Troubleshooting Radio-SkyPipe

Installation Problems

You must have Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or better installed on your PC for Radio-SkyPipe to install successfully.

With versions of radio-SkyPipe prior to 1.1.35, on some PCs you may receive a "DLL or Control not Registered" message the first time the program is run. Just try running it again. The message may not ever recur.

If running the program a second time does not help, run the MMRegOCX.exe program that appears in the default installation directory for Radio-SkyPipe.  This should be done as follows:

The above example assumes that you installed Radio-SkyPipe to the default directory. If you installed it elsewhere, use the correct path.

ADC users (Versions 1.2.0 through 2.0 )

There is a special troubleshooting page for the MAX186 ADC

If you receive printer port not found errors then the TVicPort OCX and related files may not be properly installed. 

Windows 2000/NT/Xp

Windows 95/98/Me

A driver installer program is available at http://radiosky.com/skypipe/InstallDrivers.exe

Others Cannot Connect to my Radio-SkyPipe Server

Carefully go over your settings under Options / Connection. If you are sitting behind a firewall and or router you must open a series of ports in the router/firewall configuration. See the help page on using Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing for an example of how to work around the firewall issue. Then visit the website of the manufacturer of your particular router and look for how to configure "Port Forwarding" or "NAT" (Network Address Translation).  Almost every router has this feature. On-computer firewalls such as ZoneAlarm also have provisions for allowing you to use non-standard programs on the internet. Look at the following help pages:
Router Configuration
Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing
Firewall Configuration
SkyPipe Connection Configuration

Special Note: It has been found that very often using 0.0.0.0 in the "Always use the following permanent IP address" box and checking the associated checkbox will produce positive result!

You can test to see if others can connect to you  in server mode.

I Cannot Connect as a Client to a Specific Server

Can you connect to any of the servers?  Often a server will publish as available even though there is something wrong in the server's configuration that prevents you from connecting.  WCCRO is configured correctly. If it is published and you cannot connect as a client to the WCCRO data stream, then there is probably something wrong in your configuration. Check the links in the topic above. Another reason things may fail is if SkyPipe is not binding to the correct IP address. Try setting the permanent IP on the Connection configuration panel to 0.0.0.0 and selecting "Always use the following permanent IP." This forces SkyPipe to try to find the IP internally.

Soundcard Problems

Error Messages
If you receive error messages containing phrases such as "unrecognized sound format" or "already in use", suspect that another program has captured the use of the soundcard. Try stopping and starting the programs in different orders and also experiment with the play state of any streaming audio program which you are trying to monitor.

No Signal Showing on Chart
Open your soundcard mixer panel and make sure that you have enabled the appropriate source(s), line, mic, or wave. The wave setting is used when you want to monitor sound passing through the card from another source such as Windows Media Player. Mic and Line refer to the microphone and line input jacks of the soundcard respectively.  Click here for more info on the Windows Mixer Panel.

Try another sound sampling rate. The suggested rate is 11025 Hz 16 bit. The suggested format is PCM.

Strange random values on Chart

May be caused by using an 8 bit sound setting. Select only 16 bit formats. If you are using "line input" to get the sound into your sound card, make sure microphone is turned off in your sound card mixer setting.

Wave Recorder Records Empty File (Pro Version Only)

If your Wave Recorder function is producing empty (zero length) or unrecognizable wave files, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the directory where you installed Radio-SkyPipe (probably C:\Program Files\ SkyPipe1 Beta or C:\Program Files\SkyPipe1) and delete the file named skypipe6.wav. Restart SkyPipe and the wave recorder should begin functioning again. This problem has been fixed in the latest versions.

Not Showing Up in Available Servers List

You must Publish your presence to others by using the Publish Button or selecting Automatically Publish in your Connections Options.

You should also occasionally press the Available Servers List icon when in Client Mode to retrieve the most recent list available.

Chart Stops Scrolling When Using Positioning Buttons

Click the Enable Plot / Autoscroll Button after using the positioning controls.

Chart Ends Unexpectedly

Turn off all screen savers! You cannot use Seti@home or any other screen saver on a PC running Radio-SkyPipe. In fact, run no other programs simultaneously with Radio-SkyPipe for best performance. You may also have a chart end in Client mode if the Server on the other end quits sending data or if there is a problem with the network connection.

Analog to Digital Converter Problems

Make sure you have the correct printer port selected. If you have Windows 2000 or Win Xp, then you must have the SkyPipe 1.2.0 or better to support an ADC.

Troubleshooting guide for the ADC.
 

Longitude / Latitude Format Error

You may have your Windows decimal separator set to something other than a period.(.)  Go to Regional Settings under Control Panel. Click on the Numbers tab and change the decimal symbol to a period [.]. Click Ok. Versions after 1.1.x should not display this problem.

Additional Help

Check SkyPipe News under your Help menu option for recent updates, fixes, and work-arounds to problems.

Registered users are entitled to email support at http://radiosky.com/contact.html

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