Quote from Pietro on November 5, 2020, 8:35 pm

Hi Doug

I will try to help, first for hiarcs you shall use the UciCore version. The Certabo uci will be used like a normal engine so you shall select it as opponent white or black. So hiarcs, arena etc all GUI will treat the board like it would be a normal uci with difference that is not and the move are input from the board not by an engine really. So when you select engine match it will be a match between engines but one is the physical board.

Please have a check at the log file C:\Users\youruser\AppData\Local\CertaboUci\log please post the log so we can check where it stucks.

All the best

Pietro

Quote from Doug Berwick on November 6, 2020, 5:04 pm

Hi Pietro,

Thanks for you help - I checked the log file (extract below) and can see that the board is interacting with the software as my moves were logged, but they werent updated on the screen. I guess I am missing a crucial step in the set-up process....

2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: 1. instance of Certabo UCI created
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: >> uci
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << info string Certabo Board 1.4.1
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << id name Certabo Board 1.4.1
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << id author Lars Nowak
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << option name Calibrate type button
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << option name Play with white pieces type check default true
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << option name Analyze mode type check default false
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << option name MultiPV type spin default 1 min 1 max 10
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << option name Engine type combo default <none> var <none> var CertaboUciCore
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << option name COM-Port type combo default <auto> var <auto> var COM3
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << uciok
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: >> setoption name COM-Port value COM3
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: >> setoption name Engine value CertaboUciCore
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: >> isready
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Info: option: setoption name COM-Port value COM3
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Info: option: setoption name Engine value CertaboUciCore
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Info: Opponent: CertaboUciCore.exe
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << info string Using engine CertaboUciCore.exe
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: Try to start opponent CertaboUciCore.exe
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: Try to start engine C:\Users\Doug\AppData\Local\CertaboUci\engines\CertaboUciCore.exe
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: Start ReadFromEngine-Thread
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: Send to engine: uci
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: Send to engine: isready
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: << readyok
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: >> ucinewgame
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: >> isready
2020-11-06T16:30:30 Debug: Send to engine: ucinewgame
2020-11-06T16:30:31 Debug: Send to engine: isready
2020-11-06T16:30:31 Debug: << readyok
2020-11-06T16:30:36 Debug: Missing go for: bestmove d2d4
2020-11-06T16:30:51 Debug: >> quit
2020-11-06T16:30:51 Debug: Send to engine: quit

Thanks

Doug

Quote from Pietro on November 6, 2020, 7:45 pm

Hi Doug

Quick question did you select CertaboUCI as first engine and as second there was another engine or also another CertaboUCI?

Pietro

Quote from Doug Berwick on November 6, 2020, 8:17 pm

Hi Pietro,

I can see what I did now - I selected 'New Game' instead of 'New Engine Game' - I now have the option of selecting HIARCS vs Certabo.

Thanks for your help once more - works perfectly!

Best

Doug

Quote from Lars Nowak on November 12, 2020, 1:18 pm

Hi Doug,

sorry, I'm little bit to late. But as far as I can see, everything works fine.

If you have further questions, please feel free to ask them. I will visit the forum more often.

Lars

Quote from Patrick Scullion on December 23, 2020, 11:52 am

UPDATE: I was able to resolve the encounter issue. All works like a charm. Happy Holidays!

Hello,

I'm new to the Certabo chess world and would need some help to get me going.

When I now try to add the Certabo UCI (Core) engine to Hiarcs on windows I'm getting the following error message:

"The file: C:\ ...\CertaboUciCore.exe is not a valid UCI engine."

Could someone please let me know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Patrick

Quote from Lars Nowak on December 24, 2020, 2:30 pm

Hi,

maybe you have not installed the .Net Core environment.

Please try the following:

1. Open the Windows File Explorer and go to the directory where the driver is installed.
2. Make a double-click on the file CertaboUciCore.exe. This should opens an empty command window.
3. Type "uci" into this windows. This should response the UCI information.

If this all works fine, I will try to help you further.

I wish you happy holidays!

 

By the way, you can also try my new chess GUI: http://www.solanosoft.com/

Lars

Quote from Patrick Scullion on January 7, 2021, 3:42 pm

Hi Lars,

Thanks for the info. I re-installed the .Net core and it solved the problem.

Also tried your new GUI and it’s really great. Using this most of the time now.

Patrick

Quote from PabloJ on March 26, 2021, 10:06 am

Quote from Patrick Scullion on December 23, 2020, 11:52 am

UPDATE: I was able to resolve the encounter issue. All works like a charm. Happy Holidays!

Hello,

I'm new to the Certabo chess world and would need some help to get me going.

When I now try to add the Certabo UCI (Core) engine to Hiarcs on windows I'm getting the following error message:

"The file: C:\ ...\CertaboUciCore.exe is not a valid UCI engine."

Could someone please let me know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Patrick

Dear chess friends,

I was not able to install the CertaboUciCore engine it in the Hiarcs Chess Explorer. I got the same error message posted by Patrick ("The file: C:\ ...\CertaboUciCore.exe is not a valid UCI engine.") although I installed the ".NET core runtime 3.1" (downloaded from "https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download").

I proceeded as follows (as stated in Lars' manual):

1. Download and install the .NET Core runtime (should I download and install something different or something else in addition to that?)
2. Download the CertaboUciCore.zip file and unzip it in a folder (should this folder be a subfolder of the one where HCE is installed?)
3. Connect board to PC and set all pieces (I did it with and without the spare queens)
4. Start the HCS GUI and install the Certabo UCI Core engine => this is where the error message appears.

I restarted my laptop several times but it didn't help at all. The board works well (very well actually!! 🙂 ). I have been playing with the Certabo software and even with Shredder. I am using a Surface Go with Windows 10 with the last updates on it. I connected the board and my surface with the cable delivered with the board.

Am I doing something wrong or skipping important steps? Could someone help me please? The log file created by the engine contains the follwoing lines (the last four lines repeat several times):

2021-03-26T09:25:34 Debug: S: Create server pipe
2021-03-26T09:25:34 Debug: S: Portnames: COM4,COM5,COM3
2021-03-26T09:25:34 Info: S: Open COM-Port COM4
2021-03-26T09:25:34 Debug: C: Communicate
2021-03-26T09:25:34 Debug: B: start calibrate
2021-03-26T09:25:35 Error: C: Error with serial port: The operation has timed out.
2021-03-26T09:25:35 Debug: S: Portnames: COM4,COM5,COM3
2021-03-26T09:25:35 Debug: S: Try to close port COM4
2021-03-26T09:25:35 Info: S: Open COM-Port COM4

Last but not least: does the Certabo UCI Core engine work with the bluetooth adapter from the Certabo shop?

Thank you chaps!

Pablo