DUET 400 Driver Release Notes

October 18, 2006
Sunnyvale, California, USA

PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS PRIOR TO INSTALLING DUET.

DUET 400 Release 1.1.0.0 Notes

Compatibility

New features or changes with Release 1.1.0.0:

  1. IMPORTANT: Fixed a serious bug in the firmware to prevent incidentally experiencing excessive ink drooling or excessive over inking while printing. While this problem rarely occurs, it may incapacitate the disc drive. Please install this update and this new firmware immediately to resolve any potential problems.
  2. Fixed a bug in the ink cartridge calibrations to ensure printing full capacity of the disc, as some users have experienced lower yields than expected. Typically you may expect now to get about 200 prints per Duet 46 ink cartridges, which varies depending upon coverage.
  3. Added improved cartridge initialization routine to periodically recalibrate until the cartridge temperature is stable. While it is best if users wait for a new ink cartridge to achieve room temperature prior to use, this new routine allows a user to put a cold cartridge into a warm Duet box. After a period of only about 5 minutes, the ink cartridge will stabilize sufficiently to print with a respectable image quality, then gradually get better, as it allows printing to occur during the calibration. Image quality may suffer initially, but after about 5-10 minutes of idle time, it will resolve this.
  4. Improved the Windows spooler function to work more reliably after job cancellation. Also improved accidental disconnecting the USB or power failure, and subsequent recovery of Duet during operation (your print job will be cancelled and the spooler flushed.)
  5. Improved operations to support laptop Sleep and Hibernate Mode.

BRIEF RELEASE NOTES HISTORY

Features or changes with Release 1.0.50:

  1. Fixed a redundant job process bug: If you initiate self-test concurrently after beginning a print job, the print job will be disregarded; if print job is started after self-test, print job will start after self-test is finished.

Features or changes with Release 1.0.3.0:

  1. Fixed firmware to improve stability of the Status Monitor and to prevent print jobs from hanging.
  2. Changed Status Monitor such that if a print job is in progress all mouse clicks on the Duet System Tray Icon will be ignored. This prevents inadvertently stopping the Status Monitor, performing a self-test, and cleaning the cartridge while printing.
  3. Changed Status Monitor so that the system tray icon is now refreshed after the Windows Explorer crashes.
  4. Fixed firmware to prevent image "ghosting" at a secondary annular position or the image is stretched into the center of the disc, due to an occasional input buffer loss during motor moves.
  5. Changed the firmware to prevent the ink cartridge from drooling, which can lead to color cross-contaminate.
  6. Improved firmware stability to handle cases where the USB cable is "yanked" in the middle of a print job. This will now force a cancel/abort of print job.
  7. Improved field support service routines and capabilities. Added to the firmware an Duet memory diagnostic check in the loader to verify SRAM data integrity.
  8. An updated Sonic RecordNow is now included that will properly print CDs on Duet after performing the Disc Copy function.

Features or changes with Release 1.0.20:

  1. The firmware has been optimized to improve printing speed by 20% or more. Typically, depending on whether you are printing standard or hub-printable media, click-to-eject print times are approximately as follows:
  2. This release improves system reliability when you exit the Status Monitor by  resetting each Duet. The Status Monitor restarts automatically with each new print job.
  3. Fixes a problem with a crash in the Status Monitor (task elaaserv.exe), resulting in a hung print job.
  4. Eliminated a redundant co-initialize call resulting in an error when printing from Visual Basic
  5. Improves ink jet cartridge maintenance wiping procedures to reduce fading or streaking
  6. Improves rendering time on slower computers, especially on the Mac.
  7. Plextor firmware 1aE9 for Duet is included. This speeds up printing consecutive Duet operations involving printing, such as burning-printing-burning-printing or just printing-printing-printing. 
    In addition, this Plextor driver also:
  8. DUET and the DUET SDK (for OEM developers) must used separately.

Setup Instructions for New DUET Installations

A. Perform a "software installation" of the driver:

  1. Unplug all DUET units from your computer..
  2. Insert the DUET Installation Disc into your PC's CD, not into DUET.. 
  3. If Installation does not start automatically, browse to the CD drive on your PC and begin installation.
  4. Run the DUET_Driver_v1.1.0.0.exe
  5. If you have previously installed a driver,
    1. Choose the "Uninstall Old Driver first" option.
    2. If so prompted, Reboot your PC
    3. Finish running or rerun the DUET_Driver_v1.1.0.0.exe.
    4. Press continue for any unsigned driver warnings.

B. Perform the physical driver device install:

  1. Plug the USB cable to the DUET unit.
  2. Power on DUET.
  3. Plug the other end of the USB cable into a USB 2.0 (High Speed) port of your computer.
  4. Follow the on-screen installation wizard for the DUET printer driver.
  5. Choose to NOT look for new drivers on the Web.
  6. Follow the Suggested Installation
  7. Press Continue for any warnings of unsigned drivers. Elesys has thoroughly tested these drivers
  8. Repeat Steps 4-7 for the DUET Status Monitor installation.
  9. Windows should inform you that the device is installed properly.
  10. A new DUET icon appears in the System Tray (lower right-hand corner), which has two red horizontal bars over a black one.  Wait until the Status Monitor system tray icon is ready and shows with no "X" on it .
  11. Right-click on the Status Monitor system tray icon and click "About." 
  12. The About menu shows the revision of the Driver, Firmware, and Plextor drive firmware, along with the Duet serial number.
  13. Confirm that the driver 1.1.0.0 is installed, with Duet Firmware 1.1.0.0 and Plextor drive .

C. Follow the remaining on-screen instructions for installing SureThing for DUET and the Sonic suite. 

For more details, see the file, DUET_400_User_Guide.pdf under the DOCUMENTATION directory on this installation disc.

General Precautions and Known issues:

NOTE: Many of the issues below are actively being addressed by Elesys, Inc. or were being internally tested as this driver version was released. Please check the Elesys website often via the Status Monitor "Updates..." menu for an updated driver that solves the issue. While the Duet Recorder Printer appears as a printer in the Windows operating environment, there are certain printing behaviors that have limited use or function for CD or DVD media printing, with limitations or a work-around as noted below:

  1. Elesys maintains and exclusively distributes the Plextor firmware for Duet. NEVER download and use the non-OEM Plextor firmware from their website, as this will not work with Duet. The Elesys proprietary Plextor firmware contains custom spinning controls through which Duet properly prints.
  2. Do not use BenQ brand inkjet printable media, as the lowest level of ink density settings are still too dark. Black ink areas on the disc could remain wet and stain or damage your Duet 400 Printer. This issue is being addressed in a future release of the drivers.
  3. Elesys recommends using Prodisc, TDK, Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim inkjet printable media. These have been tested by Elesys and shown to be usable in the Duet 400. Other supplier’s disc may be usable as well, however, Elesys has not tested such.
  4. Disc manufacturers' discs vary in thickness. Since the Duet is closely calibrated for these thickness, you may occasionally hear a disc contacting part of the printer during loading or unloading. However, if this occurs as it prints, cancel the print job, load a new blank disc or a different brand disc and try the print job again. Contact Elesys is the image quality is degraded and there is an audible rubbing sound during printing, as the unit may need recalibration.
  5. A very limited number of early Duet 400 units did not recognize media brands like Ritek or Memorex. Please report to Elesys if your Duet unit experiences this problem, as it may need an upgrade. Contact support@elesys.net
  6. Occasionally disc media manufacturers change the inkjet print surface without notice, and thus may change from the suggested ink density settings in the Size/Quality setting page of the driver. Try other settings if the ink prints too dark or light.
  7. Discs with largely black backgrounds at any print quality setting or lots of Black text in the Text Mode print quality setting can be damp. Please lower the Ink Density slide and /or reduce the amount of black in your label design if this happens to you.
  8. Use the Progress Bar CANCEL button to cancel an active DUET print job, rather than the spooler. With release 1.0.3.0 or later, the Duet is reset upon unplugging the USB cable. 
  9. Rebooting the Host PC with print jobs in the Print Queue may cause media in the Duet to restart and print upon reboot. This a normal behavior in the Windows operating system. First power off the Duet and clear the print jobs from the spooler before rebooting. If a print job appear to not remove from the spooler, try turn off the Duet or unplugging the Duet USB cable, then reinstalling it afterwards. 
  10. Do not use the SureThing Calibration sheet; it will not give usable results for the Duet 400.
  11. Do not set a Separator Page on the Advanced Property Page for the driver; it is not supported for the Duet 400 and could cause an error.

Instructions for updating earlier-released Drivers

  1. These instructions assume you have a previously installed DUET.
  2. If you have a newer CD installation disc, place the Duet Driver installation CD in your PC and run the DUET_Driver_v1.1.0.0exe program. Skip to step 4.
  3. Alternately, download all DUET driver files from the provided Elesys support website and place in a working directory:
    1. DUET_Driver_v1.1.0.0exe
    2. DUET_400_FIRMWARE_UPDATE_1.1.0.0exe
    3. 716A1aE9.exe (Plextor's latest OEM 1.09 firmware update for Elesys. NOTE: Never use Plextor firmware 1.09 from their website, as this will not work with Duet.)
    4. DUET 400 Release_v1.1.0.0 Notes.html (this file)
  4. If you have previously installed a driver; otherwise, skip to 4:
    1. Plug in the DUET unit using the currently installed older driver.
    2. Update the firmware by running the program, DUET_400_FIRMWARE_UPDATE_1.1.0.0exe and follow the on-screen messages.
    3. Repeat 1-2 for any additional DUET units installed on this PC. (The driver only supports up to 8 Duet units simultaneously installed on one host computer.)
  5. Next, perform a "software installation" of the driver:
    1. Unplug all DUET units.
    2. Run the DUET_Driver_v1.1.0.0.exe
    3. In the Installation Configuration, unselect all options except the DUET driver.
    4. If you have previously installed a driver,
      1. Choose the "Uninstall Old Driver first" option.
      2. If so prompted, Reboot your PC
      3. Finish running or rerun the DUET_Driver_v1.1.0.0.exe.
      4. Press continue for any unsigned driver warnings.
  6. Next perform the physical device install:
    1. Plug the USB cable to the DUET unit.
    2. Follow the on-screen driver wizard.
    3. Follow the suggested installation
    4. Press Continue for any unsigned driver warnings.
  7. If you just installed the driver for the first time, you should now update the firmware.
    1. From the Installation CD under the DRIVER directory, execute the file, DUET_400_FIRMWARE_UPDATE_1.1.0.0exe.
    2. Follow the on-screen instructions
    3. Power the Duet off 
    4. Wait 5 seconds
    5. Power the Duet on again
  8. Please perform a test print to ensure Duet is printing, by opening Duet printer in the Printers and Faxes, Printer-Properties-Print Test Page. This prints the standard Windows page, clipping the image to fit onto the disc. You may alternately choose to print using SureThing for Duet, supplied with the Installation disc.
  9. If you have problems installing or printing:
    1. Re-power on Duet
    2. Reboot your PC, with Duet attached and powered on.
    3. Wait until the Status Monitor system tray icon is ready with no "X" on it (the icon with the two red and on black horizontal bars).
    4. Right-click on the Status Monitor system tray icon and click "About." 
    5. The About menu shows the revision of the Driver, Firmware, and Plextor drive firmware, along with the Duet serial number.

For other issues, please contact:

Customer Support:
Telephone (USA): 408-701-3579
E-mail: support@elesys.net
World-Wide Web: http://support.elesys.net/customer60/default.htm