CTC problems

Hi,

I have a site with the following:
1 x CTC (installed end 2006)
1 x CTC (installed end 2007)

Both these touch screens are programmed using PICED 3.9 & I have updated the firmware where necessary. There are a few problems that has featured:

The "master" CTC (end 2006) houses all the logic code & schedules. The "slave" CTC (end 2007) has no schedules or logic and just have to follow the "master". When some condition changes on the "master", the "slave" don't update, e.g. if the garage door icon changes state, the slave does not respond. If any C-bus command is sent from the "slave" however, the "master" does update accordingly. When you synchronise the logic and schedules, all seems ok again for half a day or so before the problems start again. The "synchronise" function also takes about 3 sec. on the slave and 30 sec. on the master to complete.

It also seems as if the network has a serious delay in executing commands during this troubled state. Logic takes about 30 sec. to be executed. (I timed it).

Another problem that's driving me nuts is the playing of wav. files.
When certain conditions happen, the wav. files are executed from the logic. I tested my program off-site on a CTC (installed mid 2007) and it worked flawlessly. On site, with the 2 CTC's however - NO JOY It continuously comes up with the message that the wav. files can not be found/does not exist. There are also some other peculiar things that happen when some schedules are executed, but I believe everything has something to do with the 2 CTC's that causes all these weird snags.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

brodsky
I can help u with this bit - been a known bug for a long long time, search the forum for some of my old old entries.
dave





Another problem that's driving me nuts is the playing of wav. files.
When certain conditions happen, the wav. files are executed from the logic. I tested my program off-site on a CTC (installed mid 2007) and it worked flawlessly. On site, with the 2 CTC's however - NO JOY It continuously comes up with the message that the wav. files can not be found/does not exist.

 

Hi brodsky,

Usually a CTC will only be slow to respond if the CTC is using up a lot of CPU (drawing lots of alpha blended pages etc).

A few questions to narrow down the problem:
1: Is the project the exact same in all CTC's except the master flag turned off in slaves or is it a modified project?
2: If you open the log on a 'slave' do you see all the traffic from the master? (This is a good time to see if CPU consumption is high > 50%)

Regards,

Matty

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies thus far.

Dave, I did get the wav files to work after a previous post to which you replied. The problem is that it works on the single CTC that I tested it on, but not when downloaded on the real mcCoy. I don't know if the fact that the 2 CTC's in this installation differs in age with about a year has something to do with it or not.

Matty, the projects on the 2 CTC's is basically an exact copy of one another, except for the logic code and schedules which has been omitted from the second CTC. I don't use any alpha blends or even jpeg images, thus there are heaps of spare CPU capacity. The problem is that this installation is quiet a few hours drive away, so there's no way to quickly test the different suggestions.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Brodsky

 

Are these Colour C-Touch units on the same C-Bus Network ?

It would be a good idea to use the C-Bus Diagnostic Utility to view the C-Bus Network traffic when sending messages from the two units to ensure that both are correctly sending messages onto C-Bus. Also check whether there is excessive network traffic or a high error rate.

The Sync should be MUCH faster on the unit with no logic or schedules.

A delay of this length can not be caused by the C-Bus network itself. It could be caused by an excessively busy Colour C-Touch unit though.

It would be a very good idea to actually observe the CPU usage to be completely sure. This can be done using the log.

It should not make any difference. Have both got the latest Flash Card installed (Service Pack 2) ? To check, open the Utilities form and press the Properties button.