Windows 10 update interfering with ARCS charts in SeaClear

[BlueChip]

I've got a HP micro PC on board running Seaclear software and the latest ARCS charts from a dongle supplied by Visit My Harbour
After the latest major Windows 10 update a couple of weeks ago the charts no longer load although SeaClear is running ok, rolling back to the previous Windows 10 version all is well again.
Installing the Windows 10 update once again stopped charts loading. Ive reproduced the problem on my desktop PC, so its not a PC problem.
So, I've rolled back and stopped Windows updating for 30 days, but after this time I have no choice but to update again.
I don't see anyway of preventing it updating other than disconnecting from the internet, which I cannot do, in any case I want to keep up to date.

I've spoken to the techies at Visit My Harbour but they tell me they don't have any experience of Windows 10 so cannot offer any suggestions how to get around this.
Has anyone else come across this problem and can offer a solution or suggestion?

 

[Hoolie]

It might be a graphics drivers problem, though I can't see how that would prevent charts loading at all. Try checking the driver status before/after W10 update.

I have two PCs with Intel graphic chipsets that regularly get the drivers wiped by W10 updates. My solution is to reload the latest W7 drivers from Intel - they work well under W10.

ps Have you any other software that could use the charts, like OpenCPN for instance? At least you could tell whether it's the dongle or your ancient Seaclear s/w.

 

[Sandy]

My wife has an issue with a Windows 10 update and Excel spreadsheets so it is not just Visit My Harbour. I am still on Windows 7 and have no plans to upgrade any time soon.

 

[sailorman]

I've got a HP micro PC on board running Seaclear software and the latest ARCS charts from a dongle supplied by Visit My Harbour
After the latest major Windows 10 update a couple of weeks ago the charts no longer load although SeaClear is running ok, rolling back to the previous Windows 10 version all is well again.
Installing the Windows 10 update once again stopped charts loading. Ive reproduced the problem on my desktop PC, so its not a PC problem.
So, I've rolled back and stopped Windows updating for 30 days, but after this time I have no choice but to update again.
I don't see anyway of preventing it updating other than disconnecting from the internet, which I cannot do, in any case I want to keep up to date.

I've spoken to the techies at Visit My Harbour but they tell me they don't have any experience of Windows 10 so cannot offer any suggestions how to get around this.
Has anyone else come across this problem and can offer a solution or suggestion?

W10 udates can be a real arse, one would think that the world leader in PC software could actually design a programme that ran trouble free
unplug all unnecessary usb connection & try again, it took me many attempts

 

[BlueChip]

W10 udates can be a real arse, one would think that the world leader in PC software could actually design a programme that ran trouble free
unplug all unnecessary usb connection & try again, it took me many attempts

I do have a number of USB devices connected, wireless keyboard/mouse, chart dongle, RS232 interface, external WiFi interface, USB memory. I suppose it's possible there could be a conflict with one of those, but unlikely as I've reproduced the problem on my office desktop.

 

[Hoolie]

I'm not familiar with VMH charts but do they have chart viewer you can use to check the dongle works?

 

[BlueChip]

I'm not familiar with VMH charts but do they have chart viewer you can use to check the dongle works?

If I roll back the Windows version upgrade to the previous release, without changing anything else the dongle works fine.

 

[Hoolie]

OK, can you check with some other software - I recommend OpenCPN - that the dongle works with the latest W10 update. IIRC SeaClear was developed for use with Windows 98 and I think you may be on borrowed time using it.

 

[BlueChip]

That's a very good idea, unfortunately I left the dongle on the boat today so I wont be able to do any checking for a couple of weeks
I like the simplicity and AIS overlay of Seaclear and having used it for many years I'm very comfortable with it, but I accept it's time to investigate a change and if that is what it takes to get this running ok, I'll go for it.

 

[Hoolie]

You should try OpenCPN. It's not by any means as simple to use as Seaclear but the default settings are generally good to go, particularly AIS.

TBH I would have blamed the dongle interface, but since no-one else seems to have the problem that's unlikely. Good luck !

 

[Little Dorrit]

I've got a HP micro PC on board running Seaclear software and the latest ARCS charts from a dongle supplied by Visit My Harbour
After the latest major Windows 10 update a couple of weeks ago the charts no longer load although SeaClear is running ok, rolling back to the previous Windows 10 version all is well again.
Installing the Windows 10 update once again stopped charts loading. Ive reproduced the problem on my desktop PC, so its not a PC problem.
So, I've rolled back and stopped Windows updating for 30 days, but after this time I have no choice but to update again.
I don't see anyway of preventing it updating other than disconnecting from the internet, which I cannot do, in any case I want to keep up to date.

I've spoken to the techies at Visit My Harbour but they tell me they don't have any experience of Windows 10 so cannot offer any suggestions how to get around this.
Has anyone else come across this problem and can offer a solution or suggestion?

You may get some clues here which is the VMH response to an email I sent asking for help. I have the charts installed on my hard drive but the same solution may help you too. Oops just checked the link they sent me http://www.visitmyharbour.com/w10-update-problems.asp and it's no longer working???

 

[Ruffles]

Tried running as admin?

 

[mickbond]

I downloaded a small utility called
Win Update Stop v1.3
It let's you select from a small desktop form if windows should update. It has no time limit and has worked for me. Worth a google

 

[BlueChip]

You may get some clues here which is the VMH response to an email I sent asking for help. I have the charts installed on my hard drive but the same solution may help you too. Oops just checked the link they sent me http://www.visitmyharbour.com/w10-update-problems.asp and it's no longer working???

That's interesting. I wrote to UKHO earlier and they said they couldnt get involved but were aware the VMH were investigating and gave me this link which led to a statement this morning that they were looking at it, but that info has now gone from the link . http://www.visitmyharbour.com/gps-to-seaclear-how-to.asp

At least there is some action now and I suppose they will resolve it in time, when I spoke to them on the phone they were pretty dismissive as if it was no big deal and I was the only one to come across it.

 

[BlueChip]

I downloaded a small utility called
Win Update Stop v1.3
It let's you select from a small desktop form if windows should update. It has no time limit and has worked for me. Worth a google

Thanks, that should at least be a temporary solution and make sure I don't lose all my charts when I'm away.

 

[ianj99]

I prefer the Belfield Chart Plotter for using ARCS, it has very seamless and automatic chart selection as you scroll or zoom and costs just £69.95 inc all 800 charts.

http://www.chartsandtides.co.uk/chartplotter I suggest you try the demo - you will be pleasantly surprised and Keith Belfield provides excellent support.

I also use Memory Map on my Samsung S6 but its inferior to the Belfield.

 

[Overner]

Steve from VMH here, couple of points:

Charts for SeaClear are NOT ARCS. .totally different, nothing to do with UKHO other than they're licensed. They are a legacy product, been selling for many years (since 2012) without problems. We don't sell many now, and not many people are affected, as users often have older OS, like W7.


We haven't had the time yet to get to the bottom of this problem (caused by Microsoft), but I've got a feeling this won't be solved by anything we can patch.

SeaClear product is not the only thing breaking with this update. Just like a few years ago, a W10 update broke existing USB GPSs.. this update seems to have broken Bluetooth GPSs. It's left our Don in a pickle up in Scotland with no working plotter. He was using a Linx 10-10, plus Unified Charts and openCPN. His Bluetooth GPS which was working just fine..now won't work at all. Seems to pair up OK, but openCPN can't get an NMEA stream from it. We've sent him a Sony Xperia tablet...

We've pulled SeaClear DVD from Ebay for the moment, and noted on VMH that it's not suitable for W10, but still fine on older OS.

Anyone who purchased in 2018 and has had their installation ruined by Windows, we'll try and help by moving them to Unified Charts by download (which also work with SeaClear). It's a real shame as "Charts for SeaClear" has been a great introduction to electronic navigation over the years.

I guess the lesson to be learned (and should have been learned when they first ruined USB GPSs a couple of years ago), is that you can't trust W10 as a mission critical navigating system. Uncontrolled updates can and do break things. I suppose the solution would be to have separate navigating PC/tablet that is never connected to the internet, and tested thoroughly before setting off anywhere.

2018 purchasers of Charts for SeaClear who have had their installations broken by Microsoft W10 update best contact VMH direct. Can't answer PMs or posts

 

[BlueChip]

Steve from VMH here, couple of points:

Charts for SeaClear are NOT ARCS. .totally different, nothing to do with UKHO other than they're licensed. They are a legacy product, been selling for many years (since 2012) without problems. We don't sell many now, and not many people are affected, as users often have older OS, like W7.


We haven't had the time yet to get to the bottom of this problem (caused by Microsoft), but I've got a feeling this won't be solved by anything we can patch.

SeaClear product is not the only thing breaking with this update. Just like a few years ago, a W10 update broke existing USB GPSs.. this update seems to have broken Bluetooth GPSs. It's left our Don in a pickle up in Scotland with no working plotter. He was using a Linx 10-10, plus Unified Charts and openCPN. His Bluetooth GPS which was working just fine..now won't work at all. Seems to pair up OK, but openCPN can't get an NMEA stream from it. We've sent him a Sony Xperia tablet...

We've pulled SeaClear DVD from Ebay for the moment, and noted on VMH that it's not suitable for W10, but still fine on older OS.

Anyone who purchased in 2018 and has had their installation ruined by Windows, we'll try and help by moving them to Unified Charts by download (which also work with SeaClear). It's a real shame as "Charts for SeaClear" has been a great introduction to electronic navigation over the years.

I guess the lesson to be learned (and should have been learned when they first ruined USB GPSs a couple of years ago), is that you can't trust W10 as a mission critical navigating system. Uncontrolled updates can and do break things. I suppose the solution would be to have separate navigating PC/tablet that is never connected to the internet, and tested thoroughly before setting off anywhere.

2018 purchasers of Charts for SeaClear who have had their installations broken by Microsoft W10 update best contact VMH direct. Can't answer PMs or posts

The reason I'm using the dongle charts is that the Unified charts wouldn't work on my HP PC and gave a security certificate error.

 

[saab]

You may get some clues here which is the VMH response to an email I sent asking for help. I have the charts installed on my hard drive but the same solution may help you too. Oops just checked the link they sent me http://www.visitmyharbour.com/w10-update-problems.asp and it's no longer working???

I guess they would prefer you to buy more charts from them than tell you what might fix it then

 

[Refueler]

I stumbled upon your post and wanted to help you out even though it's an old thread. It's frustrating when a Windows update causes problems with other software, but luckily there are some things you can try to get around it. One option is to see if there are any updates or patches for SeaClear that may address compatibility issues with the latest Windows update.

I am friends with Seaclear Author and there are no updates or changes to Seaclear since Vers 2 - which brought it to Windows 95 and up. Some may knock Seaclear for its age - but its worth noting that Olle wrote it for his own use, and offers it Free to download ... he was way ahead of many other packages in having multi NMEA feed and passthru - allowing AIS etc to be displayed.... as well as Auto Pilot control ..

I run Seaclear on various platforms - right up to and incl Win 7 - 8 - 10 and 11 ......

Note that Seaclear is a 32bit application ....

The most likely reason for the OP's failure is the Update to Win 10 interfering with the Dongle .... as Seaclear runs fine on all my updated PC's but I don't need or use Dongles.