TIR 4 Won't Shut Off...LOL

[nealg]

Okay, got my TIR 4 yesterday, and, love it of course. Serial # 045214 ; software is latest from website ( 4.1.28 I think? ).

Everything went fine ; uninstalled my TIR 2, cleaned registry, etc. 4 Pro installed without a hitch. Worked on tweaking a profile all last night and today ( yes, I am very particular, hehe! ). Things going great.

Then something happened....have no idea what. I went to reboot XP, and got the message it had to close TIR.exe, etc., etc. Then, the 'program has stopped responding' message. Okay. no prob, just end it. Fine there.

Used it again ( in Pacific Fighters, patched to version 4.04 ) later, and when exiting the game, decided to check just for sure via task manager. Sure enough, trackir.exe humming along quite happily in Processes -- despite my shutting it down via the 'File>Exit' selection.

So...upshot is...all of a sudden, closing the software doesn't seem to close the software....?? The unit itself is working fine....just, for some reason, the software exit routines ( both File>Exit and the 'X' ) do not shut off the executable. It closes fine if I use task manager to end the process.

Any ideas? Ever heard of this one? It didn't do it yesterday that I know of....and never happened with the TIR 2. Device Manager checks out ok.

Curious is me....

[nealg]

Might could be I answered my own question: seems if i right click the tray icon after leaving the game, it exits and shuts down ok. I was bringing back up the main screen to close it down, from the taskbar.

Basically, Iw as doing this:

Start software from icon;
Minimize;
Play game;
Quit game;
Click TIR in taskbar to bring up main screen, then shutting it down from there. Unfortunately, it didn't actually shut down, but kept humming along under Processes.

I just now tried simply right clicking the tray icon and selecting 'exit', and that seemed to work.

Still has me curious, though.

[nealg]

Aye, Toady, it did indeed make sense, and i appreciate the reply. That is, though, what I was doing....clicking File, then Exit, then answering Yes. But it wasn't stopping in the background. It seemed to work ok if I was just editing a profile, then quitting the app.....but after a game session was when this happened.

Actually, all day Thursday everything seemed to work fine; it was my second day with it, Friday, that the strange stuff started happening. And, looking backm it was after I tried the unit out in BoB2:WOV using the 6DOF that it started acting up....before then, I was just editing and testing profiles, then practicing with them in Pacific Fighters.

Another oddity cropped up at the same time, and this one is really hard to explain, but I'll give it a whirl.....might be someone else has had this happen.

First....I had my TIR2 hotkeys set to F10=Disable the TIR, so i changed this for my new profiles in TIR 4. Worked fine...no problem.

Also, i was in the habit of loading my TIR, then starting PF, and while PF was loading, I would hit F10 before the main menu came up. Never caused any problems, and worked the same Thursday while I was testing.

But, after trying out BoB2 and getting that other thing, I also noticed that when I start PF with the TIR 4 disabled now, the main PF screen comes up at 1/3 the frame rate ( I use FRAPS regularly, almost habitually ). Now, the menu is a static 2D screen, of course, but it always reaches 999. Suddenly yesterday it came up maxed at 385. Drove me crazy...even locked up PF at the main menu, although I was able to close it with task manager.

It was this that caused me to discover the other thing about closing the software, BTW.

Rebooted and tried again, same thing....but, this time, instead of closing the sim, I hit F10 to Enable the TIR -- and, all was back to normal. After that, the enable/disable functioned with no further problems -- although I have to remember to leave the TIR enabled when I load PF now, until I leave the PF main screen.

So, two strange things, both seeming to have begun after using the full vector in BoB2:WOV, and not before ( I am, BTW, blown away with the 6DOF...this is the future of sim viewing, IMHO ). And both have effective workarounds that are no trouble.

I cannot explain any of this....just strange, and have me curious.. And the unit and software function just fine, other than those two anomalies, which didn't begin until the second day of use.

Hmmmm...one new strange oddity -- just noticed, the blue LED indicating a TIR-enhanced game is loaded is now flashing at me...yesterday, the red 'power is on' light kept flashing green internittently. With the software off.

Maybe mine is possessed? It wants to PLAY!

Thanks for the reply, Sir!!

[Toady]

Hi Nealg
If you fire up the main program and look under options you can put a tick next to 'close to tray'. Or un-tick it.
What that does is when you quit the main program it leaves TIR running in the background and minimises it to your system tray (by the clock ). To stop TIR running right click on the icon and choose 'restore' or 'exit'.
Or you can leave it un-checked and minimise the program to the taskbar and run your games. When un-checked you should get a message saying 'Are you sure you want to quit' when you close the screen. Click on 'yes' to close the whole application down.
Hope that made sense mate.

[Toady]

I understand now mate. It was still in 'Processes' in 'Windows task manager' after you had exited the complete program?
And yes that is strange. Doesn't happen to me anyway.
About the frame rates thing. Try not being in such a hurry and leave the keyboard alone while a programs trying to load.
And last but not least; the lights. Mine does the same when not in use or loaded. Red LED flashes green approx every 4 seconds and blue LED periodically flashes on. (I got bored waiting to time that one.)
I reckon it does it to look sexy. It's like the gorgeous blond in the corner winking at you seeming to say 'come over and play with me Big Boy'.

[nealg]

LOL! I remember her...she was the one that got away. Always...... Now if it happened, I'm old enough to know to have patience......and recon ALL the possible exits before settling in....

Thanks for the info about the flashing LED's.....I was starting to worry it was sitting there signalling something in back of me. I could just see lining up that perfect shot on a enemy plane, and getting jumped by my television or DVD player......

And, just for grins, here's a new one it did -- I decided last night, just for fun ( ??? ) to switch USB ports with the TIR ( had a empty one right next to it, never been used )....see if maybe that might trigger something. Well, worked just the same, so, I put it back in the one I originally installed it in.....and.....it wouldn't work at all!!!!! I put it back in the 'new' port, and it's fine....sooooooo....TIR ATE MY USB PORT!!!!!! It's ALIVE, I TELL YOU!!!!

LOL!!!! Kidding....though it did happen. But it's working as it should, long as I don't get quick with the F10 key, and exit from the tray, and that's what matters! Thanks for the assist, Toady.

[rodom]

Just thought I'd slip in here a little link for the Status LED's so you know what they mean. Glad all is well with your TrackIR.

http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/06- ... html#h-4.4

[nealg]

Thanks, Rick. Yes, I had actually read that part of the manual.....hehe....what confused me was that, in my mind, if the unit wasn't loaded ( i.e., the software was 'off' ), the low power/stand by portion wouldn't be applicable. Since 'off' to me means using min power anyway.... And I have told XP not to shut off USB devices.

Well, new one now....last night, when shutting down my PC for the night, the software did it again.....had to 'end task' at PC shutdown. This morning, when booting up, had no lights at all on the TIR unit, and XP messaged me it had detected a 'unknown device'.

I unplugged the unit and plugged it back in, whereupon it was recognized correctly. Looks like my next days off, I may have to reinstall comletely, and see what happens. May have to try another USB port....only, the others are all full, which will be a pain, but it could be these ports ( front of case ) are flaky.

Device Manager shows 500mA available for each port, with the TIR using 286mA -- this seems in line with specs.

[nealg]

Hmmm...it did the 'playing dead' thing again this morning. On powering up my PC, it was there ( light was lit ), but when XP booted, it went blank. Unplugging and plugging back in brought it back.

Strange, since during my work week I have no time to play, so hadn't even used it since Sunday.

I did run the NPRegfix thing, just to see.....it told me nothing detected that needed fixing. So, it is still working, I guess...but is becoming more awkward to deal with as each day passes. Has me a bit concerned...wish it would hit a level where it was consistent.

I'll post again if anything changes. As I suspect it will.

[Toady]

Hey Nealg.
Are you sure your system is consistent? You seem to have some wierd shit happening here.
Normally the TIR's either never work and get replaced or work for a while, stop working and get replaced.
Yours or the system seems to have PMT on a day to day basis.