
spacelou
Waited over a month to get my kit. First time I plug it in, needs a firmware upgrade ... attempted to do so and got this result:
Firmware Updater Version: 2013.03.18.00
5/16/2013 8:23:44 PM - Begin
Attempting connection on COM6
Connected to COM6 at 9600
EZ-B reports EZ-B Firmware V2
Connected
Welcome to EZ-Robot!
This is the first time you have used this EZ-B. After this upgrade, we recommend that you take a moment to view the tutorials at www.ez-robot.com/Tutorials. Nearly every question you have regarding EZ-Robot is answered in the Tutorials.
Press the HELP menu option to watch a video about this Firmware Upgrade process. Otherwise, press UPDATE when you are ready.
5/16/2013 8:23:55 PM - Sending bootloader
Starting Boot Loader...
5/16/2013 8:24:03 PM - sending ping
5/16/2013 8:24:04 PM - sending ping
5/16/2013 8:24:06 PM - Sending bootloader
I am EZ-B BootLoader. Gimmie Firmware!
5/16/2013 8:24:13 PM - Step 1 of 2) This process will take 2 minutes. The status bar will display progress.
5/16/2013 8:24:13 PM - Updating... (22,656 Bytes)
5/16/2013 8:24:35 PM - Uploaded
Have not been able to connect to EZ-B since.
Definitely not happy and this is definitely not EZ robotics ... I have used many controllers and never had this kind of issue where a very well defined protocol is not properly supported.
This has been a bad experience from shortly after I ordered and waited nearly a month with not a word from EZ-R. then when it gets here, finally, I ordered from a Canadian company and have to pay customs ... I live in Canada. To top that, My "brand new" product, has firmware that is out of date. Very poor business and I am very disappointed.
Who do I speak to to return this product?
This seems to be a very common issue with first time users. There are a lot of posts from people asking for help with first time connection problems. Most of the time it ends up being third party Bluetooth drivers. EZ Robots has been very clear in the past that only MS Bluetooth drivers are supported by them. Once these drivers are installed most people are very happy with their EZB experience. I myself had the same issue and by installing the proper MS BT stack got me up and running in no time. I'm very glad I stuck it out and cant imagine having my robot functional without it.
Good luck and try to have fun.
That still does not explain why this system does not "properly" support a very well defined protocol!
The word "EZ" is indeed implying easy. However, you will need to follow the Tutorial section as part of the EZ. The support section has taken a lot of work to ensure all questions are addressed
I can tell this is not using the Microsoft Bluetooth stack because of this message..
Notice how it says "this will take 2 minutes"? And the time your upload took was 22 seconds.
Other Bluetooth stacks do not follow the "well documentation" that you mentioned a few times in your posts. There is no enforcement on Bluetooth standards. Now, surprisingly.... Microsoft is the only one who does it right
There are a lot of people that hate Microsoft for some reason. Perhaps they don't like to march along with the crowd. However, it is the standard now a days. If you want this product to work for you maybe you need put aside your prejustice of MS and use their stack. If you want to walk the less trodden path then EZB may not work for you.
I understand about not following the crowd as I try to avoid it as much as possible. However my ideals sometimes give way to my passions. Robotics being one of them.
Sorry, this is just the way I see it.
There is "nothing" in your promotional or sales info that states I need MS drivers for my bluetooth. I believe my EZ-B is defective, I am very disappointed and at this stage there is little that can be done or said to correct this.
I have contacted EZ Robotics and asked to return the product. I am not interested in the kind of service I have received here nor am I happy with the product.
So install win 7 a reasonably up to date OS or Win 8 the most recent and your troubles will be resolved.
If you want to use your win 7 laptop then uninstall the Bluetooth drivers them let windows 7 find and install the device itself. It will apply the default stack and resolve the issue. Just to let you know until the software update ezb Bluetooth shows up as linvor , one the update is done it will shows EZ Robot. We can get you going , promise.
I had issues with my Toshiba laptop as well. I had to uninstall the Toshiba Bluetooth drivers and go back to windows based bluetooth as well. I believe I also had to get SP3 for Winxp (yeah I know I'm old skool) to get things working right.
Hope that solves it!