Official TouchBuddy Forum - View Single Post - (Over?)Ambitious 8-screen TB project underway

Waxer · 09-10-2009, 08:50 PM

I was attracted to these devices because my cockpit layout anticipated running 8 touchscreens, emulating the panel layout of the F-16, and I thought that if I went with traditionally-connected monitors, the costs of processors, video cards, and monitors might be an issue.

These monitors promised easy USB connectivity, up to 127 devices per system, and built-in touchscreen support. They were out-of-stock, and had several positive reviews, so I thought "why not give them a try".

The monitors returned to stock, and my order was promptly handled. The monitors are well-packaged and arrived in good condition.

I have to say the process of getting them actually up and running has been more than unusually painful. So this post, I must confess, is a combination progress report, a list of workarounds, and a bit of a rant. I apologize in advance for the ranty parts, and hope the workarounds help anyone doing a similar install, or trigger replies that say "Waxer, if you'd only done it this way your problems would have been solved!".

Here goes.

My first attempt was to install two Mimo systems on my WInXP laptop's 2 USB ports
The instructions in the setup guide from Mimo directed me to plug the monitors in before running the software installation from the CD
This turned out to create an immediate issue. As soon as the monitors were plugged in, Windows New Hardware wizard attempted to run. It turns out that with the Mimos, the first thing that is detected by Windows is the Touchpanel. This is nowhere documented. You need to cancel out of the Hardware wizard at this time. The assumption you make is that the Wizard is trying to install the video drivers. Pointing it at the CD at this time, as the instructions direct, causes an error.
In general, the documentation that comes with the Mimos is drastically insufficient. If you search through all of the online documention, and pay careful attention, you will find that the touchscreen drivers are from a company called Touch Base Limited. Mimo does not supply documentation for the touchscreen drivers; nor do they at this time have a way to update the drivers.
Touch Base recommends -and this is a good recommendation- that you do not plug all the monitors in at install. Plug in one monitor, install the video drivers; then install the touchscreen drivers; and after it's working, plug in the second monitor; etc.
The Mimo video driver installs properly from the installation software CD, and the application that it installs runs properly.
However, the monitors are very finicky! At reboot, or when making configuration changes, it is easy for a monitor to lose its virtual connection to your system. Buried in the online Mimo documentation is the recommendation: if things aren't working, it may be necessary to physically unplug, and re-plug your monitor's USB connection. I found this to be both true and helpful; at boot time, it's typically necessary to unplug and replug at least one monitor to get it to be recognized.
There are also times when the control panel app for the video screens disappears from the toolbar; unplugging and replugging a monitor seems to bring it back.
The Touchscreen software is also troublesome, I'm sorry to report. It's default install is for a system with one touchscreen. My experience was that, with more than one touchscreen installed, only one screen would calibrate, and it was not the same screen each reboot.
Buried deeply within their online documentation, is the necessity to add the parameter "/assignall" to the calibration shortcut. This parameter brings up a window on all monitors in your system that says "if this screen isn't a touchscreen, hit ESC, otherwise touch the cross onscreen".
The calibration software also seems to randomly select a monitor for calibration. At each reboot, you must open the calibration settings, and select "Whole Desktop" prior to calibration
The Mimo documentation says that once calibrated, the screens system remembers calibration settings. Not so; at reboot, each screen must be re-calibrated (if you don't the touchpanels are inoperative).
So, at reboot, plugging and re-plugging the USB cables may be necessary to get video signal; using the "/assignall" parameter, changing the setting to "Whole Desktop" and recalibrating seems to get all the monitors up and running and touchscreen-enabled
The other major problem I ran into was USB related. It seems that the USB is neither Universal nor Serial . Buried deep within the Touchbase documentation is the recommendation that, once your monitor is installed, keep that specific monitor physically associated with that specific USB port. In other words, if you're moving things around, you can't just plug any monitor into any port. If you do (and I did) the outcome will range from one monitor no longer being recognized, to all monitors no longer being recognized. Once I figured this out, I did a careful reinstall.
The New Hardware Wizard still pops up on my XP system at each reboot, despite the drivers all being installed. I attempted to let it find drivers, and it errored-out with "Wizard cannot install drivers: a driver is already installed for this hardware". So I cancel the Wizard at reboot each time.
After learning all this, the 3 Mimo install on the Vista MSI system with its own 18.5" touchscreen went smoothly, and it all calibrated.
Last but not least: the Mimos don't work at all on the D-Link powered USB Hub I bought. Plugging them in gets a Windows Popup that "this device appears to be broken". I have a Belkin Hub which I am going to try next.
Once they are running, how do they run?
- Mimo says that 3d-hardware-accerated apps and apps based on DirectX will not work on the Mimo. This gave me pause, as I thought the difference between Falcon Gauges and F4Glass was that Gauges used the GPU and Glass used the CPU. However, Gauges versions 2.0 and 4.0 do work.
- There is some lag, however. The gauges on the Mimo animate perhaps .25 to .50 seconds after the gauge in the 2D Falcon cockpit. I am still experimenting with this.
- I seemed to have intermittent delays in a Mimo panel recognizing a touch and sending a macro. However, that could have been "pilot error" as I get used to using the touchscreens. After I made a few config file changes, and enabled borders and beeps, this seems to have gone away. I will report more on this if it re-occurs.

Bottom line: it's working so far; I still have to finish my 1366x768 profile see my problem description here; and I'm still hoping I can get the gauge animation running more smoothly (may have to use F4Glass if the Mimo is 3D animation-limited).

Wish me luck; I'll post pics and profile eventually, if I get all the hardware bugs worked out.

Waxer

09-10-2009, 08:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
Waxer Addict Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Northern California Posts: 17	Progress Report: Mimo 7" USB Touchscreens 800x480 I was attracted to these devices because my cockpit layout anticipated running 8 touchscreens, emulating the panel layout of the F-16, and I thought that if I went with traditionally-connected monitors, the costs of processors, video cards, and monitors might be an issue. These monitors promised easy USB connectivity, up to 127 devices per system, and built-in touchscreen support. They were out-of-stock, and had several positive reviews, so I thought "why not give them a try". The monitors returned to stock, and my order was promptly handled. The monitors are well-packaged and arrived in good condition. I have to say the process of getting them actually up and running has been more than unusually painful. So this post, I must confess, is a combination progress report, a list of workarounds, and a bit of a rant. I apologize in advance for the ranty parts, and hope the workarounds help anyone doing a similar install, or trigger replies that say "Waxer, if you'd only done it this way your problems would have been solved!". Here goes. My first attempt was to install two Mimo systems on my WInXP laptop's 2 USB ports The instructions in the setup guide from Mimo directed me to plug the monitors in before running the software installation from the CD This turned out to create an immediate issue. As soon as the monitors were plugged in, Windows New Hardware wizard attempted to run. It turns out that with the Mimos, the first thing that is detected by Windows is the Touchpanel. This is nowhere documented. You need to cancel out of the Hardware wizard at this time. The assumption you make is that the Wizard is trying to install the video drivers. Pointing it at the CD at this time, as the instructions direct, causes an error. In general, the documentation that comes with the Mimos is drastically insufficient. If you search through all of the online documention, and pay careful attention, you will find that the touchscreen drivers are from a company called Touch Base Limited. Mimo does not supply documentation for the touchscreen drivers; nor do they at this time have a way to update the drivers. Touch Base recommends -and this is a good recommendation- that you do not plug all the monitors in at install. Plug in one monitor, install the video drivers; then install the touchscreen drivers; and after it's working, plug in the second monitor; etc. The Mimo video driver installs properly from the installation software CD, and the application that it installs runs properly. However, the monitors are very finicky! At reboot, or when making configuration changes, it is easy for a monitor to lose its virtual connection to your system. Buried in the online Mimo documentation is the recommendation: if things aren't working, it may be necessary to physically unplug, and re-plug your monitor's USB connection. I found this to be both true and helpful; at boot time, it's typically necessary to unplug and replug at least one monitor to get it to be recognized. There are also times when the control panel app for the video screens disappears from the toolbar; unplugging and replugging a monitor seems to bring it back. The Touchscreen software is also troublesome, I'm sorry to report. It's default install is for a system with one touchscreen. My experience was that, with more than one touchscreen installed, only one screen would calibrate, and it was not the same screen each reboot. Buried deeply within their online documentation, is the necessity to add the parameter "/assignall" to the calibration shortcut. This parameter brings up a window on all monitors in your system that says "if this screen isn't a touchscreen, hit ESC, otherwise touch the cross onscreen". The calibration software also seems to randomly select a monitor for calibration. At each reboot, you must open the calibration settings, and select "Whole Desktop" prior to calibration The Mimo documentation says that once calibrated, the screens system remembers calibration settings. Not so; at reboot, each screen must be re-calibrated (if you don't the touchpanels are inoperative). So, at reboot, plugging and re-plugging the USB cables may be necessary to get video signal; using the "/assignall" parameter, changing the setting to "Whole Desktop" and recalibrating seems to get all the monitors up and running and touchscreen-enabled The other major problem I ran into was USB related. It seems that the USB is neither Universal nor Serial . Buried deep within the Touchbase documentation is the recommendation that, once your monitor is installed, keep that specific monitor physically associated with that specific USB port. In other words, if you're moving things around, you can't just plug any monitor into any port. If you do (and I did) the outcome will range from one monitor no longer being recognized, to all monitors no longer being recognized. Once I figured this out, I did a careful reinstall. The New Hardware Wizard still pops up on my XP system at each reboot, despite the drivers all being installed. I attempted to let it find drivers, and it errored-out with "Wizard cannot install drivers: a driver is already installed for this hardware". So I cancel the Wizard at reboot each time. After learning all this, the 3 Mimo install on the Vista MSI system with its own 18.5" touchscreen went smoothly, and it all calibrated. Last but not least: the Mimos don't work at all on the D-Link powered USB Hub I bought. Plugging them in gets a Windows Popup that "this device appears to be broken". I have a Belkin Hub which I am going to try next. Once they are running, how do they run? Mimo says that 3d-hardware-accerated apps and apps based on DirectX will not work on the Mimo. This gave me pause, as I thought the difference between Falcon Gauges and F4Glass was that Gauges used the GPU and Glass used the CPU. However, Gauges versions 2.0 and 4.0 do work. There is some lag, however. The gauges on the Mimo animate perhaps .25 to .50 seconds after the gauge in the 2D Falcon cockpit. I am still experimenting with this. I seemed to have intermittent delays in a Mimo panel recognizing a touch and sending a macro. However, that could have been "pilot error" as I get used to using the touchscreens. After I made a few config file changes, and enabled borders and beeps, this seems to have gone away. I will report more on this if it re-occurs. Bottom line: it's working so far; I still have to finish my 1366x768 profile see my problem description here; and I'm still hoping I can get the gauge animation running more smoothly (may have to use F4Glass if the Mimo is 3D animation-limited). Wish me luck; I'll post pics and profile eventually, if I get all the hardware bugs worked out. Waxer Last edited by Waxer; 09-10-2009 at 09:07 PM.