Trouble-shooting tips for using an Immersion MicroScribe-3D system with
a UNIX machine:
Configuring serial ports:
------------------------
Some systems require serial ports to be configured in a special mode
in order to be free for general purpose serial communication. For
example, on the SGI platform, the ports must be turned OFF in the
System Manager. Consult your system's manual or system administrator
to confirm that your serial ports are properly configured for general-
purpose I/O rather than dedicated terminal or modem use. After changing
this type of setting, you may need to reboot. This trouble-shooting tip
may not apply to your system.
Serial Port Device File Names:
-----------------------------
In the file driveunx.c is a function that opens the serial port. This
function needs to know the file name that corresponds to the desired
serial port. The assumed device names are "/dev/ttyd1" for port 1, and
"/dev/ttyd2" for port 2. Consult your system's manual to find out
what these ports are called on your machine, and change these names
in driveunx.c if necessary. To see what device files reside on your
machine, list the files in the /dev directory.
Serial Cables:
-------------
Your serial cable must connect the Immersion MicroScribe-3D's mini-DIN8
female socket to the connector that is installed at your machine's serial
port. Unfortunately, there are many different types of peripheral cables
(even many different types of SERIAL peripheral cables), so simply finding
the one with the correct connectors does NOT guarantee that you have the
correct cable.
Consult the Immersion MicroScribe-3D Owner's Manual or SDK Manual for a
diagram and more information about the serial connection.
Baud Rates:
----------
The Immersion MicroScribe-3D does not operate at any baud rate below 9600.
On UNIX systems, this usually means the available rates are 9600,
19200, and 38400. Be sure to confine any trouble-shooting experiments to
those three baud rates.
Manually Communicating with the Immersion MicroScribe-3D:
---------------------------------------------------------
You should be able to manually 'sign on' the MicroScribe-3D by using a
terminal program to send the string 'MSCR' repeatedly. Run your terminal
program while connected to the Probe, and type MSCRMSCRMSCRMSCR...
with no spaces or carriage returns. After you have typed this
from 3 to 6 times, the Probe should respond by echoing back 'MSCR'
one time. You then must type 'BEGIN' only once, and the Probe will
echo 'BEGIN'. If you can do this manually, then you have confirmed
that (1) your Immersion MicroScribe-3D is working, (2) you have the right
cable, (3) your serial ports are properly configured. Remember that
this will only work if your baud rate is set to 9600, 19200, or 38400.
These trouble-shooting tips solve most SGI/MicroScribe-3D integration
problems. If you have investigated these tips and are still having
trouble, please let us know. You can reach us
by email at immersion@starconn.com
by phone at (408) 467-1900
by FAX at (408) 467-1901
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.