# [EVDL] Zilla Configuration utility



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Ok, so I got a little bored, and spent a couple of days programming.
I wrote a program that makes changing the settings on your Zilla 
easier. All of them are displayed on one screen, and may be directly 
edited. You can save settings to files for later re-use. The status 
and error codes are decoded for you as well.
Since this is the 1st version of it, I'd REALLY appreciate some feedback.
This should run on just about any computer since it's Java. I've only 
tested on a MS Windows PC, but there are serial drivers for various 
Linux, Mac, Solaris versions as well. (included in the Zip file.)
The app runs nicely on my Win XP ACER Netbook. (a conveniently tiny 
computer)

http://www.casadelgato.com/ZillaConfig.html

-- 
--
John G. Lussmyer mailto:[email protected]
Electric Vehicle Battery Monitoring Systems, http://www.CasaDelGato.com


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

I'll give it a try on my EeePC when I get home. Running XP. My plan is
to keep this pc in the car all the time. I even have a dedicated dc-dc
to supply it with clean power. Wireless connection so I can download
it right in my garage.

Dave Cover

On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 1:09 AM, John G. Lussmyer


> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Ok, so I got a little bored, and spent a couple of days programming.
> > I wrote a program that makes changing the settings on your Zilla
> > easier. All of them are displayed on one screen, and may be directly
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

John,

> This should run on just about any computer since it's Java. I've only
> tested on a MS Windows PC, but there are serial drivers for various
> Linux,
^^^^^^^
********

Thanks for doing it platform-independent and for sharing.
I have one or two other projects, but I am thinking my
Neo FreeRunner (OpenMoko) cell phone will be in the car.
It's time to get a USB adaptor for it so I can add a keyboard.

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

How does it talk to the Zilla?


Ok, so I got a little bored, and spent a couple of days programming.
I wrote a program that makes changing the settings on your Zilla 
easier. All of them are displayed on one screen, and may be directly 
edited. 

-----
2000 Ford Focus, 9" ADC, Zilla 1K, 18x Sam's Club 6V GC-2's 
-- 
View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Zilla-Configuration-utility-tp25919925p25928991.html
Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Nice! A couple thoughts:

There could be a Valet mode page and a Reverse page for completeness. I believe the Options are common to all three (have not yet fired up my Zilla).

Does ZillaConfig push the configuration to the Zilla upon startup? If so, perhaps you could specify a file to start up with.


- Gene


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John G. Lussmyer
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:09 PM
To: SEVA SEVA; Electric Vehicle Discussion List
Subject: [EVDL] Zilla Configuration utility

Ok, so I got a little bored, and spent a couple of days programming.
I wrote a program that makes changing the settings on your Zilla 
easier. All of them are displayed on one screen, and may be directly 
edited. You can save settings to files for later re-use. The status 
and error codes are decoded for you as well.
Since this is the 1st version of it, I'd REALLY appreciate some feedback.
This should run on just about any computer since it's Java. I've only 
tested on a MS Windows PC, but there are serial drivers for various 
Linux, Mac, Solaris versions as well. (included in the Zip file.)
The app runs nicely on my Win XP ACER Netbook. (a conveniently tiny 
computer)

http://www.casadelgato.com/ZillaConfig.html

-- 
--
John G. Lussmyer mailto:[email protected]
Electric Vehicle Battery Monitoring Systems, http://www.CasaDelGato.com


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Walter Guinon wrote:
> > How does it talk to the Zilla?
> >
> Via the serial port of course, just like using a terminal to the Zilla.
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Gene Stopp wrote:
> > Nice! A couple thoughts:
> >
> > There could be a Valet mode page and a Reverse page for completeness. I believe the Options are common to all three (have not yet fired up my Zilla).
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Hi John,

That makes sense. Changes are only sent when made, and mode determines displayed settings. My idea was triggered by the graying out of the reverse settings when the Fwd/Rev Contactors option is deselected.

If you retain the transmission (and therefore a reverse gear, but not reverse contactors), do the reverse volts/amps/RPM settings still apply when the reverse input is active? If so, deselecting the Fwd/Rev Contactors option possibly should not gray out the settings. Or select the option, make the changes, then de-select it?

I have a Z1K-HV HEPI, one hairball-controlled contactor, and a transmission with clutch.

- Gene




> Gene Stopp wrote:
> > Nice! A couple thoughts:
> >
> > There could be a Valet mode page and a Reverse page for completeness. I believe the Options are common to all three (have not yet fired up my Zilla).
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Gene Stopp wrote:
> > Hi John,
> >
> > That makes sense. Changes are only sent when made, and mode determines displayed settings. My idea was triggered by the graying out of the reverse settings when the Fwd/Rev Contactors option is deselected.
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

According to the Hairball v2.02 manual - Hairball pin 8, Reverse input, +12v is reverse. Keep in mind I have only studied the docs, have not got my hands dirty yet... hopefully soon, I have a newly painted stripped car in my driveway as of yesterday afternoon.


- Gene

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John G. Lussmyer
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 4:11 PM
To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Zilla Configuration utility



> Gene Stopp wrote:
> > Hi John,
> >
> > That makes sense. Changes are only sent when made, and mode determines displayed settings. My idea was triggered by the graying out of the reverse settings when the Fwd/Rev Contactors option is deselected.
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> John G. Lussmyer <[email protected]> wrote:
> [snip]
> > How would the Zilla know that you are in Reverse?
> > Motor still spins forward.
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

David Nelson wrote:
>


> John G. Lussmyer <[email protected]> wrote:
> > [snip]
> >
> >> How would the Zilla know that you are in Reverse?
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> John G. Lussmyer wrote:
> > Ok, so I got a little bored, and spent a couple of days programming.
> > I wrote a program that makes changing the settings on your Zilla
> > easier. All of them are displayed on one screen, and may be directly
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

John,

have you thought of also displaying error messages to accompany the 
error codes (decoding the bits)?



> John G. Lussmyer wrote:
> >
> 
> 
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Paul Wujek wrote:
> > John,
> >
> > have you thought of also displaying error messages to accompany the
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Does anyone have experience running this on Ubuntu?

I got an exception....
java -jar ZillaConfig.jar java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no
rxtxSerial in
java.library.path thrown while loading gnu.io.RXTXCommDriver

google seemed to say java.library.path is set from PATH.

So I added /jre/lib/i386 to my $PATH and exported it,
with no change.

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Seth Rothenberg wrote:
> > Does anyone have experience running this on Ubuntu?
> >
> > I got an exception....
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

>
> Does anyone have experience running this on Ubuntu?
>
> I got an exception....
> java -jar ZillaConfig.jar java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no
> rxtxSerial in
> java.library.path thrown while loading gnu.io.RXTXCommDriver
>
> google seemed to say java.library.path is set from PATH.
>
> So I added /jre/lib/i386 to my $PATH and exported it,
> with no change.
>
>
> 
Read the INSTALL.txt
You didn't copy the .so to the appropriate folder(I am not gonna say
which folder, it is different on ubuntu than Gentoo

But you should be able to type java-config -o and get the top level
directory of where to find the jre/lib/arch dir to copy it to.

John Is correct.
I only know cause I got the error before I read the INSTALL.txt 

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Seth,

In case you haven't seen this link -- doing host mode on the Freerunner 
is do-able, but you need the 5 pin USB connector with the sense resistor 
to get it to switch from device to host mode.

http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner_GTA02_Hardware#USB_Host






> Seth Rothenberg wrote:
> > John,
> >
> >
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

I don't have a zilla, but I can confirm the app does start on Ubuntu 
Linux 9.04 (32 bit) using this command line from the directory that it 
was unzipped to:

java 
-Djava.library.path=./SerialPortDriver/Linux/i686-unknown-linux-gnu/ 
-jar ZillaConfig.jar

I do have one very minor suggestion. When I unzipped the file, it 
"exploded" into my home directory -- perhaps the .zip should have 
everything in a subdirectory called ZillConfig? I know top-level files 
are the norm for windows zips, but I've gotten pretty used to unix-style 
tarballs always expanding into a directory that is the same name as the 
tarball.



> John G. Lussmyer wrote:
> > Ok, so I got a little bored, and spent a couple of days programming.
> > I wrote a program that makes changing the settings on your Zilla
> > easier. All of them are displayed on one screen, and may be directly
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Seth, try this, from the directory where you unzipped it:

java 
-Djava.library.path=./SerialPortDriver/Linux/i686-unknown-linux-gnu/ 
-jar ZillaConfig.jar



> Seth Rothenberg wrote:
> > Does anyone have experience running this on Ubuntu?
> >
> > I got an exception....
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Eric Poulsen wrote:
> > I don't have a zilla, but I can confirm the app does start on Ubuntu
> > Linux 9.04 (32 bit) using this command line from the directory that it
> > was unzipped to:
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> That's why I always do 'unzip -v' or 'tar -tf' before extracting these
> things. You never know what the author's done.
> 
Yeah, I know -- just so used to NOT doing it for tarballs, because 
they're nearly always encapsulated in their own directory.
> A couple things about the program. There's no "File->exit".
>
> Under Windows it's the norm to save files under "My Documents". The
> convention under Linux/Unix would be to default to the current directory
> or the directory where the app is installed. Putting it under
> ~/Application Data/ZillaConfig is just weird. <g>
> 
Ubuntu has a "Documents" directory in the home directory, although I 
never use it =) Perhaps it's a gnome thing.

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Rick Beebe wrote:
> > Eric Poulsen wrote:
> >
> >> I do have one very minor suggestion. When I unzipped the file, it
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Another minor ergonomic suggestion - under "Motor Settings", group the values like this:

Max Volts Reverse Volts Max Parallel Volts
Max Amps Reverse Amps Max Parallel Amps

>> When you input a value that's too large (ie 6000 motor amps), it
>> restores the field to what it was without any error indication. In
>> addition to adding an error I'd rather it convert the field to the
>> largest (or minimum depending) possible value. It's an easy way for the
>> user to determine the valid range.
>> 

>I'll have to work on that one. Adding immediate error 
>detection/handling is generally non-trivial task...

We have a GUI for the product I support here at work that's rather complex. When customers ask me what the maximum value for any field is, I just tell them to click in the box, hold down the 9 key for a couple seconds, and move the cursor to another box. The max value will populate. Similarly use zero to find the min. We don't bother with errors.

John, thanks for contributing to the community and listening to suggestions!

- Gene


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

"java -Djava.library.path=./SerialPortDriver/Linux/i686-unknown-linux-gnu/
-jar ZillaConfig.jar"

Thanks for the command help....it worked.
But golly, there's a new version to download already!

Thanks John and Eric.

Seth

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