Problems w/ SmartNav software (2.50)

This is the place for comments, criticisms and even the occasional compliment related to the SmartNav drivers and profiler. Also the place to discuss and review support issues.
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carljr17
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 16, 2004 5:00 am

Problems w/ SmartNav software (2.50)

Post by carljr17 »

I am having some problems with the software. Basically, when I launch the software, one of three things happens:

1. The software loads, but the cursor behavior is erratic--it jumps about the screen randomly or, it generally follows my movements but there is a huge delay in recognizing new movements and is unusable. It will continue to do this even if I close down and reload the software. I have to reboot and try again.
2. The software does not load, and my entire system freezes up. There is nothing I can do except turn the power off.
3. The software loads successfully, and the cursor follows my movements correctly.

This is a major problem. It's like playing roulette each time I turn on my computer. Basically if the software doesn't want to work, a reboot is required in order to try again.

I also have two other problems. One, when using the NaturalPoint hat, I have to disable the aspect filter or the device will not follow my movements. I suspect that this makes things slightly less accurate than they otherwise would be. The other, which apparently has been mentioned before is that the SmartNav software fails to work in suspend mode. If I suspend my computer with the SmartNav software loaded, it never comes back--I have to power down, losing all unsaved information. It seems this is being worked on, I hope there's a solution soon.

Looking forward to your response,
Carl
Donald
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 5:00 am
Location: Naturalpoint

Re: Problems w/ SmartNav software (2.50)

Post by Donald »

Well, unfortunately with the randomness that you describe, it's hard to say what exactly is going on. I would like you to do the following test the next time #1 happens.

Immediately hit the F9 function key to pause the system. With the physical mouse, click on the Advanced Settings menu. Even though the cursor itself is now paused, the camera will still be tracking your dot. What does the black screen on the left look like? I would prefer that you send me a screen shot so I can see exactly what the camera sees. Press the CTRL + Print Scrn button, open the paint program / click Edit / Paste. Save the .bmp file and email it to support@naturalpoint.com Please put ATTN: Donald in the subject line.

I really can't do anything about #2 and we all hope #3 happens more than the rest of them.

The Aspect Filter is designed to eliminate any trackable object that does not have a 1 to 1 ratio of height and width. The fact that the camera will not track the hat properly with this enabled tells me it's doing it's job. Disabling the Aspect Filter is required when using the hat because as you can see, the reflective surface on the hat is twice as wide as it is high.

Suspend mode has been and is an issue for us. The solution for now is to shut the Smart-NAV software down first then put the computer into a suspended state. Once the system wakes back up, then restart the software and everything works
eric
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Feb 22, 2003 5:00 am

Re: Problems w/ SmartNav software (2.50)

Post by eric »

I wrote software that works around the standby problem. See my post at:
quote:
http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ ... 049#000002


[ July 24, 2004, 04:57 PM: Message edited by: Eric M ]
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