New firmware for PM3 and PM4

[Citroen]

Tried that. When I depress the reset the display goes blank (the 7 line message quoted above is permanently displayed on the PM3 - it does not shut down). When I release the reset switch the full 7 line display returns.

Everything was fine until I tried to upgrade from v97 to v101 then all hell broke loose.

john

Time to call our friends in Vermont.

[John Hendrie]

[Time to call our friends in Vermont.[/quote]

You are correct Citroen. I did call C2 yesterday (11/20) and they made a valiant effort to work through the problem but finally had to give up. The mystery is inexplicable - nothing worked. To their credit, they are sending me a replacement PM3 with the latest firmware but in the interim I am shut down.

A bigger concern to me - if C2 do not solve the mystery I will be afraid to install the next upgrade if/when it comes out.

john

[Nosmo]

You are correct Citroen. I did call C2 yesterday (11/20) and they made a valiant effort to work through the problem but finally had to give up. The mystery is inexplicable - nothing worked. To their credit, they are sending me a replacement PM3 with the latest firmware but in the interim I am shut down.

A bigger concern to me - if C2 do not solve the mystery I will be afraid to install the next upgrade if/when it comes out.

john

In the mean time you can use Paul Smiths ErgMonitor in the mean time. The Demo version will run for a 10 or 15 days (I forget) and you will probably have your new monitor by then. You can down load it right away. It will cost you about $10 or $15 for cables and connectors you can get at Radio Shack. Ergmonitor doesn't work with many laptops but should work on a desk top machine.

I've never upgraded the PM3, but generally if updating firmware via a serial port on any microprocessor fails then there is nothing one can do but send it back to the manufacturer. Once you powered down the PM it was too late. Generally, there is a special connector (JTAG or whatever they are using these days) to program the microprocessor the first time. That program contains some special code that runs in a special mode that upgrades the firmware via a serial port. If that fails one has to do it again before doing anything else, or one can not get back to the special mode.

[PaulS]

You are correct Citroen. I did call C2 yesterday (11/20) and they made a valiant effort to work through the problem but finally had to give up. The mystery is inexplicable - nothing worked. To their credit, they are sending me a replacement PM3 with the latest firmware but in the interim I am shut down.

A bigger concern to me - if C2 do not solve the mystery I will be afraid to install the next upgrade if/when it comes out.

john

In the mean time you can use Paul Smiths ErgMonitor in the mean time. The Demo version will run for a 10 or 15 days (I forget) and you will probably have your new monitor by then. You can down load it right away. It will cost you about $10 or $15 for cables and connectors you can get at Radio Shack. Ergmonitor doesn't work with many laptops but should work on a desk top machine.

I've never upgraded the PM3, but generally if updating firmware via a serial port on any microprocessor fails then there is nothing one can do but send it back to the manufacturer. Once you powered down the PM it was too late. Generally, there is a special connector (JTAG or whatever they are using these days) to program the microprocessor the first time. That program contains some special code that runs in a special mode that upgrades the firmware via a serial port. If that fails one has to do it again before doing anything else, or one can not get back to the special mode.

30 day Demo on request, ErgMonitor works on lots of Laptops as well as Desktops, just so long as they are running Windows Xp or beyond.

[Nosmo]

30 day Demo on request, ErgMonitor works on lots of Laptops as well as Desktops, just so long as they are running Windows Xp or beyond.

I'm running Xp on a Dell laptop. I have to turn the input volume almost off to get it to work and the force curve is a bit noisy. It can be a bit temperamental . When I record the signal using some audio software I can tell that the input stage of the sound card is being over driven. If it works on other laptops, then either Dell's sound card or mine in particular has a small input range then it should--either of which is possible.

I'm getting back to the erg a bit more now (last head race was Sunday) so hooking up ErgMonitor and the PM3 at the same time will become a bigger priority. I told you last spring that I would do this, but since I've been OTW almost exclusively I hadn't gotten around to it. I'll send you the circuit when I get it done-- should be in the next couple of months. When I do this I'll adjust the input voltage for my laptop. Its actually rather simple, one just needs a voltage follower to isolate the input on the PM from the Computer.

[Nosmo]

Paul,
One other interesting thing, I plotted the time between pulses from the data file of a work out, and can tell that there is a period 3 signal on top of the data. (I had to figure out your encoding scheme). This is not an aliased signal from noise but rather the magnetic studs in the fly wheel were not equally spaced! If I filter this out it decreases the distance covered slightly, and the force curve looks a bit smoother. I did this six months ago but I recall that with reasonable filtering this was several seconds for a 5K.

The PM has to deal with the same signal, so the problem is not with the software, but rather a source of error in the erg it self--. If this varies from erg to erg, which I would expect it to, then this would be a significant error from one erg to the next.

[Nosmo]

John Hendrie,

Once you try the ErgMonitor, you may not like using the PM at all. It is much much nicer. Definitely worth the money

[johnlvs2run]

Has anyone else been successful with the download, and does it make the pm3 any more responsive or accurate?

[ancho]

I've installed it, don't feel no difference...