Data Streaming but Cannot Verify Connection Status

edited February 2017 in OpenBCI_GUI
Hey everyone,
We are just getting our OpenBCI up and running. We are running the latest OpenBCI_GUI on Mac OS X 10.10.  I installed the FTDI Drivers and am able to see the dongle in "About this Mac > System Report".  Our Cyton board's light is not flashing when we turn it on, like it says it should in the Tutorial on the docs page.  However, I saw some say that the 3 blinks applied to the 8 bit board, even though the tutorial says otherwise.  Anyway - when we open the OpenBCI GUI and select "LIVE (from Cyton)", I can select  our dongle (\dev\tty.usbserial-DJ00ITJA), select "START SYSTEM" and the data streams.  However, if I click the ">" next to "SERIAL/COM PORT" and click "STATUS", I get the following message: 
"Error reading from Serial Port. Try a different Port?"
instead of the expected "SUCCESS"/"Failure" message.

I tried to see if plugging the dongle into a different USB port would make a different, but it doesn't.  Should I be concerned about this since the data is streaming in openBCI?  When the data is streaming, it acts like it comes in chunks, rather than a smooth data stream. Is this normal? I'm not used to using Macs, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Comments

  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    Dillon, hi.

    If the data is streaming you are fine. The chunking is because the FTDI driver needs adjustment. See,

    http://docs.openbci.com/Tutorials/10-Mac_FTDI_Driver_Fix

    William

  • Thanks William! I'll check out the post you linked.  Do you think the status error is just a hiccup with Mac OS?  I should be getting a windows machine next week that I can hook it up to.
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    The status button likely only works when the stream is stopped. It sounds like you pressed it while the stream was already active.
  • edited February 2017
    I tried pressing it before starting the stream as well (i.e. close the GUI, Power off the Cyton, disconnect and reconnect the dongle, power on the Cyton, open the GUI, Click device>Status).  
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    Dillon, can you please open an issue on Github under OpenBCI GUI? Describe what you did and the response.

    https://github.com/OpenBCI/OpenBCI_GUI/issues

    Mentioning @Conor.
  • wjcroft, 
    I had put off attempting the FTDI driver adjustment on the Mac because I was going to be working from a machine running Windows 7 (64 bit).  However, now that I am running on the Windows machine, I seem to still be seeing the same "clunky" behavior, with the same error message when I check connection status. Here is what I have done:
    - Installed the OpenBCI GUI for Windows 64-bit
    - Plugged in RFDuino Dongle (windows automatically downloaded the FTDI 2.12.24.0 Driver dated 9/28/2016)
    - Before running the GUI, I disconnected and reconnected the dongle, and powered on the board (powered by a 5V, 1.5A power supply)

    In device Manager, I can see the dongle (named USB Serial Port) is assigned to COM4.  When I open the GUI, I see COM4 listed in the devices.  If I select it and start the data stream, data comes in, but "clunky", only updates about 2 times per second.  

    If I run openBCI toolkit, I see similar behavior.

    Have there been any similar adjustments for the FTDI driver in windows 7 as in mac OS?
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    The 'docs' site is a great resource to look around for answers,


  • I had done some digging in the docs and tutorials but didn't find anything useful.

    However, by editing the LatencyTimer in the FTDI settings in the Registry Editor, everything seems to be working! LabVIEW and the GUI!

    For anyone having the same issue, run "Regedit" and browse to: 
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\FTDIBUS\VID_XXXXXXX\0000\Device Parameters

    I changed the "Latency Timer" value from 16 to 8. I tried 4 initially, but my mouse and things starting going crazy. 8 seems stable so far though.
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    You should not need to use the Registry Editor. The setting is in the Control Panel. As the above link explains.

  • My apologies, for some reason I was not shown that page when I clicked the link earlier. Not sure what was going on there, but that page is very helpful - thanks!  I am however still seeing "Error reading serial port" message.  Would you still like me to make a post on the github page you suggested?
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    Dillon, thanks. Yes log an issue on the Device > Status problem you originally mentioned.

  • I've never used the GitHub before, so if I should change the post in a way that it is better assigned let me know.
    Here is the post:
  • wjcroftwjcroft Mount Shasta, CA
    AJ solved this by noting that Dillon was running V1 firmware, not V2. Status only supported in V2.

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