Ciclosport HAC4 USB problem

lens said:

I just got a new HAC4 with a USB PC interface. It will not talk to my PC (New Sony with WinXP). I have loaded all the software and with I plug in the the HAC4 and cradle, the PC seems to recognize the new connection OK, but none of the 3 PC software programs that come with the HAC4 can actually communicate with it. The manual and software help have no useful info. Has anyone had (and hopefully solved) this problem. I am reasonable computer savy (not an expert though) and have several other USB devices (Palms, Cameras, etc) working fine on my PC.

I'm assuming you know that you first have to set the HACtronic software to "Connecting" (File > Connecting). Once the Connecting window opens, you can then send data from the HAC4. The manual tells you how to do this... Hold down top right button for 4 seconds to enter setup mode, then it top right button 12 times to get to "PC", then hit top-left and bottom-left buttons at the same time to begin download. I think all this is in the manual, so you've probably already tried all this.

I've finally figured out how to make the Ciclosport HAC4 Plus work with the USB interface... I'll outline the steps here. There are four parts that need to be followed:
(I) remove your currently installed HACtronic software unless it is version 1.51
(II) download and install the most current HACtronic software (v1.51) from www.ciclosport.de
(III) Run HACtronic software and configure to accept input from USB
(IV) Perform the upload (move data from the watch to the computer)

Now, these steps assume that you have already installed the appropriate USB device driver from the company supplied CD. It was my experience that the CD software was the same version as that which can be downloaded from the ciclosport website.

(I) If you have already installed the HACtronic software from the company supplied CD's, you probably have an old versions. It is my recommendation that you remove the HACtronic software by going to 🙁Start/Settings/ControlPanel/AddRemovePrograms)

(II): Download current HACtronic software v1.51 build50
1. Go to www.ciclosport.de (the german site)
2. Click to enter the site via the English
3. Click on "downloads". You will then see links to download the USB-Drivers and HACtronic software v1.51 build50. Click on the link "HACtronic Version 1.51" and you can either save to your local PC's hard disk, or "open" and begin the installation. (The installation will fail if you failed to remove an older version of HACtronic software).

(III): Run the HACtronic software and configure
1. From within the HACtronic software, go to the menu, Settings/Options and then the tab "Region" and change the metric units to English units (meters -> feet, etc).
2. Go to the menu Settings/Interface and HACtronic will present to you all COM ports that your PC currently has installed. For my computer, HACtronic showed me COM2, COM3, and COM4. This is the tricky part. You need to know which physical USB connection corresonds to each COM port. In my case, I have a 9-pin serial connection that is COM2, and two USB ports that are COM3 and COM4. Now, a savvy Windows power user can probably figure out from some system software which COM corresonds to each USB connection..for me, it was easier to just do trial-and-error. Plug your USB cable into any USB port on your computer. From this menu "Setting/Interface", try highlighting COM2 (click OK to actually tell HACTronic to use that COM port). and go to section (IV) below to try uploading. If it doesn't work, try highlighting COM3, and so-forth-and-so-on.

(IV) Perform upload (move data from watch to your PC)
1. From within the HACTronic software, (you must have already performed step III.2 discussed above or this won't work), click on the watch-icon or choose File/Connecting. This will open a window that says: "Ready to Receive".
2. Go to your watch. You need to initiate the file upload from the watch by pressing and hold the UR (upper right) buttom at least 3 seconds... then press the UR button 12 times until you see the LED screen on the watch "PC". Now, you are finally ready to begin the upload...press the UL (upper left) and LL (lower left) buttons on the watch. You will see the %transferred on both the watch LED screen and your PC window.

A final note: Obviously, you have to have "stored" data on the watch in order to upload to your PC. The HAC4 user's manual is so crappy it took me a while to figure out that I needed to manually press the LL and UL keys (the manual says press these keys simultaneously and shortly, but, in fact, it is my experience that you need to press these keys simultaneously, and for at least 3 seconds in order to get the watch to start recording...don't forget to stop the watch recording when done with your workout by using the same procedure.

if you have anything else connected or sometimes connected to the USB port it can interfere. i had my phone configured to connect to my pc via USB and when i connected the HAC4 it read it as being the phone.

you also need to install the drivers from the disc - i think its on the ciclotrainer disc under windows - or windows may install the drivers automatically when you first plug the HAC4 into the USB. it will say something like "new hardware found - click here to configure" after you do this you click configure automatically.
when it did this to me i ignored it - duh! and spent ages messing about until i tried to install again and this time followed the instructions.

also as others have said you need to configure the ciclosport software to upload via USB rather than the default com3. you can do this in all the progs under "preferences"

good luck.

chisa1234 said:

if you have anything else connected or sometimes connected to the USB port it can interfere. i had my phone configured to connect to my pc via USB and when i connected the HAC4 it read it as being the phone.

you also need to install the drivers from the disc - i think its on the ciclotrainer disc under windows - or windows may install the drivers automatically when you first plug the HAC4 into the USB. it will say something like "new hardware found - click here to configure" after you do this you click configure automatically.
when it did this to me i ignored it - duh! and spent ages messing about until i tried to install again and this time followed the instructions.

also as others have said you need to configure the ciclosport software to upload via USB rather than the default com3. you can do this in all the progs under "preferences"

good luck.

😕 hi, new to this forum and am having diffuculties in getting the usb driver to work with the pc. We did all of the above suggestions and still get a message in our device list that it is an unknown device. We are on windows 98 second edition and have also tried it on win xp pro with same results. the driver file that windows is using is an old intel file ich2usb.inf from the year 2000. After the download of version 1.51, the driver file did not change to the new one that I assume is with the download file. Does anyone have the correct one and can email it to me.

Thanks, Jay

This has always been the big issue with the HAC4. I recently moved to Windows7 and what you need to do is to ignore all the download driver info written above (didnt work for me on w7, presumably its for earlier OS's) but ensure that w7 new driver settings let it search automatically and when you plug the cradle in, it says it doesnt recognise the devices but will then search for it (on the internet) and hey presto, it works - tells you the com port and then follow the setup instructions above. You dont need to driver from Ciclosport website. 😉