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ActivDriver not connecting automatically.

benhen31

By benhen31
in Promethean Direct Support

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benhen31

benhen31

Posted
Posted

Hi,

 

We have several promethean boards that when used with our newest laptops refuse to connect automatically (using serial>usb converters). Using the manual 'Find' button from within the Activ Control Panel works fine, but our teachers are becoming less than impressed with having to do this faff every morning, or every time they unplug their laptop.

 

I've seen reports that rolling back to the 5.7 driver will fix this auto-connect issue, but I can't find that version of the driver anywhere. Does anyone have a copy of 5.7 ActivDriver they can give me?

 

Many thanks,

Ben.

plexer

plexer

Posted
Posted

Can you convert the boards to usb with all except for very very old models it was a case of just plugging in the promethan usb a to usb b cable

 

Ben

hardtailstar

hardtailstar

Posted
Posted

The 5.7 indeed does work, I rolled back to this as we have a range of Win7 and 8 machines both 32 and 64 bit.

 

Promethean have the driver, give them a call. That's what I did and they sent it to me.

benhen31

benhen31

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
I have the x64 version of 5.7 if you need it? it's about 20mb

Yes please Pooley, that'll do nicely. bhenderson AT huntingdonprimary.cambs.sch.uk

 

Can you convert the boards to usb with all except for very very old models it was a case of just plugging in the promethan usb a to usb b cable

I'll see if they have a USB socket on them - they are very old so may not! I take it you'd leave the serial connected with the power jack in and just run the USB straight to the laptop? Edited by benhen31
plexer

plexer

Posted
Posted
Yes please Pooley, that'll do nicely. bhenderson AT huntingdonprimary.cambs.sch.uk

 

I'll see if they have a USB socket on them - they are very old so may not! I take it you'd leave the serial connected with the power jack in and just run the USB straight to the laptop?

 

Yeah that'll do it I think they used to do a power only cable you could swap it with as well, newer boards went to usb only which can be a pain.

 

Ben

benhen31

benhen31

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hi benhen31,

This issue is something we are aware of, and is with our development team to be looked into for a future version.

The links for the 5.7 driver are below:

32 bit:

https://promethean.box.com/s/c1x3nbcora39jv3cw8sr

 

64bit:

https://promethean.box.com/s/acu3ekh5oo59c8yijpax

 

Thank you

 

Thanks phillyrovers for those links - Box tells me I don't have permission to download them though. Any chance of an alternative link?

Thanks,

Ben.

garethEds

garethEds

Posted
Posted

Hi there,

 

Just jumping into the thread - when you choose 'Automatic Start' in the driver Control Panel what changes? Is it registry? Is it in the profile?

 

Is there something we can change with a .mst?

 

I am aware that the 5.7 driver worked but the 5.9 driver does not - but some flag somewhere must change when it is clicked.

 

Gareth

garethEds

garethEds

Posted
Posted

A quick registry compare shows that the following keys gets changed when setting Automatic Start. I guess this could then be set by a GPP.

 

HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\ActivHidSerMini\Parameters\ActivPortStart: 0x00000000

 

to

 

HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\ActivHidSerMini\Parameters\ActivPortStart: 0x00000001

 

and

 

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\ActivHidSerMini\Parameters\ActivPortStart: 0x00000000

 

to

 

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\ActivHidSerMini\Parameters\ActivPortStart: 0x00000001

 

I'll test it later.

 

Gareth

  • Thanks 1
  • 2 months later...
PotNoodleTech

PotNoodleTech

Posted
Posted
The Serial boards needed to be plugged in before the PC(or laptop) was booted up in order to work. Not sure how the USB converter affects this, but you may find things are more reliable if the board is plugged in, then the laptop is booted up?
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
gerardsweeney

gerardsweeney

Posted
Posted
Hi All,

This issue is still with our development team to be resolved.

 

As soon as we have any update we will post them on here.

 

It's STILL an issue with the very latest drivers.

Changing the registry keys suggested above works once. Change them and reboot, you're good.

As soon as the ActivControl launches, it resets the key values back to port 1 and the board stops working at the next reboot.

 

Can this PLEASE be looked at as a matter of some urgency? I'm about to roll out a few hundred COM-port-less PCs. Running a 5M USB cable isn't an option - the boards are wall-mounted on a cabinet enclosure. I'd need to get our building's Facilities management to remove the backing of each one to get at the thing. Not going to happen.

 

I raised a call with Tech Support, saying quite specifically that I didn't want to roll back to 5.7, as we are endeavouring to have all boards running with the same version.

The suggestion in the reply - roll back to 5.7. Exasperated sighs may have followed :)

SHimmer45

SHimmer45

Posted
Posted
had something similar with a PCi-e Com port where for a couple of users would login and the board would not connect unless they clicked the find button, deleting all the active software settings in the profile and rebooting seems to have fixed the issue and they connect automatically without prompting, this is with the 5.9 driver on win7
chazzy2501

chazzy2501

Posted
Posted
if you email their technical support with the serial number of any one of your boards they'll give you a link to the older version. Mine has never auto connected properly but the latest package fails to work with serial boards at all!
phillyrovers

phillyrovers

Posted
Posted

Hi All,

This issue is still with our development team, at this time we have not been provided with an update as to when or even if they are going to fix this issue.

Promethean have not released a Serial connected device since the AC2 board in 2004.

I can appreciate the frustration that this issue is causing, however rest assured that the correct teams within Promethean have got this in their queues to be considered.

 

Thank you

gerardsweeney

gerardsweeney

Posted
Posted
rest assured that the correct teams within Promethean have got this in their queues to be considered.

 

If I bought them a pint, would they bump it up their job queue a bit? :)

 

(I don't offer to buy pints to just anyone y'know! Scottish, and all that jazz)

  • 3 months later...
phillyrovers

phillyrovers

Posted
Posted

Hi NikChillin,

What we do know is that fixing this issue is not going to be quick or easy, and at this stage it is extremely unlikely that it will ever get fixed, given that Promethean do not sell serial connected devices, and none have been developed since 2004.

 

A workaround is to monitor the registry and on user log on change the value for ActivPort to "4":

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\service\ActivHidSerMini\Parameters\

 

Alternativly use a USB connection, if the board has got a USB port on the rear (you will need to keep the serial cable and keep that as your power cable).

 

The issue has been caused at a deeper (kernel) level of Windows, and any implementation would require a full driver re-certification, which for archaic communication structure would not get carried out.

 

Sorry we could provide a positive result on this one, if you want to discuss it further you will be best contacting Promethean's support team via PrometheanKB

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