490 replies to this topic

[NailBuster]

i don't think its a good idea putting a 5 second delay after opening the comport as default for all teensy because wemos may need it... mine works without any delay.  why a 5 second delay?  that may screw up Popper front end (maybe others)....  

 

so there are differences and there should be settings for weMos driver (like delay value)... etc.  shouldn't touch the teensy driver.

[Joppnl]

Can I ask your support for this?

My setup is DOF with an original LEDWIZ board for the output. Everything works fine, both VPX, PBX etc.

 

Now I want to install MJR's dof version, latest release March '18

 

I downloaded the R3 pack, upzipped it and copied it all to my standard DOF folder. Checked all files for being blocked but that's ok.

Running a table: no DOF.

Then I downloaded the seperate ledwiz.dll ,  copied it into the DOF folder, checked it for being blocked, that's ok, but...running a table, no DOF.

When I right-click on the backglass I do see the check-box 'enable plug-in's  ' checked (no change in that) but I can not activate the box 'Plugin Settings' as it is greyed-out.
 

With the working DOF this box is click-able to see various options.

So...it looks like that VPX is not loading the new R3 DOF -thing-  but here my knowledge stops.

I tried to find DirectOutput.log but it's not on my PC, tried to find GlobalConfig_B2SServer.xml but that's also not on my PC.

And btw: when I copied the R3 DOF to my existing DOF folder I did restore the Config subfolder for the dof-table configs etc.

I do not have a KLZ connected to the PC yet as I first want to make it work with the existing LEDWIZ.

Any thoughts what I can do next?   (I know there is a .msi installer but I'm a little afraid to use it within my working setup....)

Or...is it not possible to have a LEDWIZ with this R3++ software?  (may-be the software wants to define the KLZ as virtual ledwiz #1, overwriting an existing ledwiz config??)

Edit: lhe new-ledtester as comes with the package does work, can put on/off various lights including blinking ans sawtooth options etc.

Thank you!

Edited by Joppnl, 02 June 2018 - 10:52 AM.

[Outhere]

Did you re-Register the -- RegisterDirectOutputComObject.exe

[Joppnl]

Good suggestion:

 

did double click on it --> Window error message (#100 but no message)

Run it as admin:  that worked but...starting VPX...no DOF.

Rebooted cab, run VPX, still no DOF.

 

Thanks for the support!

 

[Rappelbox]

My personal suggestion would be to use the installer, I mean it’s not working anyways at the moment

[Outhere]

Rappelbox is right

Delete The old one and install

[Joppnl]

well...

.it is working with the current setup and I do not want to scr*w things up as I'm not that a computer specialist that I am sure to revert it back to the current (working) situation...

Therefore I want to do it step-by step as Mike is suggesting that is possible on his info page....

 

 

(but using the installer can be a (final) option...)

Edited by Joppnl, 02 June 2018 - 12:12 PM.

[mjr]

Joppnl - debugging manual DOF installs is always a nightmare, so I'd second/third what everyone else has said and give the SETUP installer a try.  Hopefully that'll untangle it for you.  If you're dead-set on doing it manually, did you try following my rewrite of the manual procedure, here?:

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...ide.php?sid=DOF

 

In answer to this specific question:

 

> Or...is it not possible to have a LEDWIZ with this R3++ software?

 

Yes, it's perfectly fine to use an LedWiz.  This is most definitely not a Pinscape-only version; it just adds Pinscape support alongside all of the other devices.

[Joppnl]

Thank you for the support..!

 

Well.... I took a deep breath...and dived in:

 

- deleted my current DirectOutput folder (it is in d:\program files\visual pinball\)

- used the msi installer from March

- used the same new location ( d:\program files\visual pinball\DirectOutput)
- end of install

Tested it....no DOF.

Then I went through all the steps as possible error on the instruction page:

 

- Activate plugins box --> not possible

- Check the DirectOutput shortcut --> check: double click on the shortcut brings me to de DirectOutput dir

- Make absolutely sure that you've unblocked every file --> check, double check, recheck, even checked the .exe files

- Search your entire hard disk of Direct Output --> only 1 b2sserver dll in the tables directory where also the exe is

- deleting everything in your Direct Output  --> started with it

 

Now...... what I found out is that....after this .msi automatic install: if I copy the old DirectOutput.dll to the one which the installer installs (overwriting it) then everything works so...total msi install but only using the old .dll

To me that means the system and installation and unblocking etc is ok, just something else is weird.... but...as I might be the only one around having this problem may-be it's not worth-while looking into it and for me, I do have a working DOF (however, not the latest .dll and thereby missing the functionality with the klz integration).

Just some more info: the working .dll I have is dated 19-10-2016 and 548kB   and before installing this R3++ DOF I went the 'old way' as we did before.

Thank you for your attention!
 

[mjr]

- used the same new location ( d:\program files\visual pinball\DirectOutput)

 

Ah, there's your problem.  It's the spaces in the folder name.  The newer DOF DLLs have a dependency on loading a secondary DLL (extensions.dll), and for reasons that I haven't figured out, the .Net DLL loader seems to be unable to load the dependencies properly if there's a space anywhere in the path name.  (There's probably some more complex rule than "space in the path name", but from other people's troubleshooting that seems to be the common element.)

 

I should probably change the MSI so that it at least warns and possibly flat out refuses to install if there's a space in the path.  But I'm still not completely convinced that's the exact rule because some people have run into problems with other paths that don't have spaces in them.

 

If possible, reinstall DOF in C:\DirectOutput (just like that, with no spaces anywhere in the name).  That seems to be the safest bet.  If you can't use C: for some reason, you might try D:\DirectOutput as the next best, but I've heard from at least one person who couldn't even get it working on a different drive - it had to be exactly C:\DirectOutput on his machine.  But that doesn't seem to be common - what is universal is the space-in-the-name problem.

[Joppnl]

Well..

 

well....well.... 

tried it again and.........

 

   


I did read about the non-spaces comment but I was reading that the directory itself shouldn't contain spaces and as 'DirectOutput' does not contain any spaces.......  


So....tried it both on c|\  and on d:\   and both do work perfectly (but....then I forgot to copy the contains of the config file where all the table specific info is stored...%$#@%!!!!  but after that: all ok!

Thank you for your support Mike, thanks for  solving this issue!        

[mjr]

Well..

 

well....well.... 

tried it again and.........

 

   

 

Wonderful!

 

I really do have to add the name check in the installer so that people don't keep running into this.  Or better yet, maybe I can just get rid of that extra DLL and hopefully solve the underlying problem.  Swisslizard broke up the DLL into two parts to make the source code structure cleaner, which was a nice thought, but it sure screwed things up for deployment.  It really boggles my mind that .Net has this weird problem with directory paths; it seems like something from the bad old days of MSDOS or Windows 95.

[coreduo0099]

Just chiming back in as I went crazy for a month on this one... DOF must be installed at C:\

The issue is not the spaces.  I tried it on other volumes without spaces and still had wierd issues.  Tried symbolic links instead of aliases and no go.  Tried Win7 and Win 10 with fresh installs.  Only way to make it reliably work was c:\DirectOutput for me.

[Outhere]

Just seems like some systems Will not cooperate... I've had it on E:\DirectOutput for over 4 years and never a problem...

[mjr]

Just chiming back in as I went crazy for a month on this one... DOF must be installed at C:\

The issue is not the spaces.  I tried it on other volumes without spaces and still had wierd issues.  Tried symbolic links instead of aliases and no go.  Tried Win7 and Win 10 with fresh installs.  Only way to make it reliably work was c:\DirectOutput for me.

 

Just seems like some systems Will not cooperate... I've had it on E:\DirectOutput for over 4 years and never a problem...

 

Coreduo0099, your system is the data point that convinces me that I still don't know what the real rule is here, but whatever it is, it's evidently not as simple as "it's just the spaces" or "it's just the driver letter".  It is the spaces on many systems, but it's the drive letter on other systems (like yours).  I'm certain there's a systematic rule somewhere in the bowels of .Net that explains it across all systems, but the data points we have just look random to me so far.

[rollerball]

sorry for being a total noob....

But I just tried the setup wizard...

Starts to work then rolls back and says its ended prematurely because of an error....

 

I have VPX working sweet and have just purchased a sainsmart and am just dipping my toe into DOF 

trying to work it all out....

[STV]

(not to distract from your question rollerball, but...) 

 

 

MJR, I can't thank you enough for the extremely well put together package and instructions for this Grander Unified-er DOF R3++.

 

I'm building the second vpin cab and had installed and wired all the toys and everything in the cab before even putting the computer into it.  Then I got all the software running.  Using your pinscape solution hooked to a 10k pot for the plunger.  Full 7.1 SSF is in play.  The cab is awesome and I hadn't even lifted a DOF software config finger until today.  

 

So I planned to spend the day getting the DOF running.  Using an LEDWIZ to a SS16 to trigger 12V and 24V to their respective toys.  I hadn't even plugged in the LEDWIZ to the computer yet.   

 

I downloaded the grander unified-er DOF R3++ msi file and ran it.   Click Click. Done. 

I moved the xml files from the example up one level as instructed, ran the globalConfigEditor and pointed it at the files. 

I went to DOF config tool online, configured my ports and table custom rom assignments and downloaded the files into the config folder.   

I plugged in the LEDWIZ.

I opened a b2s table, enabled plugins in the b2s config.

 

Closed VPX and reopened VPX and BAM.   Clicking and clacking and shaking and popping. 

 

Now I guess I'll just have to spend the rest of the evening playing the games rather than fussing with DOF...

 

Thanks again for EVERYTHING you do. 

[rollerball]

Seems like the ledwiz is easier to setup than the sainsmart???
Maybe I should be getting myself one?

[STV]

The word is the new DOF R3++ should auto-detect your sainsmart if it's an 8 port board but I haven't tried it myself.  The SS16 hasn't ever been directly addressable by DOF> so I'm using an LEDWIZ to trigger it.

 

But you're not even to that point yet.   Maybe try running as an admin to install the msi?   disable the antivirus?   Not sure why your install rolls back before finishing.   Download it again? Make sure the antivirus isn't making it "safe" for you?   right-click properties and unblock.

[rollerball]

Going to uninstall everything and delete it all...
And do a fresh install and try again...
Yes it's an 8 relay sainsmart