Bug in Robo Pro / Fragen+Komentare

[Dirk Haizmann ft]

.. dieses Thema ist wohl auch geklärt.

ft

[hamlet]

Hello,
sorry for my late update. I have not had the chance to free some time for FT gambling in the last few weeks.
In the meantime I have installed RoboPro version 1.2 from scratch (deinstallation, installation from trainings lab CD, update to 3.1.2, Windows Vista, installation without any problems) and still I am facing the same problem:

Hello,
the simple program below demonstrates the problem:
Subroutine "OK" works as expected, it runs the motor for 500 ticks, whereas subroutine "KO" does not start the motor at all. The only difference between the two sub-programs is that in "OK" the distance command is connected directly to the motor otput, whereas in KO it is linked to the motor output via the sub program command output.
The program rpp is available here http://www.alice-dsl.net/helmut.schmuec ... blem01.zip
cheers,
Helmut

My test environment:
RoboPro: 3.1.2
ftMscLib: It is still an older version (23.12.2009) than the one in Carels installation. The version reported by RoboTxTest.exe: v01.04.24 ... but the latest RoboPro versions do not seem to depend on it. The lib can be removed and RoboPro runs happily without it.
Firmware: The version command in the remote shell of RoboTxTest reports "v 1.24". How can I read out the third version ID? I guess the latest version is installed. RoboPro 3.1.2 successfully downloaded a new firmware the first time it has connected to the TX Controller.

Why does Carels RoboPro installation contains a newer ftMscLib?
Is the ftMscLib part of the 3.1.2 update?
How can I check that the TX firmware is up to date? How can I read out the third version ID?
Are there any known problems installing RoboPro on Windows Vista?
Can anyone of the FT team try to reproduce the problem?

Best Regards,
Helmut

[Janosch Kuffner]

Hello Helmut,

we tried to reproduce the problem using the current ROBO Pro version 3.1.2 on a Windows Vista PC. The programm "Problem01.rpp" worked fine in online mode as well as in download mode.

Thus the reason for the problem seems to be the ROBO Pro installation on your PC or the Firmware installation on your TX Controller.

Please contact me directly via e-mail (janosch.kuffner@fischer.de) . I will send you the setup file for the current ROBO Pro version 3.1.2 and a Repair Kit to flash the Firmware of the TX Controller.

Kind regards

Janosch Kuffner
fischertechnik-Team

[vleeuwen]

Hi Helmut,
The RoboPro installation does not contain a separat FtMscLib.dll.
The FtMscLib is now integrated into the RoboPro executable.
However the installation program is a little bit weak and does not clean up the installation directory.
The FtMscLib in your directory is a left over from an older installation but not in used anymore.

I retested your problem with the official RoboPro 3.1.2 installation and I did not found a problem.

I notice that RoboPro is not given detailed information about the connection and the actual versions of the FTMscLib and the firmware. The "Robo TX-controller test" application is giving this information.
See: http://forum.ftcommunity.de/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=592

Suggestion for fischertechnik
Add the detail information as show in the "Robo TX controller info" bar in Robo TX-controller test also in the status bar of RoboPro. This could avoid problems in the futur.

[hamlet]

Dear ft friends,
first I like to thank Carel and Janosch for their effort to investigate the problem.
Yesterday night, in an act of desparation, I finally I found a solution for my trouble.
... I simply started RoboPro as "Administrator". And then unexpectedly the demo application works nicely as expected, online as well as offline.
And now the 1 million dollar question: How it is possible that a missing "Administrator" setting for RoboPro affects
the runtime behaviour of an offline application?
Test scenario:
* Start RoboPro as Standard user / Aministrator
* Build and download the demo application to the TX RamDisk
* Remove USB cable and BT-stick (=> no side effects due to PC-TX link)
* Start application => fail (Standard user) / success (Administrator)
* The downloaded applications have exacly the same size: 2800 byte independently of the Admin setting (checked via remote shell)
* Unfortunately I see no way to get access to the generated binary files in order to compare their content.

=> In my oppinion this sounds like black magic. If anyone could give an explanation for this weird effect, I would be very grateful.

I have not yet tried the repair kit that Janosch kindly provided to me. Looking at the ftlib.log file written by the latest Beta TX controller test application, I assume that my currently installed firmware is OK:

Code: Alles auswählen

21:13:35:448,   Hostname          : ROBO TX-277
21:13:35:448,   BtAddress         : 00:13:7B:54:07:2C
21:13:35:448,   Hardware Release  : C
21:13:35:448,   Firmware Version  : V 1.24
21:13:35:448,   DLL Version       : V 29
21:13:35:448,   SharedMemoryStart : 0x20000204
21:13:35:448,   AppAreaStart      : 0x30700000
21:13:35:448,   AppAreaSize       : 0x000D0000

Best Regards,
Helmut

[vleeuwen]

Thanks for your detailed description.
Sorry I did not check this.
I am a stupid end-user that is too lazy to switch al the time betweem administrator and normal user.
However in the past I did not meet problem under a normel user account.
Maybe Vista and Windows 7 is more strict.
An other reason could be that the installation of the new USB-drivers need more rights than in the past.
It is normal that driver installtion need to run with adminstrator priviliges. However the installation program needs to verify this.

1)
Did you install RoboPro under the adminstrator acount, or with an account that is member of the administrators group?
2)
It could have influances on the creation of the code before downloading.

My question to fischertechnik is:
Is the installation program able to clean the old installation and check the new installtion afterwards?
Is RoboPro robust enough to check actual versions and functional connectivity?

[hamlet]

Hi Carel,
I am not an windows expert, but I am almost sure that my usual account, I did the also the ft installation with, is of the kind "member of the administrator group". -> Each time I install some software (e.g. robo pro) or doing some other potentially risky things, the screen is greyed out and a bothering dialog pops up, asking me whether I am really sure in doing such threatening stuff.
Best Regards,
Helmut

[Dirk Haizmann ft]

... ich denke dieses Thema kann man schliessen.

ft