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New and improved serial port support for LOGic
WN4AZY
#1 Posted : Tuesday, June 5, 2018 2:50:36 PM(UTC)
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Version 9.1.36 of LOGic incorporates a new low-level serial port library.

The goal of this upgrade is to provide better support for USB=>RS232 adapters and other virtual Com ports that are not 100% compatible. Many of our users are using legacy radio and rotor interfaces left over from LOGic 8. They will sometimes work with marginal hardware when the new LOGic 9 non-legacy drivers will not.

Prior to this update, LOGic's non-legacy interfaces used the .Net framework System.IO.Ports class. We have replaced this library with direct WinAPI calls. This is similar to what the legacy interfaces use.

There is a feature of RS-232 ports called Overlapped IO. It permits simultaneous transmission and reception, theoretically resulting in better throughput. Unfortunately, many USB=>RS232 adapters do not support Overlapped IO. The .Net framework System.IO.Ports class apparently assumes this feature is available, which is probably the cause of failure and unreliability with some hardware.

LOGic still supports overlapped IO, but it is not used by default. This, along with using Polling for Icom, Kenwood, and Elecraft rigs uses only the simplest features of Com ports and should work as well or better than the legacy interfaces or any other software.

However, if you have FTDI-based hardware, the Overlapped IO feature will work. There is a new checkbox in radio and rotor setup, labeled simply OL to save space. Checkmark it to use overlapped IO. Overlapped IO also enables non-blocking writes. LOGic simply writes to the serial port and continues before the data is actually sent.

But, if you experience any problems with Overlapped IO turned on, turn it off. The amount of data involved with radio interfaces is minimal. You probably won't notice any difference. However, when buying hardware, choose FTDI-based devices. They have a well-deserved reputation for 100% RS-232 compatibility and simply working.

This update should be considered beta. We have tested it here on a limited number of radios. The changes to LOGic itself have been minimal, so we anticipate only minimal adjustments will be needed for the various radios and rotors that LOGic supports.

If you want to help us test this, it would be appreciated. Please post problems and successes below. We are especially interested in hearing from users of non-FTDI hardware. If you experience problems, simply reinstall the 9.1.35 update.

No change in settings are required. However, if you are using a legacy radio or rotor driver, please try the non-legacy option for your hardware. These settings are found in tools/setup/misc ham setup.

Thanks in advance!

Denns WN4AZY



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WN4AZY
#2 Posted : Tuesday, June 5, 2018 4:04:49 PM(UTC)
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Successfully tested on an FT-5000.

With a Prolific adapter no less! OverlappedIO works. It remains to see how stable overlapped IO will be.
NU1B
#3 Posted : Wednesday, June 6, 2018 6:41:33 AM(UTC)
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Hi Dennis

I installed Ver36 and when the program starts, I get a program error which indicates "must specify additional parameters". I then click ignore the error and the program finishes starting and appears to work fine.

Please let me know how additional parameters the program is looking for

PS I am using a Icom 7600 rig with FTDT based interfaces for both rotor and rig

Thanks

Steve, NU1B
WN4AZY
#4 Posted : Wednesday, June 6, 2018 8:28:09 AM(UTC)
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Hi Steve:

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately it is nothing you have done or set up improperly.

Which Icom driver are you using? I normally use Icom Basic, #40 and it works fine. Interface #50 also works for me. I get a timeout error on #48 because it requests split and my rig ignores the command.

Are you using OverLapped IO? It probably wouldn't be related to this error, but just curious.

Are you using a rotor or any other device in LOGic that uses a com port?

Please send me a screen shot of the error message. Maybe I can tell if it is coming from VFP or .Net. You can attach it to a post or email it to techsupport at our domain.

I did find an error on the timeout message. "Invalid parameter" or something like that. I have fixed that. Please download and install .36 again.

Thanks & 73,

Dennis WN4AZY
NU1B
#5 Posted : Wednesday, June 6, 2018 9:01:44 AM(UTC)
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HI Dennis

The revised revision of 36 eliminated the 3error message in logic but now I am getting program error from trx man when logic starts the program. The error message is
Error 94
Must specify additional parameters in program
txm man.init Line 2

If you click yes to continue the program will load and appears to be working fine

Alos do not get this error message if start tXr mag by itself without logic

Steve, NU1B
WN4AZY
#6 Posted : Wednesday, June 6, 2018 9:44:52 AM(UTC)
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Thanks--that was the info I needed. It is fixed! Pse download and install again.

73,

DH
NU1B
#7 Posted : Wednesday, June 6, 2018 12:55:59 PM(UTC)
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Hi Dennis

The new ver 36 fixed the probelems with both logic and Trx-mgr

Thanks for your help

Steve NU1B
1 user thanked NU1B for this useful post.
WN4AZY on 6/6/2018(UTC)
N7IP
#8 Posted : Sunday, June 10, 2018 6:41:01 PM(UTC)
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I downloaded .36 today. I hoped that the fix would enable me to use K3 rig driver, but Logic still crashes with the K3 driver. You may recall that I use K3 remotely thru the remoterig serial port.

When I use omnirig, I get the DO nesting exceeded msg. After hitting ignore for various number of times, and after another minute or so, I get the error:

error 94: "must specify add'l parameters" occurred in omnirig.init

At times I get the "error 94" before the DO nesting error.

At times during this process, Logic becomes unresponsive for a minute or two.

Bob
WN4AZY
#9 Posted : Monday, June 11, 2018 3:44:34 PM(UTC)
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Hi Bob:

Sorry that .36 did not fix the problem. Call me and I can log in and take a look 770-307-1496.
http://www.hosenose.com/remote_support.aspx
Did the error message change at all? Try turning off Overlap and using Polling.

The K3 setting in LOGic has been verified to work in .36 BTW.

I fixed the problem with OmniRig in .36. Pse download and install again.

Tnx & 73,

Dennis WN4AZY
N5MIG
#10 Posted : Wednesday, June 20, 2018 4:15:35 PM(UTC)
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I downloaded 9.1.36 this afternoon and upon re-starting LOGic it continually crashed. so, I turned off Radio 1 (K3) and the program re-started just fine (missing radio error K-3)LOGic saw Radio 2 Kenwood TS-2000 just fine with no crash. I re-installed 9.1.35 and all is good with BOTH radios.

I will look for the info DH mentioned in his original post and try again this evening.
WN4AZY
#11 Posted : Thursday, June 21, 2018 1:47:08 PM(UTC)
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Thanks for testing that for me. Do you recall what the error message said? We have had people successfully use the K3 interface.

I could log in and take a look. http://www.hosenose.com/remote_support.aspx
Call the tech support line at 770-307-1496. If no answer call the office at 770-307-1511 and we can set up a schedule.

Tnx & 73,

Dennis WN4AZY
N5MIG
#12 Posted : Thursday, June 21, 2018 4:28:10 PM(UTC)
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Dennis,
There was no error message. when I clicked on the icon to start LOGic The program would try to load then crash then back to desktop. when I would click on the LOGic icon again it would say that the program did not stop properly, it would do its cleaning thing then try to re-start then crash again.

I will be more than happy for you to look at it. I will call on Friday Morning 6/22/18 if you are available.
Joe
N5MIG
WN4AZY
#13 Posted : Sunday, June 24, 2018 8:39:03 PM(UTC)
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Hi Joe:

Thanks for trying to call me. Something came up Friday. I apologize. I tried calling later but you were out. I'll try again Tuesday.

The event viewer should give us more information:
https://youtu.be/uwluv1NmWLw

Tnx & 73,

Dennis WN4AZY
N5XZ
#14 Posted : Sunday, July 8, 2018 11:48:59 AM(UTC)
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Dennis, the latest version has broken the K3 interface. I went back to version .35 at it is working ok again. When I click on SET RIG, it sets VFO A instead of VFO B as it did in .36. The later version was also crashing after a period of time. I will see if it still crashes and if no report back, all is ok.
73, Allen N5XZ
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