IFD Dimming after Database Update |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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Posted: 03 Sep 2024 at 2:08pm |
Since my IFD440's were updated to 10.3.1.2 I have a persistent and annoying problem
after I update the Nav and Obstacle databases on any cycle the IFD's reboot and they're both Dim, instead of being full brightness. I have to do the dance to "Download logs" and reboot into maitenance mode then go to the dimming screen and then they pop to full brightness and work from then out for every reboot until I do the next update. Every single time I have to do this dance. To begin with there was a PIN on the settings so I ran the reset procedure and now the values shown in the config screen is correct, and all I have to do is go to that page, I don't have to change anything then it all just works. Any ideas, it's not unworkable but it's an annoying extra step every DB update.
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PA23
Senior Member Joined: 12 Oct 2019 Location: MMU Status: Offline Points: 319 |
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I'd suggest starting with setting the lighting page to a known good configuration just in case something is FUBAR there. Below is what I'm using in my IFD440 which I got it from somebody on this forum and tweaked it slightly for my tastes. |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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@PA23 appreciate that and will double check, I actually use DIMBUS not photocell on mine, and as I said above it works entirely, until a DB update, then it fails, and simply swapping to that page it will all work again until the next DB update, I don't actually have to change anything.
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jimmyz80
Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2016 Location: Folsom, CA Status: Offline Points: 102 |
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Just chiming in to say to say that I have this exact same problem. Dimming works as configured/expected until you do a database update. Then it breaks until you just go back into maintenance mode and look at the lighting page. Then it fixes everything back up again until the next database update. I made a video today of me reproducing the issue and will be opening a support case.
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2006 Cirrus SR22 - IFD540 IFD440 DFC90 AXP322 MLB100
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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I guess I'll wait to see the video, but that's certainly an odd one. I load databases all the time and haven't noticed such behavior. Do you both have the same database coverage?
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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jimmyz80
Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2016 Location: Folsom, CA Status: Offline Points: 102 |
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Check out case #PS00134823 and I've included a google drive link with the video. I just double checked my coverage and it's listed as North America.
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2006 Cirrus SR22 - IFD540 IFD440 DFC90 AXP322 MLB100
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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Same North America, happens every single time, there's a discussion on the Cirrus forums and three of us currently have exactly this behaviour. I have not seen the video from Jimmz80 but his repro steps are the same as mine. And it happens every single time to both IFD's.
I even tried reformatting the key I used for the IFD's in case it had a left over config file that was tripping it up, same result. |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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@AViSteve So one thing that came up on the COPA forums the units that are doing this are possibly all using "DimBus" and not "Photocell" for the dimmer, what's your demo unit using?
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ansond
Senior Member Joined: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Austin, Texas Status: Offline Points: 151 |
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I have also seen this behavior... after the DB update, I would go back into the configuration page to the lighting section and, when I landed on that section, the screen would light back up... its almost like landing on that section "resets" the configuration somewhere within the IFD... flaky.
I ended up switching to "photocell" vs. the "dimming bus" and that seems to have helped a bit. Doug N208LG |
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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I usually keep it on manual, so I'll have to give it a try using the dimming bus.
Edited by AviSteve - 09 Sep 2024 at 9:12am |
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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That would be great to test, it does seem to be common, and I much prefer to have control over it and have it match the other instruments as it has since I bought them.
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jimmyz80
Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2016 Location: Folsom, CA Status: Offline Points: 102 |
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Same here, since everything in the Cirrus is controlled from the dimming bus. It's nice to have the IFDs follow along as well, vs. having them do their own thing based on a photocell.
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2006 Cirrus SR22 - IFD540 IFD440 DFC90 AXP322 MLB100
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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I noticed when I had my recent update I only had to go to the configurations page for it to correct itself.
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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@AviSteve so have you managed to reproduce this in house? It's been several weeks and would at least like to know they have an in house repro of this issue that several of us seem to have with every up date.
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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I have tried it here in my office and have been unable to reproduce it. I've looked through the software for some weird connection, but was unable to find any (as I suspected). Colleagues in Boston have tried it and were able to reproduce it just once. We're all pretty busy on Vantage at this point, so this problem is lower on the totem pole, but we're not ignoring it.
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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ansond
Senior Member Joined: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Austin, Texas Status: Offline Points: 151 |
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Curious @AviSteve... did you try to repro it in a G1/G2 Cirrus using the dimming bus in there? I am just wondering if perhaps the issue involves a specific kind of dimming circuit... I can repro mine every time I do the DB update... its very reliable in terms of reproduction ability.
Doug N208LG PS: So glad ya'll were not significantly impacted by the hurricane!! |
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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I haven't specifically tried that. I'll get over to the hangar sometime soon and give it a shot.
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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This does happen to me on every single database update at this point in time, and we have enough other people demonstrating it that it should be reproducible.
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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SO @AviSteve, I had someone else on COPA reach out to me that this is happening to them as well. they also are using this on Dim bus, has anyone made an attempt to reproduce this issue in house with the dimbus set?
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n789am
Newbie Joined: 09 Sep 2022 Location: Boston Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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Hi all, I've been having this same issue for about 1-1.5 years or so as well, requiring me to go into the settings page showing the dim settings to get the settings present their to persist after each database update. For the first 5-6 months I assumed I just had incorrect settings that weren't suited to the proper transition levels, brightness settings or curves, but after a number of us were speaking on the Cirrus forums it appeared that this issue is more widespread than an individual user or two. My settings are perfect with the exception of after I apply a database update. Any guidance on resolution would be much appreciated.
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MysticCobra
Senior Member Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Status: Offline Points: 666 |
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It must be more than _just_ the DimBus. I've been using DimBus for ~10 years and have never observed this behavior, most recently on both IFD540 and 550 running v10.3.1.2.
One difference I notice is that PA23 and n789am are using "Proportional" curve, whereas I'm using AviCurve. |
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n789am
Newbie Joined: 09 Sep 2022 Location: Boston Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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Avicurve had no impact other than the curve wasn’t ideal and was still too bright at night and didn’t provide an even distribution through my dimmer range. I wanted half brightness to be roughly half way through my brightness range rather than being 80% bright. Also I’ve had this behavior with the Mx input settings photo or dimbus. I keep my user settings on dimbus though. FWIW I have 2 user profiles but would be surprised if that had any impact.
I really can’t tell it is an issue during the day because it’s bright enough but at night getting stuck at the high end of the brightness range is just annoying. This all seems to have started with 10.3.1.2 and possibly after I had to use the unlock for the password I never set.
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MysticCobra
Senior Member Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Status: Offline Points: 666 |
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Another difference I noticed is that I've got a Piper 12V system vs. the reports here are from Cirrus 28V systems... 🤷🏻♂️
In case it's helpful, here are my settings (used in both the 540 and 550 that do not exhibit the behavior): |
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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Yes we have, but it's not the highest priority thing going on at this point. I tried it on the Cirrus and was still unable to reproduce it. However, we have the still experimental 10.3.2.2 software loaded, so it's not apples-to-apples. Perhaps that's good news, but I'd still like to understand the root cause of the problem even if it magically cured itself. We have another airplane in the hangar that has 10.3.1 and I just haven't had time to go test it over there. If it is voltage related, then that may not yield fruit either because that airplane is 14V. Rest assured, though, we haven't given up trying to figure out what's going on.
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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Thanks for the update, from 35+ years of professional software experience I've never seen a bug just fix itself, that it's not occurring in a more recent build unless they re-wrote the subsystem it's a part of will generally just mean that an unintialised variable has been moved from one stack location to another, and something else will fail that's not as obvious. Hopefully you'll have a chance to try on the current release build and still have that source and information to debug it there.
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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I just spent some time out in our club airplane. It's a 14V airplane and has a 550 and a 440, both running 10.3.1.2. The Display Brightness and Bezel Brightness settings were both set to "Dimming Bus". I verified proper operation of the lighting by turning the dimming knob on the panel and then left the knob at full brightness (not "Off"). Then I went into maintenance mode and calibrated the dimming bus input on the lighting configuration page. Went back into flight mode, again verified proper operation of the dimming knob and left it at full brightness. Back to maintenance mode and then loaded a nav database. When I went back into flight mode, the IFDs both powered up at full brightness, just like I left it. So I tried several other settings in maintenance mode and loaded a database after every change. I tried setting the Mx Input to Photocell and to Dimming Bus. I tried setting AviCurve and Proportional. Each and every time, the IFD powered up in flight mode at full brightness just like I had left it. I haven't given up, but I think I'll have to change tactics. I'll be in touch privately if you're willing to help with some further testing on your specific system. |
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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gremlin
Groupie Joined: 23 Jun 2021 Location: Pacific NorthWe Status: Offline Points: 52 |
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The Sunday after thanksgiving I went out to the plane and updated both ifd 440s and the behavior persisted once again I only had to go to the aux page prior to reboot and scroll into the lighting page and everything reset properly
Happy to help you debug this
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n789am
Newbie Joined: 09 Sep 2022 Location: Boston Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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I'd also be happy to help debug with video or realtime. It's pretty routinely repeatable, just takes time. Also FWIW its alot easier to notice late afternoon, or in the dark because the settings tend to be that displays temporary revert to full bright even when switch is off vs the settings present in the maint mode. I'd love to see the settings you have for comparison. Out of curiosity, does the dimmer in your club plane range from 0v-12v or 12v to 0v for the dimming scale.
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AviSteve
Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2274 |
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The club airplane dimming bus min voltage is around 0.4V and the max is around 12.4V. I don't have a picture handy or I'd send it to you. I'll email you some test procedures.
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Steve Lindsley
Avidyne Engineering |
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