R.I.C.E. port wiring

[Noyl Wendor]

Howdy,
Getting ready to wire up my first RICE port. I have the diagram, know what pads to set my leads off of, however I do need to confirm one thing. The 3 pin set up on a RICE port is the same as on a recharge port. If I'm reading correctly :) I have'nt found much on the actual wiring up of a RICE port here, other than on the store where you can print off the diagram.
As I said some confirmation would be cool.
Thanks in advance.

[Silver Serpent]

Is this what you are looking for? Both varieties of R.I.C.E. ports are wired the same.

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Assets/ProductImages/rp1c.jpg

[Noyl Wendor]

:) Yep, thank you. Although, I am really doing a "facepalm" I found it only a moment before replying ;)
I do appreaciate it :)

[Noyl Wendor]

So I'm pretty sure I wasted my time with the RICE port :)
everything is wired up (correctly as the diagram) when I plug in cord, a message box comes up saying I need to insert a disc or go online and download the driver. So no disc.
Online.....well its been frustrating.
Anyone out there with a couple hints :)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The drivers for the cable should be in the download for the R.I.C.E. application, but if you are having trouble getting them installed, like I did when I recently installed R.I.C.E. on my old PC, I found a working driver here: http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx Use the "vcp driver kit" for windows XP/server2003/vista/7 v6.5 Click the link, follow the prompts and restart your computer when asked. Then follow these instructions to use the R.I.C.E. app:

- launch the PetitCroutonR.I.C.E.exe
- plug your USB serial port into the saber, then into your PC's USB port (assuming you installed the drivers)
- power up your PC board (pull kill key) and activate the blade
- click autoscan to find COM ports on your computer. If you have several ports, autoscan might find the one on which the PC is connected.
- Or manually select the port and click connect. Green light comes on. If you hot plugged the 3 pin serial connector, you might have to click twice to connect, in order to flush the COM pipe.
- play with parameters, then click "Save on SB" to have the config saved on the SD card.

You can always plug the USB port in before launching the software. The USB serial port can remain plugged in all the time, actually. All you have to do is disconnect / reconnect the 3 pin cable between the USB port and the PC board. You don't need to reconnect each time.

[Noyl Wendor]

;) Thanks J. I will give that a go.

[Noyl Wendor]

:) well I gave it a go, pretty solid effort on my part. The board still works, the SD card still works, and still has my settings on it. But, I can't seem to acess the board functions.
@ J, I gave it a try :) honestly, I did as you said above, the driver installed just fine. Started up the RICE program, plugged in my saber, and ....nada. Its like the computer is not talking to the board in the saber. I checked and rechecked my wiring, and did so with the diagram, both before and after. Still nothing, so I'm going to say at this point the entire idea of acessing a PC 2.0 with out having to open the hilt is a bust.
As well at this point having the PC 2.0 is somewhat in question now, as I have to open the hilt, take out the card, play with the settings on the computer, then put the card back in, and put the :)

[Elim Vos]

Okay, I have a dumb question....
the PC 2.0 and RICE is Mac compatible, right?

still waiting for my parts.....military postal is unreliable.

[TuxedoCartman]

Nope. The R.I.C.E. program is Windows only. And something about how the Mac formats cards means Macs can't reformat the micro-SD cards for new sounds, though you can still alter text files to change configurations. Erv has said making Mac compatible R.I.C.E. is on his to-do list, but he's a very, very busy man. Patience, though, and he'll deliver.

[Elim Vos]

I CAN adjust setting (flicker and stuff)
CANNOT load new fonts (shatterpoint)

Is this correct?

[TuxedoCartman]

Hmm, maybe I should have clarified better. The 3.5mm R.I.C.E. port on a saber is useless if you only have access to a Mac. If you have a microSD reader for your Mac, though, you can pull the microSD out of the soundboard, and tinker with the text configuration settings (correct, the flicker, switch type, main LED power settings, etc...) However, even by using a microSD reader, Macs can't add or change sound fonts because of how they format memory.

If you had a Windows machine, you could use the 3.5mm R.I.C.E. port to adjust all the settings without having to open up the saber, but if you want to change sound fonts you still have to remove the microSD. I seem to recall reading that they weren't able to get decent enough transfer speeds for transferring sound fonts via R.I.C.E. to enable it (though I'd bet money it's a feature we'll see sometime in the future. Too in-demand with the explosion of sound fonts out there).

[Elim Vos]

Thank you TC, i understand.
The "real time" is only window compatible
SD font change is window... and after reading the PC manual I will be able to adjust the text con. (i.e.; momentary switch will
have to be set 1 for latching, 2 for momentary). and so on....
so, after setting it to what i want, i have to test it in the saber itself. and every time i want to change them i have to do the same.
one can only hope that designers will start making things more universal (Mac and Win compatible) until then........

[TuxedoCartman]

I'm a Mac owner myself, so I won't lie: yeah, I'd like Mac compatibility too. But the good thing about Windows (the ONLY good thing?...ha!) is that it's so incredibly popular, so odds are you know somebody who's got one. And while R.I.C.E. is a godsend for getting a saber set up initially, after that it hardly gets used ever again. So what I did with my last rebuild was got everything put together, made sure I knew what fonts I wanted and what current my LED needed, sweet-talked a friend into letting me use her Windows computer, spent a couple of hours getting everything set up the way I wanted (which involved letting said friend play with it in the process too), and done. Voila! My saber's been great, and only time I think about the R.I.C.E. port is to think, "Man, that things just sits there doing nothing. I should cover it up." Which, actually, gives me an idea for the Store WIsh List. Excuse me...

[Mav750k]

you can always set up your mac to run a Windows OS whenever you need to use programs that aren't compatible.
This is only a good idea if you have multiple programs that you use often that require Windows, as it takes up a large chunk of memory that the Mac OS won't be able to use. It is nice to be able to use either OS, as each has their own niche of the market when it comes to software.
For a one time card setup tho, asking to use a friends is definitely the most cost effective way to go for sure.

[Noyl Wendor]

:) I have a Gateway laptop (as my tower is still being rebuilt) I loaded all the drivers, and tried to tinker with the RICE application prior to installation in the hilt (mind you everything was wired up, including LED :)) and I still could not get the darn thing to work. So my resolve was to do a "no go" on the entire set up. (MO) Its somewhat purpose defeating if you have to open up your saber to mess with a sound card :).
So I'm with TC on this one. Pull your SD, get Everything figured (font wise) before you install, and make sure its the way you want it. Install the PC in your saber and forget about ever acessing the card again. Unless something drastic happens ;)
(MO, again) the RICE port and extra software was a pretty brutal waste of time and effort. Though the PC is not :). Also keep in mind this is coming from a guy who is not a tech savvy as many on these forums :)

[TuxedoCartman]

Whoa... I might have given the wrong impression. I VERY much think the R.I.C.E. port is useful, and will continue utilizing it on future saber builds. I can't imagine having to access the sound card on my first build (whose insides look like pigeons got into a fight with Mynocks) every time I wanted to adjust the flicker/ volume/ swing settings. Especially with the multiple parameters around flicker, such as depth and frequency; that would be a nightmare without R.I.C.E. Nah, I just meant to say that it's not so terrible that the system isn't Mac compatible, because you'll only need a Windows machine for a short while to get it all set up and done.

Noyl, I don't think you're giving the R.I.C.E. system a fair shake. Is it possible you've got something wired up incorrectly? Also, on mine, it's very finicky for reasons I can't begin to explain. Sometimes it'll connect, and sometimes it won't, and there's no rhyme or reason I can find for either. I just reboot the saber or the program, or both, and try again. Sometimes in a different order. Also make sure to check your Com port settings. But I swear, once you get it connected, it enables a level of fine detailing regarding the properties of your saber so much better. I would never have bothered with flicker settings much if I had to access my card every time to make adjustments, but now that I have them set the way I like, my blade looks so much better for it. Same with swing sensitivity.

In short, don't give up on the R.I.C.E. system; it has a lot of merit.

[Silver Serpent]

Last I heard, erv was developing a Mac version of his R.I.C.E. software. I'm not sure how much progress he's gotten on it, but it was in the works when he announced this feature.

[TuxedoCartman]

Yeah, he said last September that the programming language was cross-platform, so he just needed to get a Mac from work to bring home to work on it; shouldn't take no time at all. That was nine months and two PC versions ago. :D

But that man's given so much to this hobby, and puts up with so much crap from some of us, I AM NOT about to be the one to nag him about that! Especially since like I said, there's a billion Windows users out there who I can bum computer-use off of. "Errrrrrrv... hurry up with that Mac compatible RICE! I had to walk two blocks over to a friend's house to program my saaaaaaaber...." LOL... no. I'll keep being patient. :)

[cshaley]

Speaking of wiring up the RICE port, I read in some thread earlier (wish I could find it now... could also have been on the PlectarLabs site) that if you're using both a recharge port and a RICE port, you need to connect the ground of the RICE port to the battery, and not to the board. Can anyone confirm if this is true, and possibly toss in a brief explanation as to why that would be the case?

[Silver Serpent]

http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=32781.msg480155#msg480155 is probably the post you read. Not sure about the specifics of "why," but it comes from erv's mouth, so I'll trust the advice.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I think one of the specifics of "why" is that the body of the port itself is grounded to the ground tab, so if any of it is touching the hilt, you may encounter issues. I had problems with that as well, until I wrapped the body of the port in heat shrink tubing. (This was installed free-floating in the hilt, not in one of the TCSS boxes).

[TuxedoCartman]

Huh. This is news to me. I wonder if that's why I have trouble sometimes getting mine to connect properly.

[cshaley]

Hmm... Interesting theory, Jay-gon. I can see where that could cause problems. Would I be correct in assuming that this would be a non-issue for the plastic RICE port style #2? (In other words, one could ground that one to to the board instead of directly to the battery?)

Oh, and thanks Serpent... that is indeed the post I was referencing. Heading Erv's advice certainly seems prudent.

[Noyl Wendor]

Whoa... I might have given the wrong impression. I VERY much think the R.I.C.E. port is useful, and will continue utilizing it on future saber builds. I can't imagine having to access the sound card on my first build (whose insides look like pigeons got into a fight with Mynocks) every time I wanted to adjust the flicker/ volume/ swing settings. Especially with the multiple parameters around flicker, such as depth and frequency; that would be a nightmare without R.I.C.E. Nah, I just meant to say that it's not so terrible that the system isn't Mac compatible, because you'll only need a Windows machine for a short while to get it all set up and done.

Noyl, I don't think you're giving the R.I.C.E. system a fair shake. Is it possible you've got something wired up incorrectly? Also, on mine, it's very finicky for reasons I can't begin to explain. Sometimes it'll connect, and sometimes it won't, and there's no rhyme or reason I can find for either. I just reboot the saber or the program, or both, and try again. Sometimes in a different order. Also make sure to check your Com port settings. But I swear, once you get it connected, it enables a level of fine detailing regarding the properties of your saber so much better. I would never have bothered with flicker settings much if I had to access my card every time to make adjustments, but now that I have them set the way I like, my blade looks so much better for it. Same with swing sensitivity.

In short, don't give up on the R.I.C.E. system; it has a lot of merit.

Thanks TC for the help. Everything you, and JGJ discribed ^above^ was attempted, more than twice :) As for wiring, well things can go wrong yes. But wired correctly it is/was.
As for "finiky" well I can leave finiky out of the equation, by just settling for a PC with an SD card that needs to be taken out by taking one part of the saber off. I'm cool with that :) For now I'm not giving the RICE system a fair shake. In my attempt to get the bloody thing to "talk" to my computer (or A computer like my neighbors) I still ended up with the same result. I'm sure there is a solution to the problem on my end (mostly my laptop :)) But, I'm sure that we will see a set up on the PC in the future that will do all the same as the RICE system, and be a little easier on cavemen like me who are "afraid of magical devices, with talking people in them" (as he answers cell phone :)) I will be all Go to hook that up to my tower when its done. But for now my bitty laptop will just have to say in the dark ages as will my SD card pullin plastic tweezers :)
I really do miss the good ole days of EL and sinktube sometimes :) Don't you TC? Less tech, less mess, more good old fashioned hands on sort of work. ;) Progamable boards? Heck yeah! I am really all about the PC, just not the RICE set up as it stands atm.
And not to worry TC I know you were not trying to give the wrong impression, I was simply expanding on what I had said previously :)