Dear Pronto community,

We would like to inform you that we have released two new editors for
the Pronto NG and ProntoPro NG.

ProntoEdit NG 3.0.8 [Link: pronto.philips.com]

You have all been waiting a long time and finally its here. This is the
editor based on the the ProntoPro NG editor, which went through
extensive testing by users here in the community and offers the
following features and to quote a tester is rock solid.

Improved way of working
- Due to the addition of a number of shortcut keys and enabling cursor keys also in the
property pages, you can now do nearly everything using the keyboard. Check the online help for a list of shortcut keys.
- Right-click menus have been added and extended to give you access to all needed functions immediately.
- Making links is now a piece of cake using the graphical linking feature. Just select the button you want to link to, drag it while keeping + pressed and drop it on your target button.
- Dragging buttons with special functions like copy images or copy actions will now highlight the target and will show you what action you are doing. When you copy images, also the font size, color and position is copied along. Rearrange the pages in the tree view by simply dragging your page to a new location.
- Create your layout easily by using the align buttons functions.
- You can now save an image from the configuration file to you disk.
- The IR duration can now be programmed (also when used in a macro)

Additional changes
- The Add IR window is reduced in size and made more efficient.
- The width of the action list has been increased, so long link names are better readable.
- With select, you can select multiple images for quick insert from your disk into the gallery.
- When you select a CCF, PCF file or images, the editor will remember the last selected directory on your PC.
- After up & downloading the editor now gives an acoustic signal.
- You can now drag images (e.g. backgrounds) from the gallery into the pages just like you could already do with buttons.

Removed from the editor
· The Standard/Advanced mode has been removed as most files required Advanced mode anyway.
· The Open file dialog at start up has been removed saving you time to directly select your files.

Improved performance of the editor
· Files open now up till 30 times faster.
· The gallery, once opened initially will pop up immediately.

Improved way of selecting items
Different mechanisms to select items are implemented. The most important addition is:
- will shift focus from the tree view to the page view.
- allows you to select the next object within the property pages. This is easy for e.g. fast labeling of you buttons.
- allows you to select multiple items within a bounding rectangle.
- allows you to add or remove items to/from a selection.

Finishing touches
· Direct entering of Philips IR protocols in the IR dialog (RC5/6/RCMM).
· The Status Bar indicates the selected item and position.


ProntoProEdit NG 2.1.1 [Link: pronto.philips.com]

Update to the editor to be compatible with the soon to be released TSU7500 and RU990


New products shown at CEDIA
If you like any further information on the soon to be released TSU7500 / RU990
Please click on the following link: [Link: pronto.philips.com]

Or the new radio frequency solution RFX6500 / Li910 : [Link: pronto.philips.com]

In December the new TSU3500 / RU960 which will arrive, please check out the
following link: [Link: pronto.philips.com] for information

Regards
The Philips ProntoTeam

ProntoTeam, I'm glad you liked my description (I think it might have been mine) of the software so much that you quoted me. I've downloaded the new Pro version and have already begun digging in.

For all those who've had problems with the 3000 version of the software, please download and dig in as well.

This message was edited by Lyndel McGee on 09/18/05 20:26 ET.

As throughout several beta tests, I had various versions of the software installed on my machine, I had some problems getting the USB drivers to install correctly with this release. Should others encounter this problem, I've posted instructions as to how to resolve.

============================================
Possible Problem with the latest ProntoPro NG software.
============================================
I'm using XP Service Pack 2 and following update of the 2.1.4 software for the ProntoPro NG series, the USB driver for the remote could not be located. I've already sent an email to the ProntoTeam for this issue and am awaiting a reply.

For your convenience, I've posted the steps to manually reinstall the driver below.
============================================
To reinstall the Pronto Pro NG USB Driver
============================================

1. Open the Device Manager (found by a right click on My Computer and select Properties. Next select the Hardware Tab and click the 'Device Manager' button).

2. From the Device Manager's device tree, select the USB Serial Bus Controllers item. If the remote is plugged in, there should be a listing for Philips Pronto NG Device Driver with a yellow 'yield' exclamation point to the left.

3. Double-click on the entry located in #2 to open the Driver Properties Window.

4. From Driver Properties, select the 'Driver' tab and then click the 'Update Driver' button.

5. Select Yes, this time only for the Windows Update option and then click 'Next'.

6. On the next screen, select 'Install from List or Specific Location' and click next.

7. On the next screen, click 'Don't search (Have Disk) option. and click next.

8. On the next screen, click 'Have Disk...'.

9. On the 'Install From Disk' screen, click 'Browse' and navigate to the folder where the ProntoProEdit NG software was installed. Inside this folder should be a folder named 'Drivers' with 2 folders underneath. Select the folder specific for your Operating System (Since I have XP, I selected the 'Win2KXPME' folder.

10. Inside this folder, you will find a file named Pronto2G.inf. Select this file and press 'Open'.

11. Now, you should be back on the 'Install From Disk' screen. Click 'OK'.

12. Now, you should be back on the 'Hardware Update Wizard' screen. Click 'Next'.

13. You will then be presented a warning that the driver you are installing is "Unsigned". Click 'Continue Anyway'.

14. On the next screen, click 'Finish'.

When will the RFX6500 be available for purchase in the U.S.?

2 issues for me so far:

1- still not compatible with Server 2003 (need to run installer in XP compatibility mode)
2- installation said it could not automatically remove previous version of ProntoEditNG; manual uninstall would fire up and quit without message; had to manually delete directory and a gazillion registry entries (some not so obvious); after that, OK

And:
- to drag links you actually need to press & hold Alt+Shift while dragging.
- action list: may be wider, but still not enough; why not simply make it variable?
- "...allows you to select the next object within the property pages. This is easy for e.g. fast labeling of you buttons...": Sorry, I don't get it
- "...allows you to select multiple items within a bounding rectangle...": I could do this with the previous version
- "...allows you to add or remove items to/from a selection...": I could do this with the previous version

Last, but not least: still doesn't help with the unresponsive LCD issue

This message was edited by CV27 on 09/19/05 00:51 ET.

With regard to having to delete many registry entries, I had to do this as well to eliminate duplicate entries showing up in the 'Open With' menu and then 'Choose Program'. I did not, however, have to delete registry entries to resolve the driver.

Lyndel,

I didn't have any problems with the USB driver, as you did. But then I run a different environment.

No problems to report in any regard running XP Pro SP1.

The interesting thing was that I did the following in a repeat scenario.

1. Uninstall all software

2. Reboot

3. Clean up registry

4. Reinstall the software

5. Reboot

After following these procedures, the device and driver were recognized immediately.

During my uninstall, and install process there were no problems. The software fully uninstalled and the install of the latest and greatest went fine as well. The USB driver for the remote was also still installed properly afterward. After rebooting my system for another reason however, I discovered that the USB driver was no longer installed properly. I had to upgrade the driver pointing to the drivers directory where PPENG is installed of course. No problems updating the driver fortunately, but you are right on Lyndel, kind of quirky eh.

While I was at it I decided to download the latest firmware update tool from the website. I was sure I was running the latest version, but when running the updater it reported a more recent version available. I proceeded to update the firmware. No problems there. I was sure I was updated to the latest, so this must be a recent firmware update as well.

LP, you are right. The new 7000 firmware app version is 3.8.11.0

This message was edited by Lyndel McGee on 09/19/05 22:58 ET.

The 7000 F/W shows 16 september, while the 3000 F/W shows 11 april

Just updated with new ProNG, have XP SP1, it required the USB driver reload, but all worked fine after that. Good instructions Lyndel !

Was curious.
When I went to the Phillips site for the ..11 firmware updater, I noticed there was a "whats new". But when you open it, the latest they show is the older one. Any idea what was changed?
Also, do we need to have an update for the 3000 to 7000 and vice versa converter, or will that still work with all these new editors? And/or will we still need to do it for the new 3500/7500 series?
Thanks
Dan

The latest PENG release supports opening PPENG files natively now without editing the comments of the .pcf file prior. PPENG continues to be able to open PENG files as it did before. So far as I know there will be no real distinction between 3500/7500 files and 3000/7000 files.

Can anyone confirm that the disappearing icon problem is fixed for PENG. This is the huge problem where icons disappear and then the file gets corrupted.