Aimtrak problem driving me insane.

[Connorsdad]

I have 2 aimtraks in my cab, both were working fine until I put my cab together, now only 1 gun works. Gun 1 works absolutely fine so I believe the position/angle of the led bar isnt the problem. The second gun takes ages to calibrate, also the settings such as ir gain (Disabled) and button config change on their own. When I do finally get it to calibrate the next time I boot up it has been lost again 

I've tried using the sensor view tab and the red dot shows the gun to be working fine.

Any ideas?

[Wade007]

Mmmmmm....Sounds like there's something wrong with the firmware for gun 2 not saving the calibration. Did the gun get damaged somehow between when you last had it hooked up and when your cab was put together?

Maybe try and take a look at it's settings with the AimTrak Utility. Make sure everything registers correctly. No conflicting IDs, etc.

If they work in Windows but not in MAME, it could be that Windows is changing the IDs for the gun(s). Common problem. He's a solution:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,108767.msg1154628.html#msg1154628

[Connorsdad]

Update:

If I aim off screen then back again, the cursor is all over the place. I've tried swapping the ports the guns are plugged into and the same gun still isn't working. I'll try the offending gun tomorrow on another pc with another sensor bar, something tells me it's going to be no different. Anybody ever known an aimtrak firmware to become corrupted? Maybe it's just died. Spent majority of my time using gun 1 (player 1) when setting up my system so can't say for sure if this is a recent issue

[Connorsdad]

Mmmmmm....Sounds like there's something wrong with the firmware for gun 2 not saving the calibration. Did the gun get damaged somehow between when you last had it hooked up and when your cab was put together?

Maybe try and take a look at it's settings with the AimTrak Utility. Make sure everything registers correctly. No conflicting IDs, etc.

If they work in Windows but not in MAME, it could be that Windows is changing the IDs for the gun(s). Common problem. He's a solution:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,108767.msg1154628.html#msg1154628

It's not working right in windows at all
I think I'll have to contact Andy at ultimarc. Anybody tried flashing aimtrak firmware ?
If so where do I get it?

[Connorsdad]

Turns out I purchased my aimtraks from GremlinSolutions/Arcade World, after testing my gun on another pc with another lightbar and still having the same problem I contacted them.

Spoke to Andy, absolutely no problem at all with replacing or refunding, unfortunately no stock until mid Jan
I want to use it over the holidays with friends and family so have ordered from ultimarc and will get a refund from Arcade World.

Just thought I'd update to let folks know that customer service from arcade world is exactly as I have read on other forums, no quibble at all, send it back and we'll refund or replace.

[stigzler]

This Andy chap has been great with helping with any product support questions, above and beyond what others would provide.

Conner's - sounds like you're at the same place as me - just getting one of my aimtraks up and running with the various emus (psx emulators are a pain!). I'll try with bated breath gun nunmber 2.....

[Connorsdad]

This Andy chap has been great with helping with any product support questions, above and beyond what others would provide.

Conner's - sounds like you're at the same place as me - just getting one of my aimtraks up and running with the various emus (psx emulators are a pain!). I'll try with bated breath gun nunmber 2.....

My setup/cabinet is complete, for some reason gun number 2 doesn't work, didn't really test it as such when setting up, just waved it around ensuring the cursor moved. Looking forward to enjoying my cab over the hols 

[AndyWarne]

With this kind of issue Andy at Arcade World will of course try to help but it might be better if I tried as well (another Andy) because its our product and Arcade World are a reseller.

If you have not returned it maybe you could drop me an email: andy@ultimarc.com

[Connorsdad]

With this kind of issue Andy at Arcade World will of course try to help but it might be better if I tried as well (another Andy) because its our product and Arcade World are a reseller.

If you have not returned it maybe you could drop me an email: andy@ultimarc.com

I have posted it out today and purchased one from your website already. I wanted to get it sorted asap as I want to enjoy my cab with friends and family during the Christmas hols.

[stigzler]

Oh! I meant that Andy chap!! lol

As in the poster above - thanks Andy!

[Connorsdad]

So, my new gun arrived from Andy (Ultimarc), I plugged it in, calibrated it and then set it to ID#2.

Same problem 

I thought what are the chances of getting 2 duff guns 

Tried it another pc and the problem still existed. After trying different things it turns out that if the ID# is anything but ID#1 the guns don't work right. Seems this may be the problem for this guy too http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,136084.0.html

Any idea what to do guys?

FYI my OS is Windows 7 64bit.

[Connorsdad]

I feel such an idiot 

Turns out it was a light source causing me problems all along, why it only happened to 1 gun I don't know. Also, why it worked perfectly for the few seconds I tried it set as ID#1 I don't know.

Very happy to have it working 

But,

Andy over at arcade world is probably in the process of refunding me for a gun which isn't faulty after all. I don't want 3 guns but I feel bad getting a refund for something I bought in may 


Edit
I'm going to ring him Monday and explain to him what happened and let him decide what he wants to do, refund, send me the gun back at my expense or give me a credit note.

[Connorsdad]

I feel such an idiot 

Turns out it was a light source causing me problems all along, why it only happened to 1 gun I don't know. Also, why it worked perfectly for the few seconds I tried it set as ID#1 I don't know.

Very happy to have it working 

But,

Andy over at arcade world is probably in the process of refunding me for a gun which isn't faulty after all. I don't want 3 guns but I feel bad getting a refund for something I bought in may 


Edit
I'm going to ring him Monday and explain to him what happened and let him decide what he wants to do, refund, send me the gun back at my expense or give me a credit note.

Fantastic service from Andy at arcade world, refunded me in full

As for the guns I,m still having trouble
Both guns work fine if only one is plugged in, when both are plugged in one of them just will not keep its calibration settings. Pretty considering the time I put in to getting my dual monitor system working with dual aimtraks across multiple emulators. Anybody else have any issues using 2 guns ?

[Dawgz Rule]

I had a similar issue and the root cause turned out to be the sensor bar placement. 

[Connorsdad]

But one gun works fine so I can't see that being the issue 

[Connorsdad]

Here are some photos to show the location of my lightbar, the gap between the top of the monitor screen and lightbar is the same as it was when both were cased.






Things I have tried so far,

1. Switching off all light sources
2. Switching off LED buttons and lower LED strip
3. Covering up lit marquee and lower bezel

[Connorsdad]

I calibrated it today, tested it now and again over the course of a couple of hours and it was working fine. Rebooted to test and again the calibration has been lost. The sensor view tab in the aimtrak util shows the gun to be working fine and yet the cursor is all over the place but mainly goes left and right along the very top of the screen.

[Fursphere]

Because of the unique nature of your cabinet, I'm wondering if you're having reflection problems from the lower montior / plexi.

Have you tried covering up the lower screen area (anything reflective) with a towel or something?  And the chrome t-molding?  Lots of reflection there too.  Maybe get some masking tape and cover that up as well for testing.

Just some random thoughts. 

[Connorsdad]

Got both of them to calibrate last night, rebooted and the calibration stuck 
Rebooted a number of times and it still works

Still working this morning, how or why I don't know but you can bet your ass I wont be calibrating again. When I did the calibration it was dark outside so no natural light from anywhere, house lights and and all arcade lights were on.

EDIT

Not sure if this has anything to do with it but I installed "Setup-3.2.zip" yesterday from here http://www.lg.com/uk/support-product/lg-IPS234V#software
I have just uninstalled it because its basically the same thing as changing display options using windows. When I uninstalled it I chose "Restart PC later", 30 seconds later a bubble popped up on the task bar telling me to "Click here to restart to turn user account control on" so I restarted. Now I know I had turned this off myself months back, after restarting I checked the status of uac and according to control panel it was still set to never notify. I checked to see if my guns were still working and they weren't, knowing the only thing that had changed was the removal of this program I reinstalled it, my guns are working fine again. Some one with more knowledge than me may know why this seems to have fixed my problems?

[TopJimmyCooks]

i had basically the exact same issue.  2 guns, etc.  Here's what I did:

I got a new, different version  firmware file from Andy (warne) that seemed to help some.  Also, when I had a hard time getting a calibration, I completely darkened the room (unfortunately working in a room with windows I couldn't easily cover, so it was done at night.  Took one shell off the gun and took off the front smoked lens.  then, calibrated successfully and put the gun back together.  All IR led signals tested fine throughout-not the problem.    Never been calibrated since and no complaints from the user.  More detail can be provided if needed.  I don't have this rig here anymore to look at. 

[Connorsdad]

i had basically the exact same issue.  2 guns, etc.  Here's what I did:

I got a new, different version  firmware file from Andy (warne) that seemed to help some.  Also, when I had a hard time getting a calibration, I completely darkened the room (unfortunately working in a room with windows I couldn't easily cover, so it was done at night.  Took one shell off the gun and took off the front smoked lens.  then, calibrated successfully and put the gun back together.  All IR led signals tested fine throughout-not the problem.    Never been calibrated since and no complaints from the user.  More detail can be provided if needed.  I don't have this rig here anymore to look at.

Every little snippet of info will hopefully help get to the bottom of why we, and I'm sure others, are having trouble when using two aimtraks.

[TopJimmyCooks]

I'll clean up the messages/emails that went around on it and post them here when I get a chance.  Not intended to slag off Andy/ultimarc at all.  I think its a rare issue and I would like to help with ideas and what ultimately worked for me.  I was one step away from chucking the things in the bin and starting over.   it's just a specialized product without a huge user base and I'm sure the tech support boiling down to one Englishman is a nightmare for him. 

All things being considered, I'm very glad they're available, they're a lot of fun and there's almost no decent gun solutions right now that you can buy new off the shelf.  I was happy to see your post as evidence I'm not an idiot or insane. 

[AndyWarne]

The calibration settings are held in the gun itself so the number of guns in use and rebooting etc should not make any difference.

If the calibration causes the gun not to work try a "reset cal defaults" and "apply changes" in the utility and see if the calibration is back to default, ie with minimal error between the aim and the cursor position in Windows.

Then try calibrating again by holding the trigger to get the settings to be more accurate.

[Connorsdad]

The calibration settings are held in the gun itself so the number of guns in use and rebooting etc should not make any difference.

I thought so, that's why I cant understand why they worked perfect until I rebooted 

If the calibration causes the gun not to work try a "reset cal defaults" and "apply changes" in the utility and see if the calibration is back to default, ie with minimal error between the aim and the cursor position in Windows.

Then try calibrating again by holding the trigger to get the settings to be more accurate.

I'm sure this is one of the numerous things I tried, the only way I'm going to calibrate again is if you promise to personally come around to my house and get it working if I can't 

Even though I have a few more wrinkles and grey hairs now, they are definitely worth it 

[mmg1design]

I had a problem with one of my guns where it would calibrate and work fine for a while, then the trigger buttons would stop working. It turns out it was a problem on the pcb. After re-soldering what I could, it still didn't work. I had already given up on it, then I tried flexing the pcb while connected, and noticed that it would work when slightly bent. So I re-installed it like that and its working fine. If you've tried all the software related tips, then maybe its the hardware.