Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Download to 861 fails

Last night I was attempting to download to the 861 using a Windows XP laptop. I was frustrated by getting multiple "Failed" error messages. It finally worked after many attempts butI'm not sure why it did.
The error messages were varied. But usually it would get to about 50% complete before failing and saying that the 861 failed to come out of standby.


What is the process/order by which the download should be performed...should the 861 be switched off prior to making the serial connection? does it matter? Should the Baud rate of the serial connection be altered in the computer?

Thanks

fwiw, i've had this problem intermittently on both my old 568 and my new 861. my 562V.2s have shown it as well.

different Meridian devices. different computers. differnt cables.

my assumption is just that their communications software isn't very robust. it's always _eventually_ worked.

imo, i wouldn't stress about it as long as it eventually works.

fwiw,
doody.

Hi Doody

In the past, prior to version 3 upgrade, it took 2-3 tries to get it working. Last night, at least 15 attempts. (All while my family was waiting to watch "Minority Report" which, by the way, I loved)

I am hesitant to make any changes beacuse it may take me over an hour or more to get it working again.

AJ

geez - i never had it that bad.

some suggestions, if you haven't tried them already:

* hard-power the 861 when it's screwing up like that.
* quit and restart the Meridian pc software.
* connect and reconnect both ends of the serial cable - just in case something was loose.

good luck.

minority report is on my to-watch list - i heard it's a fun ride.

doody.

I have had some problems as well with both my 800 and my 861.
With a older PC, and Win98 i had not so much problems with the previous releases (< 3.0).

My impression is that the first part (50%) always goes OK, but than the 861 resets, and the application fails before the 861 is back up, so it seems a timing problems.

I have made some screen prints of it, we can mail them to Meridian, perhaps they have a solution ?

I have also had a number of times without any problem..

Jaco



[This message has been edited by jaco (edited 02-02-2003).]

Hi Jaco
I think Emailing the screen shots to Meridian is a great idea. I bet there is a timing issue which could be corrected in the serial port settings.

Alan

Some positive experiences, to broaden the baseline...
I have had almost no problems updating my old 568, my current 568.2 or my 562v.2.
I am using a Toshiba laptop running Windows98 (not SE) and use the Meridian supplied serial cable. It doesn't matter if the devices are on or off when I plug in the cable or when I start the config package: it just works.

Regards,
Mark

I've had several problems connecting my laptop to my 561 processor. Predictability of connection was poor, but on my last play with the 561, I found that quitting the following programs on the laptop did the trick:

Norton Antivirus
Norton Cleansweep/Smartsweep
Norton Internet security
Psion Psiwin

I'm not sure whether one or all played a part in the connection problems, but if all were disabled prior to reopening the Meridian software, I could get a link. And consistently at that!

I believe Windows XP has a built in firewall, so if that can be disabled, along with any antivirus software, it may do the trick.

Best of luck!

I've had this happen with different PCs while attempting to download to a 568. Within XP change the 'bits per second' down to half of what it is now. Try a download, and if it still doesn't work try half again. This has solved the problem for me on two different PCs. Of three PCs, one would work at default settings, the other two had to be slowed down. The maximum speed possible seems to be dependent on the PC.

I have the same problem with my 861...downloads get to 50% and then there is an apparent timeout problem when the reset happens.

If I keep trying it, including reboots and power cycles of the 861, eventually I manage to complete the download. But it is ALWAYS frustrating and time-consuming. I avoid making any changes to the system for this reason.

The idea of configuring your system via software is great. It shouldn't be that hard to write a reliable downloading program.

BTW, I would really like it if my 861 was addressible via TCP/IP. Serial cables are passe...come on, Meridian, this would work much better if we could upload/download via Ethernet.

As replacement of Serial ports will not happen night over i think. The serial port is used by most of the home automation systems. Perhaps USB ?

Jaco

Seems like it's a common problem.

I would like to know Meridian's response to the issue.

Jaco, are you going to send the screen images?