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RhythmDoctor · 05-05-2017, 06:06

Hi all, I want to thank all of you for the outstanding update. Sorry I have not been around to do active testing, but life got in the way and things have been a lot more busy (lost my job, busy searching). What little spare time I've had has been devoted to spring preps on my boat.

This update looks promising enough that I have rolled it out on my real-time chartplotter tablet in place of 4.0.0. Your improvements to support running portable mode on a SD card/USB stick (especially the relative chart referencing to make it work independently of Windows drive letter) are outstanding!

I have uncovered two problems, both minor. The first one is identical to a problem I found on 4.4, as previously described below. I don't know if you had fixed it and it came back, or if it was never fixed:

Quote:

Originally Posted by RhythmDoctor

I just noticed an annoying problem with v4.4 on Windows. Import a .gpx route and bring up route properties. Click on a waypoint on the list, press the down arrow key to move to the next waypoint. Under previous versions this would allow you to step through a whole route, and the chart would pan to center each waypoint. Under 4.4 on my machines, the first time you hit down arrow you advance successfully, but focus shifts to the chart window instead of staying in the route properties window. Additional presses on the down or up key then pan the chart without advancing the waypoint. For proper behavior, focus needs to stay on the route properties window, not shift to the main chart window.

I'll describe the second problem in a separate post.

RhythmDoctor · 05-05-2017, 06:19

The second problem I found, which has probably existed in prior versions but which I just noticed, has to do with sequencing of chart directories. I have reorganized my chart directories to make them work more effectively with ChartDownloader plugin. This reorganization resulted in 10 separate chart directories (to keep chart selection more manageable). Here is the relevant listing in the opencpn.ini file (thanks again for the nice implementation of relative directory referencing!):

Code:

[ChartDirectories]
ChartDir1=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\ENC\\US_REGION03^11281661150464380226
ChartDir2=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\ENC\\US_REGION04^10900020279739390669
ChartDir3=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\US_REGION02^7299005871948322989
ChartDir4=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\US_REGION03^12678375636942392779
ChartDir5=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\US_REGION04^14053055428544600232
ChartDir6=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\US_REGION06^11558618032798641793
ChartDir7=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\US_REGION15^11779972397360029673
ChartDir8=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\Tropics^1787436064458148652
ChartDir9=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\Worldwide^6827739708860992698
ChartDir10=..\\..\\Sailboat\\Charts\\RNC\\Other^12678618032798641793

When I originally set these up within the program, the directories were listed in the desired order, with the 10th directory shown last. But after quitting the program and re-launching, the 10th directory is listed second. (Presumably, ChartDir11 would be listed 3rd, etc...) When displaying the directories in the options window, it seems that the chart sequencing is done alphabetically, where ChartDir10 comes after ChartDir1 and before ChartDir2. This results in a listing order which is a little less orderly.

I tried manually editing opencpn.ini to show ChartDir01, ChartDir02, etc. That fixed the problem upon first launch, but upon quitting opencpn.ini was rewritten to change everything back to ChartDir1, ChartDir2, etc.

I suggest that you tweak the code to use ChartDir01 instead of ChartDir1 to facilitate the use of more than 9 chart directories. I had never thought I would want this many directories (choosing to nest my folders instead), but breaking things up into more directories does make ChartDownloader much more powerful (since I tend to update one region at a time).

There may be a similar issue with the numbering of chart groups and items within the groups, but with those features I have stayed well below 9 entries. But if you're going to tweak the code, you might change these also for consistency.

P_Dub · 05-05-2017, 07:09

I am making a last try before----; could you please have a look why this happen!
Thanks for your help.

I have one question regarding the fact that I can not have the time zone
PST or PDT , zone 08:00 to be seen on the tide graph when selected on the chart. It shows UTC -07:00 or -08:00
Is there something Missing in the last version 4.6.1
Appreciate a reply.
Thanks
P_Dub

Header:-
# POINT LOMA (SAN DIEGO)_TWC0405, CALIFORNIA 32d40.1'N 117d14.2'W
# FEET
# CALIFORNIA DATA, TZ+08:00
# (ANALYSIS (on NOAA) Chart Datum)
# !units: feet
# !longitude: -117.23715
# !latitude: 32.66808
POINT LOMA (San Diego), California
-08:00 :America/Los_Angeles
2.8500 feet

cagney · 05-05-2017, 09:10

P_Dub

Quote:

I have one question regarding the fact that I can not have the time zone
PST or PDT , zone 08:00 to be seen on the tide graph when selected on the chart. It shows UTC -07:00 or -08:00
Is there something Missing in the last version 4.6.1

If I recall correctly this is a deliberate change, to have a consistent worldwide naming of timezones, instead of using local names.
I have not grown up with PST/PSD, and if I see these, I'll have to look them up, while the meaning of "UTC -07:00 or -08:00" is very clear.
If you came across "CET" for example, would you know what it means?
UTC +01:00 is much clearer, and this timezone is of course used in Africa, Antarctica and Svalbard as well.

Thomas

P_Dub · 05-05-2017, 09:21

[QUOTE=cagney;2386277]P_Dub

Thomas
Any Seaman should know the time zone as it is call and not just -00:00 or whatever. This is what I thing it should be or at least have a choice for one or the other. Thanks for your understanding.
Best Regards.
P_Dub

Moo · 05-05-2017, 15:02

[QUOTE=P_Dub;2386288]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cagney

P_Dub

Thomas
Any Seaman should know the time zone as it is call and not just -00:00 or whatever. This is what I thing it should be or at least have a choice for one or the other. Thanks for your understanding.
Best Regards.
P_Dub

I am a seaman (I think) and as I don't sail in the USA, but do sail across the same longitudes in the austral hemisphere I do not want to have to select USA-centric timezone names, especially as the seasons up there are six months out from where I have them so they will always be wrong!

Lets keep it at UTC +/- please. Every seaman understands that!

transmitterdan · 05-05-2017, 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by RhythmDoctor

Hi all, I want to thank all of you for the outstanding update. Sorry I have not been around to do active testing, but life got in the way and things have been a lot more busy (lost my job, busy searching). What little spare time I've had has been devoted to spring preps on my boat.

This update looks promising enough that I have rolled it out on my real-time chartplotter tablet in place of 4.0.0. Your improvements to support running portable mode on a SD card/USB stick (especially the relative chart referencing to make it work independently of Windows drive letter) are outstanding!

I have uncovered two problems, both minor. The first one is identical to a problem I found on 4.4, as previously described below. I don't know if you had fixed it and it came back, or if it was never fixed:

I'll describe the second problem in a separate post.

I have submitted a pull request to fix the scrolling waypoint issue.

RhythmDoctor · 18-05-2017, 20:10

Hi all,

I may have found a problem with v4.6.1. When I run it at my boat, it fails to close properly. A crosshatch pattern appears on the screen and it freezes. When I run it on the same Windows tablet at home, it closes fine. The key difference between the two locations is that at the boat, there is a stream of NMEA data coming in on COM3 (GPS) and COM5 (AIS). Here are the relevant lines from the log file. I'm heading down to the boat this weekend, so can generate more log files and do more tests if you have any suggestions:

At the boat, with NMEA data coming in. Note there are no lines showing deactivation of the plugins:

Code:

10:42:46 AM: Initializing Chart ..\..\Sailboat\Charts\ENC\US_REGION04\US4MD80M\US4MD80M.000
10:42:47 AM: S57chart::Checking SENC file: ..\..\Sailboat\Charts\SENC\7381E3969B22_US4MD80M.S57
11:00:00 AM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 15:00:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.07863 Lon  -76.25407 COG  287.00000 SOG   2.10 kts
11:15:58 AM:    ***GPS Watchdog timeout at Lat:39.0822   Lon: -76.2665
11:30:00 AM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 15:30:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.08342 Lon  -76.27853 COG  269.40000 SOG   2.90 kts
11:49:28 AM: Initializing Chart ..\..\Sailboat\Charts\ENC\US_REGION04\US5MD22M\US5MD22M.000
11:49:28 AM: S57chart::Checking SENC file: ..\..\Sailboat\Charts\SENC\A9DAAA389B32_US5MD22M.S57
12:00:00 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 16:00:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.08046 Lon  -76.30843 COG  257.90000 SOG   3.30 kts
12:30:00 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 16:30:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.07601 Lon  -76.33705 COG   76.50000 SOG   2.90 kts
1:00:00 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 17:00:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.09213 Lon  -76.31884 COG   72.80000 SOG   1.90 kts
1:30:00 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 17:30:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.09851 Lon  -76.29290 COG   83.30000 SOG   2.90 kts
2:00:06 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 18:00:06 UTC  GPS Lat   39.10042 Lon  -76.25968 COG   70.80000 SOG   1.90 kts
2:30:00 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 18:30:00 UTC  GPS Lat   39.12963 Lon  -76.24803 COG  357.80000 SOG   5.10 kts
2:44:09 PM:    ***GPS Watchdog timeout at Lat:39.1335   Lon: -76.2441
2:45:23 PM: opencpn::MyApp starting exit.
2:45:23 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-14 18:45:23 UTC OFF: Lat   39.13348 Lon  -76.24409
2:45:23 PM: UnLoading Tide/Current data source: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\tcdata\HARMONIC.IDX
2:45:23 PM: opencpn::MyApp exiting cleanly...

At home, with no NMEA data coming in. Note that the plugins do deactviate correctly, and the program closes gracefully:

Code:

10:38:14 PM: Initializing Chart ..\..\Sailboat\Charts\ENC\US_REGION04\US3EC08M\US3EC08M.000
10:38:14 PM: S57chart::Checking SENC file: ..\..\Sailboat\Charts\SENC\340BD205038D_US3EC08M.S57
10:38:15 PM: OpenCPN Initialized in 7591 ms.
10:38:18 PM: Looking for UserIcons at E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\UserIcons
10:38:18 PM: Loading navobjects from navobj.xml
10:38:19 PM: Done loading navobjects
10:38:19 PM: Applying NavObjChanges
10:38:23 PM: Opening NMEA Datastream UDP::10110
10:38:24 PM: PlugInManager searching for PlugIns in location E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins
10:38:24 PM: PlugInManager: Loading PlugIn: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\dashboard_pi.dll
10:38:24 PM:   E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\dashboard_pi.dll
              API Version detected: 106
              PlugIn Version detected: 102
10:38:24 PM: PlugInManager: Loading PlugIn: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\OTCurrent_pi.dll
10:38:24 PM:   E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\OTCurrent_pi.dll
              API Version detected: 107
              PlugIn Version detected: 101
10:38:24 PM: Opencpn language load for:  en_US
10:38:24 PM: Loading catalog for:  opencpn-dashboard_pi
10:38:24 PM: Loading catalog for:  opencpn-otcurrent_pi
10:38:24 PM: Loading catalog for opencpn core.
10:38:24 PM: Getting DefaultSystemLocale...
10:38:24 PM: Found LanguageInfo for: English
10:38:26 PM:    ***GPS Watchdog timeout at Lat:39.0808   Lon: -76.3043
10:38:45 PM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\dashboard_pi.dll
10:38:45 PM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\OTCurrent_pi.dll
10:38:45 PM: opencpn::MyFrame exiting cleanly.
10:38:50 PM: Chart cache PlugIn purge
10:38:50 PM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\dashboard_pi.dll
10:38:50 PM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: E:\_Sync\Program Files\OpenCPN-Slave\plugins\OTCurrent_pi.dll
10:38:50 PM: Closing NMEA Datastream UDP::10110
10:38:50 PM: Chart cache purge
10:38:51 PM: opencpn::MyApp starting exit.
10:38:51 PM: LOGBOOK:  2017-05-19 02:38:51 UTC OFF: Lat   39.08080 Lon  -76.30430
10:38:51 PM: opencpn::MyApp exiting cleanly...

CarCode · 19-05-2017, 01:40

RythmDoctor,

your GPS connection seems to be weak. There are more than 6 seconds no GPS data received.

Gerhard

RhythmDoctor · 19-05-2017, 03:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarCode

RythmDoctor,

your GPS connection seems to be weak. There are more than 6 seconds no GPS data received.

Gerhard

Would that cause OpenCPN to freeze?

RhythmDoctor · 19-05-2017, 04:22

If you're talking about the event at 11:15:58 AM, there was one point during that daysail when I accidentally unplugged the GPS. That's probably it.

Would something that trivial cause OpenCPN to freeze upon shutdown, over 3 hours later?

transmitterdan · 19-05-2017, 18:50

I run a lot of NMEA data into O when testing. I use the Ethernet to force a ton of messages (AIS, GPS, wind, etc.). I have never sent that. Try disabling any add-on plugins except the built-in ones. Maybe a plugin won't give up control.

Baikal · 24-05-2017, 00:15

SOS!

There was a problem with video graphics on Intel HD Graphics 400 video chip (Braswell) https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-....169243.0.html

The problem was reproduced on two laptops HP and Acer with the same hardware.

When CPN is started, instead of ENC, a dark gray background is displayed on which in the lower left corner of the screen a set of all available characters in the system (as in the Windows fonts section) ENC text were visible on the background. When the zoom was changed, the ENC charts was displayed normally. After restarting the CPN, the ENC display passed without problems.
I restarted the program 10 times until the glitch was not watching. The video drivers are the latest.
Now it started and again when CPN started, for a second there was a glitch and disappeared.
Windows 10 64x

transmitterdan · 24-05-2017, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baikal

SOS!

There was a problem with video graphics on Intel HD Graphics 400 video chip (Braswell) https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-....169243.0.html

The problem was reproduced on two laptops HP and Acer with the same hardware.

When CPN is started, instead of ENC, a dark gray background is displayed on which in the lower left corner of the screen a set of all available characters in the system (as in the Windows fonts section) ENC text were visible on the background. When the zoom was changed, the ENC charts was displayed normally. After restarting the CPN, the ENC display passed without problems.
I restarted the program 10 times until the glitch was not watching. The video drivers are the latest.
Now it started and again when CPN started, for a second there was a glitch and disappeared.
Windows 10 64x

Baikal,

What help do you want with this problem? OpenCPN does not contain video card specific software. If a video processor does not work then I think you have to raise the issue with the people who supply the driver.

Or am I misunderstanding your question/problem?

Did you try turning on and off the OpenGL mode I the tools display section? Maybe there is a bug in the OpenGL driver for that chipset.