New Product: 49-Way USB Interface - The GP-Wiz49 with DRS Technology (TM)

[RandyT]

it looks like your making it so it runs wither one joystick or the other.  does it still check on startup?  also, i know you've put alot of hard work into this and i really appreciate it, but what could be done about switching joysticks on the fly?

i feel really bad about posting this since you've worked so hard to make this interface already, so go easy on me with your answer.  also, if you just don't want to work on anything else, i'd understand.  i can always just turn the whole computer off and on.  i just figured a switch would be easy, since any of us who are going to be switching joysticks while turned on would have switchable panels.

TH has it right.  The joysticks on the screen allow you to click on one or the other, and will override the default, which is sensed on startup. 

RandyT

[Flinkly]

AWESOME!!

hmm...now to think of how to switch it without leaving my FE...a switch would still be nice, but i'd have to wire it to my parallel port or something.  maybe i'll talk to toonces.  a double throw toggle switch...up for midway, down for williams.  put it next to my molex connector for the whole thing, and while i'm switching panels, i'll switch the joystick setting.

thank you again randy, for all you've done.  just so you know, once your done with the software, i'm thoroughly pleased and have no more ideas for perfecting the interface, since it's already perfect.  also, i never even thought of you integrating the ability to switch the joystick along with the modes.  ingenious randy, simply ingenious. 

so what is your next project going to be, cause it's gonna have to be good to top this one...?  you can pm me if you want to keep it secret... 

[Tiger-Heli]

so what is your next project going to be, cause it's gonna have to be good to top this one...? 

I don't know which one will be next, and I can't spill the beans anyway, but any of the four I know of will be worth the wait, and may top this one!!!!

[MrSaLTy]

Sweet!  Randy, a couple of questions about this software.....

1) will there also be a command line interface for it so you can have the FE do the switching?

2) do I need the new version of the firmware to get this to work with the software?

Thanks

[RandyT]

Sweet!  Randy, a couple of questions about this software.....

1) will there also be a command line interface for it so you can have the FE do the switching?

2) do I need the new version of the firmware to get this to work with the software?

Thanks

Yes on both counts.

RandyT

[Toonces]

Sweet!  Randy, a couple of questions about this software.....

1) will there also be a command line interface for it so you can have the FE do the switching?

2) do I need the new version of the firmware to get this to work with the software?

Thanks

Yes on both counts.

Randy, Any chance you could add parallel port support to your app? That way people who have already bought the older versions could be supported without having to use the batch files? Everything you need to add support for direct parallel port support under Win9X/2K/XP is available at http://www.logix4u.net/. The DLL, source code samples and how to's are all there. The cable is easy to make. All that is needed is a db25 connector and 8 wires. the oldest versions can switch 7 modes directly, 8 modes using switching diodes. the second version could switch all 8 and the newest version could accomodate all.

Thanks!

Toonces

RandyT

[Grasshopper]

I must say that interface looks very slick. I'm glad you've seen the light and decided to run with the software switching idea.

[RandyT]

Randy, Any chance you could add parallel port support to your app? That way people who have already bought the older versions could be supported without having to use the batch files? Everything you need to add support for direct parallel port support under Win9X/2K/XP is available at http://www.logix4u.net/. The DLL, source code samples and how to's are all there. The cable is easy to make. All that is needed is a db25 connector and 8 wires. the oldest versions can switch 7 modes directly, 8 modes using switching diodes. the second version could switch all 8 and the newest version could accomodate all.

Looking at it now.  May be something for a future release of the software.

RandyT

[Toonces]

Randy, Any chance you could add parallel port support to your app? That way people who have already bought the older versions could be supported without having to use the batch files? Everything you need to add support for direct parallel port support under Win9X/2K/XP is available at http://www.logix4u.net/. The DLL, source code samples and how to's are all there. The cable is easy to make. All that is needed is a db25 connector and 8 wires. the oldest versions can switch 7 modes directly, 8 modes using switching diodes. the second version could switch all 8 and the newest version could accomodate all.

Looking at it now.  May be something for a future release of the software.

RandyT

Cool, Thanks! My batch files work but were only meant to be a crutch until a real developer stepped up and wrote something It is Waaaay too cool having the controls switch on loading a game. Now all I need is to work on some visual feedback (eye candy) and to lend a hand to the controls.ini project. Oh yeah, I need some balltops for Midway versions too

Thanks Again,

Toonces

[hyiu]

Hi tigerheli:

yes, that is the hack I'm talking about...

well..... I have worked on my cab for a long time, and its halfly done, and I'm not planning any rotating panels, swapping panels, or such.  It'll have 1 panel (I'm trying not to make a franken panel...)

so, swapping/rotating/magically-popping panel is out of the question.

as for price, if it does work out, I'm willing to hack a $40 stick once, and put it on my panel, and save the headache so that I can play more game, and I'll have 1 less stick on my panel.

as for the feel.... hmmm... that is a question.  I don't think any have tried it before, but from the willy-wacky thread, it seems like its not putting a lot of stress on the stick.  So, I might want to try it after all...

Can anyone please take a camera shot of the bottom of that analog stick so that I can determine if its possible to do that hack ??

I mean, if it looks like it can, I'll actually order 1 and try it out !!!

maybe RandyT, can you do me this favor of posting some pics of the bottom of the stick ?? and the shaft ??

also, even before the stick is hacked, how does it feel to turn that stick ?? just want to make sure that the shaft is turnable....

thx for your time.
   

I'm planning to put a 4 way (ball top j-stick) and a 8 way (Happs Competition) on my panel for player 1.

[dema]

Quick question for those who have wired this up. I'm threading wires through the axls of my rotating panel now and I want to make sure it's correct before I bolt everything into place for the umpteenth time.

1)

[Toonces]

Quick question for those who have wired this up. I'm threading wires through the axls of my rotating panel now and I want to make sure it's correct before I bolt everything into place for the umpteenth time.

1)  If I'm going to be using two of the GP49 Max's (one for each player), and a MiniPac for the spinner and trackball panel, can I run the respective USB cables for the encoders to a 4 port USB hub and then plug that single USB to the PC? Will this create a conflict with the three separate devices running at the same time? I'd ideally like to wire everything up in the panels and then have a single USB cable run through the axl if possible.

2)  Secondly, can these devices run symbiotically using some controls from the GP49 and other controls from the Mini-Pac? I'm thinking of mapping all the buttons to the GP49 (daisy-chaining redundant buttons on the other panels) and then mapping only the trackball and spinner to the Mini-Pac. How would this work in controlling movement by the trackball (via the Mini-Pac) and pressing buttons (via the GP49) at the same time? Would there be a lag or would you even be able to tell the difference?

3)  Can I assign a button using the GP49 to the same keyboard press as a button assigned to the Mini Pac? I ask in the event I need to throw in another joystick on a third panel, and want to assign it to the same presses as on my primary joystick panel.


Any help would be immensely appreciated.

1. Yes, this has been working fine for me. I don't have a minipac but use a JPAC. Through my USB hub I have both GP-Wiz49's and 1 SuperJoypad (SNES to USB) and 1 Boom PS2/N64 to USB interfaces. So far this has not been a problem for Windows XP.

2. Yes. I use the GP-Wiz49's for joysticks only and my JPAC for all buttons. No operational problems here but you do need to think things out. A quick example of what I ran into is using the standard MAME mapping of the JPAC, Enter is SHift (player 1 start) and P1 Joy left. This no longer works as the JPAC is not geting joystick inputs. It's not a problem since you can define custom layouts but certainly something you need to take into account when using a "Hybrid" solution.

3. Yes & No. It's not that you can't make this happen, it's that the two use different technologies. The GP-Wiz49's buttons are seen as gamepad buttons and not keyboard keys. The IPAC/JPAC/MiniPAC are keyboard based devices so the two are just not treated the same way. Up on a GP-Wiz49 is not up arrow like it would be on the minipac. However, you could use joy2key or rbjoy to make the GP-Wiz49's buttons appear to windows to be keypresses so you can accomplish what you want. At least in theory

I am still mapping out my configs and keyboard mappings, etc after having the GP-Wiz's hooked up for a couple of weeks. It's not gameplay that is affected so much as it's FE navigation, etc. Most FE's support using a keyboard or gamepad but when you get into using parts of each, there are scenarios that the FE developers could not have accounted for so basic navigation may not work out of the box and you will need to remap either the FE's nav or your controller configs to make all of your functions come back.

Hope that helps,

Toonces

[mahuti]

Ughhh.. all this stuff is getting so complicated... it's fantastic that all these functionalities CAN happen, but so complex in HOW they happen. Configure mame, configure front end, configure CPmaker, configure CPViewer, create CP art, create multiple configs, install hardware, mod hardware, wire hardware, configure encoder & encoder software. I love tinkering, but it's really out of control.

Did I mention I love it?

I think it's almost time for a new book

[Buddabing]

Ughhh.. all this stuff is getting so complicated... it's fantastic that all these functionalities CAN happen, but so complex in HOW they happen. Configure mame, configure front end, configure CPmaker, configure CPViewer, create CP art, create multiple configs, install hardware, mod hardware, wire hardware, configure encoder & encoder software. I love tinkering, but it's really out of control.

Did I mention I love it?

I think it's almost time for a new book

If you have some CP art usable by CPMaker, please LMK. I could use some better examples.

[mahuti]

I'll PM you.

[Flinkly]

as i hear it, you shouldn't wire up buttons to two different encoders.  you could end up frying either interface and even your computer.  at least that is what i hear.  i'm using a minipac and two gp interfaces, and i'm only going to wire the 49-ways to the gp interfaces, and the keys and trackball/spinner to the minipac.  it saves having to configure everything twice too.

[dema]

Thanks for the answers Toonces. I'm relieved to hear it's working out in a similar manner to what I plan to do. It'll be nice that I can run the separate USAB cables to the hub in the rotating panel and still have them work at the same time. This way I only have to run one cable from the panels out the axl to the PC. It'll make things easier to work with.

[Flinkly]

oh, and as for the multiple usb devices in a single hub, the only problem you may have is not enough power to all the interfaces.  this is usually with things like usb lights and other such power hungry doodads, but just be wary.

[dema]

as i hear it, you shouldn't wire up buttons to two different encoders.

[dema]

oh, and as for the multiple usb devices in a single hub, the only problem you may have is not enough power to all the interfaces.

[Flinkly]

if it hooks up straight to an outlet.  most usb devices just get their power from the motherboard.  if it goes to an outlet, i'd figure you've got nothing to worry about.

[dema]

-
Ok, I just finished...

This is the way I did mine.

[SirPoonga]

Randy, Any chance you could add parallel port support to your app? That way people who have already bought the older versions could be supported without having to use the batch files? Everything you need to add support for direct parallel port support under Win9X/2K/XP is available at http://www.logix4u.net/. The DLL, source code samples and how to's are all there. The cable is easy to make. All that is needed is a db25 connector and 8 wires. the oldest versions can switch 7 modes directly, 8 modes using switching diodes. the second version could switch all 8 and the newest version could accomodate all.

Looking at it now.

[Flinkly]

i'd have to agree with the parallel port thing.  it might be easy in this case, but overall, is almost dead anyways.

as for the I/O board, it sounds like something that everyone would be interested in.  i'd love to get a knocker going and even get some recoil for lightguns that should be coming in the future.  again, it' costly to develop, but since it costs 5 bucks to manufacture, you sell it for 25, and make back the investment in like 20 people. 

hmmm...is this possibly one of randy's next projects?  you could always start a new thread randy, and drop us hints.  that would be a long thread, kinda like this one.

[Toonces]

Randy, Any chance you could add parallel port support to your app? That way people who have already bought the older versions could be supported without having to use the batch files? Everything you need to add support for direct parallel port support under Win9X/2K/XP is available at http://www.logix4u.net/. The DLL, source code samples and how to's are all there. The cable is easy to make. All that is needed is a db25 connector and 8 wires. the oldest versions can switch 7 modes directly, 8 modes using switching diodes. the second version could switch all 8 and the newest version could accomodate all.

Looking at it now.  May be something for a future release of the software.

RandyT

Cool, Thanks! My batch files work but were only meant to be a crutch until a real developer stepped up and wrote something It is Waaaay too cool having the controls switch on loading a game. Now all I need is to work on some visual feedback (eye candy) and to lend a hand to the controls.ini project. Oh yeah, I need some balltops for Midway versions too

Thanks Again,

Toonces

Honestly, I wouldn't do it.  parallel port and parallel port support is dying.  My new computer at work only has usb and firewire.

The better solution would be to make a I/O USB board.  But like RandyT said about custom hardware, it is expensive to develop.  Kinda crazy but from scratch it costs like $100-$150 in equipment to develop a USB circuit that once developed costs like $5 to manufacture.  HowardC and I have been looking into this for about the last two years.  We want to create an output system for mame to output to a generic I/O interface.  That way you can add extra LEDs, T2 gun recoil, qbert knocker, etc...

Also with parallel port you have the issue of making something that works in both windows 98 (sicne many people here use that for cabinets) and XP.  That's not an easy task either.

Actually, making it work is quite easy. Take a look at the link I inluded. The same free DLL handles all versions of windows from 9X through XP using the same calls.

The support is for those units already sold and shipped. Since Randy decided to add support for changing modes via a USB command it isn't needed for new units. Only those of us that have already purchased and installed it.

You might want to look at the parallel port for the I/O board for LEDs/knockers/feedback systems. It's cheap to make the cable ($3-5). The program sources and examples are redily available and most computers do have them. Even PCI printer port cards are cheap if your computer doesn't have one already built in. You also get a variety of inupt and output pins for feedback from your circuit.

The main point is that Randy has versions of his product out that require a chip swap to be able to support mode switching via the computer with his new app. Now unless you bought the MAX version, you're pretty much SOL on getting the version that is controllable via USB. Is the lesson here don't buy the product when announced because you'll get screwed when it's updated or is it don't worry, the developer/manufacturer will support ALL versions of their product? The possibility exists for the developer in this case to support mode switching via the computer on older versions using a parallel port cable. For those that purchased the VE versions, this is the method you have available.

So you're saying the developer should just cut his losses and tell them "sorry, you bought my product before I realized how important it was for me to support that feature."?

I don't think Randy has that kind of attitude.

Toonces

[Toonces]

i'd have to agree with the parallel port thing.  it might be easy in this case, but overall, is almost dead anyways.

as for the I/O board, it sounds like something that everyone would be interested in.  i'd love to get a knocker going and even get some recoil for lightguns that should be coming in the future.  again, it' costly to develop, but since it costs 5 bucks to manufacture, you sell it for 25, and make back the investment in like 20 people. 

hmmm...is this possibly one of randy's next projects?  you could always start a new thread randy, and drop us hints.  that would be a long thread, kinda like this one.

Again, it's not for people who buy now, it's for people who've already purchased the VE versions that can't do a chip swap. It's the next best option for them and doesn't affect those that haven't bought one yet.

[Tiger-Heli]

Again, it's not for people who buy now, it's for people who've already purchased the VE versions that can't do a chip swap. It's the next best option for them and doesn't affect those that haven't bought one yet.

I forgot that the chip swap option was not an option on the Eco boards.

Actually, though, it's only for the people that bought the solder version, as there's a money-back guarantee on Page 2 of this thread for the other boards.

Randy has said he'll look into Parallel Port support, but if he doesn't, they can use the software you already developed, or I guess he will probably have some kind of "trade-up" offer on the new boards for previous customers.

<Let me go hide before I get flamed by Randy . . .>

[Flinkly]

oh, i thought you wanted this implemented so people from other operating systems could use the parallel port.  quite frankly, if you've got any version of the new or old board, you should still be able to use the program you created for parallel port operation, so you shouldn't need randy to make one too.  and if your doing this for people who already bought one and can't swap chips, then they can use your program too.

so with all this in mind, i fail to see why randy has to implement any sort of parallel port stuff.  please point out any errors in my thoguht process, becaus 'm no genious, so i might be missing something.

[Tiger-Heli]

so with all this in mind, i fail to see why randy has to implement any sort of parallel port stuff.  please point out any errors in my thoguht process, becaus 'm no genious, so i might be missing something.

What it does is allow early version GP-Wiz49 Eco owners to use Randy's fancy point and click software, rather than having to manually send 01000000 (hex) to the parallel port.

Having said that, it seems like a huge effort for little gain, unless Randy has sold a ton of the GP-Wiz49 Eco's (which he may well have done . . .)

[Toonces]

Again, it's not for people who buy now, it's for people who've already purchased the VE versions that can't do a chip swap. It's the next best option for them and doesn't affect those that haven't bought one yet.

I forgot that the chip swap option was not an option on the Eco boards.

Actually, though, it's only for the people that bought the solder version, as there's a money-back guarantee on Page 2 of this thread for the other boards.

Randy has said he'll look into Parallel Port support, but if he doesn't, they can use the software you already developed, or I guess he will probably have some kind of "trade-up" offer on the new boards for previous customers.

<Let me go hide before I get flamed by Randy . . .>

Randy said he'd look at that in a future version and I'm good with that. For people who haven't already bought the product  to come along and say that they wouldn't do it because the parallel port is dying...blah blah blah is rediculous. He should support all versions of the product with the same type of features if it's possible and non-cost prohibitive. In this one particular case it should be. The materials are cheap to get and the programming source is available free. It does cost some of his time though to add a feature to a program he is already writing.

Is that such an unreasonable request?

[Flinkly]

i'm not saying it's unreasonable or that randy wont do it, it's just that he already sold the product, without the intent of having software do the switching.  period.  from a buisness standpoint, for a company to spend time and money to give past customers something more for free isn't intelligent.  but since randy is so nice to us, and has done so much already, i'm sure he's willing to look into it.

but why?  the gamex fe already suports parallel port switching, so why should randy create redundant code for the people who already have the itnerfaces?  you could make a program yourself if you really wanted to have the switching feature.

anyway, after all that is said, i'm not gonna argue about it anymore.  it's all up to randy anyways.

LONG LIVE THE GP-WIZ49 WITH DRS TECHNOLOGY (TM)

[Toonces]

oh, i thought you wanted this implemented so people from other operating systems could use the parallel port.  quite frankly, if you've got any version of the new or old board, you should still be able to use the program you created for parallel port operation, so you shouldn't need randy to make one too.  and if your doing this for people who already bought one and can't swap chips, then they can use your program too.

so with all this in mind, i fail to see why randy has to implement any sort of parallel port stuff.  please point out any errors in my thoguht process, becaus 'm no genious, so i might be missing something.

I created the batch files as a means to accomplish something that at the time, Randy had no intentions of doing. Look through this gigantic thread. How many times was it asked about mode switching via USB or under computer control? What were Randy's answers? To paraphrase "Someone else can figure out how to make it switch automatically"

Now, he is adding support for such. A major selling point. Automatically reconfiguring controls! Those that bought the solder versions early are just SOL? Not completely. You can use the hack I threw together to accomplish it. But Randy has the opportunity to support all versions of his product using the same app he is already writing. It unifiy's support for the FE programmers too. They don't have to do anything different. They call the same app and can integrate it much tighter than if they have to let the user be able to change it to a different app in order to support the older Eco versions.

[RandyT]

Again, it's not for people who buy now, it's for people who've already purchased the VE versions that can't do a chip swap. It's the next best option for them and doesn't affect those that haven't bought one yet.

I forgot that the chip swap option was not an option on the Eco boards.

Actually, though, it's only for the people that bought the solder version, as there's a money-back guarantee on Page 2 of this thread for the other boards.

Randy has said he'll look into Parallel Port support, but if he doesn't, they can use the software you already developed, or I guess he will probably have some kind of "trade-up" offer on the new boards for previous customers.

<Let me go hide before I get flamed by Randy . . .>

Hehe.  No flaming, but let's not get confused with the guarantee.  That was a performance guarantee.

As I said, I will try to deal with this as humanely as possible.  I'm just an (incorporated) guy, not a deep pocketed mega corporation.  I've put a lot more work into this project, that should really be cause for a price hike, and I'm still not done.  If I had to pay someone to write software for me, this would have been a sizable investment.

But hopefully at the end, it will be all things to all people and I can move onto the next project.....and no, I won't be raising the price .

RandyT


BTW, As long as the PPort libraries aren't too crazy, I should be able to throw "unsupported" support in for them.  Someone else will have to do the testing though .

[Toonces]

i'm not saying it's unreasonable or that randy wont do it, it's just that he already sold the product, without the intent of having software do the switching.  period.  from a buisness standpoint, for a company to spend time and money to give past customers something more for free isn't intelligent.  but since randy is so nice to us, and has done so much already, i'm sure he's willing to look into it.

but why?  the gamex fe already suports parallel port switching, so why should randy create redundant code for the people who already have the itnerfaces?  you could make a program yourself if you really wanted to have the switching feature.

anyway, after all that is said, i'm not gonna argue about it anymore.  it's all up to randy anyways.

LONG LIVE THE GP-WIZ49 WITH DRS TECHNOLOGY (TM)

Man, how wrong is that? "Screw the past customers. We already got their money!"

It may not be true for you, but since I've built my machine, I have built or assisted 4 of my friends with theirs. Who do you think they ask what controls, etc to buy? Where do you think I send them? Up until the GP-Wiz49 it was ultimarc where they spent on average of $150 for video cards and interfaces. Now I have new controls. 1 has already used them and wants to do the same thing. Where do you think I send them? For a business not to spend their time making sure all of their customers happy isn't intelligent. To add a feature that costs only more time with an application you are already in the process of developing isn't asking a whole heck of a lot. That's how 16 way mode got into the product.

As far as Randy is concerned, I am not worried about it. He said he would look into it and possibly include it in a later version. Good enough.

Why would I want his app vs the batch files I threw together? Simple. I want the features that it offers. A nice gui and the same type of support that new purchasers get.

GameEx supports the batch files to accomplish the mode change via a run before and run after command that the user can enter for each rom. If the same app can be used in all cases, that support could be integrated into GameEx and other FE's on a tighter basis. It becomes a feature that a user can turn on rather than configure and change themselves.

[Toonces]

Again, it's not for people who buy now, it's for people who've already purchased the VE versions that can't do a chip swap. It's the next best option for them and doesn't affect those that haven't bought one yet.

I forgot that the chip swap option was not an option on the Eco boards.

Actually, though, it's only for the people that bought the solder version, as there's a money-back guarantee on Page 2 of this thread for the other boards.

Randy has said he'll look into Parallel Port support, but if he doesn't, they can use the software you already developed, or I guess he will probably have some kind of "trade-up" offer on the new boards for previous customers.

<Let me go hide before I get flamed by Randy . . .>

Hehe.  No flaming, but let's not get confused with the guarantee.  That was a performance guarantee.

As I said, I will try to deal with this as humanely as possible.  I'm just an (incorporated) guy, not a deep pocketed mega corporation.  I've put a lot more work into this project, that should really be cause for a price hike, and I'm still not done.  If I had to pay someone to write software for me, this would have been a sizable investment.

But hopefully at the end, it will be all things to all people and I can move onto the next project.....and no, I won't be raising the price .

RandyT


BTW, As long as the PPort libraries aren't too crazy, I should be able to throw "unsupported" support in for them.  Someone else will have to do the testing though .

Thanks Rany, I have no doubt that you will give it a shot and I appreciate it immensly. Support from a Company (or incorporated guy) is very important to me when I decide to return and buy more product.

Toonces

[Lilwolf]

Since your already spending too much time on this...

How about a new option for you?

Now that you have USB loading/configuring.

[Toonces]

Again, it's not for people who buy now, it's for people who've already purchased the VE versions that can't do a chip swap. It's the next best option for them and doesn't affect those that haven't bought one yet.

I forgot that the chip swap option was not an option on the Eco boards.

Actually, though, it's only for the people that bought the solder version, as there's a money-back guarantee on Page 2 of this thread for the other boards.

Randy has said he'll look into Parallel Port support, but if he doesn't, they can use the software you already developed, or I guess he will probably have some kind of "trade-up" offer on the new boards for previous customers.

<Let me go hide before I get flamed by Randy . . .>

Hehe.  No flaming, but let's not get confused with the guarantee.  That was a performance guarantee.

As I said, I will try to deal with this as humanely as possible.  I'm just an (incorporated) guy, not a deep pocketed mega corporation.  I've put a lot more work into this project, that should really be cause for a price hike, and I'm still not done.  If I had to pay someone to write software for me, this would have been a sizable investment.

But hopefully at the end, it will be all things to all people and I can move onto the next project.....and no, I won't be raising the price .

RandyT


BTW, As long as the PPort libraries aren't too crazy, I should be able to throw "unsupported" support in for them.  Someone else will have to do the testing though .

Oh, BTW, How's it coming with the balltops? Time to send Vinny over to your machinist for a little "Talk"? Since the Midway's don't take the same size, I may just buy a couple of the new sticks with balltops from you and use the midway's in a NeoGeo cab.

Thanks Again!

Toonces

[Tiger-Heli]

OKAY, THERE'VE BEEN FIVE SEVEN REPLIES SINCE I STARTED THIS, SOMEONE LET ME POST IT!!!

Toonces, don't take this wrong, I think what you have done is great, but you have to realize something, which I will get to at the end of this reply:

Randy said he'd look at that in a future version and I'm good with that.

As you should be. . .

For people who haven't already bought the product  to come along and say that they wouldn't do it because the parallel port is dying...blah blah blah is rediculous.

Not really.

He should support all versions of the product with the same type of features if it's possible and non-cost prohibitive. In this one particular case it should be. The materials are cheap to get and the programming source is available free. It does cost some of his time though to add a feature to a program he is already writing.

Is that such an unreasonable request?

Okay, now to the meat of my reply.  RandyT never added support for switching modes via the parallel port to the original board.  You (Toonces) figured that out b/c you found a relay board that could accept parallel port output to set the relays and figured out how to interface this with the original board.  I again commend you for this.

However, you probably could have found a way to control some type of relay board using the serial port, or firewire, or bluetooth, or IDE, or Serial ATA or any number of other protocols.

Does that mean that RandyT must ensure that the new software can also communicate via any of the protocols I mentioned above, just in case some user finds a way to program an old board that way?  (not to me, it doesn't).

Is it unreasonable to ask Randy to support parallel port programming, since you have working hardware that uses it?  (not to me, it's not, but you've already asked that and Randy's already said he would try.  And for that matter, if Randy were to say - I tried and it's not worth my trouble, then I think that's fair enough and all you can ask).

How many times was it asked about mode switching via USB or under computer control? What were Randy's answers? To paraphrase "Someone else can figure out how to make it switch automatically"

I think if you re-read the thread (I don't intend to), Randy's answers were more along the lines of "The current version does not support software switching."  Which is true, and the new version will.

 
Now, he is adding support for such. A major selling point. Automatically reconfiguring controls! Those that bought the solder versions early are just SOL?

All manufacturers have the right to support their products and upgrade them as they see fit.  The GP-Wiz49 came out after a lot of people bought P360's and/or Oscar's push/pull spinner was released right after SOMEONE bought a basic version, or discontinued right before SOMEONE ELSE would buy it.  It happens, and sometimes people are SOL.     

It unifiy's support for the FE programmers too. They don't have to do anything different. They call the same app and can integrate it much tighter than if they have to let the user be able to change it to a different app in order to support the older Eco versions. 

Hate to bust your bubble, and it's great that GamEx added support for it, but I think all the other FE devs have been sitting on the fence, and will likely add support for Randy's software solution only and not the previous parallel port support solution.

[Tiger-Heli]

Hehe.  No flaming, but let's not get confused with the guarantee.  That was a performance guarantee.

As I said, I will try to deal with this as humanely as possible.  I'm just an (incorporated) guy, not a deep pocketed mega corporation.  I've put a lot more work into this project, that should really be cause for a price hike, and I'm still not done.  If I had to pay someone to write software for me, this would have been a sizable investment.

But hopefully at the end, it will be all things to all people and I can move onto the next project.....and no, I won't be raising the price .

RandyT

BTW, As long as the PPort libraries aren't too crazy, I should be able to throw "unsupported" support in for them.  Someone else will have to do the testing though .

Well-stated.  Thanks, Randy!!!

[Toonces]

Hate to bust your bubble, and it's great that GamEx added support for it, but I think all the other FE devs have been sitting on the fence, and will likely add support for Randy's software solution only and not the previous parallel port support solution.

And therein lies my point. By adding support by using the free, available DLL to his app, Randy can ensure ALL of his customers that bought early have the opportunity to experience the best features of his product.

Toonces