posted
Ed called today to say that a couple of things that came out of discussions at Tucson will be implemented, and that he welcomes other suggestions that people have. No guarantees that posted suggestions will be acted on, but they will be read and considered.
The first one is the issue of the controller defaulting to 192.168.0.250, which for most of us requires that IPs be changed in order to do things like NVCLEAR and so on. There is good news/bad news on this one.
A lot of us feel that the default should have been selected as 192.168.1.250, but at this point there is too large an installed base to simply switch - it would be a nightmare for support to figure out what IP would result when the controller is placed in boot mode.
So, the solution they have come up with is to have three possible IPs occur at bootup. If the Search and Stow buttons are both depressed when the power button is pressed, the IP will remain at 192.168.0.250 as it currently is.
If you press Search, then power-up, the IP will default to 192.168.1.250.
If you press Stow, then power-up, the IP will be read from the configuration file, which makes it possible to set a bootup IP that is non-standard.
The catch is that it happens in bootloader code. There is no field way to change the controller's bootloader - the case must be opened by a factory tech and configuration changed via internal connections.
On a forward-going basis the problem will go away, but the only way for current users to take advantage of it will be to send their controllers in for reprogramming at an estimated cost of $75.
The second problem will be handled in firmware, probably in the next general release. That problem is that the controller, if powered-up with no LAN connection, will never get to the point where stow can be pressed.
The most common way this occurs is when people have powered down computers, controller and router, then realize the dish isn't stowed. If the controller is powered on by itself, Stow does not work, and there is a presumption that something has failed. The thing to remember in this circumstance is that you need to power up the router as well. In the future this should not be a problem.
If you have other suggestions for changes, feel free to post them in this thread.
posted
1) Hopefully, MotoSAT will change the local address and router gateway on the Configuration Page to the 192.168.1.250 and 192.168.1.1 addresses. Personally, I would recommend that they leave the boot address well enough alone as this will help prevent those who like to "fiddle" with their hardware from accidentally resetting the controller. It also sounds like it would prevent the stow problems presented above. 2) While I suppose this may be somewhat of a pipe dream, it seems like the D3 software should be able to read the Hughes modem configuration and at least have an option to "click here to enter Modem parameters". 3) While not software related it would be nice to make the buttons operate properly when pressed in the center of the button. In most cases I have to train to press the edge of a button to work properly. 4) I would also like to see the Signal Strength screen removed from the System Status page and relocated elsewhere (maybe the manual motor control page) to prevent users from confusing this data with the location of their satellite. The other possibility would be a software switch on the Configuration screen that would allow Show Signal Strength (Enable, Disable-Default). 5) Since we have very little control over the search pattern and the antenna must return to 0 azimuth anytime a new search begins it would be great to have a search option that included "Begin AZ search at XX degrees" or "End AZ search at XX degrees" or some other way of limiting the search area.
-------------------- Bill Adams Winegard Company Posts: 15726 | From: Traveling the Western US | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Bill, can you expand what you mean by each of the two sentences below? I don't understand either.
I would recommend that they leave the boot address well enough alone as this will help prevent those who like to "fiddle" with their hardware from accidentally resetting the controller. It also sounds like it would prevent the stow problems presented above.
posted
If you can put the D3 in boot mode and do an nvclear "easily" users would be more likely to attempt this if they didn't have to mess with the computers IP addressing.
Maybe I misunderstood your post but you seemed to indicate that this new D3 IP addressing scheme would prevent the D3 from being able to stow the dish it all the components were not on. Not changing things would prevent that from being a problem if I am understanding you correctly.
-------------------- Bill Adams Winegard Company Posts: 15726 | From: Traveling the Western US | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I'm getting very comfortable with the D3 software at this point (which probably means a D4 is not far away).
However, the -48 error MUST have a solution. There must be some way for the controller to try again to re-establish communication with the modem when it is lost. At the very least it should be possible for the D3 when searching and it gets the dreaded -48 to NOT stow.
For the D2 software I'd like to see the 'Last known Satellite Position' routine either removed or made optional in the config screen. Also, adding the DVB routines would be nice.
-------------------- Don Marr WWW.OREGONRV.NET 541-683-5361 See where I am Country Coach Concept 40' F1 - D3|7000s|99W|LinkSys wireless with 1000mw WiFi amp & Ext. antenna Posts: 3393 | From: Eugene, OR | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
How about the D3 comparing configurations with the modem like Don's beta utility program?
-------------------- Cheers,
John F1/D3-3.9.6V/HN7000S/ 91W/1070/33 /66.82.10.62 gateway 2005 Itasca Horizon 40AD, 2006 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited Posts: 531 | From: On the road for a while | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
I agree with the confusion problem with the Signal Strength and the Signal Quality indicators. I agree that the Signal Strength indicator should be moved and maybe reduced in size, but just relocated so as to be less predominant on the screen. This might reduce the user confusion. Another thing that might help is since Hughes is not about to change their terminology, and they call the Signal Quality indication, "Signal Strength" then MotoSat could change theirs, and rename Signal Quality to Signal Strength, to match the indication on the Modem page. This could be accomplished with a new page design very easily.
Thanks listening and for your time.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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F1,2-Watt,D3,7000S,89W,1150 2003 NEWMAR, MADP, TAHOE Posts: 193 | From: Anywhere our MH will go | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Originally posted by Bill Adams: If you can put the D3 in boot mode and do an nvclear "easily" users would be more likely to attempt this if they didn't have to mess with the computers IP addressing.
Perhaps, but that's an untested premise. I would be more inclined to guess that people so inclined already know how, and the issue is the countless others who only do nvclear under instruction, and that type of instruction (changing network settings) leads to significant support time.
Maybe I misunderstood your post but you seemed to indicate that this new D3 IP addressing scheme would prevent the D3 from being able to stow the dish it all the components were not on. Not changing things would prevent that from being a problem if I am understanding you correctly.
No. I'm talking about an existing bug. Power your router and controller off. Then power just the controller on and watch it continously fail to boot (not sure what firmware version started this). It is a result of them vigorously trying to establish the network connection.
It doesn't matter what IP, and the boot will work even if the only other thing powered up is a switch, which could care less about IPs.
I think some of the posts we've had here where people couldn't stow with the button and had to be instructed to use power to the wires were probablly the result of this, and just powering up their router would have gotten them going.
posted
While not exactly on the topic of firmware, it sure would be nice if the D3 had an auto-sensing ethernet port. Seems like that could be implemented in new versions and without creating any new problems.
It would also be good if D3 settings could be modified and updated even if the mount is not detected.
I like the proposed addressing scheme. A label should be affixed to the bottom of each controller explaining the button push sequence and resulting IP.
Rebuilding a D3 config after firmware update and nvclear would be sooooo much easier (esp on the phone) if we didn't have to walk people step by step thru all the IP addressing hoops. I will celebrate the day when a D3/Linksys/Hughes stack would be pretty much plug and play, right out of the box, except for a few basic setting changes.
posted
Thanks Don, I did misunderstand that this was a current configuration problem. If MotoSAT can get the local address and the router gateway to 192.168.1.250 and 192.168.1.1 I will be happy with just about any other setting. I guess I still don't know why there's not just a pin hole reset button button, even if it had to be pushed in conjunction with another button, but I guess that's just too easy.
-------------------- Bill Adams Winegard Company Posts: 15726 | From: Traveling the Western US | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Well if we are talking upgrades and changes in the firmware....
In the manual motor control screen, is it necessary for the screen to go blank while the dish is moving and return with the new data after the move is complete?
I have not been able to manually aim a dish without connecting a birddog to the receive cable. When the screen goes blank you can go right past the satellite without knowing it since you can't see the strength/quality meters.
With regards to the IP returning to 0.250 it's something I can live with and it does prevent people messing with the controller on site.
PV
-------------------- Hyperlink VR7 + iDirect 3100 on Anik F2 Posts: 141 | From: Edmonton, Alberta | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
PV, why are you using the html motor controls instead of my D3 Admin program?
Asked in all seriousness - that was one of the original reasons I wrote it back when I first got a D2.
The problem isn't solvable, really - the sheer volume of information that the web page has to get on each update precludes the controller from responding fast when it is doing something else. The embedded chip is not a very good multitasker.
D3Admin pulls very tiny amounts of data from the controller. That means it can (usually) keep up.
The latest version correctly displays iDirect Signal Quality.
posted
I personally would love the addition of gpsd to the box so that I could use the D3's GPS stream (over TCP/IP) to drive Google Earth while I drive. Right now I have an external GPS rx cabled to my laptop but it would be nice to have it as a network based service...
exposing GPS altitude data to the D3 interface would be much appreciated.
Also, since the D3 is connected to GPS it would be a no-brainer from a feature standpoint for the D3 to act an NTP server (netwok time protocol) -- certainly would deliver much better time service to machines on the LAN than hitting any NTP servers over satellite.
In an RV space is tight and the more I can squeeze out of the D3 for network services the less other stuff I have to deploy to provide these features.
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