Attn: Jim Richardson - has my TrackIR2 died?

[HarryLee]

Hello,

I ordered my TrackIR2 on Nov 4 2003 and have had no problems with it until today.

I took it to a friend's house this afternoon, to let him try it out on his XP Home system as he is interested in buying one. I installed the 3.03 drivers before connecting it, then connected to his USB 1.1 port when installation was complete.

After a minute, instead of popping up a message about finding new hardware and asking to install drivers, Windows gave the following message:

"USB device not recognized. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message".

Running the TrackIR software gave the expected message:

"The software could not connect with the TrackIR device! The program will start but there will be no mouse control"

I tried it in all 4 of his USB ports with same results. Tried uninstalling/reinstalling the TrackIR 3.03 drivers, no joy.

I assumed at the time that the problem was with his USB controller and maybe he needed driver updates or something.

However when I got home and connected it to my system, I had the EXACT same problems As soon as I ran the TrackIR software I got the "Cannot connect" error from the software, immediately followed by the "Unrecognized USB device" error from Windows.

I've tried System Restore, uninstall/reinstall, connecting to different USB ports and my hub, all with the same result.

It is important to note that the device was working fine this morning, right before I took it to my friend's house.

Do you have any ideas what I can do to get it working again? It sounds to me like the hardware has died, but maybe you know something to fix it that I don't?

If you believe it's a hardware failure, please give details on how to get it replaced as it's still under warranty, and I've gotten to the point where I can't fly without it!

Thanks for your time, and Merry Christmas!

Regards, Lee

[ December 26, 2003, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: HarryLee ]

[HarryLee]

OK, here's a followup to the problem mentioned in my 1st post. I don't know much about the behind-the-scenes process of installing device drivers, but I've done some research and learned a little.

Here is the TrackIR section from c:\windows\setupapi.log following my most recent driver install attempt:

[2003/12/25 19:41:52 732.3 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\unknown
#-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\unknown
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "USB\UNKNOWN" in C:\WINDOWS\inf\usb.inf; Device: "Unknown Device"; Driver: "Unknown Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard USB Host Controller)"; Section name: "BADDEVICE.Dev".
#I023 Actual install section: [BADDEVICE.Dev.NT]. Rank: 0x00000000. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [BADDEVICE.Dev] in "c:\windows\inf\usb.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "USB\VID_0000&PID_0000\6&18FB4A5F&0&2".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [BADDEVICE.Dev.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\windows\inf\usb.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "USB\VID_0000&PID_0000\6&18FB4A5F&0&2".
#I121 Device install of "USB\VID_0000&PID_0000\6&18FB4A5F&0&2" finished successfully.

I believe the problem is, the hardware ID here is given as "usb\unknown", causing Windows to find the driver info in c:\windows\inf\usb.inf

Looking back at several earlier, successful installs, in every case the hardware ID line read:

#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\vid_131d&pid_0150&rev_0001,usb\vid_131d&pid_0150

This ID is of course found in c:\windows\inf\npusb.inf which is loaded during the TrackIR install, and the driver install is then done from npusb.inf

Again, this is only guesswork but I'm assuming that when a plug-n-play device is installed, it identifies itself with a unique string (in this case usb\vid_131d&pid_0150) which Windows then uses to search the .inf files until it finds the correct one to use for driver installation.

If this is the case, it seems that something in my TrackIR2 has failed so that it is no longer correctly identifying itself to Windows, and therefore Windows has no idea which driver to use, or which to install, causing it to use "usb\unknown" in usb.inf by default.

I hope this information will help you identify the cause of my problem, Mr. Richardson. If you need any more info, please let me know.

Regards,

Lee

[jnylund]

Well, add me to this list

My TrackIR2 installed and worked flawlessly a month ago. Since then I have added a USB2 front panel to my system. When I plugged the device into one of these ports it began an installation, and could not install. Same problem as listed above. Even after pluging the device into its old port, it tries to reinstall, but does not recognize the device. Tried everything I know how, but insists that no drivers exist in the TrackIR folder the software installed into.

Really bummed about this, because I love this device. Please help....

Jay Nylund

system specs:

{ Processor }
Model: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
Speed: 2.41GHz
L2 On-board Cache: 512kB ECC Synchronous ATC (8-way sectored, 64
byte line size)

{ Mainboard }
Bus(es): AGP PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support: 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC: Yes
System BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG
Mainboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 8PE667U
Total Memory: 511MB DDR-SDRAM

{ Chipset 1 }
Model: Giga-Byte Technology 82845PE Brookdale Host-
Hub Interface Bridge (B0-step)
Front Side Bus Speed: 4x 134MHz (536MHz data rate)
Total Memory: 512MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed: 2x 167MHz (334MHz data rate)

{ Video System }
Adapter: RADEON 9800 PRO

{ Peripherals }
Serial/Parallel Port(s): 2 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub: NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub: NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub: NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller B1
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host
Controller - 24C2
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host
Controller - 24C4
USB Controller/Hub: Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host
Controller - 24C7
USB Controller/Hub: Intel PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB 2.0 Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB 2.0 Root Hub
Keyboard: Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/
2 Keyboard
Mouse: HID-compliant mouse
Human Interface: USB Human Interface Device

{ MultiMedia Device(s) }
Device: Santa Cruz(tm)

{ Printers and Faxes }
Model: HP DeskJet 540

{ Operating System(s) }
Windows System: Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32
x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 1)

[jnylund]

After mucking about for several hours (during which a complete system reinstall was considered!) I now have my TrackIR back.

I wish I could say what exactly did it, but I'm pretty sure it was upgrading my Mobo's BIOS. I doubt the new BIOS had any different USB fixes in it, but maybe the act of erasing the old BIOS had the desired effect. Who knows. Sacrificing a live chicken may have worked also, and makes as much sense! Maybe this will work for you, good luck.

Jay

[HarryLee]

Thanks Jay, I'm glad you got yours working again but I don't think that will help my problem.

I've tried to install it on no less than *four* systems now, and not one of them can recognize it These are 2 XP systems, one ME system and 1 98 system.

I hope NP tech support isn't taking the week off for new year's, I really want to talk to them about this & get it resolved, especially since the LOMAC patch w/TIR fixes is due out soon!

Regards, Lee

[HarryLee]

OK, I just tried flashing the bios to be sure, no difference at all. Still not recognized.

Guess the next step is a clean install of Windows on a spare hd, but I can't see that making any difference - I'm sure the hardware is dead.

[jnylund]

Save your time on a clean install...

I just did a clean install (part of my new year's routine) and I'm sad to say that I cannot seem to get the device recognized properly now. Have tried with v3.01 and v3.03 of the software, but everytime I plug it in, I only get "USB device" and an unsuccessful search for drivers.

Maybe I'll try the BIOS flash trick again, but more than likely it's time to sacrifice that chicken. I'll let you know how THAT works!

cheers,

Jay

[HarryLee]

Hi Jay,

Have you tried installing on any other systems to see if it installs OK on them? If it doesn't, maybe it died - I'm sure mine did, and after I wrote tech support they agreed with me and gave me an RMA number to return it for testing. I'm sending it back tomorrow, hopefully they'll get me fixed up.

Never did try the clean XP install, figured it wasn't worth it.

[jnylund]

Harry, I'm glad you're getting some action, mate. I guess I'll take it to work tomorrow and try it on some systems there. I have the sick feeling that it has died. I just noticed that you got yours about the same time I got mine. Where did you buy it from? I got mine from eDimensional. Maybe a bad batch? Who knows? I'll try mine at work and then email tech support. Or call. I need this fixed ASAP! It's amazing how dependent you can get on it!

Jay

[HarryLee]

Jay I ordered mine straight from NaturalPoint. It was one of the 1st TrackIR 2, in fact it came in the original TrackIR 1 box, instead of the new TrackIR 2 box. So it is certainly from the 1st production run, maybe there was a problem with that run?

The support guy I've been in contact with, Wayne, has been very helpful and no BS at all. Gives me confidence that they're gonna get me fixed up

You're right, it is addictive! While I wait to get it fixed, I'm *trying* to fly Lomac with the hat switch for views, and it just isn't working... (I'd learned to adapt to the TIR problems in Lomac and actually got it to where it was pretty usable!)

Hope you can get yours fixed, one way or the other!