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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Yoeddy1 on September 06, 2014, 03:57:53 am

Title: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: Yoeddy1 on September 06, 2014, 03:57:53 am

Hey guys,

So I picked up a Griffin Powermate to plug into my MAME cab and use ONLY for volume control.  Well, I'm running Vista x64, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what the hell the problem is.  After nosing around on the web, it looks like the hardware is solid, but the drivers and software suck.  Any of you Powermate users have any luck getting this to work on a 64-bit OS?  I have downloaded the latest version from Griffin's site, and I even found PowerMate_for_PC_1_5_3.exe on the web, but still...no luck.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

Title: Re: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: big10p on September 06, 2014, 08:45:12 am

I've never heard of this device but it might be worth trying it in a different USB port. Some USB devices can be flaky like that.

Title: Re: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: kixfan on September 06, 2014, 09:35:42 am

The support page doesn't say if it supports 64 bit, just says Vista.   Considering it does not support Windows 7/8 I would hazard a guess that 64 bit is not supported either.   I read a thread a few weeks ago about this.   Got really excited but then realized the limited OS support.   You mentioned trying a version 1.5.3.    The support page has a version 2.0.1.

http://griffintechnology.com/support/powermate (http://griffintechnology.com/support/powermate)

Title: Re: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: Yoeddy1 on September 06, 2014, 08:44:15 pm

Yeah, I have an email into Griffin about this.  I've tried old drivers, the current drivers on their website, and it looks like this could be a no-win situation for those that are using 64-bit or newer operating systems.  I have seen a number of Win 7 users claim success, but it was quite a contortion act to complete the installation. 

If there are any users out here that are using Vista x64 or beyond, and have successfully installed these drivers, please chime in.

Thanks,
Jason

Title: Re: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: big10p on September 07, 2014, 09:09:44 am

Sounds like their product just sucks. End of.

Title: Re: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: nugarp on September 08, 2014, 03:05:35 am

Why not use something like this? http://www.amazon.com/PAC-LC-1-Remote-Amplifier-Controller/dp/B0002J226O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1410159882&sr=8-4&keywords=passive+volume+control (http://www.amazon.com/PAC-LC-1-Remote-Amplifier-Controller/dp/B0002J226O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1410159882&sr=8-4&keywords=passive+volume+control)

After having a great time trying to get my pot to line up exactly with my CP, I decided to just go this route. It works great - the knob comes off, the plate comes out, so you can just route away a pocket and put this through.

Title: Re: Griffin Powermate (What in the HELL????)
Post by: Yoeddy1 on September 16, 2014, 10:13:48 pm

To close this out, I ended up contacting Griffin.  Turns out, the unit that I had was really old and had a version of firmware that was causing the problem talking to the OS.  They ended up sending me a brand new one, and it works perfectly.  Volume control works great. Highly recommended if you're looking for a USB volume control solution!

Thanks,
Jason