Intellibox Troubleshooting

IMPORTANT: The troubleshooting below is ONLY for the older discontinued Intellibox 1.0 devices.
If you have a newer Intellibox 2.0, please use the troubleshooting here. 

Intellibox 1.0

Please use the troubleshooting below to resolve the following issues with the Intellibox: 

• Intellibox keeps Connecting and Reconnecting
• Intellibox has a Red X in Hardware Status
• Intellibox Firmware needs to be Updated (only for Intellibox 1.0)
  

Intellibox keeps Connecting and Reconnecting

• If your Intellibox keeps connecting and reconnecting continuously, close Sim Racing Studio by right-clicking on its icon in the Windows System Tray and select Quit. 

Intellibox has a Red X in Hardware Status

If you see a RED X next to Intellibox in the HARDWARE STATUS box or if you are using and old version of Sim Racing Studio 1.0 and your Intellibox is not connecting, please try the troubleshooting steps in the order below:

1. Intellibox Updating

If there is an update occurring due to a recent patch, the Intellibox could show up as a Red X for approximately 10 seconds after starting Sim Racing Studio. Please wait until the update is completed and the Intellibox should switch back to a Green check-mark

2. Toggle the Intellibox On and Off

1. Open Sim Racing Studio
2. Go to SETUP
3. In the Intellibox section, click the Enabled button to Off and then back to On

This will allow Sim Racing Studio to reconnect with the Intellibox. 

3. Update the Intellibox Driver

1. Open Windows Device Manager
   
2. Expand the Ports (COM & LPT) sectionNote: The COMXX number for your Intellibox will likely be different than shown in the above image.
   
   
3. If you do not see an entry of USB-SERIAL CH340 (COMXX) in Ports (COM & LPT)
   1. Connect the Intellibox to a different USB port on your PC
   2. Connect the Intellibox to a different PC to see if it will connect
   3. Try a different new USB cord 
      
      
4. If the Intellibox is still not showing up in Device Manager or has a "!" next to its name, please update the Intellibox driver by following these steps: 
   1. Download the Intellibox CH341SER driver
      
   2. Double click on the CH341SER.exe and you will be prompted with the following: Do you want allow this app to make changes to your device? Select Yes.
   3. Click Install on the next screen:
      
      
   4. After the driver installation completes, the following message will be displayed:
      
   5. Click OK
   6. Check if "!" is no longer displayed in Device Manager
      1. If the "!" is still present, right click on the device marked with the "!" and select Update driver.
         
      2. Select Search automatically for updated driver software
         
      3. Complete the driver installation and the "!" should now be removed.
      4. Exit Sim Racing Studio
      5. Reopen Sim Racing Studio
         
         
5. If the Device Manager is already showing the Intellibox driver as installed but it is still not connecting, try the following steps: 
   1. Uninstall the Intellibox driver via Device Manager by right clicking on the USB-SERIAL CH340 (COMXX)  that is used for the Intellibox per Step 3 above and selecting Uninstall device. 
      
   2. A new window will open and then check the box "Delete the device software for this device" and click Uninstall. Note: The wording may vary in the different versions of Windows.
      
   3. Restart your PC
   4. Windows should install the updated driver. If not, please return to step 4 above.
      
6. If you see more than one USB-SERIAL CH340 (COMXX) in Ports (COM & LPT)
   
   1. If you have a DOF Reality Motion Platform, see two USB-SERIAL CH340 devices, and the Intellibox is still showing a Red X, please submit a New Support Ticket from the top of this page with details on the troubleshooting you have performed on your Intellibox.
      
   2. If the duplicate USB-SERIAL CH340 device belongs to different piece hardware, you might need to hardcode the COM Port in Sim Racing Studio's config.ini file. Please use the Hard Coding the Intellibox COM Port guidance below. 
7. If the troubleshooting does not resolve the issue, please submit a New Support Ticket from the top of this page with details on the troubleshooting you have performed on your Intellibox.
   

4. Hard Coding the Intellibox COM Port

It is possible that two USB-SERIAL CH340 devices will show up in Device Manager with each belonging to a different device. Hard coding the Intellitune's COM port will enable it to be detected correctly by Sim Racing Studio.

1. In Device Manager, verify what COM Port the Intellibox is using.
   
   1. To determine what COM Port is used by the Intellibox, disconnect the Intellibox and take note of which USB-SERIAL CH340 device disappears and reconnect the Intellibox to see its COM Port.
      
2. Close Sim Racing Studio
3. Open the config.ini file in your Documents/SimRacingStudio 2.0 folder
   
4. Scroll down until you find the [INTELLIBOX] section
   
5. Enter the correct COM Port in the com_port field. If the Intellibox shows as USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM7) in Device Manager, remove the "" marks and enter COM7 after the = sign. Make sure you use capital letters and no space as shown below.
   
   
6. Save the config.ini file. 
7. Reopen Sim Racing Studio to verify the Intellibox now has a green checkmark next to it in HARDWARE STATUS.
   

Intellibox Firmware needs to be Updated (only for Intellibox 1.0)

WARNING: This firmware update is ONLY for the Intellibox 1.0. Please see the image below to confirm if you have a Intellibox 1.0 version. Do NOT use this firmware update if you have an Intellibox 2.0. 

Use the the guidance below only if you need to manually update the Intellibox firmware. Sim Racing Studio will automatically update the Intellibox Firmware safely when a software update occurs.

This procedure is to only be used with the Sim Racing Studio Intellibox as seen below:

DISCLAIMER: Sim Racing Studio is not responsible for any charges you might incur for repair or support related to corrupted firmware on other Serial Devices if they remain connected during the firmware update process.  

1. WARNING: Disconnect the DOF Reality control box or any other Serial Device before running this procedure! Risk of skipping this step might result in corrupting the firmware on another piece of unrelated hardware that remains connected. If you are unsure if a device is a Serial Device, disconnect it from your PC before proceeding.
   
   

2. Check the Intellibox COM port by opening the Ports (COM & LPT) drop down in Windows Device Manager. The Intellibox will be listed as a USB-SERIAL CH340 device. If you have multiple CH340 devices listed, you can verify which CH340 device is the Intellibox by removing the Intellibox's USB cord from the PC and plugging it back in taking note of which device disappears and reappears.   Note: Do not use COM67 shown in this image. The COM port will be different for your computer. 
   
   

3. Download the Intellibox firmware hex file from here.
   
   
4. Move the hex file to the your Sim Racing Studio installation avr_helpers folder which should be:
   C:\Program Files\SimRacingStudio 2.0\avr_helpers\
   
   Note: If you installed Sim Racing Studio to a different drive or directory, move the hex file to the avr_helpers folder in the SimRacingStudio 2.0 install folder. 
   
   

5. Close Sim Racing Studio completely. Do not just minimize it. You can verify if Sim Racing Studio is still running if it shows up in the Windows Task Manager under Background processes as SimRacingStudio.App. 
   
   

6. Open the Command Prompt as an administrator. To do this, type CMD in the Windows Search Bar (magnifying glass next to the Windows Start button in your Toolbar). At the top should be Command Prompt App. Right click on Command Prompt and select 'Run as administrator'. If you get a Windows prompt to allow Windows Command Processor to make changes to your computer, select Yes. A Command Prompt window will open displaying Users\<your PC user name>

   
   

7. At the command prompt, type or copy and paste the text below to change the directory to the avr_helpers where you placed the firmware hex file and press Enter:
   
   cd c:\program files\simracingstudio 2.0\avr_helpers
   
   Example: 

   Note: If you installed Sim Racing Studio to a different drive or directory, change the command cd text to the drive and directory you utilized.
   
   

8. In the command prompt window, type or copy and paste the text below to begin the Intellibox firmware update replacing the x with the COM port number you obtained from Step #2 then press Enter:
   
   avrdude -Cavrdude.conf -v -patmega328p -carduino -PCOMx -b57600 -D -Uflash:w:init_model5.hex:i
   
   Example: (Note: Be sure to change the -PCOM x to the correct COM port from Step#2. ie. COM12, COM33, COM67, etc. with no spaces between -PCOM and the COM number)
   

9. If the firmware update fails, double check that you have the correct COM port from Step #2. Then type or copy and paste the text below to retry the firmware update with the different field of -b5115200 instead of -b57600 as previously used and also replacing the x with the COM port number of your Intellibox then press Enter:
   
   avrdude -Cavrdude.conf -v -patmega328p -carduino -PCOMx -b115200 -D -Uflash:w:init_model5.hex:i
   
   

10. If the command script runs and completes, please take a screenshot of the completed screen for record of a successful firmware update. This is required for additional troubleshooting if a firmware update does not resolve the issue with the Intellibox. Please attach the image to your reply email if necessary. 
    
    

11. Once you have a screenshot of the successful firmware update, please close the Command Prompt window and open Sim Racing Studio. 
    
    

12. You are finished and have successfully completed the Intellibox firmware update.