OS - Windows

On Windows, Phidgets can be either plugged directly into a USB Port or run over a network using the Webservice.

Phidgets are designed to run on Windows 2000 or newer.

Getting Started (Libraries and Drivers)

If this is your first Phidget, we highly recommend working through the Getting Started guide for your specific Phidget device. If you already have the icon in your task bar and know how to use it, then you've already followed the guide and are ready to choose a programming language below.

If you are already a pro, and just want the drivers:

• 32 Bit
• 64 Bit

For special cases where you cannot install the Phidget installer, please see here
To manually install the Phidget libraries without the installer, please see here.

• Phidget21 Libraries (32-Bit and 64-Bit development files without an installer)
• (software license)

Programming Languages

After you have installed the drivers above, you should pick a programming language, install libraries, and run the examples for that specific language.

Phidgets’ philosophy is that you do not have to be an electrical engineer in order to do projects that use devices like sensors, motors, motor controllers, and interface boards. All you need to know is how to program.

On Windows, we recommend the following languages:

• C#
• C/C++
• Flash AS3
• Flex AS3
• Java
• LabView
• Max/MSP
• Python
• Ruby
• Visual Basic .NET
• Visual Basic 6.0

You can also use these languages, but they do not support event driven code, and must use logic code only:

• MATLAB
• Simulink

The following languages are also supported, but to to a lack of demand, they full API is not implemented. Please refer to the specific language for more information on what features are unsupported.

• Delphi
• Visual Basic for Applications
• Visual Basic Script
• LiveCode
• RealBasic
• Adobe Director
• AutoIt

Webservice

Drivers for the Phidget Webservice on Windows are already included in the Drivers above.

If you have a icon in your taskbar, you already have the Webservice drivers installed.

To learn how to use a Phidget over a network using the Webservice, you can move on to the general Webservice Instructions.

Phidget Installer Description

The Phidgets installer is the easiest way to quickly work with Phidgets. It installs the C, COM, Java, and .NET libraries. In addition, the Phidget Control Panel, WebService and device example applications are installed as well. All other libraries will have to be installed manually.

Prerequisites

Windows 2000 or newer and has .NET Framework 2.0.

Description of Files

phidget21.h installed into .... it does...
phidget21.lib
phidget21.dll
Phidget Control Panel<link>

also explain the extra files that are installed as part of the 64 bit installer.

Special Cases of Library Install

If you wish to only install the things you need, please refer to your language page for instructions on how to manually install the libraries for your language.
also explain even more special cases on 64bit systems, if applicable(ie, c.

Phidget Control Panel

Explain the control panel
Not the go to option for controlling your device

It is important to keep in mind that when an example Phidget application is opened from the control panel, it holds a lock on the Phidget. This prevents any other program from accessing the Phidget. Please ensure that this example application is closed(the Phidget Control Panel can still be running) when you are running your own applications. 

Common Problems and Solutions

Issue: Installing .NET 2.0 on Windows 2000.

Affected Operating Systems: Windows 2000

To install the Phidget Framework on Windows 2000 systems, the .NET 2.0 framework is required. Also, although not explicitly required to use Phidgets on a Windows system, Phidgets under the .NET languages can use .NET 2.0.

Solution: The Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package for (x86) and (x64) systems is freely available from www.microsoft.com. You will need to upgrade to at least Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 for the (x86) version.

Issue: A corrupt installation fails on uninstall or repair

Affected Operating Systems: Windows

Solution: If the normal uninstall fails, or for whatever reason, you can choose to remove the Phidgets framework manually. Please perform the following:

1. Shut down any programs using the Phidget libraries, including the webservice and the Phidget Control Panel.
2. Delete C:\Program Files\Phidgets\
3. Remove the Phidgets key from the Registry [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services PhidgetWebservice21].

In most cases this is enough to get the installer working again. If you need to remove all traces of the Phidgets libraries manually, perform the following additional steps:

1. Unregister the COM library: regsvr32 /u “C:\Program Files\Phidgets\Phidget21COM.dll”
2. Remove Phidget21.NET and Policy.2.1.Phidget21.NET from C:\Windows\Assembly\
3. Delete ‘C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Phidgets’ (WindowsXP) or ‘C:\Users\All Users\Phidgets’ (Vista).
4. Delete C:\Windows\system32\phidget21.dll
5. Delete Phidgets from the start menu
6. Search for and remove keys mentioning Phidgets from the registry in the following locations:

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\]
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\]
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\AssemblyFolders\Phidgets Inc]
• [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Phidget21Manager]
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Assemblies\Global\]

9. Reboot

NOTE: You can go through the registry and purge any other keys mentioning Phidgets if you still have problems, but at this point you should be able to reinstall under most cases. There will also be keys relating to the installer, the .NET library and the COM library, but they should not interfere with anything.

Issue: Some third party software prevents communications with Phidgets

Affected Operating Systems: Windows

Some drivers or software will sometimes mistakenly claim Phidget devices when waiting on some hardware to be connected. Please see: Some third party software prevents communications with Phidgets

Issue: Event data is sporadic/slow/clumped over the webservice

Affected Operating Systems: Windows

Windows implements 200ms delayed ACKs for network traffic. When traffic is one-way only - as it is with event data, the data will all arrive in clumps every 200ms because of delayed ACKs.

This can be a great drawback for application which rely on low latency event data over the network. (source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214397)

This delayed ACK behavior can be disabled in windows to decrease event latency as documented here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328890

In the future, the Phidgets library may implement this differently, but so far we have been unable to match the performance achieved by disabling delayed ACK.

Issue: My virtual machine is not detecting USB Phidgets

Affected Operating Systems: Windows

Please ensure that you have the latest Phidget drivers installed on your host operating system and that you are using the latest version of your virtual software.

VMWare:

To enable USB Phidgets, select Virtual Machine -> Removable Devices -> and select the Phidget Input Device -> Connect.

VirtualBox:

To enable USB Phidgets, VirtualBox Guest Additions(Devices -> Install Guest Additions) may need to be installed. Afterwards, click on Devices -> USB Devices and select the Phidget device to enable. The state should go from Busy to Captured. VirtualBox may bring up a new hardware wizard in the host operating system, which has to be installed. Please note that Phidgets with USB hubs(i.e, 1019), are undetectable; Fortunately, Phidgets that are attached to such Phidgets are detectable.

Virtual PC:

USB Phidgets requires a virtual platform that supports HID USB Devices. Since Virtual PC does not support HID USB devices, Phidgets may not be used. However, other virtualization software can be used such as VMware and VirtualBox.

Issue: My system has a .NET version earlier than 2.0, and cannot run the Installer

Affected Operating Systems: Windows

For the best compatibility, it is recommended that you install the most up to date .NET version. However, if there are certain circumstances that prevent you from installing .NET 2.0 or higher, you can still control Phidgets. The drivers can be manually installed - check our Manual Installation instructions.

The need for .NET 2.0 is because certain Phidgets features were built with .NET 2.0. Features include Phidget Control Panel, examples, and PhidgetWebService.