The following are compiled from the support emails without going through our editing department. Please contact support@dataq.com if you have a quesiton.
1) The two most common error (5 & 31) from
WinDaq/Serial
2) Can I increase the time-out length for my
DI-720/EN device?
3) How can I use the digital inputs on my DI-194?
4) Can I run DI-194 on Windows 3.1?
5) What is "Load DSP program A unless acquiring
16 bit data." ?
6) Fixed the bug that causes USB hangup when you
output to digital or DAC port while WinDaq is running.
7) How to display 16-bit data?
8) How to get the highest sample rate out of DI-720?
9) How to change the delimiter used by WWB?
10) How to study the output of WinDaq FFT?
11) Regarding CODAS, AdvCODAS and WinDdaq
12) Regarding MaxSampleRate, or burst rate
13) Regarding the scary message from Window/XP
The two most common error (5 & 31) from WinDaq/Serial
Error 5 means "Access Denied." It is typically issued if another process is using the port. The most common offender is the Palm HotSync program, whose earlier versions kept all the COM ports open even if you had a USB cradle. Later versions with a menu option to disable checking COM ports are downloadable from www.palm.com. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Close Program box or Task Manager, click the Process tab if there is one, and scroll as necessary to locate that program or anything else that looks like it may be using the COM port to which the DI-194 is attached. Click to select the program, click "End Task", and try WinDaq acquisition again. Under Win95/98/ME, it is usually safe to end all tasks except Explorer and Systray one at a time, trying WinDaq after each one until the culprit is located. If a task fails to disappear from the list, try closing it a second time before moving on the the next. Once the culprit is located, it can be deleted from the Startup folder or load= or run= statement in \WINDOWS\WIN.INI, or run REGEDIT to delete the value which starts its from the registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or ...\RunServices.
Error 31 means "A device attached to the system is not functioning." This may mean that the device has insufficient resources, usually IRQ lines. In Control Panel, System, [Hardware], Device Manager, click the + sign to the left of "Ports COM and LPT" to make sure the port is not marked with a red "X" or yellow "!". With Computer highlighted at the top of the device tree, click Properties to display the IRQ list. It may be necessary to disable a conflicting device to get a COM port to work. Note that while IRQ3 may be shared between COM2 and COM4 or IRQ4 may be shared between COM1 and COM3, the DI-194 will not work if the other port sharing its IRQ is in use, such as a modem connected to the Internet.
Can I increase the time-out length for my DI-720/EN device?
To ensure that our WinDaq continues to run with our Ethernet products in the presence of network interruptions and power failures, scanning process DISCN8nn.EXE sets a default 10 second timeout on the device, trying to restart it if no data is received for that long. Perhaps a busy network could intermittently experience such outages, leading to gaps in the data. The DI-720/ENA, since it has a loadable DSP program, recovers more slowly that the old Emulex devices, which reset themselves if no data is taken from them for the number of seconds specified by the 2-byte value kept at offset 3D0 hex in CODASPAR.BIN. The scanning process DISCN8nn.EXE gets its timeout in seconds from the 2-byte value starting 3D2 bytes from the start of the file (4D2 in DEBUG, which loads the file starting at offset 100 hex), and tries to reload a DI-720/ENA or just reconnect to a DI-720/EN before reinitialzing and restarting the device. At 50 samples/sec, your DI-720/ENA can go up to 150 seconds before its 7500-sample buffer overflows. To let WinDaq be more patient during short interruptions and avoid unnecessary gap restarts, change the timeout from 10 seconds to 145 seconds.
At an MS-DOS or Command Prompt inside windows, type:
C:\WINDOWS>CD \WINDAQEN
C:\WINDAQEN>DEBUG CODASPAR.BIN
-E 4D2 91
-W Writing 00AAE bytes
-Q
C:\WINDAQEN>
How can I use the digital inputs on my DI-194?
The D1 and D0 digital inputs from the DI-194 are transferred by the device scanning process DICOM100 to the least 2 significant bits of the data words for the first selected channel. Disk storage process WDQDK100 then uses data bit 1 for Options Remote Storage and data bit 0 for Options Remote Events, clearing these bits in the data to disk except where it sets both to 1 to indicate an acquisition start or event mark (line from waveform to top of strip if WWB Options Event Marks is checked), or sets just data bit 1 to indicate a defective set of channel data, usually from an overrun error if other interrupts prevent servicing the COM port often enough (indicated by a line from the waveform to bottom of strip in WWB). If none of the Options Remote is checked, WDQDK100 passes the data straight through to the file, so if the D1 input (which floats high) is held low, WWB shows continuous lines going up from the waveform if DI0 is also low, or down from the waveform if DI0 is high or floating. In the latter case, by selecting channel 1 in WWB with the cursor and Time Maker at opposite ends of the file, Edit Clear Marks may be used to remove the downward-going marks. However, to protect acquisition-inserted start and event marks, the upward-going marks in channel 1 cannot be removed, only hidden by unchecking Options Event Marks.
Whenever the input signal contains frequency components exceeding half the sample rate per channel, aliasing occurs. With a sinusoidal input, the sampled signal will also be sinusoidal, but with a frequency equal to the difference between the input frequency and the closest multiple of the sample rate per channel. After disconnecting the D1 digital input, with a single channel sampled at the maximum 4800-baud rate of 240 samples/sec, a sinusoidal input at 230, 250, 9830, 9850, 10070, or 10090 Hz will look like a 10 Hz sine wave of the same amplitude if the sampling window is narrow enough. However, if the sample rate per channel is less than 240 samples/sec divided by the number of channels, WinDaq averages successive samples to achieve sample rate reduction, reducing the amplitude of the resulting sine wave.
If you want to use the digital inputs in your program, please visit here
Can I run DI-194 on Windows 3.1?
The DI-194 software was not designed to work under Windows 3.1, since the device requires a serial-number based CRC software key to allow it to scan channels beyond the first. We did not bother to code this in the assembly language drivers for an obsolete operating system. However, the newer DI-154RS 12-bit 4-channel device, which replaces the DI-151RS that was popular with experimenters, uses a communications protocol similar to the DI-194 but requires no software key. If your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DICOMM.DRV is dated 18-Sep-01 or later, it will support the new DI-154RS if DI154.BAT is installed in the same directory as the GODATAQ.BAT file which calls it. This file, which was omitted from installations shipped before 7-Mar-02, is attached.
If you have a new 10-bit DI-194RS, you can install it as a DI-154 under Win 3.1 and use it, but the LS bit of the 12-bit data will come from the DIG2 digital output. If you have an old free DI-194, you could install it as a DI-154, edit DI154.BAT to replace the 54 with 94, and use it as a single-channel device, but it will fail when attempting to scan anything but the first channel. Before using it, replace CODASPAR.BIN with a file produced by enabling just channel 1 on a Win95 system, then doing File Save Default Setup.Sample DI154.BAT
@echo off
if "%1"== "" goto default
if "%1"== "1" goto setport
if "%1"== "2" goto setport
if "%1"== "3" goto setport
if "%1"== "4" goto setport
@echo on
di-1 54 1 %2
@echo off
goto end
:setport
if "%2"== "" goto defaultbaud
:setbaud
@echo on
di-1 54 %1 %2
@echo off
goto end
:defaultbaud
@echo on
di-1 54 %1 4800
@echo off
goto end
:default
@echo on
di-1 54 1 4800
@echo off
:end
echo.
What is "Load DSP program A unless acquiring 16 bit data." ?
The message "Load DSP program A unless acquiring 16 bit data." means that the DSP program B (for HiRes 16 bit data) is flashed into the device EEPROM. If you made a special request to have the device shipped that way or flashed the HiRes program into it yourself, from www.dataq.com/hem you can download and run hem_ub.exe to install a HiRes USB version of WinDaq/Lite that acquires .WDH files. Note that Advanced CODAS (accessed from WWB File Calculate) does not currently support HiRes data files.
I would also recommend downloading the DI-720 and DI-730 USB Drivers unless C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\DI720.SYS is dated 2/11/02 or later. Unzip DI720.ZIP to put DI720.INF and DI720.SYS on a floppy, and use Device Manager to update the driver or copy DI720.SYS over the old version. These drivers are common to the HiRes and standard software.
If your device was programmed for normal 14 bit data and you want to acquire normal 14-bit .WDQ files with event mark flag bits, the flash ROM program must have been reflashed or corrupted. If you have a system with a parallel port that can be put in bidirectional mode from BIOS setup, from www.dataq.com click Support, Upgrades, Miscellaneous Software, DI-720/730 USB flash ROM update. Unzip FLASH.ZIP to a separate folder such as C:\FLASHUSB. To reflash the standard DSP program click Start, Programs, MS-DOS Prompt and type: C:\WINDOWS>CD \FLASHUSB C:\FLASHUSB>FLASH 1 UI-720.BNM If "Verify Done!" is displayed, follow the instructions. If the FlashRom is read-only, jumper JP10 near the USB daughter card must be connected between pins 1 and 2 instead of pins 2 and 3 to allow reflashing.
Fixed the bug that causes USB hangup when you output to digital or DAC port while WinDaq is running.
We have fixed the USB hangup and channel rotation problems with new .BNM files to flash into USB devices. From www.dataq.com/misc/bnm download the FlashRom Upgrade program. If you run FLASHNT answer N to "Load special HiRes DSP program for 16-bit data (Y/N)?" In order to allow simultaneous output, set Edit Preferences Maximum Sample Rate to 100000 or less, and the total sample rate to 50000 or less. From www.dataq.com download and install new_ub.exe, which avoids increasing susceptibility to data gaps when scanning at rates too high for simultaneous output.
To convert a 16-bit data value to engineering units, right shift it 2 bits arithmetically (with sign extension), convert to floating point, multiply by m, and add b. For the first channel in a file, m starts at byte offset 76h and b starts at byte offset 7Eh (these are 8-byte IEEE floating point values, stored least significant byte first). Data bits D3 and D2 are treated as data bits by WWB, and used even by devices with 12-bit A/D converters if Acqusition Method is set to Average. When comparing your results to WWB values, make sure Edit Compression is set to 1.
To verify that WWB is looking at the same data value, WWB V2.11 or later has the ability to display the 16-bit data (with D1 and D0 cleared) in hexadecimal notation. You can download WWB free from www.dataq.com by clicking Support, Software Upgrades, WinDaq Playback and Analysis Software, WinDaq Waveform Browser (985Kb). To enable this new feature, set bit D1 at byte offset 3BCh in file CODASPAR.BIN in the folder where WWB is installed and restart WWB. This may be done using DEBUG, which loads the file starting at address xxxx:100h, from an MS-DOS Prompt inside Windows: C:\WINDOWS>CD \WINDAQM
C:\WINDAQM>DEBUG CODASPAR.BIN
-E 4BC xxxx:04BC 00.02 (type the new value after the . and press Enter)
-W
Writing 02AAE bytes
-Q
Reset the changed byte to its original value ane restart WWB to return to engineering unit display.
How to get the highest sample rate out of DI-720?
The highest sample rate for gap-free data will be about the same for the USB interface under Windows 2000, but the EPP parallel port limit will be reduced from about 250,000 samples/sec to about 180,000, and the bidirectional parallel port limit will be reduced from about 80,000 samples/sec to about 70,000. You must reinstall WinDaq after upgrading to Windows 2000. If you have the disk space, you may want to leave the file system as FAT32 and install into a separate \WINNT folder instead of upgrading, leaving you with a dual boot and the ability to cope with any unpleasant surprises if you run other applications on the computer.
To achieve sample rates approaching 250,000 samples/sec, you must use Win95/98. The security of Windows NT/2000/XP imposes an overhead on port access, and I am unable to achieve continuous storage to disk at rates above 180,000 samples/sec through an EPP port on my 166 MHz Pentium under WIndows NT or 2000. You might reach 200,000 with your 333 MHz or 900 MHz CPU. In fact, before we changed from using a WinRT driver to the Zeecube ParPort2K driver a year ago, the limit was about 120,000 samples/sec.
If Edit Sample Rate shows a buffer size less than 128 KB and gaps are being reported, Set Edit Preferences Buffer Size to at least 128 KB times the Edit Preferences Maximum Sample Rate divided by Edit Sample Rate. The resulting 128 KB disk buffer (maximium size) will minimize the number of gaps. Setting the buffer size preference to a larger value will cause the sample rate to display in reverse video, but not affect performance in any way.
Another way to improve your maximum gap-free rate is to reduce the CPU load from WinDaq plotting graphics. By checking Options Pause Graphics, you can still see the % used and gap count to determine whether this helps enough. If it does but you want to see some graphics, experiment to see what you can achieve while remaining gap free. Set Edit Preferences Update Interval to the largest number of milliseconds that does not make the display excessively jerky. A value of zero causes plotting to use all available background time for the smoothest display, but will cause the Windows 2000 performance monitor to indicate 100% CPU usage. Check Options Oscilloscope mode to reduce scrolling overhead. Set Edit Preferences Skip Factor to allow the compression process to avoid having to look at every sample, and increase Edit Compression as much as possible without excessively compressing the time scale. Downsize the window vertically to reduce the amount of graphics plotted per update. If you do not need to run other applications which require more colors or resolution, right click the desktop, click Settings, and put the display in 16 color mode (all WinDaq needs) or compromise with 256 color mode, and reduce the Screen area to 640x480 pixels.
The rest of this message applies only if your are serious enough to move to Win95/98 (not ME, which disallows the use of a resident part, requiring the same software as Windows 2000):
By default, WinDaq programs the CMOS clock to interrupt the processor 64 times/sec, which at 250000 samples/sec amounts to 3906 samples per interrupt. This is more than half of the 7500-sample device buffer size, so if a single clock interrupt is missed, the device buffer will overflow. By increasing the interrupt rate to 128/sec, WinDaq can tolerate a pair of adjacent missed interrupts from latencies caused by other interrupt activity (disk storage completion, network activity, or Internet connection). At the end of the CALL C:\WINDAQM\GODATAQ.BAT line in AUTOEXEC.BAT, after the LPT port number, add " 0 70 9", shut down, and restart the computer.
The ability to store to disk at speeds approaching 250,000 samples/sec is computer-dependent, and may be limited by your disk drive. If the system has enough spare RAM, you can set up a ram disk in CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 16384 /E The size is in KB, and this example will give you 16 MB. Adding a RAM drive may have the side effect of incrementing the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive. After acquisition is complete, you must then copy the files to the hard drive.
How to change the delimiter used by WWB?
To change the spreadsheet delimiter from a comma to a space, change the byte at file index 0x305 in the CODASPAR.BIN file in the directory where WWB resides. From a Command Prompt, type:
C:\WINNT>CD \WINDAQNT
C:\WINDAQNT>DEBUG CODASPAR.BIN
-E 405 1
-W
Writing 02AAE bytes
-Q >EXITNote that DEBUG loads the file starting at address 0x100. In addition to File Save As, this change also affects the File Note, File Commented Note, View Statistics, and Transform Output FRQ Data commands.
How to study the output of WinDaq FFT?
A reduction of 72.25 db corresponds to a voltage reduction by a factor of 4096. A full-scale sine wave in left-justfied 16-bit integer data in the range -32768 to 32767, reduced th this factor, would swing between -8 and 8, or -+1 LSB of a 13-bit A/D converter (12 bits plus sign). The db level corresponding to reduction from a full-scale sine wave to +-1 LSB of an N-bit (including sign) converter is approximately 6*(N-1).
Regarding CODAS, AdvCODAS and WinDdaq
CODAS is a Dataq acronym for Computer-based Oscillograph and Data Acquisition System. There is no standards organization in charge of CODAS. The CODAS file header defined in 1989 for AT and MCA-CODAS (for AT bus and Microchannel systems with EGA monitors) is compatible with today's WinDaq software, although the latter uses formerly reserved bits to allow up to 254 channels, Pro+ packing, HiRes 16-bit data, and several other new features.
Advanced CODAS is optional calculation software available for $595 that allows adding calculated channels to a file in CODAS format, doing peak capture, and generating reports summarizing the cycles defined by the peaks. It is usually invoked via WWB File Calculate or File Save As in format 8) CALC. It does not operate on packed Pro+ or HiRes files, but WWB File Save As exports unpacked files, and a HiRes version of Advanced CODAS should be released soon.
The two versions of the CODAS data storage format documented in WWB or WinDaq acquisition help in the section titled "Data Storage Format" are distinguished by the 2-byte field starting 6 bytes from the start of the file. If this field has the value 1156 decimal, the CODAS header file can handle only the first 16 physical channels plus up to 13 additional calculated channels. WinDaq Pro will generate such a file if no channels beyond the first 16 are selected. Otherwise, the header uses the expanded multiplexer format and can handle up to 144 channels if this field contains 5296, or up to 254 channels if it contains larger values.
The default WinDaq 14-bit integer data must be shifted right by 2 places with sign extension before multiplication by the calibration slope for the appropriate channel and addition of the calibration intercept to give floating point data values. 16-bit integer data must be multiplied by 1/4 of the the calibration slope before adding the intercept. Depending on your programming language preferences, our ReadDataqFile ActiveX Control or the di2s32.h and hdrdef32.h header files in our Software Development Kit may be helpful for obtaining binary information from the file.
Regarding MaxSampleRate, or burst rate
The DataqSdk.ocx ActiveX control chooses the burst rate as whatever value greater than than MaxSampleRate/2 and less than or equal to MaxSampleRate results, using the associated closest appropriate averaging counter value, in an overall total sample rate closest to the requested rate times the number of channels.
For SampleRate = 100Hz/channel and MaxSampleRate = 200KHz, with 2 channels GetSampleRate() will return 100.0 and GetBurstCounter() will return 80, so the burst rate is 16,000,000/80 = 200 KHz. The 2-channel timing example can be corrected by replacing all 100KHz with 200KHz.
With 3 channels, GetSampleRate will return 100.000625 and GetBurstCounter() will return 133, so the burst rate is 16,000,000/133 = 120300.7519. The 3-channel timing example can be corrected by replacing all 100Hz with 100.000625Hz and all 100KHz with 120.3007519KHz.
Regarding the scary message from Window/XP
Don't be intimidated by the scary message from Microsoft about our driver being unsigned. Proceed with the installation of the driver from the WinDaq Resource CD-ROM (after clicking Exit if the CD-ROM autostarts). When you are finished check that the file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\DI700.SYS or DI720.SYS is dated 2-11-02 or later. If it is older, from www.dataq.com click Support, Upgrades, WinDaq Recording Software. Depending on your hardware, click Group 3, Download device driver only or Group 1, USB, Download device driver only. Then unzip DI700.ZIP or DI720.ZIP to a floppy and update the driver using Device Manager, or unplug the device and copy A:\DI700.SYS or DI720.SYS to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS, replacing the original driver. We will eventually get the driver tested and signed by Microsoft.
Under Control Panel, System, Device Manager, click the + sign to the left of USB Controllers to make sure "Dataq DI-7?0 USB ADC Module" is listed. If not, from www.dataq.com click Support, "Technical Support Information", "Common Problem Regarding Installation of USB Devices". If that does not solve the problem, please reply with details.
Once the driver is installed, insert the CD-ROM, click "Install Software for all other products except Starter Kits, OK, OK, DI-700 USB Unit, OK. If you have problems, please reply with details.