Where to find PGDT programmer software

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Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby bushytails » 03 Aug 2013, 05:45

I have a kpg-4 cable coming in the mail, to use for a VSI controller, but I can't find the software anywhere. It's mentioned (as is its downloading) in at least a dozen threads, complete with screenshots, but nowhere I've found mentions where to actually get it! I'll need OEM or Engineering. I haven't been able to get it from pgdt, as their downloads site requires a login, and their signup process makes it sound like they actually check before giving >=oem access. I found a reference to mobiltyprogrammer.exe, but searching for it didn't find any actual downloads. No luck on torrent sites either. So, I've given up, and created an account here just to ask... Where do I download it?

Thanks,
--Bushytails
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 03 Aug 2013, 09:13

You'll need the addition of a signal diode ...I use the 1N4148...to communicate with the VSI
1N4148 KPG.jpg
1N4148 KPG.jpg (133.09 KiB) Viewed 38602 times
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby Burgerman » 03 Aug 2013, 09:14

Its a mystery no!
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby bushytails » 07 Aug 2013, 05:08

Thanks - worked perfectly first time!

When I first saw the version without a diode, it seemed a bit odd that you could tie two tx pins together (the one from the cable, and the combined one on the controller) - unless they're designed to be used this way (which the cable very likely isn't, since it has separate rx and tx lines), they tend to fight each other, and not work. Having a diode makes much more sense.

Some details, if it helps confirm what does/doesn't work:
Cable: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121153158397
Diode: 1N4148, just because I have a pile of them.
Plug: Random XLR from my parts stash
Driver: Latest from prolific's website for XP, 2.1.44.226
Controller: 50A VSI.
Software: http://filebin.ca/qeVD8PXcQ5p/oem_programmer.zip
Total assembly time around ten minutes, most of which was finding parts.

There's still some lag, but it's much, much better. I need to try playing with the compensation and some of the other settings. The biggest problem is it takes too much stick movement to make a slight steering correction start, and seems to decelerate both motors, not just the one it should be slowing down to effect the turn. Some logic to prevent you from getting sideways, I think.

Thanks again,
--Bushytails
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby LROBBINS » 07 Aug 2013, 09:44

Bushytails,

Is this a FWD chair? Because of their directional instability, it is not uncommon to have a slow-down-on-turn programmed in. For the lack of response with small JS movements, see if a "deadband" parameter is set too high.

Ciao,
Lenny
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby Sponge » 19 Aug 2013, 13:22

Woody could I use a 1N5819 Schottky Diode instead of the one you list? I have a bunch of those at the moment but not a 1N4148.

Thanks

Jeff
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 19 Aug 2013, 13:38

Damned if I know ...try ..it can't harm.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby LROBBINS » 19 Aug 2013, 13:46

1N5819 should work fine: it's good up to 40V and 1A continuous, while it will be hit with only 5V and milliAmps. Ciao, Lenny
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby Sponge » 19 Aug 2013, 16:21

Thanks Lenny and Woody too.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 16 Sep 2013, 14:03

Hi everyone. I've got a Pride Jazzy that I totally rebuilt after the previous owner wrote it off as not financially justifiable to maintain any longer, and with which I am very happy, NOW that I have reprogrammed it (using Mobility PC Programmer ver 8.0.16) in accordance with the superb advice of Burgerman. (Thank you Burgerman!) (I only wish I had found Woody's instructions on how to make a cable before I bought the genuine article!)
Just one small problem still faces me. I recently bought a NEW VSI controller for it, because the VSI on it when I got it has developed an intermittent fault which I suspect indicates forthcoming total failure. (The fault is similar to that which developed in the chair's original VSI controller a few years back, and that controller did eventually die totally, and was replaced with the present one (secondhand and well used). So a few months ago I bought a new NEW VSI to keep aside for the day when the present VSI dies.)
The problem I have is this: Ver 8.0.16 OEM PGDT Mobility PC Programmer (running under XP) isn't compatible with PGDT's new, recently-released, NEW VSI controller. Every time I connect the laptop to my NEW VSI, the programmer software crashes. There's nothing wrong with the laptop or the software installation, because ver 8.0.16 works fine with my old VSI controller . It's just that ver 8.0.16 is too old and doesn't know about the NEW VSI model. (PC Mobility Programmer ver 11.3.3 Standard [under Windows 8], the free version that anyone can download from PGDT support and which doesn't allow any configuration changes, can handle both my old VSI and the new NEW VSI fine, so there is nothing wrong with my new NEW VSI controller.)
So my question to everybody is this - does anyone know where to download a version of Mobility PC Programmer (preferably OEM) that does talk to the new NEW VSI controller from PGDT?
Thanks.
Falco.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby Burgerman » 16 Sep 2013, 14:20

Only have 8.0.16 so no...

All this programmer malarkey is a royal pain in the backside. The software should be free for all and easily accessible without all the stupid fights we have to go through.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 16 Sep 2013, 14:33

Just a thought ..and I have no idea if this will work ....

If the Dealer version of the programmer saves ALL the parameters ....
You could try downloading the parameters and saving the PAR file with the Dealer version....then open it with the OEM version .... alter and resave....etc
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby Burgerman » 16 Sep 2013, 14:59

That may just work!
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 16 Sep 2013, 15:28

Thanks guys. My fall-back strategy - which I haven't tested yet but hope to test in a few days time - is to use a .PRG file created by ver 8.0.16 (OEM) read in from the old VSI, read that .prg into ver 11.3.3 (Standard), and save it to the NEW VSI. And if I ever decide that something needs editing, edit that original .PRG created by ver 8 in ver 8 and redo the whole process. I have already discovered that ver 8.0.16 will not read .PRG files created by ver 11.3.3, but the PGDT website information implies that ver 11.3.3 should read the contents of an old version VSI and transfer the configuration to a new version VSI, and I have successfully used it to read from both VSIs. I just haven't yet tried writing the config from the old VSI to the NEWVSI with it.
What bothers me about this fall-back strategy though is the difference in parameters of the two VSIs. Each of the VSIs have a few parameters that the other VSI doesn't have - how will ver 11.3.3 handle that difference? Only one way to find out - and that's to test it, which I plan to do later this week if I get the chance. I would have preferred the ability to edit the NEW VSI directly, but if this roundabout method works, well, it'll have to be the solution, it would seem. I have a .PRG created in ver 11.3.3 of the pristine, manufacturer's defaults settings on the new VSI, so if the worst comes to the worst, I can always return it to its default state and seek some other way to program it. (The default state, as supplied by PGDT, interestingly, has all the important factory settings set the way Burgerman likes them, so it's Pride that buggers them up, not PGDT. But I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone.)
Thanks for your thoughts on this, guys.
Falco.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 17 Sep 2013, 02:11

Ok. That didn't work. Ver 11.3.3 Standard will happily read in a ver 8.0.16 OEM .PRG file, but ver 11.3.3 Standard is NOT capable of downloading a VSI file to a NEW VSI. The error message is : "The controller connected is not compatible with the currently loaded file. Controller currently connected: New VSI. Controller type of current file: VSI."
So I'm back on the hunt for an OEM version of Mobility PC Programmer that CAN handle New VSI. Just as well the old VSI hasn't thrown the towel in yet.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 17 Sep 2013, 08:50

Burgerman wrote:Only have 8.0.16 so no...

All this programmer malarkey is a royal pain in the backside. The software should be free for all and easily accessible without all the stupid fights we have to go through.


I suspect that I already know the answer to this question ...but it's worth asking.

B.M.
I purchased the dealer version ... to obtain a genuine lead ...and consequentially have a pass and login for PGDT's FTP Site ( dealer level access ).
Can YOU login to PGDT and upgrade YOUR software ?
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby Burgerman » 17 Sep 2013, 08:56

No. Or I would!
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 17 Sep 2013, 12:43

Just discovered that PGDT have released a later version of the free Standard version Mobility PC Program. Ver 14.4.3 is now available for download from their Remote Service Centre support website. Unfortunately it won't read in a VSI .prg file and write it out to a New VSI either. Same error message as ver 11.3.3 when I try to do so.
One of the nice things about the Remote Service Centre website, by the way, is that it allows you to get the PGDT name and PGDT part numbers for most things you might want (including cables), so you can sound like you know what you're talking about when you email a PGDT agent and ask for a quote for a specific item, by also quoting the part number for it.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 18 Sep 2013, 11:32

I very much doubt if this will work ..but it's easy enough to do.
Try copying across the TAG file from a recent version e.g. NEWVSI Iss A-10.1.0 and possibly renaming it NEWVSI Iss C-8.0.16 to match the older MAN version TAG file names.

I'd try it myself to see if it works ( I have copied across the TAG file ) but haven't got access to a NEW VSI.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 18 Sep 2013, 12:10

Yeah, I get it. It's worth a try, isn't it? I'll try that first chance I get, when the brain is in gear and working rather better than it is at the moment. Thanks Woody.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 18 Sep 2013, 12:46

I'll try it on the actual New VSI first chance I get, but I did a preliminary test just now which was disappointing. I copied the New VSI .TAG file over from ver 14.4.3 to ver 8.0.16 and renamed it to suit ver 8.0.16 - then started up ver 8.0.16 to see if I could create a new file using a NEW VSI template. If that had been possible, then I would have been optimistic that it would work on the New VSI. Unfortunately New VSI did not show up on the new file template list. Nevertheless, I'll still try it on the New VSi first chance I get, just in case the program goes looking for a suitable .TAG file when it needs one, even though it doesn't use the set of existing .TAG files as it's table of available templates when it is in creation mode. Thanks for the idea Woody, and thanks for continuing to think about the problem.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby ex-Gooserider » 20 Sep 2013, 04:20

Another possible thought - have you tried looking at the file with a text editor (or possibly even a hex dumper)? Is it something that can be deciphered - i.e. if you have the known values can you find them in a recognizeable way in the file?

If so, would it work to manually edit the file and upload it?

I don't know just what the programming software is doing, but from the UI it looks like it is presumably making values that plug into some sort of spreadsheet equivalent that gets fed into the controller, then applied there... If so, and you can reverse engineer the spreadsheet, then you almost don't need the programmer...

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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 20 Sep 2013, 09:03

Good thought. I had already investigated that possibility though. Unfortunately the data in the .PRG file is recorded as type Integer (or Float), not as ASCII. And the TAG file is recorded the same way. No useful ASCII in there, either. The function to recognise what type of TAG file to use to interpret the data is hard coded into the .EXE file, unfortunately. That's why an early version of the software, written prior to the design and manufacture of the hardware, doesn't recognise the hardware and can't be made to recognise the hardware by the provision of an external file from a later version of the software.
Perhaps there is someone out there, who reads this forum occasionally, who has access to a later (OEM) version of the software and can create a new .PRG file for me, using a New VSI template, and using my current VSI .PRG file as source data to print off and manually type in to the New VSI template in the software. It has to be OEM version, because the default (ie, current) value for Front Drive Rate on a new New VSI from PGDT is 0, but I need it at 80 for my Jazzy, and only the OEM software can change Front Drive Rate.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 20 Sep 2013, 09:41

Could you upload a zip file of your NEW VSI prg for me to play with?
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 21 Sep 2013, 11:28

Sure. Just one problem. How do I do it?
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby woodygb » 21 Sep 2013, 11:58

If you have a NEWVSI.prg file simply convert it to a zip file and upload.

Below is an example using a plain VSI prg file.

newvsiplay.zip
(600 Bytes) Downloaded 941 times
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 21 Sep 2013, 12:20

Ok, now I see how you do it. I didn't see the "upload attachment" tab before. The file I've attached is the default configuration of a brand new NEW VSI, as it was configured when I received it from PGDT.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 21 Sep 2013, 12:24

Ok, that didn't work, did it? Try again. This time I'll change the file name first, back to DOS 8.3 standard. Perhaps my complex file name for it was the problem.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 21 Sep 2013, 12:29

Ok. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
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Re: Where to find PGDT programmer software

Postby falco peregrinus » 21 Sep 2013, 12:36

Try again. and again and again. There's something I'm missing here. I've tried putting an 8.3 format file in an 8.3 format directory off the root directory, and it didn't work then either. I've tried putting it on the system drive, and that made no difference either. What am I missing here?
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