Novag Universal Electronic Chess Board

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JOHN APP
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Post by JOHN APP »

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Murat
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Post by Murat »

JOHN APP wrote:my email is john.apperson@yahoo.com
Drivers sent. Good luck.
JOHN APP
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Post by JOHN APP »

Thank you very muchly : :D
Edomus
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Post by Edomus »

I have the NOVAG Universal Electronic Chessboard wich I could easy connect with Winboard 4.8.0 under OG Windows XP. Now I have W10 and an USB Adapter which simulate COM 1. But the moves on the UCB do not appear on Windboard. If I start UCB.exe I can see the moves I make on UCB, what means, that I have a connection to the PC.

What must I do, that the PC shows the moves I make on the board and vice versa.

Thanks for a reply.

Edomus
GONeill
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Novag UCB drivers (Winboard and UCI)

Post by GONeill »

The only drivers I could find for the Novag Universal Electronic Chess Board (UCB) didn't work properly for me. I did some investigating, which led to me to updating the documentation of how it communicates:

http://goneill.co.nz/novag

Then I wrote some new drivers, creating both a Winboard and a UCI one. I've tested them in Arena and Chessmaster and they seem to work OK. Improvements over the previous programs include being less sensitive to when the board is turned on, the ability to play multiple games without reseting the UCB power and (at least in Arena) starting the game from the normal position, a FEN or PGN.

But the program does still need to be run as a chess engine so it isn't as good as having board support built into the interface (e.g. like the DGT board in Arena).

Download from my ArenaSwiss web page:

http://goneill.co.nz/arenaswiss

(Be patient as it can be a bit slow: I'm a long way away from you. I'm in New Zealand so I'm a long way away from everyone!)
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Murat
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Post by Murat »

Thank you very much Graham.
Edomus
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Post by Edomus »

Thanks for a reply - I'm really amateur. I loaded down the drivers from http://goneill.co.nz/novag and put it in the folder with my windboard.exe and it didn't work. I friend was even installing a W7 Virtual machine. When I connect the USB-Adapter I see the COM-port in the device manager and when I start the old UCB.exe the windows open, when I configure in the UCB.ini COM 1. The same happens, when I start UCB_UIC.exe or UCB_WB.exe and I as well configure COM 1 in the UCB_WB.ini. But nothing happens, when I make a move on the chess board or when I type moves in the different UCB.exe. It seems, that it is neighter possible with W10 nor W7 to connect the chess board with the PC and to show the moves on the winboard.exe...
GONeill
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Post by GONeill »

Hi Edomus,
I'm using Win10 and it works with Winboard for me. For COM1 your UCB_WB.ini file should say:

Code: Select all

UCBversion = 2
ComPort = 1
Log = true
Note the ComPort line says "=1" not "=COM1".

Try turning off the UCB, start Winboard, start an engine-engine match (eg. with Crafty as engine 1 and UCB_WB as engine 2). You should see the UCB_WB window prompt to start the game. Then turn on the UCB. Once the LEDs have finished the startup, click OK on the UCB_WB window. It should show the move Crafty made on the board. Then reply. After a few moves, end the game and quit Winboard. You should end up with a UCB_WB.log file in the Winboard directory that looks like:

Code: Select all

================= UCB WB Engine Ver. 2.0 =================
 UCB Version : 2
 Started date: Tue, 7 Mar 2017
 Started time: 8:04:01
----------------------------------------------------------

8:04:02  GUI ---: xboard
8:04:02  GUI ---: protover 2
8:04:02  --- GUI:	feature done=0
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted done
8:04:02  --- GUI:	feature ping=0
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted ping
8:04:02  --- GUI:	feature setboard=1
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted setboard
8:04:02  --- GUI:	feature time=0
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted time
8:04:02  --- GUI:	feature myname="UCB driver" name=1
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted myname
8:04:02  --- GUI:	feature done=1
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted name
8:04:02  --- ---:		(Init UCB)
8:04:02  --- ---:		(Connected COM3)
8:04:02  --- ---:		(Config port)
8:04:02  --- ---:		(Port ready)
8:04:02  GUI ---: accepted done
8:04:02  GUI ---: new
8:04:02  GUI ---: random
8:04:02  GUI ---: level 40 5 0
8:04:02  GUI ---: post
8:04:02  GUI ---: hard
8:04:02  GUI ---: force
8:04:02  GUI ---: computer
8:04:02  GUI ---: name Crafty-25.2
8:04:02  GUI ---: g1f3
8:04:02  --- ---:		(Prompt:Start)
8:04:18  UCB ---:				I
8:04:18  --- UCB:			ID UCB driver
8:04:19  UCB ---:				E OFF
8:04:20  UCB ---:				V
8:04:20  --- UCB:			Video Mode
8:04:21  UCB ---:				A OFF
8:04:21  --- UCB:			Autoclock off
8:04:22  UCB ---:				X ON
8:04:22  --- UCB:			Xmit on
8:04:23  UCB ---:				P
8:04:23  --- UCB:			Position Board
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.8rnbqkbnr
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.7pppppppp
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.6        
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.5        
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.4        
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.3        
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.2PPPPPPPP
8:04:23  --- UCB:			.1RNBQKBNR+
8:04:27  --- UCB:			Mg1-f3
8:04:27  GUI ---: black
8:04:27  GUI ---: go
8:04:31  UCB ---:				Md7d5
8:04:31  --- GUI:	move d7d5
8:04:31  GUI ---: g2g3
8:04:31  --- UCB:			Mg2-g3
8:04:36  UCB ---:				Mb8c6
8:04:36  --- GUI:	move b8c6
8:04:36  GUI ---: d2d4
8:04:36  --- UCB:			Md2-d4
8:04:43  UCB ---:				Me7e6
8:04:43  --- GUI:	move e7e6
8:04:52  GUI ---: b1c3
8:04:52  --- UCB:			Mb1-c3
8:04:59  UCB ---:				Mc8d7
8:04:59  --- GUI:	move c8d7
8:05:04  GUI ---: e2e4
8:05:04  --- UCB:			Me2-e4
8:05:14  UCB ---:				Mf8e7
8:05:14  --- GUI:	move f8e7
8:05:31  GUI ---: e4d5
8:05:31  --- UCB:			Me4-d5
8:05:37  UCB ---:				Me6d5
8:05:37  --- GUI:	move e6d5
8:05:42  GUI ---: c3d5
8:05:42  --- UCB:			Mc3-d5
8:06:18  GUI ---: force
8:06:19  GUI ---: new
8:06:19  --- UCB:			New Game
8:06:19  GUI ---: random
8:06:19  GUI ---: level 40 5 0
8:06:19  GUI ---: post
8:06:19  GUI ---: hard
8:06:19  GUI ---: force
8:06:23  GUI ---: quit
8:06:23  --- ---:		(Socket closed)

----------------------------------------------------------
 Ended: 8:06:23 Tue, 7 Mar 2017
==========================================================
You want to check that it has a line "(Connected COM1)" (mine is COM3 above). Then after the "(Prompt:Start)" line you must see the UCB init sequence (I,E OFF,V etc). If not then the UCB is NOT communicating, but if the old UCB program works then that would be odd. Finally after the "Position board" is shown you should see the move,"black","go" sequence. If you see gibberish then it means your UCB could not understand the Postion format. In that case edit the UCB_WB.ini file to:

Code: Select all

UCBversion = 1
ComPort = 1
Log = true
Please post again and let me know how it goes.

PS. Virtual machines aren't ideal for testing things like this as they add a level of complexity: you have to be sure the host PC is passing the COM port through to the VM properly. IIRC VmWare uses a virtual com port for this which may or may not work.
Edomus
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Post by Edomus »

I thank you so much . great!

Here the proof:


================= UCB WB Engine Ver. 2.0 =================
UCB Version : 2
Started date: Di., 7 Mär 2017
Started time: 0:23:32
----------------------------------------------------------

0:23:33 GUI ---: xboard
0:23:33 GUI ---: protover 2
0:23:33 --- GUI: feature done=0
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted done
0:23:33 --- GUI: feature ping=0
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted ping
0:23:33 --- GUI: feature setboard=1
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted setboard
0:23:33 --- GUI: feature time=0
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted time
0:23:33 --- GUI: feature myname="UCB driver" name=1
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted myname
0:23:33 --- GUI: feature done=1
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted name
0:23:33 GUI ---: accepted done
0:23:33 --- ---: (Init UCB)
0:23:33 --- ---: (Connected COM4)
0:23:33 --- ---: (Config port)
0:23:33 --- ---: (Port ready)
0:23:33 GUI ---: new
0:23:33 GUI ---: random
0:23:33 GUI ---: level 40 5 0
0:23:33 GUI ---: hard
0:23:33 GUI ---: force
0:23:33 GUI ---: computer
0:23:33 GUI ---: name GNUChess
0:23:33 GUI ---: e2e4
0:23:33 --- ---: (Prompt:Start)
0:24:07 UCB ---: I
0:24:07 --- UCB: ID UCB driver
0:24:08 UCB ---: E OFF
0:24:09 UCB ---: V
0:24:09 --- UCB: Video Mode
0:24:10 UCB ---: A OFF
0:24:10 --- UCB: Autoclock off
0:24:11 UCB ---: X ON
0:24:11 --- UCB: Xmit on
0:24:12 UCB ---: P
0:24:12 --- UCB: Position Board
0:24:12 --- UCB: .8rnbqkbnr
0:24:12 --- UCB: .7pppppppp
0:24:12 --- UCB: .6
0:24:12 --- UCB: .5
0:24:12 --- UCB: .4
0:24:12 --- UCB: .3
0:24:12 --- UCB: .2PPPPPPPP
0:24:12 --- UCB: .1RNBQKBNR+
0:24:23 --- UCB: Me2-e4
0:24:23 GUI ---: black
0:24:23 GUI ---: go
0:26:04 UCB ---: Md7d6
0:26:04 --- GUI: move d7d6
0:26:04 GUI ---: d2d4
0:26:04 --- UCB: Md2-d4
0:26:15 UCB ---: Me7e5
0:26:15 --- GUI: move e7e5
0:26:21 GUI ---: d4e5
0:26:21 --- UCB: Md4-e5
0:26:28 UCB ---: Md6e5
0:26:28 --- GUI: move d6e5
0:26:38 GUI ---: d1d8

Srdacno, Edomus
0:26:38 --- UCB: Md1-d8
GONeill
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Post by GONeill »

Thanks for letting me know and glad it's working now. Once you are happy with it you can change the line in UCB_WB.ini to be:

Log = false

That will stop that log file getting bigger and bigger.
GONeill
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Post by GONeill »

I've uploaded a small update to the Winboard and UCI engines. Nothing major, just a slightly improved screen.

Perhaps more interesting for Arena and LucasChess users is that I have also written a DLL version. Many interfaces support the DGT eboard and I found they do this using a file called DGTEBDLL.dll which provides the functions required to drive their board.

So I wrote my own version of this file that will control the UCB instead of the DGT. This makes it possible to use the UCB as a built in board rather than as a chess engine.

Unfortunately DGT did a very thorough job and provided many ways to communicate positions and moves, and I haven't mirrored them all. So at the moment my file will only work with Arena and LucasChess. If I get information about how other interfaces communicate with the DGT file then I should be able to add support for them later.

http://goneill.co.nz/arenaswiss
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blaubaer
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Post by blaubaer »

Hi Graham,

how does it work with LucasChess?

Regards, Michael
GONeill
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Post by GONeill »

blaubaer wrote:how does it work with LucasChess?
Hi Michael,

Inside the download zip file you'll find README.TXT which gives all the instructions. The steps are:

1. Copy the DLL and INI files to the LucasChess folder
2. Edit the INI file to set your com port
3. Run LucasChess and activate the DGT board
4. Play a game against one of the engines/personalities (not an engine vs engine game)

Have a look and let me know if you need any help.

Regards,
Graham
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Murat
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Post by Murat »

Take back support sounds great. Thanks very much.
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blaubaer
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Post by blaubaer »

Thanks Graham,

next time I'll read the readme file first! :oops:

Regards, Michael
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