but it looks like I need a new USB cable.
Thanks anyway :),
Jonjo
-
ok the problem is not solved, its still happening...
-
Sorry to dig up the topic, but would just like to report that this became so bad the RB was unusable. I have replaced the USB cable and have not had a problem since :)
Thanks,
Jonjo
-
Hi Paul
I wouldn't worry about the USB cable - they are usually perfectly OK. If you are unlucky enough to get a faulty one, they are very cheap to buy, but your dealer should replace it if it is faulty, otherwise AirNav should help ;-)
PLEASE get a RadarBox and share your flights on the Network - that will fill an important gap in our coverage! Are you near Keflavik?
Rod
-
Paul - have you read this thread: http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=606.0 (http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=606.0)?
I know its biased, but it may help you!
Rod
-
I had the hardware disconnecting problem for about six months - this was using the USB cable supplied by RB. I went through all the suggestions posted on this thread (and more) - no difference whatsoever. in desperation I used a USB cable that came with my Canon digital camera. Not had a problem since and that was about 2 months ago. Draw your own conclusions !
-
Hi Paul, - NO CONTEST - RB everytime, and you get fantastic support in here, without labels on top of each-other!
Replacement USB to USB mini cables available at Maplin Electronics.
-
RadarBox: very nice screen layout
SBS1: possibility via patch and additional software to see mil aircraft (Mlat)
(in areas with more SBS1 users)
-
Hi Paul
You'll naturally get a lot of RadarBox supporters here. But I have both the SBS-1 and ANRB. They do the same job differently.
Maybe look at other forums and see what others think?
-
for the hardware unconnected issue, which I get, I run a scheduled Windows task (say every hour) that runs 'devcon' (available from Microsoft) to disable and enable the usb device. This brings it back to life.
It's a pain but I have leaned to live with it.
If you need any assistance with devcon(basically it does everything device manager does in windows, only programmatically, but it can be a bit tricky finding the deviceID to pass to devcon) send me a message.
-
Before solving the problem by replacing the USB cable on my PC I also considered using Devcon - but doing so is surely a case a fixing the symptom rather than the cause isn't it ? if you're happy with that then great - but you are still going to lose flight data from the time the ANRB disconnects until the time Devcon reconnects it - potentially this could be a data loss of anything up to an hour in each hour. I guess you could set it reconnect at shorter intervals, but I'm not sure this is the right way to tackle the problem.
-
totally agree, thats why i said i have learned to live with it.
I will be waiting a long time before the issue is fixed, whatever it's cause.
If you're bothered about losing data then yes, disable/enable as often as you see fit.
What is better, coming back to your RB finding it disconnected, or coming back and finding it connected having been 'off-air' for 15 minutes in the previous hour?