WxWorx problem...

[Dal Archer]

As Jason said earlier you can refresh over the web and for some reason it worked much better for me than the call-in process. I needed a refresh last week and so I called in for activation and waited and waited (and waited). Eventually, I got tired of waiting, simply logged on to the site, activated and very quickly my unit was working again.

It makes no sense why activating online worked so much better, but at least in this particular instance it made all the difference.

 

[Billy Griffin]

Caleb,

I'm still thinking that you're not having a problem with the receiver, but the communications between your receiver and your laptop. I don't recall ever seeing an error message indicating "ping" without it being a comm issue.

First, unplug your XM receiver from your laptop and see what your indicator light shows. Is it red, flashing green and red, or no light at all? Do a complete shutdown and restart, then boot up your computer. After all booted up and ready (give it a minute or two), hook up the receiver and see if you hear the "da ding" sound (the computer recognizes the receiver being hooked up... but DO NOT start the XM Link software. Take a look at your receiver now. Is the light doing anything different... it might go from flashing red to flashing green and red or just flashing green (don't recall and don't own one now, but I've had these types of issues so I'm trying to think it through and help.) If the lights are changing, then we're getting somewhere.

NOW... launch the XM software. When you get that error message (red window box), just close (CANCEL) that and hopefully it will ask you if you would like to set up communications. Select "yes," and then go through each comm port to ensure you're using the right comm port on the computer. Sometimes, if you unplug the receiver and it's set up on a port, you might have forgot to plug it back in the SAME port, therefore causing a comm issue. If I recall, once you set it up the first time, you need to always plug it back in the SAME port you used, as it's set up on that particular port. Keep giving this a try.

Also, you might go to the control panel, system, advanced, device manager to ensure you have no yellow exclamation marks indicating trouble with your USB port drivers.

Keep plugging away. I've just got a hunch that it's something rather simple, and it's a communications problem rather than your receiver not working.
I sure hope I can help.

Do you by chance have another laptop you can set this up on and see if it's working on it?

BTW... are you using the AC to DC power adapter or a direct DC plug in?

 

[Caleb Kimbrough]

Billy,

I'm also pretty sure that it is a COM problem on the computer. The weird part is , we can plug in the receiver and xmlink recognizes it and automatically selects it. I've checked the device manager and everything seems to be working fine. I've tried pretty much everything with the COM ports....to no avail. The only thing I can think of is if we accidentally plugged it into the wrong port and then the computer got confused and for some reason an older device is blocking the ping for the receiver. I'm not sure.

We have two extra laptops that we're going to try out tomorrow morning (we didn't have time to today.) If neither of those work then I'm just going to assume it is a receiver problem and have it replaced. We've tried two different power sources (running directly off the battery and through an inverter) and nothing changed, so I'm pretty sure this isn't the problem.

Also, it's useless to send a refresh signal because we can't enter activation mode. I think this is because xmlink can't retrieve the radio ID number.

I'll try the other laptop out tomorrow and let you know if that works or not.

 

[Billy Griffin]

Can you simply uninstall the software and then reinstall? This may fix it... but keep in mind, just be sure to remember which port you use for the USB plug in next time. I sure hope that's all it is!

I always used to use different color usb cables... the one I used for my receiver was white, so I made up a little saying in my head... "white on the right." I had two usb ports on the back side by side. Once I could remember that, I never had issues again.

Again, I hope this works!

 

[Eric Whitehill]

Billy,

I'm also pretty sure that it is a COM problem on the computer. The weird part is , we can plug in the receiver and xmlink recognizes it and automatically selects it. I've checked the device manager and everything seems to be working fine. I've tried pretty much everything with the COM ports....to no avail. The only thing I can think of is if we accidentally plugged it into the wrong port and then the computer got confused and for some reason an older device is blocking the ping for the receiver. I'm not sure.

We have two extra laptops that we're going to try out tomorrow morning (we didn't have time to today.) If neither of those work then I'm just going to assume it is a receiver problem and have it replaced. We've tried two different power sources (running directly off the battery and through an inverter) and nothing changed, so I'm pretty sure this isn't the problem.

Also, it's useless to send a refresh signal because we can't enter activation mode. I think this is because xmlink can't retrieve the radio ID number.

I'll try the other laptop out tomorrow and let you know if that works or not.

Caleb:

You can also check the WX-Worx listserv, as there are a number of people on the list that may be able to help you.

To subscribe:

email to

[email protected]
with the word 'subscribe' in the title.

-Eric

 

[Caleb Kimbrough]

I just got off the phone with the tech guy over at Baron and he said that our receiver was faulty, so we are going to send it to them and have 'em take a look at it.

Hopefully we'll have it back (and working) in about a week and a half at most.

Thank all of you for offering your help, I appreciate it.

 

[Hank Baker]

Caleb, where are you located? Maybe you can find someone in your area you can borrow their antenna, and trouble shoot your system with their system. I have an extra antenna I carry in the truck.

Hank

 

[Caleb Kimbrough]

Caleb, where are you located? Maybe you can find someone in your area you can borrow their antenna, and trouble shoot your system with their system. I have an extra antenna I carry in the truck.

Hank

Good idea. I'm in Manhattan, KS which is about 2 hours away from Kansas City, 2 hours from Wichita, and 3 hours from Lincoln, NE...

I don't personally know anyone in town that has Wxworx but I'll ask a couple of the local spotter people if they know anyone.

We shipped out our antenna today, so hopefully we'll be getting it back by next weekend or so. It may be a good idea to buy a spare antenna.... We'll see.

Caleb