Obsidian Software and/or USB recognition Malfunctioning?

[Dave316]

Ok, so I finally set my obsidian board up properly and got the software running. Then after putting some of the alternative fonts on there, I try it out. All good so far. I went to connect it up to change it around again and it comes up saying that its malfunctioning in the bottom right hand corner (the part where it would tell you that the drivers have installed). Its not showing up on my computer at all as a drive, and I can't start the software as it says its not plugged in. Any ideas anyone? Thanks.

EDIT: Just tried my second saber with obsidian...its saying the same thing. I'm kinda relieved as I very much doubt its the soundboards now, and rather something on the computer playing up. Its strange as it worked a second ago with the first board...

[Novastar]

Whoa... that IS trippy... but you were smart to test another board / Obsidian-driven saber to help rule out the boards themselves (hopefully).

Some suggestions:

* USB ports SOMETIMES "get weird" after a computer has been in sleep states for long periods of time, etc.  AT least... I've found this to happen on my wife's machine (it's an older one).  Try "truly" shutting down the machine, rebooting it, and going for it again.

* You may have to re-install the software, as... maybe SOMEthing got borked in between your initial installation and... you know, perhaps other disk activity wrote over a driver or something.  Hard to say.

I will say... I had a problem where an Obsidian board was not recognizing the USB connection right from the start--but... that's the thing--the board worked fine (default sounds of course), but it actually NEVER worked with the USB setup.  I confirmed it was an isolated issue though, since... by hooking up a totally different Obsidian, everything proceeded properly.

SO... it *does* sound like a software issue.  Since... it seems unlikely that BOTH of your Obsidians would suddenly stop working with USB connections AT THE SAME MOMENT, lol.

[Dave316]

Ha yeah I'm certain it's not the boards. I had thought that resetting the computer would fix it, but I had to get some sleep last night before being able to try that. I will be trying that tonight so hopefully that fixes the problem. Makes sense that it would just need a restart. Thanks for the help Nova, I'll let you know how I go tonight!

(oh and thanks for changing the thread name mate).

[Ultra]

Are the boards actually turned on before you plug them in?  As in actually on and making sound before being plugged in?

[Dave316]

Yeah they're turned on. I'm guessing my computer just needs a good kicking ha. First thing when I get home from work I'll try again.

[Dave316]

Ok so I got home and tried it again. Still no luck. I'm getting that same message about it malfunctioning again. Then after that I retry again and it nothing at all happens when I plug the USB cable in... It's the strangest thing.

[Novastar]

Ok so I got home and tried it again. Still no luck. I'm getting that same message about it malfunctioning again. Then after that I retry again and it nothing at all happens when I plug the USB cable in... It's the strangest thing.

Do other devices work from that USB port?  For example, a camera or what not...
Do you have a secondary USB slot you can try, or do none of those work, either...

I mean... it MIGHT be possible that both of your boards' USB ports have failed... but... it does seem really unlikely that they'd do this "at the same time".  Still... you can't put ANYTHING past electronics.  If there is anything I learned from Erv (Crystal Focus designer/creator)... it's that MURPHY is always on our butts.  Murphy's law... is the ONLY law...   Grrrrr....

[Dave316]

Yeah man my portable HDD's, phone etc all work in both usb ports. Yet for some reason I'm having this problem. Strange, huh? I've put the alternative fonts on one that I wanted, so I don't really want to change fonts around at the moment, (until more get released), but I would like to change the sensitivity settings around...

[Novastar]

I honestly can't say I'm sure what happened... if it is indeed both boards still presenting this issue after having tried re-installing software, etc... I wouldn't know what else to suggest other than requesting replacement boards.

That being said--I'm not 100% sure of the procedures with that.  Basically, Alex (Ultra) or Emory (Deep) would be the ones to affirm if that is the correct thing to do.

[Dave316]

Well I think what I'm going to do is try it on my girlfriend's laptop next. That way it gives it a different route of working. The thing is though, I'm pretty certain that there's nothing wrong with the boards :S I mean I have no clue really, but they work fine when I'm using the saber. So I'll try it on a different machine first anyways, and see how that works out. I'll be able to do that tomorrow, so I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your help...the mystery continues!

[Master Artorius Vidnyl]

Well I think what I'm going to do is try it on my girlfriend's laptop next. That way it gives it a different route of working. The thing is though, I'm pretty certain that there's nothing wrong with the boards :S I mean I have no clue really, but they work fine when I'm using the saber. So I'll try it on a different machine first anyways, and see how that works out. I'll be able to do that tomorrow, so I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your help...the mystery continues!

We're all pulling for you!  If it's the computers we'll all be happy for you.  Please let us know as so as you figure it out!

[Dave316]

Ok guys, I finally got the time to try and figure out what exactly was going on here. I feel kinda stupid as I didn't try this before. What I did was I plugged it in like normal and it didn't come up with anything (although this time it didn't come up with the malfunctioning message either...weird) and then even though nothing was recognised I thought I'd just open up the Obsidian software. Doing this it instantly recognised it and I was able to finally change my sensitivity settings Thanks for the help guys, and it all worked out for me in the end!

Now off to buy some of Nova's fonts!

Dave.

[Revan]

Im not 100%gonna sure if this has been posted elsewhere but im curious about something.last night I installed the blackstar font onto my obsidian board. And when I first turned it on it sounded great. Then later when I played a bit with sensitivity settings and confirmed them. The sound came out kind of blurred or rough sounding is the best way I can describe it. Could that be an issue with the board or a loose wire? If anyone has an idea of what it could be and a potential fix the help would be appreciated. Or would it be beneficial to restore the board to default settings and try to reconfigure the font to see if that could solve my issue?

[Ultra]

Charge batteries, see if that fixes it.  If not, return board to default sensor settings.

[Revan]

Ill give that a shot tonight after im off work. I would hope that restoring default settings will take care of the problem or its just the batteries need a full charge since I did notice a change in quality when the batteries weaken. Here's hoping that those two options fix it. The girlfriend and I are looking forward to having our sabers for halloween this year. Ill let you know if it resolves the issue. Thanks.