WinPilot Pro AAT bug?

Several times in the last few months, the latest version (8.08) of
WinPilot Pro has crashed (exited abnormally) on me while I was moving
an AAT mobile turnpoint around using the touch-sensitive screen. One
second everything is fine, and the next I'm staring at the PDA startup
screen. When this happens, WinPilot loses all task information, so
unless you have remembered to save the task before this happens, you
are SOL.

I've emailed Jerry about this a few times, but there has been no
response. Anyone else out there experiencing this problem with V8.08
(I have the PRO version, but it might be happening with ADV too), or
am I just lucky ;-)?


TIA,

Frank (TA)

On Dec 18, 9:02�pm, Frank wrote:
Several times in the last few months, the latest version (8.08) of
WinPilot Pro has crashed (exited abnormally) on me while I was moving
an AAT mobile turnpoint around using the touch-sensitive screen. �One
second everything is fine, and the next I'm staring at the PDA startup
screen. �When this happens, WinPilot loses all task information, so
unless you have remembered to save the task before this happens, you
are SOL.

I've emailed Jerry about this a few times, but there has been no
response. �Anyone else out there experiencing this problem with V8..08
(I have the PRO version, but it might be happening with ADV too), or
am I just lucky ;-)?

TIA,

Frank (TA)

Try downloading it again, and reinstalling it. I am not having any
problems. # 711.

Finally, someone else besides me having this problem!!! I've reported
it to Jerry a number of times in the last 2+ years; I've been
experiencing it since at least version 6.x.

Frank, what PDA are you using? It's possible that the problem is in a
driver, not in Jerry's software. I'm using an hx4705. The more
information we can gather, the better.

~ted/2NO

On Dec 20, 2:33*pm, Tuno wrote:
Finally, someone else besides me having this problem!!! I've reported
it to Jerry a number of times in the last 2+ years; I've been
experiencing it since at least version 6.x.

Frank, what PDA are you using? It's possible that the problem is in a
driver, not in Jerry's software. I'm using an hx4705. The more
information we can gather, the better.

~ted/2NO
Ted,

Yes, I've had the same experience with Jerry - sometimes he answers,
sometimes he doesn't. If anyone knows how to get a response out of
him, they aren't telling ;-).

I'm running a Compaq iPAQ 3955 with 64M system RAM, 32M ROM, with
Windows PPC (WinCE 4.20). I went through all last season with no
problems until the Fairfield contest in October, where it crashed on
me two days in a row on AAT tasks.

Doesn't sound like a driver problem to me. First, we are running
different OS levels, with (presumably) different driver sets.
Secondly, it is clear the bug is triggered by mtp movement, which
smacks of some sort of stack overrun problem. It could also be some
sort of long-term memory leak (like a hidden log file or something)
that consumes system memory over time. I wrote Jerry a long note
about this (see below), but of course no response ;-).

I think we should start posting all our bug reports here on RAS. At
least that way we have some chance of gathering a common set of bug
descriptions, and people who are considering putting there money down
will be forewarned. WinPilot is a great program, and was fairly
robust through most of last season. However, two race day crashes in
a row has shaken my faith - I'm looking for something else now.

Frank (TA)




************************************************** ************************************************** *****************
email sent 10/17/07:

To: WinPilot
Subject: WinPilot Pro abnormal exits

Jerry,

At Fairfield, WinPilot exited abnormally on me the last two days in a
row. When the problem occurred, I was moving the last mobile
turnpoint with my thumb. In both cases, the program exited back to
the main screen (the one with the 'WinPilot' and 'WinPilot Simulator'
choices) without warning of any kind. In both cases, when I touched
the 'WinPilot' choice, the program came back up with everything mostly
intact, but the differential time remaining value was all screwed up.
In one case it showed something like 23 hours and 10 minutes, and in
the other case it showed something like 95 hours.

It is possible I was causing a phenomenon similar to 'contact bounce'
as I tried to move the mtp. I remember in both cases that I was
moving my thumb up the screen with a rubbing motion, and felt some
thumb vibration just before the exit occurred. Maybe WinPilot was
entering & exiting 'drag' mode too rapidly for the program to handle?

These incidents were a real PITA, as I was dragging the last mtp
around to figure out when to turn for final glide. Having the program
exit just then was *not* conducive to pilot sanity! ;-).

Frank

************************************************** ************************************************** *****************



Got through an entire AAT race this evening with no problems, but I
was on pins and needles the entire time. Tonight I saw a couple more
problems. At one point I saw the mtp for turnpoint 2 *way* outside
the turn circle, even with the 'keep mtp inside cirle' option checke.
I have suspected in the past that this option was occasionally not
honored, but tonight I saw it for sure. Also, I'm starting to get a
lot of 'Low Memory - Freeing' warning messages, both in the sim and in
the real WinPilot. I've been using the same PDA for over a year now,
and haven't seen the problem until recently. Anyone got any clues
what to do about this?

Frank,

No need to post all our bug reports here. Jerry may not be as
responsive as we like sometimes but he does a pretty good job with
what he has.

I agree with you that the evidence points to a but in the aat mtp
code.

I used to get "Low Memory" messages too but since I started using it
with terrain turned off, and with my own aviation data, this is no
longer an issue.

-ted/2NO

Tuno wrote:
Frank,

No need to post all our bug reports here. Jerry may not be as
responsive as we like sometimes but he does a pretty good job with
what he has.

A Yahoo or Google group would be a better choice anyway. It would serve
the Winpilot owners better, and avoid littering RAS with such product
specific detail.

If a group is started, I hope it will be open to everyone, at least for
reading and searching. For example, the SeeYou forums are open, even
though they are provided by the software producer (Naviter) and could be
closed to now-owners.

Open forums benefit glider pilots that are trying to decide on which
software to buy and how much support is available. The software provider
benefits because prospective customers are more likely to become
customers when they see the company isn't trying to hide problems and
will respond to requests.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

On Dec 20, 6:50*pm, Frank wrote:
On Dec 20, 2:33*pm, Tuno wrote: Finally, someone else besides me having this problem!!! I've reported
it to Jerry a number of times in the last 2+ years; I've been
experiencing it since at least version 6.x.

Frank, what PDA are you using? It's possible that the problem is in a
driver, not in Jerry's software. I'm using an hx4705. The more
information we can gather, the better.

~ted/2NO

Ted,

Yes, I've had the same experience with Jerry - sometimes he answers,
sometimes he doesn't. *If anyone knows how to get a response out of
him, they aren't telling ;-).

I'm running a Compaq iPAQ 3955 with 64M system RAM, 32M ROM, with
Windows PPC (WinCE 4.20). *I went through all last season with no
problems until the Fairfield contest in October, where it crashed on
me two days in a row on AAT tasks.

Doesn't sound like a driver problem to me. *First, we are running
different OS levels, with (presumably) different driver sets.
Secondly, it is clear the bug is triggered by mtp movement, which
smacks of some sort of stack overrun problem. *It could also be some
sort of long-term memory leak (like a hidden log file or something)
that consumes system memory over time. * I wrote Jerry a long note
about this *(see below), but of course no response ;-).

I think we should start posting all our bug reports here on RAS. *At
least that way we have some chance of gathering a common set of bug
descriptions, and people who are considering putting there money down
will be forewarned. *WinPilot is a great program, and was fairly
robust through most of last season. However, *two race day crashes in
a row has shaken my faith - I'm looking for something else now.

Frank (TA)

************************************************** ************************************************** ******************
email sent 10/17/07:

To: WinPilot
Subject: WinPilot Pro abnormal exits

Jerry,

At Fairfield, WinPilot exited abnormally on me the last two days in a
row. *When the problem occurred, I was moving the last mobile
turnpoint with my thumb. *In both cases, the program exited back to
the main screen (the one with the 'WinPilot' and 'WinPilot Simulator'
choices) without warning of any kind. *In both cases, when I touched
the 'WinPilot' choice, the program came back up with everything mostly
intact, but the differential time remaining value was all screwed up.
In one case it showed something like 23 hours and 10 minutes, and in
the other case it showed something like 95 hours.

It is *possible I was causing a phenomenon similar to 'contact bounce'
as I tried to move the mtp. *I remember in both cases that I was
moving my thumb up the screen with a rubbing motion, and felt some
thumb vibration just before the exit occurred. *Maybe WinPilot was
entering & exiting 'drag' mode too rapidly for the program to handle?

These incidents were a real PITA, as I was dragging the last mtp
around to figure out when to turn for final glide. *Having the program
exit just then was *not* conducive to pilot sanity! ;-).

Frank

************************************************** ************************************************** ******************

Got through an entire AAT race this evening with no problems, but I
was on pins and needles the entire time. *Tonight I saw a couple more
problems. *At one point I saw the mtp for turnpoint 2 *way* outside
the turn circle, even with the 'keep mtp inside cirle' option checke.
I have suspected in the past that this option was occasionally not
honored, but tonight I saw it for sure. *Also, I'm starting to get a
lot of 'Low Memory - Freeing' warning messages, both in the sim and in
the real WinPilot. *I've been using the same PDA for over a year now,
and haven't seen the problem until recently. *Anyone got any clues
what to do about this?

Frank,

Check and see if you have any other programs running Start Settings
System Memory Running Programs.

Also you can check the memory and see if something else is using it or
you can make more available.

I had some turn area problems when my thermal database included
thermals in both parowan and montague, when I cleaned up the file the
problems stopped. As you can imagine this problem was really hard to
find, I just stumbled on it and everything got better.

I would also try a hard reset and reinstall the program.


Richard
www.craggyaero.com