Knobster compatibility

Support for Air Player desktop.

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liquidate
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 4:26 pm

Knobster compatibility

#1 Post by liquidate »

Should Knobster work with Air Player 3.4 or the Air Player 3.4 beta? I'm now the owner of two Knobster's which I have attached to two separate Windows 10 tablets (a Surface Go and a Chuwi Hibook Pro). Air Player by itself works fine on these tablets, and I know both of my knobster's work because I have no problem if I connect them to my Air Manager system.

With Air Player, I can assign a knobster ("Knobster A") to a panel, and when I click "save" it appears to work (no errors). The instruments refresh on the tablet systems, but when I click on a dial to put it into highlighted "Knobster mode", it does not highlight and instead just goes into touch rotation. Air Manger reports Knobster connected in the panel settings, but if I restart Air Manager, click the devices tab, then look at the panel, it shows the Knobster as a connected device but is back to "Knobster disabled" in the panel settings. It doesn't appear that it's ever been applied or saved.

Any ideas what is going on or how I can fix this? I only use Air Manager as a configuration system to setup panels, so I need the Knobsters to work with Air Player.

RandyT
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:18 pm
Location: Dallas, TX USA

Re: Knobster compatibility

#2 Post by RandyT »

I saw liquidate's post above, and I have the same question. Is knobster fully supported in Air Player 3.4?

I recently tried this setup:

1 PC running X Plane (displaying to 3 monitors) and also running Air Player 3.4 (displaying to a 4th monitor which is a touch screen).

1 Laptop running Air Manager 3.4 (displaying to 1 touch screen monitor) and networked with the PC above (via IP address entered in Air Manager Settings).

I have run the Flight Sim plugin 2.6 Home Use (Beta 3) on my PC (previously I ran the 2.5 Home Use plugin, which also worked fine).
I connected my knobster to my laptop and I ran the Arduino installer 3.4 Home Use on my laptop to flash my knobster.

In AM Settings, Input Mode is Touch Control.
My knobster is connected to my laptop via USB, it is enabled in every AM panel as Knobster A, and it works perfectly in each of these panels when displayed on my touch screen connected to my laptop.

I only have 1 knobster, so to test it with AP (which is installed on my PC), I disconnect my knobster USB from my laptop and connect the USB it to my PC.

My configuration for AP (within AM) also has Input Mode set to Touch Control.
But every panel I add to AP (within AM) shows knobster as disabled and there is no 'Knobster A' choice for me to select. I am able to display my AP panels on the 4th monitor (a touch screen) on my PC (the one running X Plane and Air Player), but my knobster doesn't work (but this makes sense because I was unable to choose Knobster A for any of my AP panels).

My knobster works perfectly in Air Manager 3.4. What exactly do I need to do to get my knobster to work in Air Player 3.4.

RandyT
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:18 pm
Location: Dallas, TX USA

Re: Knobster compatibility

#3 Post by RandyT »

I have tried everything I can think of to enable my knobster within a panel for Air Player (configuring within Air Manager/Devices/Air Player), but I still can’t get my knobster to show up as a choice for me to select when modifying any of my Air Player panels. In my earlier post (immediately before this one), I said this:

I only have 1 knobster, so to test it with AP (which is installed on my PC), I disconnect my knobster USB from my laptop and connect the USB it to my PC.

My configuration for AP (within AM) also has Input Mode set to Touch Control.

But every panel I add to AP (within AM) shows knobster as disabled and there is no 'Knobster A' choice for me to select. I am able to display my AP panels on the 4th monitor (a touch screen) on my PC (the one running X Plane and Air Player), but my knobster doesn't work (but this makes sense because I was unable to choose Knobster A for any of my AP panels).


I do understand that when I want to use my knobster with a panel displayed by Air Manager on one PC, I need to have my knobster connected to this PC. I also understand that when I want to use my knobster with a panel displayed by Air Player on a different PC, I need to have my knobster connected to this different PC. I also understand that if I want to display both of these panels simultaneously (AM panel on one PC, AP panel on a different PC) and use a knobster to control each of these panels simultaneously, this will require 2 knobsters (1 per PC).

But do I need 2 knobsters now, 1 connected to each PC simultaneously, simply to configure my AP panels (within AM) to use a knobster when my AP panels are displayed? Regardless whether I connect my 1 knobster to PC 1 where Air Manager is installed, or to PC 2 where Air Player is installed, every Air Player panel shows knobster as disabled when I attempt to configure my Air Player panels for knobster.

I only have 1 knobster currently, and I can’t purchase a 2nd knobster because they are currently out of stock at Sim Innovations.

How do I enable my knobster within my Air Player panels when configuring these panels for display on my Air Player PC (different PC than my Air Manager PC)?

User avatar
Corjan
Posts: 2936
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:04 am

Re: Knobster compatibility

#4 Post by Corjan »

Hi Randy,


First off, sorry for the late response. This one kinda flew under the radar.

Currently there is a bug in Air Player 3.4 where the Knobster won't work.
It is fixed in the Air Player 3.5 BETA version.

We will release both Air Manager 3.5 and Air Player 3.5 by the end of March.

So kinda have two options:
1) Download the latest BETA versions for Air Manager and Air Player:
http://siminnovations.com/wiki/index.ph ... sktop_BETA
http://siminnovations.com/wiki/index.ph ... sktop_BETA

2) Wait until the end of March when we will release the official 3.5 version.

There is no need to have a Knobster connected to both your main PC and the AP PC. Only connecting the Knobster to the AP PC should be enough.


Sorry for the inconvenience,

Corjan

User avatar
Corjan
Posts: 2936
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:04 am

Re: Knobster compatibility

#5 Post by Corjan »

Hi,


Also, we are currently working on a version 2 of the Knobster.
It will be created from a mold, and has a more stable connection to the PC.

We have a protype which seems to work fine.
But unfortunately we have to wait for the production to kick in, for that reason it will take some time before it will be released.


Corjan

RandyT
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:18 pm
Location: Dallas, TX USA

RandyT

#6 Post by RandyT »

Hi Corjan,

No problem on the late response, I know you're all busy working on AM/AP v3.5. I'm just glad to know that it's a confirmed bug in 3.4, so I won't try to make it work any longer in that version. I'm more than happy to use the 3.5 beta version of AM/AP to move forward with my panel configurations with my knobster. And when knobster v2.0 is available, I plan to purchase one of those as my ultimate intention is to use 2 knobsters within my setup going forward.

Also as an FYI, I'm happy to test AM/AP beta v3.5 and provide feedback as I think my setup might be a bit more complex than others, and thus a good test case. I did confirm today that AP beta v3.5 did work correctly with my knobster and my setup.

Thanks to you and the others for all of your hard work!

Randy

Serge Luke
Posts: 85
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:50 pm

Re: Knobster compatibility

#7 Post by Serge Luke »

I am finding The Knobster more stable in 3.5B than 3.4.

User avatar
Corjan
Posts: 2936
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:04 am

Re: Knobster compatibility

#8 Post by Corjan »

Hi,

Yes, unfortunately there are a couple of Knobster issues with AM/AP 3.4 that have been resolved with AM/AP 3.5.
If there is still something not right with 3.5, please let me know.

Corjan

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