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>Subject: Normal Operation for BMI/cable receiver???
> Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 17:09:43 -0700
> From: "Carroll Slemaker" <cslemaker1@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: "Johnson, Scott" <SJohnson@xxxxxxx>
>
>I have just switched from Signal/cable to BMI/cable and need some info from
>other BMI/cable subscribers.
>
>1. During receiver "profiling", the BMI tech told me that when the software
>(TS4.0 in my case) which interfaces with the receiver is shut down, the
>receiver often becomes confused and "locks up" (his phrase). If this
>happens, it is necessary, he said, to power the box down, wait about 15
>seconds, then reapply power.
>
This used to happen with my Signal cable box a lot - a couple times a
month.
In the two years I have had the BMI cable it has happened only once.
The BMI box
is surprisingly robust - I can turn it off for long periods (hours) and
it runs
right away. None of the old "tuning" seems to be required. I am using
TS4.
>2. With the box powered up I terminated the BMI server to do some data
>converting using the offline servers, then later reinitiated the on-line BMI
>server. It failed to connect to the box, continually looping through the
>various baud settings. I went through the recommended procedure -
>terminated the server, powered the box down, waited, reapplied power,
>re-executed the server, and all was OK.
>
Was this on a weekend? Sometimes there are periods when no data is
transmitted,
so the box appears to be dead. Eventually some bits will come in and
the (my) box
will sync. Yours may be bad - or you're not waiting for the bits. I
have gone to
sleep with the box "dead" only to have it up and running in the morning.
>3. Later, after more offline converting, etc., I rebooted my computer with
>the BMI box still up and running. As the desktop came up (Win NT 4, SP5),
>the cursor behaved strangely, moving in a very jerky fashion and often
>jumping around the screen without my touching the mouse. Also, pop-up menus
>would occasionally appear spontaneously, selection rectangles would appear,
>etc. etc.
>
>I killed the BMI box and behavior returned to normal. I rebooted again (to
>be safe), repowered the box, reinitiated TS, and all is now well - so far.
>
I posted this same problem about two weeks ago. Patrick White seemed to
have
the solution - NT thinks there is a mouse on the serial port if BMI data
is
coming in during the boot process. So NT assigns a mouse to that port.
And the fun begins. (This doesn't happen with Win95, same CPU, same
box).
>4. I spoke with another BMI tech and recounted my experiences and also what
>the earlier tech had told me. This tech said he was unaware of any such
>problem with BMI boxes in general and that perhaps I had a bad box (this is
>my second - the first one wouldn't lock onto the channel).
>
>So here's my question: Are the rest of you experiencing the same bizarre
>behavior by your BMI/cable receivers, or do I in fact have a bad one?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Carroll Slemaker
No. But the only BMI problem may be the first, locking up.
donc
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