New I-PAC programming software

[Bursar]

Not sure when it was released, but I noticed on the Ultimarc site that there's a new version of the software that's supposed to work on all versions of Windows.

I've tried it on my Win2K PC, and the software doesn't detect my I-PAC as even being connected, and on a Windows 98 PC, the installer hangs at 57%

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else can get it to work.

[OSCAR]

Blatant cut-n-paste from Ultimarc's site:

...This means that if you are connected using USB, this program will only work on boards shipped after August 1 2002.
For boards shipped before this date, USB mode will not work. If you are connected via the PS/2 keyboard interface, boards shipped before Aug 1 2002 MAY work but there are some complex I-PAC and PC issues which may prevent operation. This software is fully supported with either connection method and all Windows versions for boards shipped after Aug 1 2002.

You didn't mention how long you had your IPAC, but it sounds as if you have had it for quite a while, the new software may not work with it.  Could that be the problem?

[Bursar]

I received it in mid-august, so I was kind of hopeful

I did read all the docs before hand, and I checked I had the jumpers in the right place.

I'm sure I'll be able to reconfigure it using the DOS app if I hook it up to the Win98 machine.

Edit - It's the PS/2 version of the I-PAC4 that I have as well.

[Howard_Casto]

I have an older version of the ipac and I've been testing the betas for the new utiltiy.  What I found at least on my system is that it will only work once per reboot and the ipac has to be plugged in when your computer boots into windows.  That's still not stellar performance but its way better than having to pull out the old dos boot discs... especially on a system that doesn't have a floppy drive. (Like mine.)  

[Bursar]

The I-PAC is always attached to the PC, and I did reboot the machine several times, but it didn't seem to make difference

[Howard_Casto]

Did you adjust the timing and timeout speeds?

[Bursar]

Yup, tried that as well. Dropped the speed down to 50, and increased the time-out to 4 seconds.

The only difference that made was that it took longer to complain that the I-PAC wasn't connected  

[VMJ Team]

Note from WinIPAC author:  

As with the release of any new software, beta testing is of the upmost importance...given the fact that the ipac programming is now affected by system hardware (ie. motherboard specs) and other operating system issues...every possible combination of Operating system and hardware specs has not been thoroughly tested.  

The program has been officially been released and is out of "beta" status.  Many of the mentioned issues have been corrected in the latest version.

Please report any problems/issues/suggestions to the author (me) at:

Glazer@cybertechdesign.net
Thanks,
Scott

http://www.mameroom.com
http://www.cybertechdesign.net