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Topic: 1.6.1 Beta is available

Thanks for your participation in helping make sure this release is as good as we can make it.  Please report any problems as soon as possible.  Include as much detail as possible on how to reproduce the issue.  We are at a feature freeze now. 

Download the release from here: NWare-1.6.1.0265-Beta-7.msi

USB restore images for nControl and nTouch 180 are available here:
     nControl USB restore image
     nTouch 180 USB restore image

Note: The nControl and nTouch 180 USB restore images are required to move your nControl and nTouch 180 systems to 1.6.1. Please create a USB installer according to the instructions in the zip files. Once your systems have been restored you will still need to update them via the NWare 'Update Target Firmware' feature in order to get them to the 1.6.1 Beta 7 release.

Features:

nTouch 60
The nTouch 60 touch screen device has been released.

For information about installation and initial configuration, refer to the nTouch 60 Hardware Manual.

For information about using the device with NWare, see Adding an nTouch 60 node to your design in the NWare User Guide.

nTouch 180
The nTouch 180 can now host NWare projects containing nTouch 60 devices.

You can now upgrade the firmware on the nTouch 180 from the NWare Update Firmware dialog box.

For more information, see Updating firmware on MediaMatrix devices in the NWare User Guide.

Note: You must use a USB stick to upgrade the nTouch 180 firmware to version 1.6.1. You cannot use NWare. Once the upgrade is done, subsequent firmware versions can be installed using NWare.

nControl functionality on nTouch180 is now available as an option, controlled by an activation key.

NWare

Support for nTouch 60
You can now add nTouch 60 nodes to your design. You can find these under Hardware in the NWare device tree.

These new nodes allow you to design individual pages for display on nTouch 60 devices on the network.

For more information, see Adding a nTouch 60 to your design in the NWare User Guide.

Support for nTouch 180
You can now add nTouch 180 nodes to your design. You can find these under Hardware in the NWare device tree.

These new nodes allow you to manage nTouch 180 devices on the network. You can deploy projects to them, upgrade the software they run and monitor their status.

Support for NION nE
The NION nX device has been renamed to nX/nE and is now compatible with both the NION nX and the NION nE. You can find it under Hardware / NION Audio Processor in the NWare device tree.

For more information, see Adding a NioNode to your design in the NWare User Guide.

Support for CAB Dante
You can now add CAB Dante nodes to your design. You can find these under Hardware / CAB Audio I/O in the NWare device tree.

For more information, see Adding a CAB 4n to your design in the NWare User Guide.

New settings for nControl redundancy system.
The nControl device now has a new tab called Redundancy. This allows you to manually power off the active nControl (so that the standby unit can take over) or switch over to the standby unit (without powering down the active unit). It also displays information about the standby unit.

For more information on the redundancy settings in NWare, see nControl in the NWare Device Reference.

NION

Synchronizing devices using an external clock source
You can now use an external clock source to synchronize devices on a CobraNet network.

This feature is designed to be used in installations that require a clock source to be provided by a device that is not a NioNode.

For more information, see Using an external clock source to synchronize devices on a CobraNet network in the NWare User Guide.

nControl

New redundancy system

The nControl now supports a redundancy system that allows a standby unit to take over should the active unit fail.

For more information, see Setting up redundancy in the nControl Hardware Manual.

Python PySNMP support added.
nControl now provides native SNMP support in the Python programming environment. This technology is referred to as PySNMP.

For more information on PySNMP, see http://pysnmp.sourceforge.net/.

For information on using Python with nControl, see Adding flexibility to your design using Python scripting in the NWare User Guide.

Note: You must use a USB stick to upgrade the nControl firmware to version 1.6.1. You cannot use NWare. Once the upgrade is done, subsequent firmware versions can be installed using NWare.

Enhancements

nControl

Activation key changes.
If you create a project containing devices from the nControl Devices section of the NWare devices tree, and deploy it to the nControl, it will only function if an activation key has been specified.

If your project does not contain devices from the nControl Devices section of the devices tree, an activation key is not required. The nControl can host nTouch 60 projects without a key being specified.

Bug fixes

NWare

345 - When you uninstalled NWare, not all items associated with the installation were removed

379 - Could not uninstall via Control Panel under Windows Vista or Windows 7
Previously, under Windows Vista or Windows 7, it was not possible to uninstall NWare from Windows Control Panel.

623 - Problem opening and closing blocks when project contained a large number of meters.
Previously, if a large number of meters were active on screen, it was not possible to open or close a block.

Known issues

NWare

57 - Additional steps needed for non-admin users running NWare under Windows XP
Currently, non-administrator users cannot run NWare or Kiosk under Windows XP without additional steps being completed after the installation.

The administrator must change the permissions of the \program files\mediamatrix\nware <version>\plugins\nware\xml folder to allow write access for the non-administrator users. Once this has been done, NWare and Kiosk will operate normally.

For more information, see Allowing non-admin Windows XP users to run NWare and Kiosk in the PDF or webhelp NWare User Guide.

404 - Page locking feature prevents a project from being edited.
If you use the page locking feature, it is possible that NWare will not allow you to view the different pages in your project or add devices to the project. We have seen this problem occur in the following scenario:

A new NWare project is created.
A new page is added next to the default page and then it is locked (and automatically hidden).
The new page is shown again.
The first page is deleted.
The project is saved and then reloaded.
No page tabs are available, so different pages cannot be viewed or edited.

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Re: 1.6.1 Beta is available

In the NION nE CobraNet or Dante are optional, there is no XDAB, there is no front panel display other than "Power" and "Mute/Fault" indicators. The configuration that was done with the front panel is now accomplished through the web interface, as has always been possible.

Otherwise, both the NION nE and nX feature 4 card slots for NIO- series I/O cards and have 3 ADI Sharc Hammerhead DSP chips.

Josh Millward
Burnt Orange Studios