Review: Moneual MonCaso 320

[mikinho]

[url=http://www.missingremote.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4948&Itemid=1]Original Article Link[/url]

Thanks for the review Andy and especially for LcdWriter.  I initially had buyer’s regret with the 320B due to the poor LCD software but LcdWriter made up for it and justified the price difference between the 312B and 320B.

The fan mounts on the 320B are a welcome addition as well.

[nilsga]

I can’t get LCDWriter to display any useful information when using Windows 7 Media Center (x64). I have installed the latest version that is available for download. I have checked that emhsas.exe is running, but the only information I get is elapsed and remaining time. I was kind of hoping that I could display things like the current channel and EPG program name when watching TV. Is it not possible?

[babgvant]

That is somewhat dependent on how you define “useful”.  I like to see the current position and duration, so that is what is displayed during playback.  When recording the channel and show title are displayed.

[nilsga]

I see. And this is not configurable?

Has anyone had any luck with the bundled M.Play software? I can install it, and it works, but when I try to open the configuration program, nothing happens, so I can’t configure anything.

[babgvant]

[quote=nilsga]

I see. And this is not configurable?

[/quote]

Not currently.  IMO, the VFD should contain information that is useful and non-obvious.  I already know what show I’m watching, don’t always know how much time is left.

[nilsga]

Then something is not as it should be. On my display it always starts on 00.00/00.00 when starting to watch TV, and both counters count up, with the second one being ahead a second or two.

[babgvant]

Yeah, it shouldn’t do that.  It should be current/duration or something similar.

[nilsga]

Ok. I just installed it and have not changed any settings besides choosing the correct DLL and writer. What could cause this behaviour?

[babgvant]

It’s possible that it’s a bug in LcdWriter, but odd that no one has mentioned it. Baring that, I’d say it’s probably an MSAS issue.

[nilsga]

A couple of observations: It appears that LcdWriterService is not running, and will not start. I tried uninstalling and re-installing it, and as long as the Writer is the “NullWriter”, the service runs. But when I changed it to the COM-dll and selected the 320B writer, the service gets deactivated, and will not start. Also, after the first restart after installing the program, I get an error message on startup complaining about not being able to create an “IPC port”, whatever that means… (The error message is localized, so I don’t know what the english equvivalent is…)

[nilsga]

Also, when pressing “detect configuration”, I get an error about not having access to COM3, which appears to be the correct COM-port.

[babgvant]

The service won’t work with this display because it requires user interaction.

[babgvant]

[quote=nilsga]

Also, when pressing “detect configuration”, I get an error about not having access to COM3, which appears to be the correct COM-port.

[/quote]

Make sure the driver is up to date and reboot.

[nilsga]

There are no updates to the driver. Do I have to install the M.Play software or other drivers from the Moneual CD? I also notice that the display actually always start at 00.00/50.00, but once it starts counting, both are reset to 00.00/00.00

[nilsga]

BTW, it’s a completely fresh install of Win7 64bit.

[Author]

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