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CTS System 5/6 and Gen7 - Troubleshooting Guide

Paige Hansen
  • Updated

We've compiled a few error scenarios experienced as we've assisted our customers through the CTS System 5/6 or Gen7 setup process. Our experience is hopefully your gain to help you troubleshoot if you run into any issues.

Covered in this Article:

➧ Issue Scenarios

➧ Error Scenarios

➧ Product Support

 

Meet Maestro & CTS Timing Console Communication Requirements

Communication between the CTS timing console and Meet Maestro happens through a serial port. 

➧ CTS 5/6

The type of connection used by the CTS System 5/6 is a serial RS-232 cable. To connect a CTS 5/6 to a modern computer requires a special USB-to-RS-232 adapter cable, which also requires a software driver to tell Windows how to work with the cable (because it is not a normal USB connection). There are different vendors of these USB-to-RS-232 cables - example device.

➧ CTS Gen 7

For CTS Gen7 the USB to serial port conversion is handled inside the timing console and so a simple USB cable is sufficient.

 

Issue Scenarios

Can't Connect to Gen7

Receiving ‘Data Integrity Check’ error, followed by ‘Access Denied’ errors.

➧ Resolution

CTS provided a button to ‘Reset the Meet Management interface’. This scenario will be removed once it is completely resolved.

 

Unable to detect any devices

➧ Possible Cause

When you initialize the timing system, if it halts on this step and provides the error - Unable to detect CTS System 5/6 console (or Gen7), then Maestro does not see any serial ports in your system. There is likely a hardware or Windows driver issue. Follow the debug steps below.

mceclip0.png

➧ Resolution

Step 1: Click Restart Connection button. Click Retry button if it does not solve the issue initially.

Step 2: Click Restart Maestro button.

Step 3: If the issue still persists, verify the cables are connected

For Gen7, there are two ports on the Gen7 console. Make sure the USB cable is plugged into the port with the 'clipboard and stopwatch' icon. If the cable is plugged into the wrong port, Device Manager in windows will list 3-4 consecutive ports instead of a single port.

Step 4: Verify that Windows detects the serial port

  • Open Device Manager

CTS-DebugStep2a.png

  • Verify that your device is displayed under ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’. 

» Note: Windows selects the COM port number for you and it may differ from this example (‘5’ in this case). Make note of the number as we will use it in a later step.

CTS-DebugStep2-DeviceMgr.png

  • If the ‘Ports’ category is missing, Windows did not detect your device! To tell Windows to scan for devices select the menu Action -> Scan for hardware changes

CTS-DebugStep2-Scan.png

  • If ‘Ports’ is still missing, unplug the device from your computer, wait 5 seconds, plug in the device.
  • If ‘Ports’ is still missing, unplug your cable, restart your computer, plug in the cable.
  • If it is still missing, your cable is likely faulty or damaged.

» Note: At this point, it may be helpful for you to Contact Colorado Time Systems for additional troubleshooting assistance.

Step 5: Verify that Windows has valid drivers installed

  • Right-click on your device. Select Properties.

CTS-DebugStep3-WindowsProperties.png

  • A device with a properly installed driver will look like this. If you see errors in Device status, try updating your driver. If you are still having trouble Contact Colorado Time Systems for additional troubleshooting assistance.

CTS-DebugStep3-DeviceStatus.png

Step 6: At this point, Maestro should be able to connect to the device.

 

Meet Maestro detects ports but they are busy

➧ Possible Causes

When initializing the timing system, if it halts on this step and lists one or more ports with errors that say Resource busy then there are two typical causes:

  1. There is another software application running on your system that has a ‘lock’ on the device.
  2. The Windows driver mistakenly thinks an application has a ‘lock’.

➧ Resolution

Step 1: Close any other applications which might try to talk to a CTS console.

Step 2: Open Device Manager 

CTS-DebugStep2a.png

Step 3: Open the section titled ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’. 

CTS-DebugStep2-DeviceMgr.png

Step 4: Unplug the USB cable from your computer. You should see a COM Port device disappear from the list.

Step 5: Reconnect the cable. You should see the device reappear. Take note of the COM port number.

Step 6: Retry the connection in Meet Maestro.

 

 

Attempting to Change Meet Stuck on Loading Meet Options

If you are attempting to change the selected meet and see the ERROR DETECTING MEETS, click on Restart Connection in the Troubleshooting section.

Error-LoadingMeetOptions.png

mceclip1.png

» Note: If you receive an error "Unable to detect CTS System 5/6 console or Gen 7" then follow the steps outlined above.

 

Wrong Times Loading

➧ Possible Causes

  • Wrong Meet Selected: If you have imported your first race and the times do not match your expectations, you probably have selected the wrong set of meet data to import from CTS timing console. Meet Maestro allows you to select past meets from which to import data. 
  • CTS Console Battery Issue: Another quick detail to check is that your CTS console is holding the correct date and time. We've had it occur in the past that the small battery that maintains the date/time is bad/dead, so when the unit is unplugged the console loses the time and will write times to a wrong meet (date/time). 

➧ Debug Steps

Step 1: In the timing system bar in Meet Maestro, determine the date and time of the selected meet.

CTS-TimingConsoleMeetInfo.png

Step 2: In the CTS console

  • Select ‘Stored Data’

  • Usually, the CTS will show you data from the current meet. The first race should match the date and time of your test race or first race of the meet. This time and date should match Meet Maestro. If it does not skip to step 3.

  • If the meet data in the CTS console does not match your meet, press the ‘Quit’ button to return to the main swim interface. Verify the console’s date and time (upper right corner) matches today’s date and time. If it does not, you will need to find your meet’s date and time in ‘Stored Data’ relative to the console’s date and time.

Step 3: Once you know the date and time of the CTS meet, return to Maestro. In Maestro, press the gear icon.

CTS-TimingConsoleGear.png

Step 4: Under Selected Meet, press Change

mceclip3.png

Step 5: Select a meet matching the date and time from the CTS meet.

 

No Times Loading

➧ Possible Cause

Are you seeing this error? - Cannot set properties of undefined (setting 'isFromScan')

Did you add an event in your CTS Console that is not in Meet Maestro?

➧ Resolution

Meet Maestro should be ignoring unknown events, but if you see this error, contact SwimTopia Support to report it so we can confirm this is still in place.

 

Event labels are incorrect in my CTS Interface

➧ Possible Cause and Resolution

Sometimes, the CTS interface does not immediately update after writing the Event Sequence.

  • Press Next Event (on the CTS Console)
  • Press Edit Event Heat then enter event and heat numbers (on the CTS Console)

➧ Possible Cause and Resolution

Someone changed the Event Sequence data using the CTS console.

 

Alphanumeric Event Numbers Unsupported

Alphanumeric events are not supported by the CTS Consoles.

» Tip: We strongly recommend users not use alphanumeric event numbers with the console. 

It will sort of work but only if all alpha events have the same distance. For example ‘1A’ and ‘1B’ are both 50 yards, but different competition categories or age groups. If you have no choice here is what happens:

  • There will be one event ‘1’ in the CTS, not ‘1A’, ‘1B’, ‘1C’, ‘1D’
  • The event description in the console for event ‘1’ will match the last alpha. ‘1D’ for example
  • The auto-detection of new race data will not work for events ‘1B’, ‘1C’, and ‘1D’

If the alpha events have different distances, then the last distance will win and the console will be confused about the number of lengths and therefore capture the final time too early or late.

CTS-AlphaWarning.png

 

 

 

Error Scenarios

Error: "Timer In Setups Screen"

If this error state is detected with your timer console, we will provide a configuration error message.

➧ Resolution

Exit the 'Setups' screen/menu on the CTS by pressing 'Quit'. Once you have resolved the issue, you can select to RETRY.

CTS-Error.png

 

Error: "Please install the corresponding PL2303 driver to support Windows 11"

➧ Possible Cause

If you see the message "Please install corresponding PL2303 driver to support Windows 11 and further OS" under Ports, this means that your USB-to-RS232 serial cable adapter uses a chipset made by Prolific and the version of the Prolific driver software installed does not support Windows 11.

➧ Resolution

The driver software needs to be updated to resolve this issue. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: in some cases, it is the most recent Prolific driver version that is incompatible, thus reverting to a previous/older version of the driver may be required.

Please refer to these external troubleshooting guides to resolve this specific issue:

 

Error: 'write verification failed' or 'data integrity check failed'

➧ Scenario

You are not able to write the meet events into the CTS and you are presented with either 'write verification failed' or 'data integrity check failed'.

➧ Resolution

In order for Meet Maestro to detect the meet from the CTS console, the CTS console needs to first write the meet. This doesn't take place until after the first times are captured. So, it's important to make sure you run a "test heat" on the CTS console in order to connect to the correct Meet from Meet Maestro. You do not need to progress to the next event/heat on CTS, but it does need to capture the times in order for the CTS console to begin writing the files needed.

 

Error: 'Could not init port: Opening COM3: Access denied'

➧ Scenario

You're trying to connect your computer, running Meet Maestro on Windows, to CTS System 6, and you get this error message: Could not init port: Opening COM3: Access denied.

➧ Debug Steps

The error "Opening COM3: Access denied" typically occurs when another piece of software obtains a 'lock' on the port. Please give the following steps a try:

1. Unplug the Serial to USB cable from your laptop
2. Restart your laptop (this will close any software process that might have a lock on the port)
3. Once restarted, open Task Manager and scan the list of running software. Shut down any surprising software that might have auto-started on launch.
4. Open Device Manager. Verify the port is not present yet.
5. Plug in the Serial to USB cable. You should see it appear in the Device Manager
6. Start Meet Maestro and attempt to connect to the CTS.]

 

Product Support

➧ Colorado Time Systems Support

If you have questions specific to your CTS Dolphin system or setup, please reference their User Guide and FAQs, or contact their support line. Meet Maestro seamlessly integrates with CTS Dolphin to pull in times, but they are the experts at helping you configure your CTS Dolphin Wireless Timing System.

➧ SwimTopia Support 

If you have questions after you have reviewed and attempted the Meet Maestro Timing Setup steps below, contact SwimTopia Support for assistance. 

  • Submit a Support Ticket (Or click "Submit a request" at the top of any Help Center page)
  • Business Hours Phone Support (M-F 9am-6pm CST): 877-856-2940 (Option 2)
  • After Hours (Emergency Meet Day ONLY) Phone Support: 877-856-2940 (Option 6)

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