MSD 8918 and other questions

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

I have the data module and bought an msd 8918 per randy for an exige s 240. The msd 8918 has 3 wires, black (ground), green (into + ), red (into -) (Is that right?) and the clip attached to cylinder 1 injector or does it matter which injector it goes on?

Also, kind of a dumb question bought what would the best spot be to ground?

[BroussalM]

Hi,
The wire are :
BLACK > Ground ( - )
RED > 12V ( + )
GREEN > Signal

See the attache file.

Regards
Michel Broussal

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

I see that but I guess the question is...the data module has an RPM input for + & -. So does the green go to the + and red to the - or are you saying its like how you have it. Black goes to RPM input - and red to +?

[RandallNoll]

The green goes to the + on the DM10.
The red goes to 12V power.
The black should split and go to both the - on the DM10 as well as chassis ground.

Thanks!

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

Perfect! Thanks Randall

By the way, I designed a very nice 08 Lotus gauge set and got it all setup in dashware so I just need to hook the hardware up and test it all.

[RandallNoll]

Very cool!

If you'd like to share this gauge, check out my new post in the Sharing forum here for instructions:
http://www.chasecam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=544

Thanks!

[Rolf]

That gauge looks great! Can't wait to see it in action...

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

Here was a quick test video of it.
http://vimeo.com/9031486

I have edited it since and have done a few designs for other people and race teams.

I will say that the dm10/dashware has been quite buggy...
Dashware needs reactivation quite a bit. Software crashes when in use.
DM10 doesn't seem to activate sometimes or
it will lose speed or mph one time than g load another...
Than it will work...not sure if an update is out that is more consistent.

Any thoughts?

[Rolf]

I like your gauges. They look very slick!

On the software side... How often does DashWare require reactivation? This is only supposed to happen if something in your system changes. I can ask the license software vendors about that.

What Windows OS are you using, and is it running on a Mac or something?

In what cases have you seen DashWare crash? i.e. what seems to cause it? Is it consistent?

More details can really help narrow it down.

Thanks!
Rolf

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

I would say it's maybe every 4 or 5 uses. I don't use it all the time so sometimes a few weeks go by and when I use dashware it asks for reactivation. I use Windows VIsta (I don't have the version handy) and no updates have been made since install of dashware. To be honest, if I had a Mac version I would use that more...

Anyway, it crashes if I scroll through video (although its not consistent) or if I go to select fonts it hangs up, sometimes the color picker does this also.

The other thing that is odd...I get inconsistent input from the DM 10 or software I think. Meaning the map will be drawn, I will get a lap time but I wont get speed? Or I get speed but I don't get g forces...any thoughts?

[Rolf]

I would say it's maybe every 4 or 5 uses. I don't use it all the time so sometimes a few weeks go by and when I use dashware it asks for reactivation. I use Windows VIsta (I don't have the version handy) and no updates have been made since install of dashware. To be honest, if I had a Mac version I would use that more...

Hmm... I have seen the reactivation prompt once in a blue moon on my Vista box. I'll fire an email over to the licensing guys to see if they have any ideas.

Anyway, it crashes if I scroll through video (although its not consistent) or if I go to select fonts it hangs up, sometimes the color picker does this also.

There is a bug with the MS media player control we use that causes it to stop responding after a lot of seeking around. It will *eventually* come back, but it can take a while. A workaround for now is to delete the video from your project, then undo the deletion (to preserve your sync points etc). This will bring it back to life right away. We think they have maybe fixed this in the next .NET 4.0 release. I haven't seen it outright crash while playing video myself though. Does it exit DashWare for you?

The first time you pop up the list of fonts it can take some time for the system to enumerate them all. The more fonts you have on your system, the longer it can take. After the first time it should be zippy subsequent times. Is this consistent with what you have experienced?

With the color picker, is there anything specific that causes it to have problems?

The other thing that is odd...I get inconsistent input from the DM 10 or software I think. Meaning the map will be drawn, I will get a lap time but I wont get speed? Or I get speed but I don't get g forces...any thoughts?

Very strange. Is this consistent on a per-file basis? I.e. does one file consistently only give you a map, and another file consistently only give you speed?

Thanks,
Rolf

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

I did a few tests and got a few different clips. Each one did something different. As I mentioned one produced speed, mph, map and lap but no gforce. Another had map, lap, gforce but no speed or mph. I didn't take one file and try different projects. (I am using the gauges that are shown above and they did work fine on a half dozen tests)

As for the dashware, what you discribe for the video makes sense and is what is happening. The fonts are limited to the office suite as really thats all thats on that box and when I say hang the software is not responding. For the color picker its not all the time but when I try and select a different color. Usually a light color or white...

[sales]

I did a few tests and got a few different clips. Each one did something different. As I mentioned one produced speed, mph, map and lap but no gforce. Another had map, lap, gforce but no speed or mph. I didn't take one file and try different projects. (I am using the gauges that are shown above and they did work fine on a half dozen tests)

Speed is calculated using the GPS data from the Data Module. If you're getting GPS data but not speed, it would have to be something in your set up from DashWare.

In terms of getting GForce data and then not getting GForce data, that may be due to a firmware bug on the PDR100. Please make sure your PDR is running the newest firmware 01.02.12 - http://www.chasecam.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2134#post2134

I believe the issue we found with the older versions were that certain settings - namely those for embedding data such as GForce data - were not being held after power down. So if you powered your PDR100 down between sessions and you had a version older than 01.02.12, that could explain getting GForce data on one run and not on the next.

- Kelly

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

The dashware file has not changed and it worked before so I'm thinking it's the version as you mentioned. I also did power on and off as the system didn't want to engage. So I will update the pdr and see if that fixes it. Thanks!

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

Ok, I updated to the 01.02.12 and mph/speed/map/lap time work perfect but not getting the gforce information. So I checked the settings as follows.

Shortcuts / data aquisition / selected chase dm10 and hit yes (was set to manual)

Features / on screen displays / gforce module / display off

So I get gforce now but not mph/speed.
(odd part is the first second or so it shows speed than drops it)

Any ideas?

[RandallNoll]

My guess is you lost GPS lock. Speed and map are both generated via GPS, so you should have both or neither. You can check your data file in your project folder and see if they both drop off. You can also email me the file if you'd like and I can have a look.

Thanks.

[kmusch@studiospiral.com]

I think I know what's happening...I have this on a 12v plug attached to my cigarette lighter. I was in the habit of just flipping that switch to turn off the system. Instead, I just turned the car off and let the PDR continue to record until it switches to stand by mode, than turn it off. It's like the saving of information is delayed...if that's it I can easily let it sit 10 sec. so it self shuts down.

Would that make sense?