Realtime freezing issue

[Kyung]

There is a huge post on the Total Eclipse (Advantage) website with this issue. So I just wanted to stir the pot over here.

For me it started one rainy summer's nght. J/K.

Really, I had never had any freezing issues my realtime until the latest. And then I would be writing, then all of a sudden my realtime would stop scrolling. Sometimes it would start up again and sometimes it wouldn't. AAARRGGGHHH. I did get a new laptop in December of 2006, but this started happening July of last year.

I think Eclipse thinks it's some kind of issue where the serial-to-usb connection is timing out so that Eclipse is no longer getting a feed. They're saying if you've got a serial to serial connector from your writer to your laptop, then you shouldn't be having this issue. Unfortunately, my laptop only has usb. I've had a pcmcia card (Socket) before. But when my old computer crashed bec. of Trojan virus and had to be taken back to spec, I could never get the d#$m, friggin', card to work again. Socket also has the worst technical service ever bar none. Anyway, back to the main issue of the post.

I am currently on Eclipse 4.0.2.7, which is the release version, not dev. I have not had any problems so far. Knock on wood. So for those of you out there who are having freezing problems, there is a light for now. But if those problems continue, you should definitely call tech support, post. The more noise you make, the more info they have to fix it.

And also, this is to let you know that you are not the only one with this problem.

[Patricia Babits]

Turning off my anti-virus solved the problem for me. It's a horrible feeling glancing at your screen and nothing is there!!

[Kyung]

I have the Cool Gear as well. Of course, depending on who you talk to, you get different reports on which is better - Belkin, Cool Gear, some random no-name brand. It sounds like Eclipse is having problems w/all of them. After I got the Cool Gear, I continued to have problems intermittently.

[Brenda Rogers]

I had that happen only a few times (3 or 4) using a USB/serial adapter for almost a year and a half, and using two different computers. Since I've switched to the LS and there's no need for an adapter, it's not happened at all. Definitely seems to be the adapter from everything I've read.

[Stephanie Clark]

Hi, Brenda -- just scrolling through this discussion and I'm wondering what you mean by "LS."

[Brenda Rogers]

Hi, Stephanie. LS=LightSpeed. My pretty little red writer. :)

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hey there! Mary Ann Payonk here in Washington, D.C. I have to chime in on the freezing issue. It happened to me A TON last year ... and since it just recently happened last week, I'm really pissed over it. It's SO frustrating. It's SO embarrassing! But I (and others, I know) have two different scenarios. One, the realtime just STOPS but the screen stays in Eclipse. You must reboot to get going again. The other scenario is you're writing along and - snap! - in an instant, the desktop screen appears, and there's no closing down of the program or anything, no warning, no error messages. I've been experiencing it and reading about others' unfortunate experiences with this issue for well over a year now. I don't visit the Advantage Software website very often, but I'll sure be glad once they figure it out. It was REALLY maddening when it first started happening and we experienced The Stenograph Syndrome ... "What freezing up? Uh, gee ... we can't duplicate that here on OUR system ..." Argh!

Mary Ann Payonk, CRR-RDR, CCP, CBC
Washington, D.C.

[Kyung]

I've only had it happen to me where I'm writing along and all of sudden my realtime stops translating on the screen. Sometimes it's my writer saving to the hard disk. After it saves, then it starts writing. But sometimes it doesn't start writing a gain. It is a hassle. I'm so sorry it happened to you again recently. Are you on Version 4.0.2.7?

You don't have to wait for the CD to download it. You can download it from the web and get our key validated through admin.

[Peter]

I had this happen to me as well. I found if you make sure ahead of time that you shut down your internet and you shut down your antivirus so they're not working in the background in eclipse you will no longer have the problem, or it at least stopped happening to me. Let me know if this is the case with you. Peter

[Kyung]

I've done that plus a host of other things. I've done so many other things, I forgotten if that was part of the fix or not for me. Although I find that even w/the antivirus shut down and the Internet shut down, I will get some long pauses before me realtime "catches up."

[Peter]

You may have to hit ctrl alt delete once and see whats running at the same time in the task bar manager, and if you're not using it , shut it down while you're in eclipse.

[Kyung]

Trust me. I've got nothing but Eclipse running when I'm doing a realtime job.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hey, Peter. We do that also ... still happens. We've gotten rid of all of our different brands of USB and now use the same brand for everything. Still happens. I haven't been on the Eclipse site to read through the thread, but I doubt, seriously doubt it's a stroke that's causing this. The complete shutdown of the system's happened when there were no strokes being made at all. It just pisses me off that for the longest time, no one at Eclipse would admit there was a freezing-up problem. Kind of like the "no stacking" thing with the Stentura and Mira, huh? Then all of a sudden, oh, yeah, we fixed that problem that didn't exist in the first place. Yeah, right. I gave up my Mira because it stacked, and the Stentura still has plenty of stacking issues. The Passport is the only hope for no stacking ... but I can tell you I've written on a Passport and found it to be not exactly like the keyboard touch of the Stentura. It was hard enough for me to get used to the Mira ... so we'll see. Thanks fro the update. I just want stuff to WORK! M.A.