AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Forum for discussing PicoScope version 6 (non-automotive version)
Post Reply
nurber
Active User
Active User
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:05 pm

AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by nurber »

Relatively simple single channel capture of AC light dimmer output. I had a mask at one time, but it was cleared when I pushed "Auto Setup" to reset my manipulation of yellow circle trigger and the crash occurred. I've not had great luck using the send option of crash window so I figure to upload here instead. I've also never received follow-up on any crash sent and I'm curious what happens to them and if there is follow-up with the sender ?

Thank you
Attachments
Report_2020_11_24.zip
(12.42 KiB) Downloaded 291 times

Gerry
PICO STAFF
PICO STAFF
Posts: 1145
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:14 am

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by Gerry »

Hi Nurber,

The best way to send and track it is to send it into our help desk at support@picotech.com. Our helpdesk is better to use when you need help or have issues with operating PicoTech hardware or PicoLog/PicoScope software.

The forum is better for asking applications help from other users that may have gone through the issues that you are finding and have a resolution to the problem that they can share, or for technical discussion, or for just sharing knowledge with other users.

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

nurber
Active User
Active User
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:05 pm

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by nurber »

Gerry wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 2:24 pm
The best way to send and track it is to send it into our help desk at support@picotech.com. Our helpdesk is better to use when you need help or have issues with operating PicoTech hardware or PicoLog/PicoScope software.

The forum is better for asking applications help from other users that may have gone through the issues that you are finding and have a resolution to the problem that they can share, or for technical discussion, or for just sharing knowledge with other users.
Hi Gerry. Thanks for reply. Emails to support aren't in any way shared with other users which I think is problematic particularly since there isn't a public bug/issue report repository. How do I actually "track" if emailed to support ? It would be useful if program ( perhaps version 7 ? ) captures enough information for support to actually debug problems. I've emailed support and posted to forum about several different issues and many times been asked for more information which I've not had the time or patience to follow-up with.

Sven

Gerry
PICO STAFF
PICO STAFF
Posts: 1145
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:14 am

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by Gerry »

Hi Sven,

Technical faults in the operation of the software or hardware are sometimes unique to a users specific software/hardware setup, which means that they are sometimes not that beneficial to other users, so in those instances not sharing them with other users isn't in any way a loss. We obviously get faults which are more common, but when we ask you specifically to send a question in to support, it usually means that we believe that your issue is unique.

More importantly, we aim to answer as many forum posts and replies as we can, but some unanswered topics slip through the net especially where another user has answered, but the answer doesn't resolve the issue. In contrast, a help desk ticket, typically is a continuing dialogue owned exclusively by a specialist, so these are typically followed through to the best resolution available at the time. So, for the types of problems I mentioned, help desk tickets tend to be resolved better, and if you are sending your query in to support then you can track what is going on directly with your designated Help Desk Specialist, be sure of getting a response, and be confident that the response more likely to be based upon actual experience or developer knowledge.

When you highlight problematic symptoms in a software/hardware environment as integrated and complex as one of our Data Acquisition Devices and its associated software, the potential causes of the symptoms are typically numerous. So asking for more information is essential in order to eliminate potential causes to find the root cause. (let's face it, you don't walk out of the Doctors surgery if you're ill, because he's asking you questions, but he's doing the same thing, trying to diagnose the root cause of the problem from the many possible causes). By definition, different problems are different, so It's typically not possible to pre-empt all of the information required to diagnose a problem, without knowing more about the problem. We tried using questionnaires in the past but they just don't work and then customers get frustrated with having to fill in questions that are seemingly irrelevant.

Now, considering the sheer number and complexity of issues that could go wrong in a complex combination of Hardware, Firmware, Drivers, Applications like PicoScope 6, PicoScope 6 Automotive, PicoLog 6, along with the new versions of the software that we are transitioning into, and all of the different Platforms Operating systems and applications that may be running, it's just not possible to capture enough information for our development team to actually debug the problems. Even a huge company like Microsoft can't pre-empt all the issues that may happen with Windows, so, being a much smaller company (in comparison) with a limited number of already overstretched software engineers, I hope that you can now appreciate why that would be an unattainable goal.

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

nurber
Active User
Active User
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:05 pm

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by nurber »

I think public issue tracking ultimately leads to better software regardless. In not having such a resource to query I find it natural to ask other users if they are experiencing the same problem particularly without knowing how candid the maintainers of the software. For example, I have issues returning from sleep from two different notebooks running latest versions/updates of Windows & Picoscope. I don't think this is unique configuration problem as much as a 4444 firmware and/or Picoscope 6 problem. I've sent trace.xml files for this problem and am unaware of any response or resolution.

I don't see any technical reason why an issue posted in a public forum can't receive the same follow-up as issue sent to support and in the process be visible and informative to others that also might be experiencing.

I'm considering your last two paragraphs. Thank you for writing such a detailed response.

Gerry
PICO STAFF
PICO STAFF
Posts: 1145
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:14 am

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by Gerry »

Hi Sven,

Public reporting of issues can definitely be helpful (for example, with common issues on different platforms it adds more needed case variants, which would seem to apply to your 'returning from sleep' example) which is why we don't discourage posting issues, in general, on the forum.

The Forum is for the whole community of users of Pico products, and interested parties. So, responses come from both Pico Staff and other users (and we have a number of very knowledgeable users who are frequent posters on the forum). A forum post can, and most of the time does, get the same follow up that it would as a helpdesk ticket, but not if answered by someone who doesn't have the appropriate answer, or by someone who is only an occasional forum visitor (and won't post a further required response).

Did you send your trace.xml in as a help desk ticket?

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

nurber
Active User
Active User
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:05 pm

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by nurber »

Gerry wrote:
Sun Dec 06, 2020 8:05 pm
Did you send your trace.xml in as a help desk ticket?
By including trace in my initial post of this thread I thought it would be usable to support as well as others, but reading the above I'm now guessing not so I'll send directly to support. Is platform information included in traces ?

Sven

Gerry
PICO STAFF
PICO STAFF
Posts: 1145
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:14 am

Re: AC Dimmer capture crash when I pushed Auto Setup

Post by Gerry »

Hi Sven,

Trace.xml files mostly do contain the Platform info.

This is now being handled by our help desk.

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

Post Reply