[This was a question asked in the recent thread about the new
WeatherlinkIP logger but since it's about the Weatherlink software
rather than the new IP logger hardware, let me pull it out into a
separate thread.]

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:51:39 -0800 (PST),
wrote:
... heard from a couple of users that it [Weatherlink v5.8.0] has
caused a few problems eg didnt recognise their station etc ?

OK, I have now seen a single reference on another forum to a problem
that someone has experienced with WL580. It's actually rather a
confused post but let me describe the effect as best I can:

There's one further new feature introduced in WL580 beyond its main
purpose of compatibility with the WeatherlinkIP logger. This other new
feature is intended specifically for use with the USB version of the
logger (6510USB).

In the past, for the Weatherlink software to get data from a 6510USB
logger, a separate USB 'driver' has had to be loaded which essentially
presents the USB data on a virtual COM port for the previous versions
of the WL software to communicate through. This has always been a
slightly messy solution, though it works well enough.

With WL580 this USB driver functionality has now been effectively
included within the WL program itself so there should be no need to
load a separate driver. Instead, on the expanded 'Communications Port'
set-up dialogue there is simply an option to select USB as the logger
type.

The issue that's been reported is not that there's anything wrong at
all with using this option, but that if you do select it then there's
not currently any successful way of going back to the old way of doing
things (ie with a separate COM port driver). Why might you want to go
back if the new way works perfectly well? Well, one reason might be if
you are running third-party software such as Weather Display which has
no way of reading the USB data directly - ie it must use the virtual
COM port approach - and you were just taking a look at WL580.

I think this reported inability to reinstate the USB driver way of
doing things is a bug pure and simple which should be easy to remedy
and I'd expect a utility to do this to appear fairly quickly. But in
the meantime, if you use the USB logger and routinely run third party
software such as Weather Display software then don't be tempted to
look at WL580 via the direct USB option until the revised utility is
posted. (Looking at WL580 using the virtual COM port driver should be
fine but you won't find anything new other than expanded set-up
dialogues and a couple of minor bug fixes.)

For anyone else, WL580 should work OK. In fact if you use 6510USB with
the Weatherlink software and are also unlucky enough to have
encountered the USB port dropout issue then there's some suggestion
that the direct USB interface into WL580 may help resolve this
problem.

John Dann
www.weatherstations.co.uk