USB connection keeps puking

[longjohn119]

Ambient Weather model WS-2095

After getting sick and tired of having to remove the batteries?!?!?!? to reset the USB port and losing all my data and having to do a complete setup and recalibratiion of the unit I decided that was simply no longer a reasonable option. So I installed Easy Weather software and it works just fine and uploads to Weather Underground, however Cumulus still throws a USB error .... Stop it and start Easy Weather and it uploads just fine ...

Seems to me the problem isn't with the unit but something with how you read the USB port .... I see no other explanation why one works and the other constantly pukes

For now my only option looks like using the Easy Weather software because I'm sick and tired of having to reset EVERYTHING for a minor USB port problem and losing a bunch of data which completely defeats the intended purpose of this device

[water01]

Have you checked the USB power options on your computer. If they are set to Power Save this could be causing the problem.
Go into Device Manager and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers and the look right click on anything called a Root Hub and select Properties.
Click on the Power management tab and then untick "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

[longjohn119]

Yeah I checked that. In fact the only power saving features enabled are screen blanking and CPU throttling. I also tried it in my main desktop which also has the USB power saving feature shut off. I pretty much have been turning that off since XP because it borks my USB GPS units and USB HDTV tuners.

The reason I tried Easy Weather is because I read somewhere someone did that and then it started working with Cumulus again. That didn't work for me but I noticed Easy Weather was working so I had it send to my Weather Underground website and that worked also and it's been running that for a couple of days now without a glitch. I tried Cumulus again today after a reboot and I still get the same error but it still works with Easy Weather. I assume you get the meaning of the error code from their API and I wonder if it is wrong or the meaning got messed up in the translation from Chinese

[steve]

There is no API as such, and nothing to translate from Chinese. Reading data from this station involves reading the console memory at certain locations, using standard Windows USB routines. If Cumulus says the station is not responding (I'm assuming that's what's happening), that's because the Windows USB code says the station is not responding. The only suggestions I can make are:

1. Make sure you have no USB power saving options set (both in device manager and in the power settings)
2. Use the 'synchronise Fine Offset reads' setting.
3. Use a good quality USB cable with ferrite chokes.
4. Make sure you are using good batteries in the transmitter (loss of contact with the transmitter can sometimes cause other problems in the console)

But presumably you have done all of the above already.

I'm sorry that Cumulus does not work for you, it works for thousands of others. I cannot change my code, there is no other way to do what it does. Users of other software also experience the USB lockup problem with some models of Fine Offset station. I occasionally get emails telling me I am an idiot and the problem must be in my code and not the station, because it works perfectly with EasyWeather. This is often followed up some time later with an apology and a retraction when they finally hit the same problem using EasyWeather. But in any case, I am a hobbyist doing this in my spare time with no help from the manufacturer. It would be surprising if Cumulus worked for everyone, given the large diversity of systems out there. Perhaps I am an idiot, and my code is wrong.

[water01]

Well I have been using a Fine Offset WH1081 over 4 years now and I have to say I have never had this problem. It just keeps working.

I do use a good quality USB cable and I always use Long Life Lithium batteries and change them once a year.

[longjohn119]

I gave up on Cumulus 2 years ago because of constant USB glitches and have been using Easy Weather and you'll get no apologies from me because I haven't had a single USB error ..... It's a Windows USB bug that kicks out a USB error when there simply is not one and most coders have learned to just ignore and code around it .... It used to happen with my USB TV tuner when I first got it on 2006 but they fixed that bug years ago in the drivers and it hasn't kicked an error since

Sorry but the software isn't much good if I have to force reset and set everything up all over again every couple of weeks ..... I just came to see if this bug had been fixed before I waste time setting this up again but it looks like nothing has changed so I'll just save myself the aggravation and stick to what is proven to work for me ....

[BigOkie]