Problems with using ROM 6.x and a computer

Here's the situation:

You just finished reading this website and you tried some software and it didn't work.
You went to try the procotol and got weird results.
You can't get European characters to work.
The examples from the article in Linux Journal isn't working.

The reason, most likely you have a new sign.

Shortcomings and Failings of the 6.x ROM

The software on this site is based on feature sets from Version 5.24Q of the ROM.

Keep in mind that Pro-Lite does not fully accept the presence of the computing community using their signs. This is evidenced that the PL-M2014R is primarily aimed at a target audience that has just enough brain power to operate a remote control and produce a static message on the sign.

At first the changes look promising:

A redesigned remote with more verb-like buttons.
A new user interface.
Status responses from the sign.
The addition of counters.

However, a closer look under the hood showns that these changes actually remove features and functionality from the sign!

Here we will discover the pitfalls of the 6.x ROM.

The New Remotes

The main addition to the new remote was the use of color to group functionality. Unfortunately, in order to do this it meant rearranging some of the keys and changing their functions.

The labels on the new remote are not applicable for the old signs (and vice versa), however the button positions still work. This means if you have two signs near each other, programming one will produce irratic behavior on the other.

The User Interface

According to my understanding of Pro-Lite's position, the average user can not seem to understand how to use the 5.24Q user interface with the remote. Primarily the use of timers was considered confusing. (Timers are used to display certain pages at certain times, but more importantly allows multiple pages to be strung together in a sequence.)

Here is the user interface for the 5.24Q ROM:


ESC
  +-- Edit
  |     +-- Page 
  |     +-- Timer 
  |     `-- Graphic
  +-- Run
  |     +-- Page 
  |     `-- Timer 
  +-- Delete
  |     +-- Page 
  |     +-- Timer 
  |     `-- Graphic
  `-- Set

Notice that the user interface is set up using the form verb [noun]. You tell what you want to do, and then what you want to do it to. At any time ESC would back out. This is a strong and well thought out design.

Here is the user interface for the 6.x ROM:


RUN/STOP
  +-- PROGRAM
  |     `-- Page
  `-- ESC
        +-- Graphics
        +-- Reset
        `-- Set

Here you have to not only know what you want to do, but where it is burried in the menu. The distinction between running and setting is gone, and timers are removed completely! Not only is there less features, more ambiguity, but the layout is unfriendly.

Changes in the Protocol

Perhaps the worse design decision was the changing of the protocol so it isn't backwards compatable. This means existing software won't necessarily run, including that sold by Pro-Lite.

European characters are not <Ux> anymore, they are <Ex>.

<ID01>Default to page A no longer works.

Several graphic fade effects, most likely the reason you bought the sign, are now gone. <FF> and <FG> are swapped, messing up backwards compatability. <FS> is called SHIFT rather than SHOOT (admittedly, the name is more accurate now). <FD> is now <FQ>. Speed controls <FX> and <FY> are gone; they could be used to make the sign halt in interesting ways.

No Timers Equals Less Memory for Messages

With timers, it was possible to string together up to 32 pages. Now you can't. This means that you are actually limited to the amount of text displayed in one page, rather than creatively chaining a bunch of pages together to form one really long message.

No Timers Equals More Static Messages

The 6.x ROM sign allows you to display a page 'n' number of times and then switch to a new page.

While this sounds useful at first, it's quite problematic and unpredictable. Since the duration a page is visible is determined by it's length, a short message may disappear too soon.

For instance, if page A has the single message 'A' and page B has the single message 'B', then a repeat A 5 times then show B will result in the message AAAAABBBBBBBBBBBB... scrolling by instantly.

There's no way to show a message during lunch, after hours, on weekends, etc. without manual intervention. While great for testing, there's no practical use in the real world for this feature that I can see. Besides that, it could easily have been accomplished with timers.

Up/Down Counters

The new sign has internal counters that can be made to increment hourly or daily, and when a target is hit, show another page.

This is intended for two main purposes:

Counting the number of days without accident at a plant
Count down to Y2K or a deadline

Originally, Pro-Lite was only going to include a counter that went up, it was a difficult struggle to explain that counting down simulated reaching a desired date.

Still, if your computer is hooked up to the sign, you don't need the sign to perform these calculations for you.

What Can I Do?

You have several options:

Write Pro-Lite and tell them how unhappy you are.

Call Pro-Lite and ask for a 5.24Q ROM. Tell them why. (Here's how you can change ROMs yourself.)

Return your sign where you got it. Tell them why.

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