Windows 7 64bit & Windows 8 64bit Parallels woes

In my previous post on the eDLTs I mentioned that I use a Mac with Windows XP Pro (32bit), Windows 7 Pro (64bit) and Windows 8 Pro (64bit) and am having trouble with the C-Bus USB drivers - they aren't installing and registering at all.

Has anyone out there had this problem? I don't want to own both a Windows and a Mac computer as it seems like such a waste and having to carry around two different computers seems stupid.

I am convinced that the issue here is a setting somewhere that prohibits the installation of the drivers but I don't know where it is because I set "Force the installation of the USB drivers" in the setup but they aren't being installed. (one of the reasons that I don't use Windows machines if I can help it). What is this "Are you sure you want to run Toolkit by Schneider?" - of course I do! I clicked the icon didn't I?; but it doesn't ask me that for Microsoft Word does it!

Enough griping....... has anyone been here and can anyone help?

 

A bit of a poke at Microsoft

Ashleigh, that was being facetious; I know it's the operating system and nothing to do with the Clipsal product it was just because it's irksome that because it's not Microsoft's product it blocks you.

However, in answer to my question I found the reason and the solution.

On this site http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-windows7-vista64-support-32bit-applications.htm it explains it all. The Clipsal Windows applications are possibly incompatible with the 64 bit architecture until they can create 64bit USB drivers possibly by the use of Visual Studio as they seem to have done for the eDLT.

So it's not parallels, it's the 64 bit architecture of the operating system.

The solution is to use a CNI to connect with Toolkit but I don't know how PICED will to a PAC controller. Haven't tried it yet.

Cheers

 

Hi ChrisJC
I have been using Windows7 64 bit for a few years now.
Most of the time I connect using a CNI.
So I don't get to see USB driver issues and Toolkit, PICED etc works fine.

Tonight I plugged into my PACA and was able to connect to CBus through the serial connection just fine on Toolkit 1.13.0

Looking at your default interface dialogue box pictures.
Since there is no devices in the second image would suggest to me that either the USB serial device is not plugged in, does not have a driver installed or you have some problem with virtualisation.

The following will relate to your PACA since I don't have the Belkin device to test.
People have trouble with various USB serial adapters so you may as well try to connect through the PACA to rule that out.

If you have the PACA plugged in you should be able to see it in device manager.
Check that the driver is installed (Toolkit seems to install it without problem now days).

If the driver is not there you could see what Window Update comes up with or you might need to reinstall Toolkit.
I did not need to tick force drivers.

Plugging the PACA in for the first time, Windows installed the drivers.
I had to restart Toolkit.
Upon restarting, Windows Firewall came up with a prompt to allow and scanned the network no problems.

Note to CIS
I did not need to do this but I tried to launch the 64 bit driver installer from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Clipsal\Clipsal USB Driver Installer"
It would not run and I am sure this worked in previous versions.
Efforts to run as administrator and compatibility settings were unsuccessful.

 

Service Pack 1

Darryl, thank you. I was sure that it was working before but now is not. I realised that the issue came after upgrading to Service Pack 1. The drivers were disabled when I opened it up and Windows removed them and will not reinstate them. As per the last reply I made this evening the statement is that 32bit drivers will not run on 64bit Windows architecture. That is probably why you cannot re-install the drivers.

It's all a bit of a bugger when my original problem was simply when you open and then close an eDLT whether from the network and (now I find) from the database Toolkit crashes. I have been told to use a Windows 7 computer by CIS Help and so I installed it on a Windows 7 32bit machine but have found the same problem on that machine as on my Virtual machine. Attached is what C-Gate does when I try to open the eDLT again.

I've yet to send this to CIS Support.

 

Hi ChrisJC

I have Windows7 64 bit SP1 too and I don't think that is the problem.

The installer I pointed to is located in the 32 bit program files but it is a 64 bit installer according to its description and this probably has nothing to do with your problems.

As I said, I have no problems with the USB driver which is installed with Toolkit on my 64 bit system tested on PACA with Toolkit 1.13.0

Plug into the PACA and let me know what you have in device manager.

 

Device manager

 

PACA Driver

Daryl - heres a thought; I wonder if my PAC Unit has packed it in? It has become intermittent when connecting lately and I was thinking that it was Toolkit 1.13 because that's when all mu woes started.

 

Try another cable before discarding the PACA.
Does it show up in device manager?

 

Device Manager

That's there in the Windows XP but no longer ther in Windows 7 SP1 64bit

 

Well it doesn't sound like the PACA is the problem

 

USB cable

Yeah, done that with a few. Still not there.

 

USB Port Problem?

I'll have to consider a hardware problem with the port but other things work in it. The drivers just aren't being loaded in Windows 7 64bit and I don't have another computer or install disk to try it on.

 

PACA Unit

I may know where I can get another one from to try. I'll chase it down tomorrow.

 

Since I am interested in connectivity to various CBus devices on different OS I had a bit of a play with the drivers and software tonight.
It's hard to tell where Windows picks a driver from but in my efforts tonight, after uninstalling the Clipsal USB driver I successfully got one from Windows Update.
Perhaps you could update the driver and see what Windows update can find.

Edit
No it did not get a driver from Windows Update after deleting the device and driver from the system.

 

Windows Update

How do you update a drive that isn't displayed in Device Manager?

 

Previously I would have said to run the USB driver installer but I tried it tonight and it would not run.
Reinstalling Toolkit will do the same though.
As I mentioned I didn't need to tick force driver.

 

The device isn't displayed.
Even though it is plugged in?
I would try another lead first thing.

 

Or a different USB port

 

re-installing Toolkit

Do you use a SSD? it takes seconds to install Toolkit on mine and no item "Unsigned Driver" displays. I've tried 4 USB cables so far - all of then new out of a packet. I seem to collect them with ever PAC Unit I sell.