Usage:
5130 (5ZL, 7TJ),
5130B (4CS),
5230 (7LL) Excavators;
785B (6HK),
789B (7EK),
793B (1HL),
793C (4AR) Trucks;
784B (5RK) Tractor;
992G (7HR),
994 (9YF) Wheel Loaders
The following is a description of problems known to be outstanding in the VIMS-PC V2.4 Vehicle On-board Bundle release. Also described is the resolution or work around, if available. If these instructions are not intuitive, please contact the Caterpillar PC Software hotline.
- PC Software Hotline Hours:
- Monday through Friday
- 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM Central Standard Time (CST)
- Monday through Friday
NOTE: If you call outside of these hours, leave a voice message and the hotline staff will respond to your problem the next business day.
- Telephone Numbers:
- 1-800-THEPCDR--[843-7237] (United States and parts of Canada)
- 309-674-1859 (from all other locations)
- 309-672-1403 (FAX)
- 1-800-THEPCDR--[843-7237] (United States and parts of Canada)
- Email User ID/Address:
- You may contact the hotline using Electronic Mail if you are connected to the Caterpillar Network:
- User ID - THEPCDR
- Address - ADCCHOST
- Internet E-mail - thepcdr@cat.e-mail.com
- You may contact the hotline using Electronic Mail if you are connected to the Caterpillar Network:
Problem: Installation can only be done to the C: disk drive.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will eliminate the use of the Common Services System, which currently performs the installation.
Problem: VIMS-PC does nothing when starting the application.
Resolution: Common Services System sometimes creates the path statement after the 'win' command in the autoexec.bat file. This is especially a problem with new installations on Win 3.1. To remedy the problem, edit the autoexec.bat file and move the path statement before the 'win' command.
Problem: File paths over 50 characters long and/or directory names with more than 8 characters will cause problems in several areas of the program.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will be fully compatible with Windows 95 standards.
Problem: In view real time, the scroll bar does not work consistently.
Resolution: In order to correct the problem of duplicate parameters when scrolling, certain mouse commands were compromised. To use the scroll bar, click on the arrows on the ends of the scroll bar, and avoid clicking on the scroll bar itself. If using the keyboard, use page up/page down and the arrow keys to move the highlight cursor to the desired group. Expand using the space key.
Problem: When downloading data files, the status screen says "no data", but a file is still created.
Resolution: a) With event recorders and data loggers, this is a 6 kbyte file with only a header and it contains no data. This file may be deleted. b) With histograms, this file is a valid data file. The "no data" message occurs because the configuration on the machine does not contain some of the histograms defined in the latest configuration file. The data in the file is valid and may be used as is. One or more of the histograms within that file will contain no data. The problem is resolved by installing the latest configuration file on the machine. Refer to Service Magazine for a list of configuration file part numbers.
Problem: After downloading and resetting the event list, there is an "Event recorder full inactive" still in the list. This occurs if the event recorders are cleared in the same download process. The event list is reset before the event recorder is reset. Resetting the event recorder creates a new event.
Resolution: Download and reset the event recorder first. Then download and reset the event list. A future version of VIMS-PC will address.
Problem: After running and closing a report, the program takes you back to the main menu instead of back to the input criteria dialog of the report just completed.
Resolution: Future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: When printing a report, the machine model, serial number, and equipment number printed are those of the selected machine, which is not necessarily that of the data file being printed. For example, if you go to "File, Select Machine..." and select a 793B truck, but then open a truck payload file for a 785B truck and print a payload report, the model number, serial number, and equipment number printed on the report will be that of the selected machine (793B), not that of the selected data file (785B).
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: When printing the Browse Event List, my computer locks up or I get a message about a "print spooler" error.
Resolution: In Windows 95, to print the Browse Event List, please go through the following procedure. From the Start menu, select Settings.. Printers. In the Printers group box, double click on the desired printer. In the Printer menu, select Properties. Select the Details tab. Press the Spool Settings button. Go to the Spool data format drop box and change the setting from EMF to RAW. A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: In Browse Event List, event recorder links get lost when a file is renamed or moved to a different directory.
Resolution: Event recorder links are not stored in the data files, but are determined each time the user runs Browse Event List. The only event recorder files searched are those in the directory specified in Browse Preferences. There is also a preference selection to search all .ev? files or just .evr and .ev2 files.
Problem: In Browse Event List, the event recorder links are not displayed on print outs.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: In Browse Event List, if historical files is selected, the system opens the .ESL file instead of the .HEV file. If there is no .ESL file, the open file dialog box is displayed.
Resolution: If the .ESL file is opened, press the File button to get an open file dialog box. Select the desired .HEV file. A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: When viewing an event recorder graph, a very large value for the channel is displayed and there is no cursor bar.
Resolution: To work around this problem, click somewhere in the graph and the cursor will be displayed along with the appropriate value.
Problem: When viewing graphs of event recorders and data loggers, if the y-axis scaling values are manually entered, these values are then used for subsequent channels, even when this makes no sense. Also, only one of the channels on a graph has axis labeling and scaling.
Resolution: From the graph, press the Range button. In the Display Range dialog box, press the Max Range button. The maximum range of any channel selected will be displayed until a scaling is manually entered. A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: In a data logger graph, after manually selecting a different time range, extra vertical lines are displayed.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: In the histogram report criteria dialog box, the default "From/To SMU" is nowhere near the actual SMU of this download.
Resolution: This file was downloaded with a previous version of VIMS-PC, which created this invalid SMU range. The value is actually the number of SMUs since last reset. Histogram files downloaded with version 2.4 do not have this problem.
Problem: For historical graphs such as trends and histograms, a separate graph is generated for each download data set merged into the selected historical file. This is especially problematic for histograms, where each graph can be several pages. Also, on some printers, pages two and beyond are sometimes shifted up such that part of the header is clipped off. No data is lost.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: In a graphical report, the axes are displayed but there is no graph.
Resolution: There must be at least three data points for the program to successfully generate a graph. A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: The Truck Payload detail report does not include operator ID, transmission shifts per cycle, or the suspected cycle flag information, as communicated in a recent Service Magazine article.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: Fuel used value is different in Cumulatives than in Truck Payload reports.
Resolution: This problem will be discussed in a seperate Service Magazine article.
Problem: When printing, especially graphical reports, the print generator starts but nothing seems to happen.
Resolution: Some print jobs take a significant amount of time, but no hourglass or progress bar is displayed. Be patient with graph prints; some can take up to 10 minutes. This is dependent on the speed of your computer and the type of printer.
Problem: Historical Truck Payload report export never completes and creates a huge file of useless information.
Resolution: When selecting the export checkbox, also select the preview checkbox and the export file will work as expected.
Problem: If selecting more than 99 files to merge, only 99 files will actually be merged and there is no indication that the remaining files have not been merged.
Resolution: Select no more than 99 files at a time. A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Problem: Loader Payload files cannot be merged.
Resolution: A future version of VIMS-PC will address this.
Common Services System v1.4 (CSS)
Common Services System problems that are related to VIMS-PC 2.4 and ISB 1.2 have been included in the "Remaining Problems" lists for those products. Please refer to those sections for detailed information.
Information System Builder v1.2 (ISB)
Problem: When upgrading to ISB v 1.2, CSS v 1.4 gives NO language choice on win 95.
Resolution: The language choice used to be English. This is a nuisance that we will address in a future release. The installation process ends successfully.
Problem: In Loader Payload, the unit selected in the Material screens defaults onto the Bucket and Truck set up screens. For example, if the user selects English on the Truck set up screen; the Material screen is set to Metric. Upon opening the Truck screen again, the unit would be set to Metric instead of English.
Resolution: Set the Material screen to the desired unit. This problem will be fixed in a future release.
Enhancement: All existing reports are in Metric. Reports will also be produced in English in a future release.