while not keypressed (Posts by Roman Yepishev)

PSA

Roman Yepishev — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 14:44:46 GMT

Blog posts will resume when Ukraine wins.

A Sudden BeckerCAD Review Part 2

Roman Yepishev — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 20:17:20 GMT

About BeckerCAD

A month after I started playing with BeckerCAD, I think I understand why it was released and why one may be interested in using this tool instead of, say, IntelliCAD-based solutions, ViaCAD, or CorelCAD.

My take on this piece of software is mixed. On one hand, it is clearly aiding you with design on a computer with support for DWG drawing and ACIS SAT solids. On the other hand, they packed this powerful functionality into an application using outdated design and deployment practices, a proprietary file format, and documentation that works against you.

TL;DR: I think this application is okay for basic sketches and some modeling of small 3-D printable things. Building anything other than these will be a painful experience. If you are wondering if you should buy it, I would heavily lean "no".

Before jumping into unpacking that, let's explore the origins of this software package.

CADdy++ English version showing German labels

I have confirmed that BeckerCAD 3D 12 Pro is a rebranded DataSolid CADdy++ Basic 2019. Telltale signs of that were a prominent CADdy++ label in the title bar of the main window, a DataSolid logo at the bottom of the window and a reference on the splash screen. I've also installed the CADdy++ Basic 2021 and the only difference I found was the product names and minor menu updates. Unfortunately, 3 years later, CADdy++ still has incomplete English translation of their UI and documentation, is not HiDPI-aware, and changes various files within its installation directory, which I've complained about already.

I kept wondering why somebody would use CADdy++, given there are so many better alternatives with a larger feature set. And the answer is that hobbyists are not really a market for CADdy++, and companies which have for some reason selected CADdy++ are in some sort of vendor lock-in and likely use economy/professional editions of the software.

The CADdy++ lineup is as follows (see DataSolid Price list - https://english.datasolid.com/images/stories/DataSolid/CAD/PDF/E-PlMA.pdf)

CADdy++ Mechanical Design Professional, €5,990 (~$6800 at the time of writing)
- Supports 2D and 3D parametric modeling, and everything in the Economy version.
CADdy++ Economy, €3,190 (~$3700)
- Supports 2D parametric modeling, ODMA interface, defining 3D models using outlines.
CADdy++ Basic, €790 (~$900)
- 2D drawing, basic 3D modeling.

Then we have Becker CAD editions (prices from Markt+Technik Verlag website):

BeckerCAD 3D Pro, €124.99 (~$142)
- Same features as CADdy++ Basic.
BeckerCAD 3D €79.99 (~$90)
- Stripped-down 3D operations.
BeckerCAD 2D €39.99 (~$45.49)
- Only 2D operations.

Markt und Technik Verlag store listing

Now, if you are a company and in need of a CAD, and you went with DataSolid, you'll likely will go to CADdy++ Mechanical Design Professional/Economy and add a bunch of extra modules (such as sheet metal bending or STEP import/export) to support your design and manufacturing processes. You are unlikely to migrate to another solution since the file format used for the drawings and 3D models is proprietary, and, while you can export 2D DWG/DXF and 3D ASIC solid data, the hassle related to migrating somewhere else may not be worth it.

However, if you are an individual, you will not likely want to spend ~$900 for the basic version.

I know nothing anything about the agreements between MuT and DataSolid, but I suspect MuT wanted a general-purpose CAD in their portfolio, and they went with a rebranded and discounted CADdy++ basic.

BeckerCAD is marketed as being "fully compatible with AutoCAD", which may lure in somebody who expects AutoCAD for $150, and ends up confused. The lack of tutorials and accessible information, and with English version, poor translation quality make the learning curve even steeper.

The Good

A thing that makes CADdy++ stand out is it does not try to copy AutoCAD.

It has a standalone 2D drawing mode which allows focusing on refining the 2D drawings in a familiar paper space with predictable dimension scaling. I know this is a lousy argument, but dedicated 2D and 3D spaces make more sense to me.

They do not clutter the interface with all the operations you can do. This is both good, since it does not present you with 3D boolean operations while drawing a 2D rectangle, and bad, leading one to believe something is not supported because it is not prominently displayed in the ribbon.

Model Explorer / Layer Explorer

I liked the default separation of drawing elements by layers. Even if your current layer is Geometry, adding a construction line would send that line to another layer. Same with dimensions and other types which can be assigned through the Layer Explorer tab in Model Explorer panel.

There is no separate command line and while there is a concept of commands (and nested commands too), you call them via a button in the interface. However, you still need to enter parameters somehow, and here's where things start to go awkward.

The Bad

This "Status" Window

Your operations are decoupled from the parameters, which are entered primarily through Status window (unless you are grid-snapping all the time). The Status window does not work that well on a high-resolution monitor. The action that's being taken is physically removed from the Status window where inputs and outputs are displayed. This has tripped me multiple times, creating unexpected geometry because I did not notice that some value was incorrect.

My snap hotkeys ("e", "l", "s", etc.) constantly ended up in the fields of the Status window because I forgot to press the spacebar.

One can move the window closer to the center of the screen, but then it impedes all operations since the drawing window does not receive cursor events when the pointer is passing above the Status window. Other CAD applications moved this functionality to a docked bar or attach the input fields to the cursor location. You can dock the Status window as well, but its fields can only stack vertically, and the window can't share the docked area, so docking wastes a lot of space.

Font handling

Angled dimension text from BeckerCAD as displayed by Autodesk Viewer

Text handling is generally confusing, starting from the broken TrueType fonts in 3D view to arbitrary sizing of the glyphs resulting in stretched appearance even in default title blocks (aka Standard Sheets). You just need to know your font's dimensions somehow.

Font families are not properly supported, so the application will happily select the Arial Narrow family if you choose "Arial".

2D Drawing Performance

You will notice flickering for all objects in 2D view immediately when you pan/zoom. However, once you reach about 50 objects, you will start noticing redraw sequences. At 500+ visible lines, horizontal panning with a mouse wheel becomes annoying. To me it looks more like a DOS application without hardware acceleration. Copying such drawings into the 3D space removes the lag, so that may be a workaround. You will need to transfer the drawing back to the 2D space to export as .dwg though.

Interoperability

Every 2D drawing I exported from BeckerCAD looked different in the DWG export. Fonts are a particular pain point, with stretched, squeezed or misaligned text elements being the most prominent difference. Dimensions may also look wrong. If you specify the "fit" style, the resulting dimension text will overlap with the dimension line.

The import process for DWG files only reads data from the model space. If the file to be imported has any paper space layouts defined, it will ignore them. While you can import DWG files with 3D geometry, with varying usability after import, you cannot export DWG files with embedded 3D objects.

When exporting drawings to SVG your text elements will have default browser font regardless of what you had in the drawing.

If your workflow only revolves around CADdy++ tools (which is unlikely), you might not notice these issues, however do not expect your drawings to be rendered in the same way in other applications when you export DWG/DXF or SVG. Application listings claim BeckerCAD is "Fully compatible with AutoCAD", however, what "compatible" means is left as an exercise for the user.

Localization

Even though the software is being sold in the US, and there is built-in support for inches, you don't have a way of presenting values as feet and inches, e.g. 7' 2", which are used in US architecture drawings. It would be great for the US to switch to a metric system someday, but for now applications have to adapt to be usable in the target market.

There are no default ANSI paper sizes in the standard.tpl file, so here's my standard-imperial.tpl file containing ANSI and Arch paper sizes.

General Attention to Details

While working with this software, I kept finding items that can be classified as "paper cuts". They are small/trivial to fix issues, which make me question the willingness of the product owner to ship a quality product.

BeckerCAD ships with default hotkeys configuration, which uses commands that are not available, e.g. ".sys.wnd.openToolWinMenu".

Symbols shipped with the program have "interpret size related to paper size" option set, which causes the contained text to be HUGE, and the only solution is to disassemble the symbol and update this text attribute.

I mentioned the translation issues before, and Symbols shipped with BeckerCAD are all in German regardless of your installation language.

Single-clicking the symbol in the palette does nothing, double-clicking it would insert it at a random location in the drawing as well as allow to place a copy where you want it, so you must use the "OK" button.

The annoying modal dialog boxes you get when you execute a command outside of the proper context (e.g. Enabling snapping when there are no drawing commands) can be redirected to a Model Explorer tab message box. However, that text area does not wrap words, resulting in truncated visible messages. You'll need to scroll horizontally to get to see the full message.

You can't create a line with a parallel line tool to have an overlapping "straight line", since the application will exclaim "Only positive entries permitted!". The application generally likes to shout.

Future Concerns

The way the application stores its configuration files and databases makes it incompatible with Microsoft Store or deployment via .appx installs, so the product relies on customized installation path. While this is not an immediate concern, seeing the same behavior in the 2021 does not bring joy.

The .MOD files created by application are proprietary and DataSolid sells standalone viewer software to view and print the drawings and models outside of the editor. CADdy++ View & Plot will cost you €640 (~$730) and a Pro version of that will be €900 (~$1024). Seeing how other players distribute free viewers, I can't help but wonder who the target audience of that is and what it means for archives of your models in CADdy++ format.

The application ships with Python runtime v2.7.8 released in 2014. Note that Python 2 support officially ended on Jan 1, 2020.

Likely Audience

I've tested BeckerCAD drawing a real-world floor plan, designing and re-designing a small 3D-printable part covered in the next section, and browsing a bunch of DWG files - samples and real-world drawings.

Even though there are architectural symbols included, I don't think you will want to draw floor plans with BeckerCAD 12. The application does not treat architectural symbols in any way different to plain lines, so you are in charge of the alignment and scaling. Simple floor plans may work. You can use the built-in "Building" functionality, which allows creating a 3D model out of your floor plan. However, it is limited to a single floor and there are no standard 3D models for any of the architectural objects, so your 2D door symbol does not magically become a door in 3D.

That's why I believe this software is better suited for modeling standalone objects.

Designing in BeckerCAD

Now, in order to test BeckerCAD with a useful real-world task, I attempted to fix an annoyance of a Dell MSA-14 monitor arm, which was always slightly tilted because of an undersized pivot shaft. After a few days of measurements and modeling, I made the following subtle change:

Before (original) and after (3D-printed part)

I probably got a 20% decrease in tilt after printing the part slightly bigger than the original, and while it probably was not worth doing, I learned quite a bit.

I have gone through 10 iterations of this part in the past month, so I am pretty sure my measurements are as good as I could get them. Since I don't own a 3D printer and my experience with such devices has been troublesome, I sent the STL model exported from BeckerCAD to a local shop, jinxbot.com. It was quite a feeling of accomplishment to receive a printed version of something you've spent so much time looking at in the virtual space.

The printed part had perfect dimensions, but it turned out that my cheap calipers had a constant -0.2mm offset while measuring internal diameters because of a manufacturing defect, and it took some force to get the bolt and the nut to seat properly. Subsequent revisions had this issue rectified to the best of my ability.

I start with the 2D space and draw an outline of the profile for half of the part:

Then copy this profile into the 3D space, selecting the ZX workplane.

Default dimensions using a TrueType font got replaced with box outlines.

I create a rotational solid using the centerline as the rotational axis. After selecting Process/Erase active 2D section I have a cleaned up 3D view:

Since I need a place to insert the nut on top, I am adding a "prism" on top by creating a temporary workplane, creating a 15.6mm diameter prism with 6 faces, extruding it down 10mm, and then subtracting it from the model:

I need a notch on the bottom to prevent the part from rotating when installed. So I create a solid rectangle and run a boolean subtraction operation on the model. This is tricky because I found no way to snap to 3D objects other than endpoints intersecting with the workplane, so using 2D tools I project the base cylinder to the Standard XZ workplane, create a centerline, measuring 10mm from the outside diameter and a 3D box with 10mm depth, 2.75mm height and 6mm width. I carve the hole by boolean "Subtraction" from the main model:

The pivot shaft has a groove that restricts the rotation angle to 90 degrees. I don't know of a better way to do that than to create a tool with an arc, extrude it and then subtract from the model. Based on my measurements, it is offset from the centerline by 30 degrees and is 90 degrees long with 15.15mm radius.

That's it, basic shape is done. Now, since I wanted to be fancy, I also removed some material by creating edges instead of solid infill. For that I re-used the top face workplane do draw a circle 3mm smaller than the outer diameter and a hexagon 3mm larger than the nut opening using Parallel Line/Contour 2D tool. Joined them with another 3mm bridge, cleaned up all of the extra lines, then created an array of these "holes". Then I extruded them downwards 15mm, merged into a separate solid, moved the workplane to the origin and extruded them up 12.75 mm:

I left the created arc "tool" in the final drawing, it's a transparent yellow chunk.

Then I "subtract" these "holes" from the main model:

Now I am done with the actual model. now I can create model views and add dimensions and sections for reference.

I am 99% sure this style of dimensioning and drawing would score F- in some design school, but all I wanted from this process was a printable STL file, so everything else is extra:

The resulting model can now be displayed online, using the exporter producing a web page, which apparently, comes from another DataSolid product, CADdy++ Event Planning.

You may wonder why the default camera view is inside the model. Click the "Home" button to switch to the starting position, because for some reason the viewer does not start in starting position.

Downloads:

msa14_pivot-demo.mod - CADdy++ Drawing
msa14_pivot-demo.stl - STL export
msa14_pivot-demo.dwg - DWG export for the 2D part
msa14_pivot-demo.sat - ACIS SAT export of the model

Lessons Learned

Common

2D vs 3D

You can start in either 2D or 3D. If you don't need 3D, you can close the 3D view and forget about it. If you expect to transform your 2D image into 3D, then you have two choices:

Start in 2D, draw the edges, outlines, and everything else you can for a single projection, then use "Transform/Move with Copy Dynamically" to copy the drawing into the 3D space plane.
Start in 3D on one of the Standard XY, XZ, and YZ plane. Use 2D primitives in the same way you'd use in the 2D view, and/or 3D shapes.

Hotkeys

By default BeckerCAD ships with Hotkeys.txt file in Program\Bin directory which has the default settings. Copy that file as user_hotkeys.txt file to your working directory (by default that's C:\BeckerCAD12\User, but, as mentioned in my first post on BeckerCAD, it can be anywhere you want) and edit it.

You can find the names of the commands to use through the View/Toolbar dialog. You don't need to create a new toolbar.

If you select the nodes of the tree on the right, you'll get information in the Function area, e.g. "Top View" is mapped to command .view.dirTop. Some of the entries in the default Hotkeys.txt don't work, since likely they changed the functionality without updating the file.

Fonts

BeckerCAD 12 3D Pro ships with 14 vector fonts in a proprietary format in Program\FNT directory.

TrueType fonts can be used, however they are not visible in 3D space unless you enable outline property of each individual text object.

2D

Partial Drawings

A 2D drawing is built from Partial Drawings, which contain objects such as lines or circles, or groups of such objects. By default, you get a Partial Drawing (PD) and a Standard Sheet (SSH). Standard Sheet is used for placing a title block and Partial Drawings are used to create a composite of your drawing. Your geometry goes into a Partial Drawing, and detail views are created in separate Detail View Partial Drawings (DT).

3D

Workplanes

Workplanes are used to create a reference point for subsequent operations. By default there are three Standard workplanes. I create new ones to draw 2D lines on top of 3D faces by first "Define WP using Face/Center of Gravity", and then drawing what I needed in the new workplane.

We can convert Workplanes to "Cut Planes", which allows exposing an internal structure of the model as if it was cut. This, however, has no relation to section view, which you can create in 2D mode from a model view.

Push/Pull

BeckerCAD 3D has an Offset Faces tool which functions similarly to Push/Pull tools in other applications and can be found in "Solid Local Operations/Offset Faces" 3D toolbar. You will see the changes in the 3D view or specify the offset in the Status window, which then can apply to other faces.

Troubleshooting

I can't get the camera inside the model

By default, you are in an orthogonal projection, which will always show a face perpendicular to your view. Switch to the Perspective mode on in View -> Perspective/Orthogonal and then you'll be able to zoom into your model.
Measurements appear as boxes in 3D view

If you are using a TrueType font for dimensions or text, it will be displayed as boxes in 3D space because of limitations of BeckerCAD. Select a vector font in Settings/Text.../Text Style/current font for specific styles.
I can't select anything

If you receive "No valid object found!" or "Point no found" when clicking on an entity you expect to select, check the following items:
- You have the correct Partial Drawing selected in the 2D menu bar.
  
  Active Partial Drawing selector is set to either the "Select on current sketchboard only", "Select on all sketchboards", or, if you need to use "Select on listed sketchboards", click the "Define Activ (sic) Partial Drawings..." icon and select the Partial Drawings you need to interact.
  
  Partial Drawing appears to be the same thing as sketchboards in BeckerCAD 3D localization.
  
  If you regularly switch between the Partial Drawings, enable "Show/Hide status of partial drawing" (enabled is grayed-out) to gray-out ("lowlight") the geometry on a Partial Drawing that's not currently active.
- The object you are trying to select belongs to a layer that's "pickable", or "active".
  
  Open the Model Explorer, click on the Layer Explorer tab and open Properties... menu for the layer your object is located (e.g. Hidden Lines). If the "Active" state is off, then you won't be able to select it, or use the "Activate Layer" icon to switch the layer to that element.
If you are in 3D view, then check the following items:
- Your 2D/3D selection buttons are what you expect, if the mode is not selectable, you cannot select geometry of that kind:
  - Green background/black text = selectable.
  - Red background/white text = not selectable.
- Your camera view does not match the current workplane, so your dimensions are projected to the wrong workplane.
  
  Switch to a workplane which has the projection of your geometry that you want to measure/or reference for other commands.
Low STL Export Resolution

SAT and STL export settings live in "General 3D Import / Export Settings" dialog that's only accessible from File/Export/Settings. If your STL files appear to have low resolution, check the "Settings stereo lithography" group in that dialog. In my case, setting normal deviation to 5 has increased the polygon count for the arcs in the export.
Status Window Does Not Show Up

Status window can go out of display bounds. In this case, select View/Status Dialog Box, then without moving the mouse, press Alt+Spacebar to get the Windows menu allowing to move the window. Select "Maximize", which will bring the window in and maximize it. Then use your mouse to resize the window and position it within the viewport. If your status window cannot be properly positioned, that may be due to Windows scaling. Disable scaling for the application in the shortcut settings.

Afterword

It was an interesting experience, and I learned a lot. I hope DataSolid fixes the paper cuts, and that CADdy++ and BeckerCAD improve enough to be featured more on the internet, but for now I have exhausted my patience and will happily search for another thing to learn the hard way.

A Sudden BeckerCAD 3D Pro Review

Roman Yepishev — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 16:14:57 GMT

Update (2021-01-03): I've written more on BeckerCAD, and why you probably shouldn't buy it. Go read the sequel.

Occasionally I run into an interesting piece of software while doing unrelated things, and this time I stumbled upon a Windows-only “BeckerCAD 12 3D Pro” application on sale in SoftMaker store, a company developing the blazing fast Linux/Windows/Mac OS X SoftMaker Office suite, and a free FreeOffice version of one.

I like Google Docs as much as the next guy, but sometimes I enjoy looking at what else is out there. So I bought a license to the office suite that I’ve had my eyes on for some time, and put a $20 BeckerCAD12 3D Pro in the cart along for the ride.

BeckerCAD’s installation process suggested installing it into a folder at the root of the drive, and there’s a reason for that - this application does not respect the non-writable nature of modern “Program Files” folder, so it suggests using a location that is not locked down.

Since I tagged this post as “the hard way”, I did not go that default route.

BeckerCAD is a 32-bit Win32 program, so it should really be installed into Program Files (x86). With this change, the installation proceeds as expected, but you get a slew of error messages related to inability to creating files (including a Python stacktrace), reading files, initializing DLLs, etc on startup.

Based on SysInternals ProcessMonitor, throughout its runtime, BeckerCAD writes data to:

%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Database\*
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Python\Lib\site-packages\win32com\gen_py\*
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Python\Lib\site-packages\win32com\gen_py\dicts.dat
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Python\CADdyPython.log
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Bin\webBrowser.MES
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Bin\startAssistent.MES
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Bin\Buildings.MES
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\Program\Bin\CADdyWebExport.MES
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\User\TMP\*
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BeckerCAD12\User\UIBECKER.SYS

I did not like how it wrote to those folders, especially the Program\Bin one. Even though the binary was compiled in 2019, it was using practices from pre-2007 era, when Windows Vista introduced restrictions on applications writing to their installation folder within Program Files. Now, by default, the installer would have put this application in the root folder, which is exempt from these restrictions, but I still felt uneasy granting the application access to overwrite whatever it wants in its installation directory. That’s how random corruptions happen.

When Microsoft restricted access to Program Files on Windows Vista, they created UAC Virtualization. This enabled 32-bit Win32 applications to work as expected even with restrictions in place, because Windows would redirect writes to the files into %APPDATA%\VirtualStore.

Now, Becker3D 12 Pro is a 32-bit application. Why doesn’t it get redirected?

UAC Virtualization document states:

The presence of the trustInfo element in a manifest (which you can see in the excerpted string dump of Firewallsettings.exe below), denotes an executable that was written for Windows Vista and the requestedElevationLevel element nests within it.

—Microsoft: Security: Inside Windows Vista User Account Control

Targeting your application for Windows brings additional details:

Adding trustInfo isn't essential, but it is highly recommended, even when your app doesn't need any particular UAC-related behavior. In particular, if you don't add trustInfo at all, then 32-bit x86 versions of your app will be subject to UAC file virtualization, which allows writes to administrator-privileged folders like the Windows system folders to succeed when they would otherwise fail, but redirects them to a user-specific "VirtualStore" folder.

—Microsoft: Targeting your application for Windows

Okay, let’s look at the manifest. mt.exe is a binary from Windows SDK that deals with manifests, extracting the manifest from BeckerCAD.exe shows:

> & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x64\mt.exe' -inputresource:"C:\Program Files (x86)\BeckerCAD12\Program\Bin\BeckerCAD.exe" -out:.\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe.manifest -nologo

<!-- .\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe.manifest -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
 <dependency>
  <dependentAssembly>
   <assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" version="6.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="*" publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df" language="*"></assemblyIdentity>
  </dependentAssembly>
 </dependency>
 <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
  <security>
   <requestedPrivileges>
    <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false"></requestedExecutionLevel>
   </requestedPrivileges>
  </security>
 </trustInfo>
</assembly>

So the application declares that it does not explicitly need to run as administrator (level="asInvoker"), yet it needs to write to its installation directory. The manifest also does not pass validation because it is missing assemblyIdentity information:

> & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x64\mt.exe' -manifest .\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe.manifest -validate_manifest -nologo

.\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe.manifest : general error 10100ba: The manifest is missing the definition identity.

mt.exe is a tool for updating the manifest in the resources, so I added the missing identity information, dropped the trustInfo node and attempted to update the configuration.

<!-- Updated .\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe.manifest -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
<assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="BeckerCAD" version="2019.0.0.1" processorArchitecture="x86">
</assemblyIdentity>
<dependency>
    <dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" version="6.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="*" publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df" language="*"></assemblyIdentity>
    </dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
</assembly>

> 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x64\mt.exe' '-updateresource:.\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe;#1' -manifest .\Projects\BeckerCAD.exe.manifest

Unfortunately for me, mt.exe does a merge of the existing manifest and the incoming one, so I kept getting trustInfo in the final binary. Eventually I realized I needed to edit the original resource, so I opened the binary in Visual Studio and updated RT_MANIFEST entry to remove trustInfo node completely, then did the updateresource described above to have a new shiny manifest that passes validation.

I put the updated binary into Becker3D12\Program\Bin, started it, expecting things to blow up spectacularly, and instead I got a fully working application, and %APPDATA%\VirtualStore showed all the redirected files.

However, upon exit, I got an exception that UIBECKER.SYS could not be opened.

UIBECKER.SYS was not being redirected, and that file contains UI configuration. Ideally, it should have been written to the User folder, but I have a suspicion there’s a filter in VirtualStore that does not allow redirection of SYS files, which is an extension used for device drivers.

BeckerCAD documentation suggested that this file gets created either in User directory or in a working directory of the application, based on this quote from “Installing the current version in a folder of an earlier version” help section:

Erase the files containing general defaults for the user interface:

UIBECKER.SYS

These are in ...USER or in the directory which you specified as the working directory, when you connected the program.

Creating an %APPDATA%\BeckerCAD12 folder and changing the shortcut to use it as a startup directory made the application write UIBECKER.SYS into a non-redirected folder in my profile.

However, launching the application by opening .mod files would still trigger the error on exit.

It turned out that the registry entries for opening .mod and .tpl files that the installer planted in my Windows registry had a -HOME parameter which was hardcoded to the User location in my Program Files, so I needed to change that as well. You can’t use environment variables in REG_SZ field, so I had to craft a .reg file with REG_EXPAND_SZ which used %APPDATA%\BeckerCAD12 as a HOME parameter, and it worked.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; This sets all open commands to
; "C:\Program Files (x86)\BeckerCAD12\Program\Bin\BeckerCAD.exe" "-HOME:%APPDATA%\BeckerCAD12" "%1"
; %APPDATA%\BeckerCAD12 must exist before the program can use it

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CADdy++ Maschinenbau MOD\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,20,\
00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,20,00,28,00,78,00,38,00,36,00,29,00,5c,00,\
42,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,00,41,00,44,00,31,00,32,00,5c,00,50,\
00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,5c,00,42,00,69,00,6e,00,5c,00,42,00,\
65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,\
00,20,00,22,00,2d,00,48,00,4f,00,4d,00,45,00,3a,00,25,00,41,00,50,00,50,00,\
44,00,41,00,54,00,41,00,25,00,5c,00,42,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,\
00,41,00,44,00,31,00,32,00,22,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CADdy++ Maschinenbau MOD\shell\Open with BeckerCAD - 32 Bit\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,20,\
00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,20,00,28,00,78,00,38,00,36,00,29,00,5c,00,\
42,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,00,41,00,44,00,31,00,32,00,5c,00,50,\
00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,5c,00,42,00,69,00,6e,00,5c,00,42,00,\
65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,\
00,20,00,22,00,2d,00,48,00,4f,00,4d,00,45,00,3a,00,25,00,41,00,50,00,50,00,\
44,00,41,00,54,00,41,00,25,00,5c,00,42,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,\
00,41,00,44,00,31,00,32,00,22,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CADdy++ Maschinenbau TPL\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,20,\
00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,20,00,28,00,78,00,38,00,36,00,29,00,5c,00,\
42,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,00,41,00,44,00,31,00,32,00,5c,00,50,\
00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,5c,00,42,00,69,00,6e,00,5c,00,42,00,\
65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,00,41,00,44,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,\
00,20,00,22,00,2d,00,48,00,4f,00,4d,00,45,00,3a,00,25,00,41,00,50,00,50,00,\
44,00,41,00,54,00,41,00,25,00,5c,00,42,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,65,00,72,00,43,\
00,41,00,44,00,31,00,32,00,22,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

Okay, What About The App Itself?

My Blender SD Card model after applying a Bevel modifier.

Back in the university, I had a Technical Drawing course which required us to draw things on paper to start, and then somehow learn a CAD tool, heavily hinting towards Autodesk’s AutoCAD. When introduced to that piece of software, I felt completely out of my comfort zone because everything worked in a way that I did not expect. It wasn’t a tool you pick up and run with. I resorted to using OpenOffice Draw to create printable drawings, and then migrated to QCAD. For some minor 3D explorations I’ve only ever used Blender, which was, and still is too powerful for me, so I am definitely not a power user of any CAD package.

BeckerCAD by Markt+Technik Verlag GmbH appears to be a rebranded CADdy++ “basic” application by DataSolid, who also sells an “economy”, and “Mechanical Design Professional” variants, that are much more expensive, and that’s the first advantage of BeckerCAD, the cost. The documentation covers all items I’ve search for, however the English localization suffers from numerous translation issues where words are technically correct, but a native spearker would not have used them in such context. If you speak German, then you are likely to find the German version top be perfectly fine. “Determine a line object” is “Select a line object”, and “Dimensions [...] are displayed lowlighted” is “dimensions [...] are greyed-out”.

Another thing is that the icons are not distinct enough. While there aren’t colorblind issues that blocked me, there are icons that look almost the same that do different things.

Tooltips are also unhelpful e.g. in the Model Explorer an icon with a “Hidden Lines” tooltip means setting the type of the currently selected layer to “Hidden Lines”, and you need to go into documentation to realize that.

Who Is It For?

Neither CADdy++ nor BeckerCAD are in any way popular on the internet. I found a German CAD.de forum, where people were discussing CADdy++, a few YouTube videos by DataSolid describing CADdy++, and a small set of third-party tutorials, so your best reference will most likely be the example projects bundled with the package. Educational content about SolidWorks, AutoCAD, FreeCAD, TurboCAD, CorelCAD, Onshape, Siemens NX, and SketchUp (which I also tried) dwarfs BeckerCAD. To be fair, all packages above except FreeCAD also cost more, but it is important to consider what capabilities you will get. BeckerCAD is a traditional non-parametric CAD, while more expensive editions of CADdy++ support parametric modeling, and other packages also support direct modeling.

The majority of CAD applications are now licensed via subscriptions. Solidworks, AutoCAD and other Autodesk apps, SketchUp, Siemens NX, are all subscription-only. BricsCAD has both a subscription and a perpetual license starting from $560 for a 2D version. IronCAD pricing is not disclosed on their website, which is a red flag. A tinkerer who needs a CAD for occasional use but does not want a recurring subscription might want a cheap (or with FreeCAD, a free) alternative.

BeckerCAD requires an Internet access to activate the application, which will become a problem when the activation servers go offline. There’s also no quick way to unbind the license from an offline computer, which may be a problem in case the device gets stolen or becomes inoperable because of hardware failure. I got a license for 3 computers, which is nice.

Can you use it to make 2D drawings and 3D models? Yes, definitely. A follow up blog post will tell a story of the thing on the right once I get the latest version printed in the local 3D print shop. It took me a week to go through tutorials, a day to create the design, a day to get the first 3D-printed version, and another day to figure out why my measurements were slightly off... well, we’ll see how it goes with my second attempt.

Once you learn the basics, and learn to consult the manual heavily, the layout becomes usable, operations start making sense. It handles 2D and 3D drawings and solid operations, at least to my eye, albeit with visible screen repaint events in 2D mode. It stores data in its own proprietary .mod format, but can export and import ACIS SAT files, STL files, and claims support for DWG files. I did not have any, so I looked up Autodesk sample files, and the conversion produced the drawing.

The fonts were definitely an issue, however even Autodesk’s online viewer complained their Gear_Pump_Subassy.dwg sample was missing fonts:

It can also create a web page for your model.

It does not have constraints support or model animation, and promotional images do not match renders you get in 3D. There is no simulation for material properties, or direct modeling in 3D, but it is likely that the user of this package is not looking for all that. I would like some sort of unwedging the models from one another as part of collision checks, but for now I have to get by with three screaming message boxes (you can see the scaling issue with the icons here).

Wishlist

If anybody from DataSolid or MuT would ever stumble upon this post, the items that I'd like to see fixed are:

Better English documentation and translation of the UI elements.
Respect Program Files restrictions by using user profile or even ProgramData files that need to be updated. Better yet, a Windows Store app which is forced to abide by those restrictions.
HiDPI support and proper scaling - some elements overlap with others when scaling is controlled by application, and all elements are blurry if system controls the scaling on HiDPI screens. Some icons in dialog windows remain extremely small and are hard to distinguish.
Icons with a consistent style and distinguishing features.
Reduced number of exclamation points in the UI!

And with that I conclude my BeckerCAD review and will go spend some time drawing lines Relativ to Foot Point.

Since 2017...

Roman Yepishev — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 19:12:14 GMT

For a long time my last post here was about my laptop, and even though I have changed jobs, locations, and interests, I did not find anything worth sharing.

Now, having re-published a few posts I wrote on Reddit to my blog, I'd like to close the loop on some of the projects I have been working on in the past.

MediaFire/duplicity

Due to copyright attribution requirements and potential conflict of interest, I stopped contributing to MediaFire Python Open SDK and the duplicity backend. This resulted in the MediaFire backend removal from duplicity.

I no longer have access to the original MediaFire/mediafire-python-open-sdk repository.

I was approached by a user of MediaFire to add another maintainer, so szlaci83 is now a co-maintainer of Python MediaFire client library.

Music

Throughout 2020 I set a target of publishing at least 1 music piece, and the result is https://soundcloud.com/roman-yepishev/sets/album-2020.

WD MyCloud (sequoia)

For some time in 2019 I have been tinkering with the first generation version of WD MyCloud which ran on Comcerto2000 platform (AKA FreeScale/NXP QorIQ LS1024A), and had some success with booting the 3.19 kernel, described in my WD Community post).

While I got most of the board working, the networking performance was awful, and after a few weeks I gave up.

OpenStreetMap

Almost no involvement with the project since we left Michigan.

This blog

I disabled the commenting system provided by disqus, and feel free to write rye@ an e-mail.

Cheers.

Inside the Spark: Continuously Variable Transmission: It's All About the Fluid

Roman Yepishev — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 22:10:53 GMT

This post originally appeared on Reddit.

TL; DR

Both Gen 1 2014-2015 and Gen 2 2016+ Chevy Spark models have a variant of Jatco JF015E.
Originally 2014 Sparks came with transmission software that was always shifting to the low gear, causing shocks, resulting in premature belt and pulley metal wear. An update was issued for CVT firmware to prefer staying in high gear on deceleration (PI1309). 2015+ Sparks are coming with this update preinstalled. This is now a normal behavior and can't be changed.
CVTs on all 2014+ Spark models are not sealed. They are serviceable and you should perform the maintenance at least every 45K miles unless you drive on the highway all the time.
CVT performance is heavily influenced by the state of the fluid inside. Deteriorated fluid will cause the belt to slip producing shudder. No, this shudder won’t disappear on its own, it will only get worse.
Shudder is different from slow smooth acceleration, which is a feature of this transmission.
Fluid is not the only thing that can go wrong, so contact your dealer if you have transmission concerns. If you are driving a 2014 model and did not get the CVT TCM update at the dealer, the chances of transmission damage increase, so there is a campaign for 2014-2015 model year vehicles to replace damaged transmissions.

Background

The main task of transmission is to adapt the output of the engine to the drive wheels. In order to provide more torque to the wheels, transmission makes the output rotate slower resulting in more torque. If you need higher speed, transmission makes the output rotate faster with reduced torque. Transmission also deals with the reverse gear because engines always rotate in one direction.

Starting from 2014, Chevrolet ships Sparks with three kinds of transmissions:

A manual one where the operator has full control over the timing of switching the gears, effectively changing the ratio of the wheel to engine rotations.
A Continuously Variable Transmission, where the gears are replaced with a system of a push belt and pulleys, this post is about the CVT.

Side note: In 2016 Opel Karl also gained AMT - Automated Manual Transmission called Easytronic 3.0 in European and South Korean markets - https://www.carscoops.com/2016/03/opel-adds-affordable-easytronic-30/.

Imagine a bicycle with multiple gears. Your gear at the rear wheel allows you to change how much of your input goes towards the torque vs the speed. If you want to start moving or go uphill, you will want more torque, which will be the smallest gear, and you will pedal faster. If you are on a flat surface, you need more speed, so you pick the largest gear and do not need to put much power into the pedals. Fancier bicycles have gears on the input shaft (where pedals are attached) too, which allow finer control over torque vs speed.

Now, replace the fancy gears with pulleys and put a flexible steel belt between them instead of a chain, add a 850+ PSI oil pump to supply hydraulic pressure for switching the ratios and engaging the gears, fill it with about 3.2 quarts of CVT fluid to carry the pressure and keep things lubricated, add valves to direct the pressure to the correct channels, add another two speed gearbox with reverse gear, and you’ll have the Jatco JF015E, aka CVT7.

CVT7 as seen on gmpowertrain.nexpart.com

Jatco CVT7 transmissions are installed in subcompact cars, for example:

Chevrolet Spark – 1.0L (75hp), 1.2L (84hp), 1.4L (98hp)
Mitsubishi Mirage 1.2L (78hp)
Multiple Nissans – Cube 1.8L (122hp), Juke 1.6L (188hp), Note 1.6L (109hp), etc.
Others - see list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jatco_transmissions and https://www.marklines.com/en/report_all/wsw0012_201408.

Since CVT allows matching engine output to wheels without driver's interaction, it allows running the engine at the most efficient RPM for every speed, resulting in good fuel economy. This, and smaller package are the reasons for using CVT7.

Side note: Bicycles can have CVTs now as well, see https://www.evelo.com/evelo-difference/nuvinci-n360-drivetrain/.

Operation

CVT7 has an auxiliary two-speed gearbox attached to the output shaft, which allows switching between low, high and reverse gears. Low gear is used to increase torque at slow speed, while the high gear is used at 27 mph (43.4 km/h) and above (per https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/the-jatco-cvt-power-glide). Transmission belt always rotates in the same direction.

Once the car has accelerated to 8-18 mph, another optimization kicks in, that locks up the torque converter, and connects the engine to the transmission without going through the fluid coupling. On deceleration, torque converter is unlocked from the engine. TSB describing CVT behavior to the dealers says those changes can be perceived as shifts.

Due to drivers complaining that the CVT does not sound like a regular automatic transmission, Transmission Control Module has code for simulating shift steps on rapid acceleration and this cannot be changed.

The only setting that physically changes the configuration based on driver’s input is the “Park”, where a piece of metal physically blocks the output shaft.

Fluid!

GM 19260800 CVT Fluid Bottle

CVT7 operation depends on the availability and quality of the transmission fluid (GM 19260800 in US at the time of writing). It is used to send pressure from the valve body to the clutches and pulleys, transfer power between the engine and transmission in the torque converter, lubricate and cool the internals.

Transmission warms up much slower than the engine, 2nd gear upshift is not enabled until transmission warms up to –20C (4F), and torque converter lockup is not enabled until transmission reaches 20C (69F), so starting the car in the winter and flooring it immediately will not work as expected. You can use Torque Pro with an OBD-II reader to get the transmission temperature reading.

Per PI1247A TSB, operating temperature range is 50-80C (122-176F), and the power will be reduced if transmission becomes too hot as that will lead to deteriorated fluid quality. There is a cooling loop that attaches to the main radiator to keep the transmission fluid within the operating temperature, though I have seen it go 5C above that on a hilly road.

It is unlikely that you will be low on fluid unless you have a leak, but its condition is important.

Maintenance

User manual lists CVT fluid change only in the “severe” maintenance interval, and most likely your operation of this city car can be considered “severe” with frequent start/stops and operating the car before the transmission warms up.

Deteriorated fluid causes transmission belt slip, which manifests as "shudder" on acceleration. When fluid is bad (due to age, heat, additives going bad, and normal contamination from parts), its lubrication properties change, allowing the belt to slip. This feels like car cannot figure out whether to accelerate or decelerate when you step on the accelerator pedal. Or when you are going uphill and the car suddenly loses and immediately regains acceleration as if you briefly pressed on the brake.

If your car starts manifesting any of these, consult your dealer or a mechanic who has access to GM TSBs and programming tools. You may only need to replace the fluid, which you can also do on your own, but it is time consuming.

In case of damage to the valve body, GM allows replacing that part in 2016+ sparks, but for 2014-2015 models the official repair process is to replace the whole transmission and there is a campaign (thanks, u/glassgypsy for that!). The shudder caused by the belt slip will not go away once it starts. Prolonged driving with this condition may result in total CVT failure and loss of propulsion.

Reliability

2014 Sparks had transmission control unit programmed to always drop to low gear on deceleration, which caused heavily increased wear to the point of shearing metal from the belt and pulleys. This metal will then damage other parts of transmission. Subsequently, a TCM firmware update was designed to prevent shifting into low gear unless the rate of deceleration is sufficiently low. You can see an example of a sheared belt metal and debris in https://youtu.be/wjHHlv-fiWQ?t=284.

The primary issue with this CVT is that the steel belt is "connected" to the pulleys using friction, and will eventually fail to grab the pulleys after both the belt and pulley surfaces wear out.

I could not find good source of reliability numbers for Chevy Spark CVTs. Some CVT7 survive for 170k miles, some fail after 5 years of drivetrain warranty.

There are a few other things that may cause reliability issues in the long run:

Increased parts count increases the chance of the failure.
The forward gear may fail due to thin sun gear metal thickness (per https://www.transmissiondigest.com/the-problematic-cvt-7/).
CVT Fluid replacement is neither listed in the manual for "normal” service interval, nor service centers recommend doing that (and, based on u/sonicboom1992's post, not all even perform this service, even though it is described in ACDelco TDS), ensuring that drivers will have deteriorated performance that may lead to damage in the long run.
High oil pressure (at least 850 PSI - https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/jf015e-common-issues/) required to control various parts requires a heavy-duty oil pump and it was a source of problems for other CVT7-based vehicles when the oil pump flow control valve fails to maintain required pressure due to wear caused by contaminated fluid.
CVT fluid is cooled through the main radiator, so if the loop within the radiator develops a leak, the CVT will be starved of fluid.

Is the 2016+ Gen 2 transmission better than 2014-2015 Gen 1?

Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to that in documentation and there is no "changelog". It is impossible to tell until somebody does a comparison between Gen 1 and Gen 2 parts.

There were changes to manufacturing and dealer documentation released after GM got samples of failed transmissions from the field, so should not be worse.

Things that are known to be better in Gen 2 (contributions welcome):

Valve body replacements are available separately for 2016+ CVT7s which decreases the repair cost in case the valves (known as solenoids) or valve body fluid channels go bad.
Based on a cursory look at Gen 2 disassembly video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n7Xxu5g-s), the Low Brake hub design is improved. https://youtu.be/CDWVwDcb8zI?t=858 states that driving aggressively with a weak hub may result in shearing and loss of forward motion, and Gen 2 has the stronger part.

Q&A

Q: Should I switch to neutral when coasting?
I would not recommend doing that for safety reasons. While this most likely won’t damage the transmission, you lose the ability to accelerate out of the harm’s way if needed.
Q: Can I switch directions (forward/reverse) before a full stop?
You should not. This will put added stress on the belt that will cause it to slip. Transmission will, however, switch to neutral if you are travelling forward and switch to reverse without stopping. You do not want the belt to slip, so come to a full stop before changing direction.
Q: Where can I get the true information about the service procedures?
I use ALLData DIY (https://alldatadiy.com), though other providers exist. The most official source is ACDelco TDS (https://www.acdelcotds.com/), which costs a lot, but a single subscription grants access to documentation to all the GM vehicles for the last decade and more.

Closing notes

In general, if you don’t experience any shudder, and sudden loss of power, change your transmission fluid regularly. Even though the official “severe” interval is 45,000 miles, I started experiencing shudder at around 25,000 miles. After changing the fluid, the shudder disappeared within the first 5 miles. It stopped hesitating on acceleration, but it is slow to accelerate like it was on its first day, as designed.

Having researched all the items above I decided to minimize harsh acceleration events and more often coast to stops. At least this way I’ll know I am not making this transmission do more work than needed.

Having changed my CVT Fluid, I've sent a sample to https://www.blackstone-labs.net and received a report suggesting that even though the fluid smelled burnt, it did not had insolubles (oxidized solids formed from heat/use): r/chevyspark - Inside the Spark: Continuously Variable Transmission: It's All About the Fluid

Blackstone Laboratories Report on my CVT fluid sample

As a mostly "armchair" mechanic I take pride in providing the most accurate and comprehensive information about the subjects I am covering, however, given the lack of hands-on experience, errors are inevitable. Let me know if you notice any inaccuracies.

Sources

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/the-mystery-behind-nissanjatco-cvt-pulleys/
https://akppro.ru/en/magazine/article/jatco-jf015e.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxTvhJdXjX4 - Disassembly of a Gen 1 CVT7 unit (Korean)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n7Xxu5g-s - Disassembly of a Gen 2 CVT7 unit with snapped belt, presumably failed due to CVT fluid leak into radiator (Korean)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPGI_Jlb-h8 - Reassembly of a CVT7 unit
https://www.transmissiondigest.com/the-problematic-cvt-7/
https://www.transmissiondigest.com/the-new-jatco-jf015e-when-is-a-cvt-not-a-cvt/
https://gmpowertrain.nexpart.com/ - powertrain pictures and specs
https://namu.wiki/w/%EC%89%90%EB%B3%B4%EB%A0%88%20%EC%8A%A4%ED%8C%8C%ED%81%AC (Korean)
https://gm-techlink.com/?p=10118
https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/xtronic_cvt_auxiliary_transmission.html
Information about 2014-2015 Sparks from ACDelco TDS.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chevyspark/comments/fhy82s/transmission_recall/ - u/thumpah_da_wolf's post about the 2014-2015 campaign replacement results.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chevyspark/comments/fb7yuf/gm_techlink_article_about_sparks_jatco_cvt/ - my initial post asking for comments.
https://www.sonnax.com/parts/3848-pump-flow-control-valve
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jatco_transmissions
https://www.marklines.com/en/report_all/wsw0012_201408
https://youtu.be/CDWVwDcb8zI?t=858 - Disassembly of a Suzuki CVT7 unit (Russian), comparison of two forward Low Brake hubs.
https://www.carscoops.com/2016/03/opel-adds-affordable-easytronic-30/ - Automated Manual Transmission.

Revision history

2020-07-29: Initial version.

2020-07-30: Formatting, add info on why deteriorated fluid slips, remove wording comparing to manual transmission, add u/glassgypsy campaign letter link.

2020-07-31: Add why fluid pump would fail, adjust wording, move campaign letter photo link to the body (mobile reddit displays first link as the hero image). Add sources.

2020-08-02: Add reference to CVT disassembly video from Gen 2 vehicle, mention sun gear fault from transmissiondigest. Add video of Suzuki CVT7 disassembly. Mention that cooling loop within a radiator leak may cause CVT failure.

2020-08-02.2: Correct that the Low Brake Hub is reinforced on Gen 2 after looking at the stop frames of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxTvhJdXjX4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n7Xxu5g-s and using the comparison at https://youtu.be/CDWVwDcb8zI?t=858.

2020-08-02.3: Add info on AMT in Opel Karl, correct typos, state the pressure transfer is the main purpose, add blackstone labs report.

2020-08-04: Add info on belt/pulley wear as the (apparently) main failure point. Relocate Footnote into Closing notes.

Inside the Spark: Why Your Spark is Slow - It's the Engine

Roman Yepishev — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 10:09:11 GMT

This post originally appeared on Reddit.

I've been meaning to look into the performance of MY2016 spark for the past two years, so I finally sat down, went through the documents and used a wonderful site https://www.carspecs.us/calculator/0-60 to finally come to the conclusion.

Before we start, note that I am in no way a car enthusiast, so if you see glaring omissions or errors, please comment, and again this is specific to MY2016+, earlier model years have different engines and, probably, transmissions.

Anyway, the conclusion is:

Your Chevrolet Spark is slow because it has a relatively low power engine and it weighs a lot (for good reasons).

Let's look at the engine first.

Front of GM LV7 Inline 4 1.4L (1.399 cc) Engine

Great, very shiny. Now let's look at the specs.

Based on SAE Power Certification Form, GM LV7 as tested in M2xx model (Sparks 2016+) has the following numbers for power output in horses:

Rated Speed	Rated Output	Measured Speed	Measured Output
6200	98	6200	97.65

The speed is in revolutions per minute, and the cluster shows that number in the tachometer on the left.

Full fuel gauge, tachometer showing 0x1000 RPM at standstill.

So, in order for the engine to be at peak performance it needs to operate at 6200 RPM, which is almost at the redline.

Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine.

-- Wikipedia

So we are not getting 98hp at all times when driving around. Additionally, the designed specification of 98hp is calculated when engine is not even inside the car, so we'll sustain some power loss by driving alternator which keeps the lights on, AC, which keeps you cool, CVT which attempts to assist engine to run at maximum performance at every wheel speed, CV joints, and heavy rims and tires rotating.

Combining all that gives impression of less than 98hp on the ground. I could not find the numbers for that.

Q: When I am accelerating, I hear the engine roar like a fighter jet, but the car does not match the performance of the engine, isn't that Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) making it slow?

A: Well yes, but actually no.

While a manual transmission should give you the ability ability to shift gears in a more performant fashion, I consider the difference of half a second on a 10 second run to be negligible (if times at https://autofiles.com/0-60-times/chevrolet/spark/ can be trusted).

Manual transmission weights about ~60 lb (30kg) less than CVT according to https://media.chevrolet.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/vehicles/spark/2016.tab1.html, so it should be slightly faster (provided that the operator is skillful, as somebody who has never learned to drive a stick I can't go into any more details).

I don't have a good standalone picture of Jatco CVT7 installed in Sparks (presumably, JF015e), so here's the bit from Jatco Ltd. Environmental & Social report 2015:

Jatco CVT7 with parts of housing removed, belt and pulleys are exposed on the right.

Q: Can Spark accelerate quicker?

A: Not with the current engine.

Given the footprint of Spark, installing a bigger internal combustion engine is out of the question. Spark EV manages to accelerate to 60mph whole 3 seconds faster than the ICE variant, while being ~550 lb (~250 kg) heavier due to the battery pack.

It is possible to use a turbocharger with an engine of similar displacement, https://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-engines/luv/ lists LUJ and LUV engines installed in Cruze, Trax, Sonic, and Buick Encore to produce 138hp, 38% more than the engine installed in the Spark. So they will be faster off the line, but that needs to be engineered.

Q: But why does the engine roar on acceleration?

A: Engine is switched to the highest power output possible while transmission is doing the conversion of the constant engine power into increasing wheel speed.

Q: Why does it sound like it is shifting gears?

A: First of all, there are two gears related to shifting in this CVT:

It normally shifts from low to high gear at about 27 MPH (43.4 km/h) in drive, during takeoff and after coming to a stop.

-- Gears Magazine

This is done to allow more torque at low speed to aid in starting from a standstill, and then switching to high gear for regular driving. Spark CVTs are notoriously bad at switching to the low gear if you decelerate too quickly, so that's why sometimes it feels like the car just doesn't move when you step on the gas after abrupt stop. So coast to the stop to feel that sweet low gear torque. Also you may have CVT fluid deterioration that prevents proper clutch/belt engagement - see https://gm-techlink.com/?p=10118, contrary to what the "normal" usage says in the manual, these CVTs are serviceable and will have degraded performance over time if fluid is not changed.

Oh, the sound of shifting a few gears when you go "pedal to the metal"?

Because CVTs have no fixed gears, drivers do not experience the gear-by-gear stepping-up sensation of traditional automatic transmissions -- only a smooth and steady increase in engine revolutions. To an uninitiated driver, the transmission could sound like it is stuck in a single gear.

-- Auto News

So Jatco added simulated gear switch by adjusting pulley ratios in steps on harsh acceleration. I could not find any sources discussing the change in efficiency due to the simulated shifts, so I assume it is negligible.

Q: What weights so much in the car?

A: Everything - top Spark 2LT weighs at 2,312 lb (1048kg), and has a lot of safety equipment, structures to protect the driver and occupants in case of crash.

Over-inflated Spark 2016

All the systems that make the car go and stop, all the infotainment and seats. All the windows and that spare tire in the back. It all adds up to a hefty weight.

Having driven with 3 people in the car and a cooler full of stuff in the trunk I was surprised to experience dramatically diminished power during uphill parts of the route and increased stopping distance due to added weight.

Once the car is rolling at the target speed, it is quite good. Please remember that after 50mph the wind resistance becomes an important factor too:

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 50 mph.

You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying an additional $0.15 per gallon for gas.

Observing the speed limit is also safer.

-- fueleconomy.gov

Even though spark is rated Good in crash tests - IIHS, collision with a bigger vehicle at high speed may not result in a good outcome for the occupants of the smaller car.

So, be safe and enjoy your smooth (albeit slow) acceleration.

Inside Spark: Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning

Roman Yepishev — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 09:31:09 GMT

This post was originally published on Reddit.

The following is based on official service documentation, personal experience and research driven by desire to know every little bit about this first car of mine. Sharing this because it may be interesting if this is your first car, but it may explain things in general. This post is specific to US MY2016+ models.

TL;DR: Air in the car generally:

is sucked in through the vents from under the windshield,
into the compartment behind the glove box,
through the filter which you should regularly replace,
then blower motor turbine,
through an “Evaporator Core” if AC is present,
a “Heater Core”,
the vents into the main cabin,
and goes outside through the pressure valve in the trunk area.

Now, details.

Starting from the front, the vents for air intake are under the windshield. They should be clean of the leaves and other objects as the HVAC system will not run properly if the airflow is restricted. When, however, something does fall into these vents, a Cabin Air Filter will stop it.

This filter (GM# 42666227 at the time of writing) should be replaced regularly, the manual suggests every two years or 22,500 miles max. You get dust, sand, leaves, twigs, insects, and other debris sucked in, which slowly clogs the filter pores. Filter MSRP is ~$24 and easy to replace, provided you have the right 7mm hex socket (9/32" is close enough) screwdriver and about half an hour to fiddle with the bolts.

Note, that it is possible to get a different filter, say Bosch 6039C HEPA filter, but my experience with that (apart from driving for a month with a strong chemical odor) is that due to increased density of the filtering material, blower motor struggles to push the air, and AC became less efficient. It does filter better, but I reverted to the OEM version.

Both AC Evaporator Core and Heater Core sit in the middle of the dashboard near the floor, that is why you hear liquid noises coming from inside the dashboard.

AC Evaporator gets liquid refrigerant from an AC compressor installed in the engine compartment on the passenger side. The latter drives the AC compressor by a belt, so AC will not work if the engine is not running. AC compressor then connects to a Condenser which sits at the bottom of the main engine cooling radiator and cools down the refrigerant that has just taken heat out of the passenger cabin.

AC Evaporator both cools down the air and removes moisture due to condensation (vapor turns into liquid when it is in contact with colder surface), water then drips outside through a drain hose on the left side of the passenger foot well. That hose goes into the engine compartment and drips water under the car. Since the AC compressor also becomes cold due to cold refrigerant, condensed atmospheric water will also be dripping down the compressor itself.

This is where the musky odor comes from – since the AC Evaporator Core becomes wet due to condensation, bacteria grows on the tubes and fins and may produce various unpleasant smells. Official manual provides a way of cleaning – taking apart the whole system and wash the AC Evaporator Core in vinegar and water, while a Service Bulletin (superseded by 99-01-39-004I, but has similar instructions) suggests dealerships to use a special cleaner to cover the coil with a "coil coating", or enable the “Afterblow” mode. I was not able to confirm the presence of the feature in MY2016 spark, so a separate module installation is needed if you want that feature - see the bulletin. It is the same process as turning off AC and leaving the blower on for some time (or until the from the vents stops being moist) to dry the evaporator core and limit the amount of moisture bacteria uses to grow.

Heater Core on the other hand is part of the Engine cooling system, circulating the engine coolant which is hot when the engine is hot. There is no auxiliary heating system in Sparks, so when set to “heat”, the air will be as cold as outside until the engine heats up. If your model has heated seats and steering wheel, I envy you 😊- those things are powered by electrical system and will work regardless of the engine temperature.

AC and the heater can run together to remove moisture from the air and heat it back up to some comfortable temperature, which is exactly how defogging setting works. There is nothing wrong about running the AC and heater at the same time when you want dry and warm cabin air.

The air can run in recirculated mode which is enabled by pressing the blower speed button (marked as ), in this case a valve located above the filter flips to a different position, sucking the air from behind the dashboard on the passenger side. This allows to rapidly heat or cool down the cabin or minimize amount of odor or smoke that’s coming inside the car from the outside.

The pressure valve in the rear center of the trunk under the latch and provides a path for the air to leave back to the outside world.

This concludes the post and I hope provides insight into how this system works in general. If you find something to be wrong, let me know.

2016-2017 BYOM2 Infotainment update

Roman Yepishev — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 18:21:51 GMT

This post originally appeared on Reddit.

Just a heads up that if you bought your 2016 Chevrolet Spark before May 2017, then the LG BYOM2 infotainment system can be updated by your dealer to the 05.02.2017 build to:

Fix Android Auto audio and voice (navigation prompt) stream separation, so that you'll be able to set music and navigation volume separately.
Fix loss of Bluetooth audio at the start of stream (very noticeable in navigation, turning "In 1 mile turn right" into just "e turn right").
No longer show the second USB input in source list.
Remove simultaneous CarPlay/Android Auto mode (not sure whether that's an upgrade).
Possibly other fixes.

BYOM2 - Bring Your Own Media v2 system was running on Sparks from 2016 to 2018, then replaced for model year 2019 by INFO3 system running a version of Android.

Dell OS Recovery Tool Under Linux Mini-HOWTO

Roman Yepishev — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 23:34:13 GMT

This post originally appeared as a Github Gist.

Since I was unable to find a specific answer to how can one create a Dell recovery disk from within Linux, I decided to write the steps here.

If you write the CD image directly to the USB drive (or create a new partition and write it there), the laptop will not boot. You need your USB media to be in FAT32 format with the contents of the recovery ISO.

Download the recovery ISO from the support section of Dell website.
Insert a USB Drive with enough capacity to hold the contents of the ISO image.

Format the drive and create a filesystem where $USB_DEVICE is your USB drive (check with fdisk -l, it may be something like /dev/sdb):

# parted $USB_DEVICE
(parted) mklabel msdos
(parted) mkpart primary fat32 0% 100%
(parted) quit
# mkfs.vfat -n DellRestore ${USB_DEVICE}1

Copy the contents of the ISO file to the new FAT32 partition:

# mkdir /mnt/{source,target}
# mount -o loop,ro ~/Downloads/2DF4FA00_W10x64ROW_pro\(DL\)_v3.iso /mnt/source
# mount ${USB_DEVICE}1 /mnt/target
# rsync -r /mnt/source/. /mnt/target/
# umount /mnt/source
# umount /mnt/target

Reboot and start your machine from the USB drive.

This should have been obvious, but I've spent a few hours testing various ways to boot from that ISO (unetbootin, writing the image directlry to drive, writing to first partition), so I hope it is going to be useful to somebody else as well.

Dell Inspiron 13" 7378 Logbook

Roman Yepishev — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 23:33:32 GMT

Specs

Dell Inspiron 13-7378
Intel ® Core ™ i7-7500U CPU @ 2.7 GHz
16 GB RAM of DDR 4.
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (10.0.14393)
Premium Support, Complete Care, and Onsite Service package.

Current status: Laptop is fully operational.

Issues

Display flickering, complete freeze when moved, gap between LCD panel and top cover, grinding fan noise.

Fixes

Laptop 1: Display flickering. MB, LCD Panel, IO Cables replaced, chassis issues, audio and sensors broke, exchanged.

Laptop 2: Display flickering, completely locks up if moved. LCD Panel replaced, MB replaced, locks up on any key pressure (when Intel drivers are running), won't return to working state on reboot until powercycled enough times. Disassembled the laptop and put electrical tape over the "bumps" under the motherboard. Fan and heatsink replaced, attempted to replace LCD panel again due to brightness gradient, the "new" panel had all bottom clips broken.

Log

2017-02-22 Wednesday

Laptop appeared at the office. Box is light. While soft-touch coating of carbon fiber of XPS13 was more pleasant, I remember how Macbook was OK to work with, so aluminum was not an issue.

Checked specs prior to configuration and they appeared to match.

Installed Bash on Ubuntu on Windows and it felt weird.

rye@DESKTOP-L8C8AF5:/mnt/c/Users/rye$ uname -a 
Linux DESKTOP-L8C8AF5 3.4.0+ #1 PREEMPT Thu Aug 1 17:06:05 CST 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Played with various screen configurations.

The laptop stand from Amazon turned out to be quite unstable, since the screen seems to be a bit heavier than what the designers used as a reference for the stand. It did not work well for 14" and 15" laptops, so there may not have been extensive testing performed.

2017-02-23 Thursday

Graphics artifacts started in the lower part of the screen causing around 100ms of distortion on the screen right after Edge loaded web.whatsapp.com. Could be easily reproduced by scrolling through the conversation history. Took video.

Performed full DELL test suite for all the components. Saw the device to be quite a slow one in 3D scenes, but it seems to be OK for everything else.

Fans are noticeable and you can hear change in tone if you rotate the laptop while the fan is running. On the other hand, compared to my E420, this laptop does not use its fan at all.

Late in the evening I decided to look inside to check for any loose cables for the screen. I removed all the screws, but was not able to lift the bottom cover on all 4 sides. Remembering how my E420 clips broke and how I've spent an hour gluing them back, I decided to abort the disassembly, scratched a few screws and decided to collect more data before contacting support.

2017-02-24 Friday

Received a USB to Ethernet adapter.

Figured out how to fix missing Search suggestion in Settings. Wrote details on answers.microsoft.com.

Updated PowerShell profile to have a new prompt. Learned about the beep in the console - Set-PSReadlineOption -BellStyle None.

Installed VisualStudio.

2017-02-25 Saturday

Tested USB to Ethernet adapter. Was surprised that USB3.0 plug would not completely fit into USB2.0 socket, but will fully enter USB3.0 one. Speeds were the same on both interface since the uplink is capped to 60MBit/s anyway.

Installed Visual Studio Code, Hack Typeface. Hack installer hung while restarting the FontCache3.0.0.

Connected Laptop to external display via HDMI to reproduce the screen artifact. Could not reproduce anything. Disconnected laptop from the screen after 6 hours and artifacts reappeared, now in full-screen mode (suggesting the cable suddenly moved completely out of socket?).

Connecting the laptop to the screen immediately stopped artifacts from happening. Also switching into tablet mode stopped artifacts. No amount of light tapping on the place where the cable supposedly was helped, suggesting I am dealing with an actual hardware/software issue and not just my imagination.

Registered the device for Dell Support, found that warranty status is "Currently Unavailable", "Valid until 2020", or "Out of warranty" depending on where to look.

Contacted @DellCares on Twitter, asked about the warranty status. They suggested there is a glitch on the website causing the warranty status to be incorrect, but assured me I am good till 2020.

Downloaded updated Intel Drivers (win64_154514.4590.exe) from Intel Web Site. Removed the existing Dell drivers for intel HD 620, installed the Intel ones.

Upon reboot, Windows Defender Process went crazy for about an hour. Process does not seem to write logs, cannot be controlled via service panel due to Administrator not having enough permissions.

This caused the laptop to sound as a tiny vacuum cleaner and feel quite hot to the touch on the back of the device.

After the service stopped pegging CPU I found that igfxext.exe process keeps respawning. No useful information online about the process. Found that it is a part of Intel Common User Interface service.

Restarted into Safe Mode, renamed the offending .exe to .exe.disabled, started in normal mode again. No respawning and apparently no errors in the error log. Parent service seems to be "Intel (R) HD Graphics Control Panel Service". Disabled the service just in case.

2017-02-26 Sunday

Driver update did not help. Screen started tearing again. Removed Intel drivers, reverted to Dell-provided ones. No issue with control panel service after reboot.

Warranty status is still "Temporarily Unavailable" in the Dell Support app.

Updated BIOS from 1.3 to 1.5.1.

SSD Update appeared to be "Urgent", but the laptop already runs the latest version.

BIOS update did not help as the flickering reappeared.

Sent the screenshot of the fault and extremely compressed video to @DellCares over Twitter, and they got my contact information, shipping address and said:

Once the onsite technician procures the part, he will contact you in the next 1-2 business days to schedule an appointment for the service. Please be informed the service is subjected to part availability.^AV

Additionally asked to test whether running on AC affects whether the screen is flickering. Based on my tests connecting the AC does not have any effect.

The support website still suggests my laptop is out of warranty.

2017-02-27 Monday

Received the bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

Flickering reappeared while laptop was idling and did not change with network or bluetooth switches.

2017-02-28 Tuesday

Received a message that Laptop now has warranty, checked and it really does.

@DellCares notified me that the replacement motherboard is expected to arrive in 27 days, but they are working on expediting the process and I should hear back from them in 48 hours.

2017-03-01 Wednesday

Suddenly March.

Device continues to flicker.

Got a call from local Dell contractor. Expected time to arrival at the office is 4PM onwards.

No idea what's going to be replaced though.

The tech did not arrive, but promised to call back tomorrow.

Purchased and installed FL Studio Mobile from App Store (Basically, Fruity Loops, but completely different). The convertible form-factor works quite well with the keyboard. MIDI stops working after some idle time, but that's not a showstopper. Also tested the headphone jack which also appears to be working fine.

2017-03-02 Thursday

Oh boy oh boy.

Brought laptop to work, tech arrived on time and suggested to look into software configuration issues. Found that there is a bulletin about brightness sensor (I have that?) can cause screen to flicker. Disabled the adaptive brightness. Thankfully display decided to flicker anyway.

Continued troubleshooting and changed the resolution on the device to a lower one, and was about to get going, but the screen STARTED TO FLICKER. I was happy it was reproducible, and he continued to claim it was a software issue.

He called Dell and asked for further instructions. He was sent a box 3 times the size of the box my laptop arrived in with parts for the laptop. Dell support instructed him to proceed with replacing EVERYTHING that they've sent.

And so he replaced:

Motherboard
LCD Panel
LCD Back
IO Cables

In the end, things did not look great - the LCD panel did not properly match the back so it was constantly popping out first when you switch to a tablet mode, and anytime I attempted to open the laptop.

Bitlocker system was happily blocking access to the hard drive, but I had the recovery key and contrary to what the UI says, you can use numerical keys :)

Now, the laptop stopped being able to resume from suspend-to-RAM. Like. Completely. Windows had nothing in the event log, only that last restart was unexpected. No interesting messages right before suspend.

Additionally, sound stopped working. The laptop would only produce 200ms of sound data over a second through the speakers, but will be able to send streams to the bluetooth device and wired headset. What's more concerning is that the clicking noises continued in UEFI setup mode after restart, so something went really wrong in the driver department to persist the issue through a restart.

The tech contacted Dell requesting a new LCD panel and told them about new issues encountered. Dell support technician (on the phone) asked me whether I am OK to ship the device to the repair depot where they are going to do all the fixing again. I just received a message from the friend encouraging me to inquire about a laptop replacement. Considering that the current "iteration" of my laptop has only power board, keyboard and hard drive from the old one, that is essentially a new laptop, yet with even more unknowns.

After 5 minutes on hold Dell support technician agreed to send a replacement laptop built to the same specs, which should… well, it should arrive.

Upon arrival, the ~~original~~ frankenstein-monster laptop will need to be shipped back to the Dell land.

Dell support on twitter was stellar. Too bad the hardware is flawed. Anyway, I still have warranty, and replacements, and I LOVE this laptop, so won't initiate full return.

I want to see how it works out.

My Lenovo E420 still works, but I am using it less and less.

Dell updater fetched data BIOS to the latest version. Resume started working, audio pretended to start working.

But at this point the replacement is already in progress.

Remaining known problems:

Incompatible LCD panel/back setup
Bent bottom cover causing the grill to have 1mm space from the top part.
Bent hinge mount point (aluminium, probably during reassembly).

So the laptop definitely needs a LCD screen replacement and unspecified change in bottom cover.

Something weird is happening to the LED at the front of the lower part. It keeps blinking (looks like a HDD activity). No idea how it was supposed to behave. Found the following in the documentation:

Fn+H: Toggle between power and battery status light/hard-drive activity light

Switched back to power mode.

2017-03-03 Friday

Found the reason the bottom cover has a new gap near the grille - 3 of 4 clips that were holding the cover were broken during disassembly. There is a plastic frame attached to the aluminium bottom cover and all the clips are plastic. I am glad I did not proceed with disassembly originally since I would have definitely broken these. The repair manual shows the proper sequence of unclipping and it looks like it was not followed completely.

The periodic 1s sound clicks returned, all drivers are up to date and BIOS is the newest shiny version. "Popping" sound appears right after system startup and continues until the login screen. If you plug in the headphones, audio works correctly there. How can you break only one audio output path?

Additionally, the tablet mode rotation no longer works. The system switches into tablet mode and disables the keyboard, but display will not rotate with rotation lock disabled.

A closer look at the work performed by technician revealed that not only clips were damaged near the grill, but also the wifi cable was improperly tucked into the hinge causing the case to slowly eat through the shield on every open/close/switch to tablet mode.

While trying to watch a video via my projector setup we found that HDMI audio is not available. Dell website suddenly released an updated Intel video driver (21.20.16.4574_A03) which (surprise, surprise!) made HDMI video working again.

Contacted @DellCares to check whether there was actually a replacement request put in (I had no reference number), and they have updated the support request with my email. I hope I'll be able to see the updates shortly.

I am reconsidering my words to the tech that I was pleased with the work performed. Broken clips and improperly routed cable would have most likely been fixed by the Dell Repair facility, but as a former support engineer I can't see how I would have not assumed responsibility about the stuff that I actually broke.

2017-03-05 Sunday

Found that the popping sound stops once you disable the audio device in BIOS/UEFI. Unfortunately that also disables the headphones and the built in microphone array. You can still use Bluetooth audio, but, you know, it used to work.

Attempts to use Skype for calls were interrupted by complete system lockup with no logs. Stress test passes without an issue though. Something is broken in the replacement board.

Found AppLocker (a thing that prevents applications from running if they are not added to whitelist) configuration laying around in Windows 10 Pro and assumed it is going to work. Sent a question to @SwiftOnSecurity who forwarded it to people who actually know Windows. Unfortunately, AppLocker appears to be present, but disabled in software: "appidsvc.dll: AppLocker component not available on this SKU."

Found that AppData\Local installation method that some (Chrome/Python) installers support is not really the place for applications. It's just a thing that works for people in locked-down systems.

My Dell Support website started showing my support request and there is an in-progress Call Type "EXG". The specifications of the laptop that is being built is the same.

I am going to include a note with the returned laptop detailing the issues that are present. Unless there is a really simple issue with audio and overall system stability, the motherboard may need to be re-tested extensively.

The lower cover will need to be replaced due to broken clips and the screen assembly will need to be re-paired.

I also found out the memory configuration is 16x1, with max RAM possible at 32GB.

It turns out that Windows assumed that I am on a public network thus incoming TCP connections were filtered. This is a welcome change, but as I was testing the network connectivity, I wanted to continue filtering all but ICMP connections and have the private network. Apparently "Local Group Policy Editor" has quite a few interesting settings and that's where you change the type of network connection.

Firewall configuration can then be updated via Firewall MMC snap-in. My machine does not allow any incoming traffic now but happily replices to PINGs on my WLAN.

2017-03-06 Monday

I was pleased to find out that my replacement laptop is now being built via @DellCares, so the replacement is on its way.

Additionally I started playing around the filesystem looking at files that don't belong and found two encrypted ZIP files produced by LiteOn updating thingie in the root of C: drive.

Password was "LITEONIT" which I found out through running strings on the executable and using the output as dictionary to fcrackzip (I am lazy). Found a few posts online about these files. Posted a reply to a thread that popped up on microsoft answers again.

Installed uBlock Origin for Microsoft Edge. Apparently Microsoft re-implemented Chrome extensions API, so porting extensions is simplified dramatically.

2017-03-08 Wednesday

Received a message from Dell saying that my system is confirmed. Additionally I started receiving lots of ads (>2 per day :) ) for deals and XPS laptops.

2016-03-13 Monday

Had another look at the display failing to keep attached to the top cover. It looks like the cover is slightly bent at the bottom on the left side causing the plastic and metal not to align properly. Still not sure why the bottom and left clips don't match. Given that the original estimate for MB replacement was at the end of the march, I wonder whether those replacement parts were the ones that were not tested properly.

2017-03-14 Tuesday

Got a notification that my system has shipped and should arrive tomorrow.

Checklist:

Display must not pop out when opening the device/switching to tablet mode
Autorotate must work
System must play sound through built-in speakers
Suspend/resume must work
Display must not flicker (not sure how to test it other than continuous monitoring)
Skype call must not hang the system

2017-03-15 Wednesday

And so the waiting begins...

ARRIVED

No return shipping label though.

So far - keyboard has a different feeling to it, nothing pops out and checklist items appear to work.

Asked @DellCares about the shipping label and they have sent me the UPS label by email

But

The

Screen

Started

Flicker

AGAIN

2017-03-16 Thursday

So, working theory is that there is indeed a software issue, unfortunately it is as intermittent as on the original device. Now, the "repaired" laptop does not exhibit these issues, but it has faulty rotation sensor and audio output, which leads me to believe some of these sensors are actually influencing something.

I am going to reimage the device and prevent installation of any drivers by cutting the network communication to the outside world for this device.

Then will selectively proceed with updates.

This is going to be fun.

Stripped down installation, removing all the applications in windows. This also removed the Intel Video driver. Of course, flickering does not happen then. Installing ONLY the Video driver back resumes the flickering.

Running Fedora Live on the same laptop does not cause any visual artifacts. The only issue found so far with Ubuntu is that the multimedia keys (volume up/down) don't produce any events.

2017-03-18 Saturday

Typing from Fedora installation on a Bluetooth keyboard that works. No artifacts. Cool operation. HORRIBLE FONT HANDLING. Fonts specified in pixels are killing my eyesight.

2017-03-26 Sunday

Today during demo of the laptop capabilities to friends of mine I found that I was able to lock the device just by picking it up.

Additionally after a few screen rotations in Fedora I was able to lock up the system as well.

Current working theory is that the accelerometer sensor introduces some noise which locks up the machine and/or causes the screen artifacts. Disabled all the entries under "Sensors".

Can still lock up the machine when USB-C charger (bought separately) gets disconnected or connected. Probably because I have to slightly push the laptop.

At some point after a lockup the system booted into diagnostics mode but it completed successfully.

Will attempt to use Windows for the rest of the weekend to check whether the flickering continues. This does not explain the lockups caused by USB-C adapter usage, but one thing at a time.

List of actions performed for Dell: Troubleshooting.md.

Arranged for a call from Dell to troubleshoot the issue.

2017-03-27 Monday

Picking up the device, while holding it near the left hinge makes it very easy to freeze. Bent motherboard? But why it is hard to freeze without intel drivers? Fedora freezes as well when you transform it into a tablet, but... well, not really conclusive. Also it started on Sat morning, and it was ok on Friday, and laptop was sitting on the table for the most part.

Got a call from Dell an hour into 2 hour window, where we went through all the steps I've taken so far. After about an hour the tech suggested shipping the device to the repair facility.

I am still not giving up on this model, but since an on-site repair and full replacement did not work, it may take a human to troubleshoot the issue with access to the spare parts. If this fails, well, then I will have to ask for a different model. Or a complete refund.

2017-03-28 Tuesday

Shipped the laptop. It should reach the repair center this Friday.

2017-03-30 Thursday

Posted a link to this document to Reddit to increase the visibility about the issues within Inspiron family (the thread is dominated by XPS owners)

2017-03-31 Friday

The laptop was delivered to Dell according to FedEx tracking.

Fixed some glaring spelling issues in the blog post.

2017-04-04 Tuesday

Received an automated call from Dell repair facility telling me that repair is complete and providing the tracking number. Nothing changed on Dell support website.

2017-04-05 Wednesday

Received the laptop (YAY!). The work performed description states "LCD Panel Replaced" and "Driver Installed". While the second item does not make much sense, the first one is interesting. My original repaired laptop had the panel replaced as well.

Does it flicker? Not yet.

Does it hang when moved? Yes.

Sent a message to @DellCares. The device now lives in my peripheral vision, so if it does not start flickering, then the LCD panel is the likely reason for the flickering. We are getting somewhere.

After being on for about 6 hours the laptop started to flicker. We are back to square 1. Screen has nothing to do with the flickering. Since screen comes with its own cable, this also rules out the connector issue.

Motherboard replacement is scheduled for Friday. Also asked for a backup bottom cover should repair damage the clips.

2017-04-07 Friday

Dell Certified Technician arrived with a new motherboard and bottom cover and quickly swapped the motherboard. Device did not start until powercycled several times. Upon startup and going to Windows it locked up as the tech was entering the password.

Powercycled the device, but it did not boot. After a few dozen tries, the tech removed the cover and reseated all the cables. The device booted but hanged again.

Dell Support was engaged on the phone and after a set of troubleshooting steps (laptop does not start without display cable connected or memory, signaling about erro conditions via its LED, diagnostics passes when it is able to boot) suggested to send it to the repair depot.

I contacted @DellCares asking for either a refund or replacement with a different model.

As I was packing the laptop I decided to try disconnecting all the aux components and boot it. I saw the proper way of opening the back, so I opened the laptop, disconnected the speaker, wifi, sensor board, but nothing changed. Wrote to Dell that I don't want to do another Support Depot shipment as the laptop has already been there.

Closed the cover.

An hour later I enumerated all the items that were common among the four laptops and the only thing I haven't checked was the chassis itself.

I opened the laptop again, took the motherboard out and found that:

One of the contact pads on the motherboard was slightly bent (still maintained the ground, I believe, based on the imprint on the case)
There were suspicious bumps that may have at some point got in the contact with the motherboard.

Those bumps are covered by a plastic shield, but for some reason it has holes (to relieve stress?).

It does not look like there is a matching pad on the MB for these bumps to touch.

I taped over these bumps with electrical tape and straightened the ground pad. Reassembled the laptop and it did NOT lock up on boot, I could get through windows configuration. To test the theory I removed the tape and attempted to lock the device via all the ways I knew about but it continued to work fine.

I have yet to see the flickering, but for the past 2 hours the laptop was just wonderful. Notified @DellCares to stop advancing the refund/replacement request for now.

2017-04-08 Saturday

Laptop still works. Added a discussion thread to Dell Community forum.

2017-04-10 Monday

Asked @DellCares to close the support case.

2017-04-29 Friday

During a conference session I noticed a buzzing noise from the laptop fan. It starts silent with only the airflow audible and then gets to the buzz as if there is not enough lubrication.

I also started using laptop in tablet mode with portrait orientation more, and found the top 50 pixels to be darker than the rest of the screen. Originally I really thought to be an effect of Windows 10 (Gnome Shell has a dark bar on top, so it was not visible at all), but now it is obviously an issue with the backlight as if it does not have a reflective border on the top or it is located just a few mm lower than it should.

Since the depot visit the laptop had a small gap between the LCD/frame which I decided to also mention to @DellCares, since it is too easy to pry it open.

2017-05-01 Monday

Read about HiDPI @ Elementary OS blog, suggesting that 1920x1080 @ 13" is a broken configuration:

Oftentimes people ask if elementary OS will support non-integer scaling to cater to users of products with these poor size/resolution combinations. But since half pixels are a lie, its not something were going to do. The manufacturer made a poor decision and sold a bad product. Theres not much we can do to fix that. -- What is HiDPI - Elementary OS - Medium

Oh well, having font sizes specified in pixels and then scaling the number to get fonts into a readable realm is also a broken configuration, IMHO. But the idea is clear. And I may have made a bad choice. Oh well.

2017-05-02 Tuesday

Scheduled a technician visit on Friday, number of people recommending to buy MacBook instead is now 7.

2017-05-17 Friday

Technician arrived (same as the last time, Walter, a very sensible and dedicated person, by the way) with a box of:

Motherboard (OH NOES)
LCD Panel
Top LCD cover
Fan
Heatsink

We decided to forego motherboard replacement (see everything above). He replaced fan and started working on LCD panel when he noticed the cover and new panel does not stick together. He noticed there were clips broken on the bottom and I was able to confirm 2 bottom clips were broken on the panel received from the repair Depot.

The fan started grinding during diagnostics. Originally I thought the backplate is to blame, but we removed the cover and it was still grinding on low RPMs.

I agreed to another Depot trip for the laptop, mentioning that motherboard should not be replaced unless absolutely necessary

I can no longer recommend Dell Inspiron 7378 :)

2017-06-01 Thursday

My laptop with a replacement screen and bottom cover was shipped over and it works as good as it gets.