Firmware 22 bug report

[Dunadan]

Hello everyone,

I have two issues with FW 22 :
- stroke rate randomly displayed much too high
- damping factor displayed : 995 (!)

I have a brand new model D...

Pierre

[chrisl]

Hi, I've seen these same symptoms.

- I've seen stroke data spike when stroke rate has changed on a number of PM5s running firmware 22. It appears to be related to the algorithms which calculate stroke rate getting thrown by rates of change, especially after a momentary pause. It seems that the PM5 interprets a number of 'outliers' when that happens. I've seen the same issue on the data provided by ErgData. I don't know whether that's because ErgData is taking the outliers and uploading them, or whether ErgData is making the same buggy calculations, or both. This has also been discussed at http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=112886 with an example graph on the second page.

- A few days ago I was viewing my drag factor on one PM5 running firmware 22. One stroke would show the drag factor, the next would show 995 and this sequence repeated with each stroke.

Regards,
Chris

[c2jonw]

Bug reports are best sent to rowing@concept2.com.
There have been no changes to the rowing code between 22 and prior versions. If you think this is specific to v22, the best way to test this is to revert to an older version of firmware and confirm the problem goes away. To obtain an older version, please write to Scott Hamilton or rowing@concept2.com and we can send an older copy by download link or via email.
The '995' drag factor seen while on the Drag Factor screen indicates that there were not enough tach pulses during a rundown to get a good DF reading.
Does this happen if someone else rows on the same rowing machine?
What does the Force Curve show when you see spikes in stroke rate?
Can you send us a video of your rowing technique when the problem occurs?
Without getting into too much detail about how the monitor works, suffice to say that the monitor is looking for the change in state when the flywheel goes from accelerating to decelerating (at the end of the drive)and from decelerating to accelerating(at the beginning of the drive). If during the drive there is a drop in force input (like a break between the legs and arms power application) that allows the flywheel to decelerate, the monitor will see that as the end of the stroke. Once power comes back and the flywheel is again accelerating the monitor sees the acceleration as the beginning of the next stroke. These “double” strokes will be displayed as high stroke rates and erroneous stroke values. Observing the Force Curve in these situations will show a double humped curve (or triple or even more if you know how to do it) rather than the prescribed single gumdrop shaped curve. See more about using the Force Curve here:
http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... orce-curve

Hope this helps….C2JonW

[Dunadan]

Hi,

Thanks for your answer.

The machine is new ; I just updated the FW to the latest revision available. This was the first time I was displaying drag factor.
However I very much doubt this was due to my rowing technique ; "995" was constantly displayed except for very brief moments (half a second, with a more plausible figure).

I re tried the next day, and the drag factor was correct. I have not tried again after that (setting was done).
I will let you know if it happens again.

Kind regards,

Pierre

[c2jonw]

Thanks Pierre- Have you had a look at your normal Force Curve for any anomalies? C2JonW

[chrisl]

Can you send us a video of your rowing technique when the problem occurs?

Hi C2JonW, speaking for myself, so far it's only ever happened once in all my time rowing and that was when I was displaying the drag factor (I use this function at the start of every session since I'm in a gym). My rowing technique was smooth and steady in a way which gives a normal bell curve on the force graph at around 20 spm. I remember that even more than normal because I noted how it was displaying the correct drag factor of 138 on one stroke followed by 995 on the next stroke, alternating repeatedly as I rowed. I allowed the flywheel to come to a halt and tried again with the same result. However the rowing data from the session which followed was fine and showed no anomalies.

[Pie Man]

I have seen 995 drag on one of the gym machines i use with a pm3, could it be battery level related, as the battery on that machine isn't in the best of health.

[swingshiftworker]

Recently had a problem w/Firmware 22-Build 2, which somehow got uploaded into my PM5. Don't recall clicking on the upgrade link but must have done that w/o realizing that I did After this happened, the PM5 could not "find" my Garmin ANT+ transmitter that I got from Concept 2.

Contacted customer service and got a reply from Scott. He said it was a known bug for Build 2 and told me how to downgrade back to the original version of Firmware 22. Problem solved. If anyone else is having the same problem, I can send you the instructions that Scott gave me or you can get them from him directly.

[Citroen]

Go into the utility options pages and unselect the "beta" firmware option if you don't want to run bleeding edge versions and get strange surprises.

[steveo0]

Hi Both,

I have been puling my air out with the same issue, heart rate monitor not being picked up, so have gone through battery changes, reversing polarity, trying a different HRM etc. Emailed C2 and John told me to 'On Utility 7.xx, shift-click the firmware update button to force it to allow you to downgrade'.

I shift/clicked the firmware update button but no option to downgrade, I guess I am still uploading 22 Beta 2 onto my USB stick as when I have taken software to the PM5, it is not giving me the option to upload the new software. Have I missed something?

Also looks at the utilities options (on the pm5?) but couldn't find an option to unselect beta firmware?

Surprising how frustrating such a little problem can be. Any help most appreciated!!

[svf]

Hi,

I can confirm the strange 995 drag issue. I also sometimes get error 54 "too many strokes" during the display of the drag factor.

The problem only occurs when I have a USB flash drive inserted. As soon as I remove the USB device the drag factor is displayed correctly.
"Normal" rowing with the flash drive works without any (visible) problem.

Any hints?

Cheers!

[wilkes]

Hi,

I can confirm the strange 995 drag issue. I also sometimes get error 54 "too many strokes" during the display of the drag factor.

The problem only occurs when I have a USB flash drive inserted. As soon as I remove the USB device the drag factor is displayed correctly.
"Normal" rowing with the flash drive works without any (visible) problem.

Any hints?

Cheers!

I have actually isolated this problem(995). I only get this when the USB drive is in and battery life is below 75 to 80 %. I have just accepted that I need to
set the drag factor before I insert my USB drive.

[svf]

I just checked and connecting the PM5 to external power via the USB link also solves the problem or at least is another workaround. Thanks.