| Q: |
What has changed since the original CrystalControl? |
| A: |
Nearly Everything.
The main difference is the way in which CrystalControl2 runs.
CrystalControl2 consists of two main parts:
- A "worker" application (the NT service), that does all the hard work
of reading the config files, gathering the data and displaying to
the LCDs.
- Configuration application and tray icon/launcher.
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|
| Q: |
Why does CrystalControl2 now use an NT service? |
| A: |
The main advantage to running CrystalControl2 as a NT service is
that a user does not need to be logged into Windows to allow
CrystalControl2 to run. The down side to running as an NT
service is CrystalControl2 will not run on Windows 95/98/ME. |
|
| Q: |
What LCD modules does CrystalControl2 support? |
| A: |
It supports:
- All Crystalfontz serial & USB modules (models 631, 632, 633, 634).
- Generic HD44780 based character LCD modules (most sizes, including 40x4).
It doesn't support:
- Graphical LCD modules.
- Other manufacturers serial or USB modules.
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|
| Q: |
Why aren't my settings in the tray popup menu saved? |
| A: |
The tray popup menu (single left-click) settings are only temporary.
To change settings that will be saved and then loaded the next time
CrystalControl2 starts, use the full configuration
window (double left-click on the tray icon). |
|
| Q: |
How do i start from scratch with no settings? |
| A: |
The easiest way to do this is by deleting all the INI files in the
CrystalControl2 service directory (c:\cc2-install-path\cc2-service). |
|
| Q: |
Some of the PC system information screens are not displayed correctly. Whats wrong? |
| A1: |
Quite a few of the CrystalControl2 system information screens depend on the Windows NT performance monitor system for information. Some installs of Windows for various reasons loose performance counters that are available on the majority of other computers.
Unfortunately, a way of re-adding these missing counters has not yet been found.
|
| A2: |
Unless noted, screens provided with with CrystalControl2 are made for use with the English language versions of Windows. If you run a non-English version of Windows, screens depending on the NT performance monitoring system may not work. Please place a request for screens in your language in the Crystalfontz forums. |
|
| Q: |
How can i work out why my LCD is not displaying information correctly? |
| A: |
The CrystalControl2 service and all the available plugins log a lot of information to text files located in the "cc2-service" directory.
Check these files for warnings and errors related to your problem.
Note: Some errors are occur during normal use and have no bad effects (like those during reading of INI files). |
|
| Q: |
Why isn't the Winamp plugin working? |
| A: |
The most likely reason for this (assuming the plugin has been installed), is that the Winamp visual plugin has not been started.
To make Winamp always use the plugin while playing music/media, do the following:
- Open the Winamp preferences window |
- Select "Plug-ins" in the menu on the left |
- Tick the "Auto execute visualization plug-in on playback" option |
- Select the "Plug-ins" -> "Visualization" in the menu on the left |
- Select the "CrystalControl Vis Exporter" plugin so that its highlighted (currently selected) |
- Close the preferences window |
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|
| Q: |
Sometimes my CrystalFontz USB LCD screen is blank after Windows has started. Why is this? |
| A: |
This is a USB hardware/driver issue. On rare occasion, the driver is not loaded up properly.
To resolve this, do the following:
- Open the Windows Control Panel. |
- Open the "System" options. |
- Select the "Hardware" tab, click on the "Device Manager" button. |
- Expand the "Ports" section of the tree. |
- Right click on the Crystalfontz LCD module (named like "Crystalfontz CFA631-USB"), and select "Disable". |
- Wait 10 seconds, then right click on the module again, and select "Enable". |
- Close the Device Manager , System and Control Panel windows. |
- Right click on the CrystalControl2 Start-Menu icon and select "Restart CrystalControl2". |
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|
| Q: |
Why dont the RivaTuner screens display video card information? |
| A: |
First, you need to have the latest version of RivaTuner installed. Once RivaTuner is installed, follow these steps:
- Double left click on the RivaTuner tray icon to open the main RivaTuner window. |
- In the "Target Adaptor" box click the down & right pointing arrow next to the "Customize..." text. |
- From the window that appears, click the icon that has a magnifiying glass image in it (Hardware Monitoring). |
- In the Hardware Monitoring window, click the Record button (bottom left corner, the red circle).
|
| - Close all RivaTuner windows (but leave it running in the tray). |
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More to come as more questions are asked... |