Monitors

[Ray]

Hi,

 

Have got one of these and having nothing but trouble.

 

I can't find a manual, just the Quick Start.

 

Have mucked about for three days and still lots of problems.

 

One that I can't seem to find anywhere is - How to change the resolution of the external monitor.

 

The desk is not picking up the size and only displaying part of the information, the rest is off to the side.

 

Zero forgot to mention that you can do hardly anything withut an external monotor.

 

 

A 'bug' I did pick up on is if you press 'Calibrate external monitor', it does not have a cancel key, so unless you have a touchscreen, keyboard or mouse (or if you have no external monitor) you are stuck.

 

I know your not supposed to do that but anything that can cause you to HAVE to switch off the desk should surely have a failsafe.

 

And on that point, where is the 'power down' selection, I can't find it and don't like just flicking the off switch.

[keredyelesob]

Zero88 desks dont have a shutdown option they save the show as you work. All you need to do is simply turn it off. I think it would be awaste of time adding a shut down option that does nothing other then telling the user they can turn off the desk. I think this is just something you would have to get used to.

 

If you dont have a touchscreen to collaborate why select that option? I do see your point but in my experience most users using lighting desks, zero88 or other manufacturers (supporting pointing devices) would almost certainly have a mouse or touchscreen attached, if only for spead of programming. I dont see this as a bug. Maybe an inconvenience, turning the desk off and on will not do it any harm, what method would you use to exit out of this screen?

 

What are you not able to do without an external screen?

[Ray]

I would have expected an operating system that has been around for a while now to be a little more advanced.

 

The desk should surely be able to detect if a monitor is connected, and for example, put the on-screen keyboard on the internal screen, which it does not.

 

It may be harder to detect if a keyboard was present.

 

For mobile users (this is a compact console) and people with restricted space it should be possible to operate the desk fully without a key board or monitor.

 

As I have read in a few other posts, is does seem that the FLX was not quite ready for release. Would have been better to wait rather than get bad press.

 

As for the calibrate thing, the desk should have a failsafe, if you press ANY key by accident apart from the power switch, it should not mean a restart in the middel of a show.

 

Feels like I'm paying over £3000 to be a Beta tester...

[jw-lighting]

Hi Ray,

 

 

A 'bug' I did pick up on is if you press 'Calibrate external monitor', it does not have a cancel key, so unless you have a touchscreen, keyboard or mouse (or if you have no external monitor) you are stuck.

You can cancel the calibration by pressing enter. This is the same as with the internal touchscreen.

 

 

For mobile users (this is a compact console) and people with restricted space it should be possible to operate the desk fully without a key board or monitor.

An external monitor is not necessary at all, but it's nice to have one. There are some situations where the software does not show an virtual keyboard, so you cant place the information you want without an external one. I hope this is improved in the next software versions.

 

Having no external monitor, you can press Shift+View to get the output window. View alone toggles between the playback window and the playback overview. To select the playback viewed, use View+Go.

 

 

Did you already installed the update to the current beta? If not, i realy recommend you to do so. Ask Jon for the installer.

[keredyelesob]

I would have expected an operating system that has been around for a while now to be a little more advanced.

 

I am sure that you already know (from you other post) that although the FLX runs on ZEROS it has actually been re written for the FLX desk, this was only released a few months ago, I would say that you should be a little more tolerable with the desk especially given that a lot of the problems you are having are due to user misunderstanding. yes maybe Zero88 should release the manual sooner rather than later, but in your case it may be worth looking at the manuals for the likes of the solution or orb (running on the established ZOROS OS) you will probably find a lot of your answers there.

 

I think rather than presenting a lot of negative feedback on the problems you are experiencing maybe working with Zero 88 to give possible solutions for instance

 

Zero forgot to mention that you can do hardly anything withut an external monotor.

 

what can't you do without an external monitor, if you tell Zero88 they can at least address the problem.

[Ray]

keredyelesob I don't know if you work for Zero88 but it sounds like you do, or at least you are fan.

 

I feel my feedback is not being negative, just expressing my honest opinion to which I feel I am entitled.

 

After spending £3000 on a desk to find there was not a manual in the box, and not even one available online was a shock, and as I have found out a time consuming pain.

 

I have looked at the Orb and Solution ones but they are very different, many of the keys on those are not even present on the FLX.

 

The reply for JW was helpful but your replies are not in the least.

 

A small mobile desk like this should be self contained to make it evenmore desirable to customers, but when you ad £400 for a touch screen monitors etc etc. it gets expensive.

 

Combined with the Network problems I feel that the software would have benefited from another three months Beta testing before release but fully understand Zero88 having to get to market to get a return on the investment and catch the start of the summer season.

 

It just need a bit of time, but looks like we won't be using it on the Festival we have this weekend, a real pity.

PS - This is why I don't do Forums.

 

Would rather have a manual in front of me and a company I call call on the phone and not have to deal with online nonsense.

[keredyelesob]

No i don't work for zero88 i am a software developer for the government so i understand criticism from new software. Especially when a lot of the criticism comes from a users lack of knowledge. (again this may be due to a missing manual).

 

What i am trying to say is that if you do find a problem like your original coment about needing an external screen to operate the desk then maybe explain what the actual problem is, this is how the software will progress and become more intuitive.

 

The technical support number for zero88 is +44 (0)1633 833101 maybe you should use it.

[Jon Hole]

Hi Ray,

 

It's worth telling everyone that you are running Beta software, and you were warned about the network issue you mentioned below before you installed beta code.

 

As we discussed last week on the phone, you had all my personal contact details if you had any problems over the bank holiday weekend, but I haven't heard from you at all.

 

I'll try and answer all your points below:

 

One that I can't seem to find anywhere is - How to change the resolution of the external monitor.

I'm still waiting to hear from you what the model of touch screen you are using, so we can look into this for you?

Zero forgot to mention that you can do hardly anything withut an external monotor.

What can't you do within an External Monitor? Everything that's on the external monitor is available on the internal monitor, and is actually much more convenient, easier and quicker on the interal monitor!

 

A 'bug' I did pick up on is if you press 'Calibrate external monitor', it does not have a cancel key, so unless you have a touchscreen, keyboard or mouse (or if you have no external monitor) you are stuck.

Just press "Enter" to cancel, as it says on the monitor during calibration:

And on that point, where is the 'power down' selection, I can't find it and don't like just flicking the off switch.

No Zero 88 console has every had a shut down procedure - we put a lot of time (and expense!) into ensuring you can always power down (or loose power!) at any time without loosing data.

 

The desk should surely be able to detect if a monitor is connected, and for example, put the on-screen keyboard on the internal screen, which it does not.

We do detect if a monitor is attached. We talked about this last week on the phone. If you press "Name" and then choose something to name, an onscreen keyboard appears on the internal monitor. You found one place within Setup where this didn't happen, and as I mentioned on the phone we've added a report about this to fix it.

 

As for the calibrate thing, the desk should have a failsafe, if you press ANY key by accident apart from the power switch, it should not mean a restart in the middel of a show.

We of course completely agree - there's nowhere in the software where you have to restart to get out of a menu system, as mentioned above.

 

Would rather have a manual in front of me and a company I call call on the phone and not have to deal with online nonsense.

Ray, I gave you my personal details and specifically mentioned you could contact me at any time this bank holiday weekend, but I haven't heard from you at all. On top of that, we have a support number and email which was monitored all weekend, and you didn't use these either.

[Ray]

Hi Jon,

 

I wouldn't want to bother you on the weekend, I was off this weekend so had the chance to play with desk but didn't get that much done.

 

I did manage to get it to connect to Capture a couple of times but only for a while and could not figure out what sequence would make it work.

 

My touchscreen is an older one so probably won;t work at all. My normal monitors would not connect at first but when I did get one to work is only showed half the info. I tried to email you a pic of this but your email is bouncing back my emails.

 

(It's working now just got a reply).

 

The power-down thing is me just being safe. Most system I work with have a shutdown and just thought I would mention it.

 

I have had a Jest ML in the past and a Leapfrog 48 but been on a different system for a few years.

 

It's not like I'm new to computer though, I was a computer lecturer for ten years before I started the current business.

 

Will go over to email now, I dont like forums much.