[Tool] Husqvarna Viking Designer II 05/24/2022

[Cprossu]

Hello HeatSyncers, I have spent some time with our Husqvarna Viking Designer II sewing machine, and can verify it works quite well for embroidery and I should be able to teach people the basics when it comes to running the embroidery part!

Some of you know I picked up a embroidery machine of my own, a "New Home" MemoryCraft 8000 a few days ago ($55 at a thrift shop! Woo!), and that gave me enough confidence to tackle our machine and just check it out.

The part that seems to require Windows XP is the driver for the D.Card USB memory system that Husqvarna used on this model. Our machine is old enough it has to use those proprietary memory cards, and does not have a USB port on it for direct transfer.
I found it is possible to make it work with the older Dell laptops we have and Windows 7 x86 (32 bit), but it's intermittent and a royal pain in the butt, for some reason unplugging it and replugging it in sometimes causes it to work. The card reader itself uses an archaic  Cypress microcontroller that Nate Caine can elaborate on, so there might be a way to hack it from that side and make some sort of viable alternative to take us into the future.

I think most of the other software should just work though, so my proposal is to get the software installed on our new laptop fleet (and perhaps the old ones), and use a Windows XP machine strictly for taking the files created for it and putting them on our memory card for the machine. We'll need volunteers to mess with and document how to use this so we can bring this tool to the most amount of people. There's been heavy interest in this thing, and I see no reason now we shouldn't take full advantage of it.

(Oh and yes, I did put the fabric in the wrong way, so we'll have to document proper use of our hoop as well, the fabric should be down flat on the platform instead of up in the air how I have it in this picture).

Rock on, and I look forward to getting everyone up to speed on this thing and making sure to help anyone with interest in it. I'll be in for the next sewing event, and if the hosts want and don't know the ins and outs of that machine when it comes to embroidery, I'd be way more willing to show you what I learned.

[Antonio Contrisciani]

Can we throw xp on a microcomputer like a pie or maybe an old windows ce dream cast so we don't have to have a huge honking xp machine? 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HeatSync Labs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to heatsynclabs...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/05218f68-dccd-40a0-a34c-d3997de9c844n%40googlegroups.com.

[Cprossu]

Nope, that's not how it works with legacy x86 stuff. Changing the architecture would mean that even if we could get the binaries moved over, the specifically coded driver for the card reader/writer would not work.

Perhaps a thin client, maybe just as long as it was amd/intel silicon and supported XP natively.

The solution I have in mind is just to use the current big laser computer, which itself is a SFF unit.

[Linda Krecker]

Well that’s awesome news. I’ll take any training you offer up. --

Linda S K Brett, Ph.D.

Artist  |  Educator

Designing Art Studio

31 W 9th St  |  Mesa, AZ 85201

602-540-7143

botan...@gmail.com

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lindabrett

[Darrell Wertz]

CPpro,

There may be something worthwhile here:

https://www.husqvarnaviking.com/Support/Complimentary-Software

-DW

[Cprossu]

As far as I have been able to tell, that software is limited, and will not write to memory cards. It could be a good software to run for everything else but actually getting the info onto the proprietary memory card though, as long as they didn't 'freemium' it like I *think* they might have.

[dlwe...@gmail.com]

CPro,

I'm able to create stitch files in InkStitch (inkscape plug in) and import to this software. Do you know the file type/format needed for the machine? Can the drive be connected to windows 10 for writing?

[Cprossu]

It uses a .hus file

Inkstitch was brought up before in this thread.

https://groups.google.com/g/heatsynclabs/c/PxFH5E7kqfo/m/DsUKppgjDgAJ

The memory card does not act like a normal memory card. It has a custom driver that interfaces with the custom software and does not come up as a 'drive' you can add files on.

The way the software works is to read the card, display the contents inside the software where it lets you modify it (move, delete, copy, or add) and is it's own thing completely separate from the OS.
Again, do not consider this memory card to work like a standard pc/mac compatible thumb drive or other flash memory technology (it doesn't).

I will reiterate again the D.CARD memory card reader/writer for this thing requires 32 bit windows, works best under XP or earlier (I managed to get it to work in 7 x86 (32 bit) but it's MEGA flaky and I don't have a reason why, but if you plug it in it will work with the driver if you force unsigned drivers, and when you start the software it will hang up and freeze when accessing the memory card until you unplug it and replug it in several times, then it will work until the USB is removed or the software is closed... This is not a good solution in my book). The reason you can't just plug this thing into a normal Windows 10 (64 bit) machine is the driver for the D.Card USB memory system that Husqvarna used on this model is a 32 bit driver, and quite a few of the programs and stuff made for it even apparently drop into 16 bit mode (like win9x and before), and they never gave out an updated driver, not even for Vista or Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, or Windows 10. This is a known issue inside the community that uses these things and no one has figured a solution out.

Our machine (Viking Designer II) is old enough it has to use those proprietary memory cards, and does not have a USB port on it for direct transfer either.

[Rick Blake]

Will XP Delta help?

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/7ae16475-76a1-433b-95e2-1aebaa4bd6e5n%40googlegroups.com.

[Ryan Mcdermott]

This is awesome!  That's a very cool machine.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/CALSEc_d_GqTwEd%2Bdu2Opfa_E7PuPjDm3g0yRnVSdoPx%3Dcw6-YQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rafael]

I love how HSL allows us to have these conversations about a sewing machine that otherwise, we may never had... I mean, we have a more close relationship, and a physical place to gather, not just an internet forum where nobody knows anyone in person.
Anyhow, I'm just saying that I'm happy to have HSL

So, to the point, I'm interested in the Cypress microcontroller side of things, and if I understood correctly, that path is just a possibility and a future thought, right?
Just to be clear, I don't know a thing about those MCUs and I would need some time, I'd be more than happy to talk to Nate if he has something on it already.
Also, would that mean that we may re-write the firmware for that Cypress so that we can connect that reader/writer to a newer computer? (I'm omitting a lot of details of course, I'm not even sure if it's memory is open to reflash or who knows)

Regards :)

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HeatSync Labs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to heatsynclabs...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/05218f68-dccd-40a0-a34c-d3997de9c844n%40googlegroups.com.

--

Rafael Karosuo
Ing. Computación

Mi Perfil LinkedIn

[Cprossu]

I did some more digging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ONZmNrn-U4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOwIOCjLtls

It looks like at least one person could have found a way, so there are still sanctioned things to try!