"Exit Elephant" needs Long press. Impossible to use as is.

Dan_1

📁 Original board: Elephant › Troubleshooting, Tips & Tricks

I am sorry for the harsh title and i get the feeling this may have been brought up before.

i'm using Elephant with my DAW.

I want to set and forget it but i keep exiting accidentally, and then have to load up again and wait for the black screen to finish etc. Happens ALL the time. Absolutely ruins the workflow and pretty much prevents me from wanting to use it. I have been trying to use it for about 6 months now, and this is my big problem with it.

The "exit elephant " press needs a user defined delay time to prevent this happening.

PabloMartin

Hello Dan.
I cant hook that action from the Dial to stop press and hold from the dial.
When press and hold happens, surface dial take control of the standard Dial workflow, and elephant just stop work.

Anyway I look on that again for see if there is something i can do, but 99.99% ensure, nothing can be done related to that.
Elephant in simple words broken in legal way a limitation the DIAL API provide and I use in a very different way.
Microsoft create the DIAL with the hope every coder of every application in the world add support, and for sure that never happens.....

Press and hold
This gesture activates and shows the Surface Dial menu, there is no app functionality associated with this gesture.
By default, the menu is displayed at the center of the user’s screen. However, the user can grab it and move it anywhere they choose.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/design/input/windows-wheel-interactions

When you press and hold, what happens is basically the API open the original menu, and that stop Elephant.

As I said I take a look on that, but with near to 0 guarantee something good come out.

Dan_1

@savethehuman5 I see. That's such a shame. Great job they did crippling the hardware. Thanks anyway.

PabloMartin

I not have that kind of accident press and hold the device, but I understand that can happens.
For sure I have that accidents the first days of usage when I create Elephant but in just few days of usage with what I create not have that problem.
Again, can happens.
And again I take a look if there is something I can do,
I agree with you should be something to setup the time the menu take to appear, no matter use Elephant or original DIAL implementation, this is a fault from they form my point of view.
Also if you use the native implementation of the DIAL, if you accidentally press the dial the menu open, software not close ok.......but you have a constant menu popping all the time when that not is what you want to do.
I already tried to contact to MS Dial team with 0 answer, I think MS not is happy with my creation. No idea.

Dan_1

I will keep trying to get used to it. It works perfectly well apart from this. Microsoft sucks.

PabloMartin

I dont think MS sucks, they just have their vision of things should be.
Testing now a possible solution.
Back with more info this night.

PabloMartin

Latest report for few days, I have partially running a possible solution.
No this require some work in order to try to make run 100% ok.
More info soon.

Dan_1

@savethehuman5 wrote:
Testing now a possible solution.
Back with more info this night.

Cool.

I was thinking of a solution also. Disable the long press entirely. Exit elephant from a button in the editor or something?

PabloMartin

There is no way to disable that on the dial, I can disable exit on elephant. That not solve noything. If I do that then when you press and hold the Dial, elephant lost the comunication with the Dial api and the Surface Dial system open the default radial menu on screen. That is the point.

I back with some news soon if the new hack im doong now work 100% ok.

Dan_1

ok, thanks.

btw I have my own solution to this problem.

Today i got some double sided tape and stuck a plastic rotary knob on top of the dial. Works much better now. ?

The dial is wide, uncomfortable and unfamiliar which I think is part of the problem for me. This way the hand and finger pressure is more focused.

but it's still too easy to leave the program.

PabloMartin

I dedicate all weekend to solve this problem and finally I think have something after implement a new kind or sort of hack.... I said before is not possible but now is possible 🙂
The new behaviour will be allow to user do press and hold and the open the menu of Elephnat, following the default implementation of MS, anyway I think that is a method always result in a accidental open of menu on the middle of operation, so user can disable that and use double click on the dial to open the menu and or keyboard hotkey. (nobody report a double click is a problem)
Close Elphant will be available from the advanced menu, in case you want exist of app.

For sure this need a lot of test, so after I have all ready I launch this as a beta.

What you think?

Dan_1

Sounds good!

PabloMartin

<r>Your opinion is useful here: 
<URL url="https://pablomartin.com/forum/"><s></s>https://pablomartin.com/forum/<e></e></URL></r>

Dan_1

I installed the new elephant.exe you sent me via DM. I overwrote the previous .exe as instructed. When i click to launch nothing happens.

PabloMartin

Yes i see why happen, until I send the full install you can try one more thing, just rename the folder hi.computer in C:\Program Files (x86) to SaveTheHuman5
After that should works, if not wait few hours more and I back with the new installer.

If you want try this rename folder way, remember the icons on desktop wont work, you should open directly the executable.

Anyway just few hour smore and new installer will be ready.

PabloMartin

<r>OK, go and try new version. 
<URL url="https://pablomartin.com/forum/">https://pablomartin.com/forum/</URL></r>

Dan_1

I renamed the folder and tried it out.

Very nice to not have the press to exit. Job done there.

However, the dial loses control of the daw eventually. Elephant still runs, but turning the dial doesn't work.

Sorry i can't be more specific about when it happens, I 'll have to keep using it. Thank you for the update!

PabloMartin

Hi, can provide more info about what is the DAW you use?
Lost control every time open some plugin window?
What is your windows OS version? CPU model? DAW version, Single monitor screen, dual monitor screen?
Using Elephant only mouse modes, MIDI modes, you use hotkeys to change of modes?

Dan_1

At the moment all i can report is that this happens when i return to the daw (reaper) after a long break. The daw runs in the background while i do other stuff (browse, game). When i return to the DAW the dial turning does not work. Presses do.

WIN10, i7 8700k, Reaper 6.27, Single screen.

PabloMartin

<r>Thanks for the reply. 
Please type in the search box of windows ABOUT, and check version and OS build. Need that info. 
When you see again that no control reaction, please press 2 times escape key in order to bring elephant menu, and then check if the control is recovered.

Before continue with any test, install latest version: <URL url="https://pablomartin.com/forum/">https://pablomartin.com/forum/</URL> 
Reactivate the software, test again when you can.

With the latest update I consider this issue fixed, so I mark this post as solved.</r>