When contacting us for user support we often require that you send us your ProX and GSA Interface configuration files as an e-mail attachement.

We can then replicate your setup.

To locate these files right click on the Desktop Icon of ProX or GSA Golf Interface and click the Open File Location.

For ProX, go to the Data folder and locate the Preferences.ggs file.

Fault finding

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Sensor Mat not detected.

When the sensor mat is connected, powered on and the COM port correctly configured, the Mat Detected message should appear in the bottom left corner of the main menu screen.

This indicates that basic serial communications are running correctly. If the Sensor Mat not Detected message appears then go thru the following checks:

Is the mat power led on? If not: Check power cable connections. Supply voltage must be 5 volts.

Check com port configuration:

Go to the COM Ports window from the Setup window. Select the com port and press the connect button. Connection should be valid and the message COM Port Successfully opened should be displayed.

If not go to Windows System / Device Manager / Connections and check that the serial port or USB-to-Serial COM port exists, that baud rate is 9600, data bits 8, stop bits 1, parity None.

The COM port shown in the Device Manager should correspond to the COM Port setting in the ProX and GSAGolfInterface software.

No 9 pin Serial Port on PC

If your PC doesn't feature a 9 pin serial port then you need to use our Serial-To-USB adapter.

In order to use the adapter, driver software must be installed.

If you have a live internet connection on the PC then the driver software will be automatically installed for you when you first plug in the adapter.

If you don't have an internet connection on the PC then the drivers must be installed manually.

As of ProX version 5.21.0 the drivers are automatically copied to the GGS/ProX folder during the ProX installation process.

If you installed a previous version of ProX you must download the Drivers from a PC with internet connection and manually copy them to the GGS/ProX folder.

Follow the installation instructions for XP, Vista or Windows7 from the driver installation guides.

Note: These drivers are only for the white serial to USB adapter. Not the green one.

If you have a green adapter then you should use the drivers on the supplied 3inch CD for XP or use the automatic internet driver install method for Vista.

Download Serial-To-USB drivers here.

Download Serial-To-USB driver installation guides here.

Alternatively go here for serial adapter installation instructions

64 bit operating systems. At present, the serial communication and camera drivers only run on the 32 bit versions of XP, Vista or Windows 7.

Until new 64 bit releases are available (sometime this spring) you must use 32 bit operating systems.

COM port successfully opened, COM port corresponds to COM port in Windows Device Manager but still Mat Not Detected message is shown.

Try de-installing or de-activating any anti-virus software and firewalls.

If you are using a USB serial adapter, try unplugging and reconnecting the USB connection to the PC. Sometimes Windows doesn't recognize the adapter.

If you are using the Green USB Serial adapter contact us for a replacement new model. On some PCs this adpater does not always work for some reason unknown to us.

No Dongle found message - USB software protection key (dongle) not plugged in.

Communication with the sensor mat will only activated when the GSA blue dongle is plugged into PC.

Without this the ProX software will run but only in PC game mode.

No COM I/O message.

System couldn't open the COM port (see above Check COM port instructions).

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Ready cursor at top left of screen changing colors.

Mat Reference code not Verified - Not polling Port - Not ready for swing - messages.

The main causes for this are due to :

1. A ball track has been activated in the Setup window but a ball track is not connected .

If you do not have a ball track, ensure that no ball track has been activated in the setup window.

2. Light is not reaching all the sensors on the ball track which causes sensors to latch on.

To check: Go to the Show Sensors window (via Setup) and check that all the sensors on the ball track are displayed dark green.

The sensors in the XD ball track are automatically reset after about 3 seconds so all sensor indicators should normally be displayed dark green.

If you see any sensor indicators displayed bright green then check that there is no debris (i.e. a small piece of grass fiber) covering the sensor

and that overhead lamp light is reaching all the sensors.

3. Debris (i.e. a small piece of grass fiber) is covering one of the 3 reset sensors at the back of the sensor mat.

Lose synthetic grass fibers in the holes and slots are sometimes hard to see so closely inspect for this.

Other causes can be attributed to:

1. The sensor mat board type has been set to 64 byte and not 128 byte board.

Since 2007 all sensor mat circuit boards are 128 byte type. Check for this in the Sensor Settings window (via Setup)

2. A number of sensor mat circuit boards were assembled recently with a chip from a new manufacturer that does function exactly the same as the original one.

As of 18th Jan. 2010 this has been located and fixed.

If purchased before this date then it is possible that you have one of these boards. In this case a small modification is required to the board.

If you can use a soldering iron then you can fix this yourself very easily, otherwise the circuit board should be sent back to us to modify.

To modify yourself: Open the sensor mat (ie. unscrew the screws from the underside ) to access the circuit board

and make a solder connection between pin 8 (external Trigger) and pin 9 (Ground) of IC 9.

You will need a small piece of bare wire to bridge the two pins.

If you do have a ball track then open the Show Sensors window to see what sensors on the ball track are latched on.

All sensors on a ball track should be dark green. The only time they light up (latch) is when an object (ball) passes over them.

This, however, will only be for a few seconds. Ball tracks feature auto reset so normally all sensors shown in the Show Sensors

window will be dark green and the ball speed timer will be counting.

If the software detects that ball track sensors are latched after a short period then the system will think that the incoming data stream is out of sequence

and will exit the data stream polling loop.

Because the reference code must be verified ( i.e. not just a coincidental pattern of latched sensors producing what looks like the reference code)

the system will continue to exit and re-enter the data stream polling loop in an attempt to solve the problem by reseting itself.

During this period the messages "Mat Reference code not verified" and "Not Polling Port" will be shown.

Other reasons causing this problem are:

1. The sensor mat is an older type of mat which does not feature reference code verification logic

2. When playing with ProX software, the GSA Golf Interface is running.

Please note: GSA Golf Interface should only be running when playing with the GSA Golf software. Never when playing the ProX software.

3. The mat has an internal fault.

please contact us if you suspect any of these are the cause of the problem

Ready cursor at top left of screen changing colors.

"Mat Reset Sensor On". message

This means that one or more of the 3 reset sensors at the back of the mat is stuck on.

In this case the software will reset the mat periodically (about every 6 seconds).

The main causes of this are either light is not getting down onto these sensors of a small piece of debris is covering one of the sensors.

Ensure that the overhead light is pointing directly down on to the mat and that light is getting down onto the 3 reset sensors

and that none of the grass fibers are bent over and obscuring the light.

The debris could be a very small piece of grass fiber which is hard to see. Take a careful look to see if this is the case and if so remove the fiber.

Vacuum cleaning out the slots and holes will also help.

Remember: GSA Golf Interface should only run with GSA Golf and not with ProX.

When running ProX, GSAGolfInterface should not be runnning.

For over a year now, all systems are 128 byte type. Ensure that 128 byte system board is checked in the Sensor Settings window (as shown below)

If you are using a ball sensor ensure that the Ball Sensor in Mat button in the setup window is on. If not using a ball sensor, ensure that this button is off.

If all sensors are running a green light on the top left hand corner of the screen will be shown

The system is then ready to capture your swing.

If, instead of a green light, a red light is shown then there is a problem with either the sensor mat or ball track.
To see where the problem lies, click the Show Sensors button in the Setup\ window.

The state of all the sensors on your mat are shown.
If there is a fault with one or more sensors then this will be indicated with a red cursor.

In most all cases this is due to the overhead light not reaching the sensor properly

This can be due to the overhead light not being properly alligned or debri is blocking the light
If the fault persists you can temporarily de-activate the sensor by right mouse clicking the sensor image.
Depending on what sensor is faulty, this will, in most cases, allow the system to operate with only a degree of inaccuracy.

However, the unit involved should be sent back to your dealer for repair as soon as possible.

Sensor mat status Cursor
When the sensor mat is on and connected to your computer, a colored square cursor will appear in the top left corner of the screen.
Only when this cursor is bright green is the system is ready to accept a shot. When red, the system is busy and will not recognize a swing.

When cursor is Red a second and/or third colored cursor will appear indicating the busy state. ");
The color/states are : Gray = Searching for reference code. Orange: One of the 3 reset sensors are covered or stuck on.");
Pink: System Checking sensor mat timer states. Violet: Mat Reference code not yet found. Blue: system is not monitoring sensor mat.");

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System is playable for a couple of shots but then ceases to recognize shots.

Sensor mat status cursor takes a long time before changing to green

More often than not this is caused by anti virus and firewall software being active on the PC .

Anti Virus software like AVG and McAffee scan the incoming serial data stream which disrupts and slows down the serial data.

Remedy: De-activate all anti virus and firewall software. As the PC is usually a dedicated PC for the simulator this is not taking a great risk.

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Swing Detection.

In order for the sensor mat to detect a valid swing certain conditions must be met. These are: 

1. Club head must pass over one of the 3 reset sensors at the back of the mat.

2. Club head must pass somewhere over back row of sensors. 

3. Club head must pass over at least one of the 2 timer sensors in middle of front row sensors. That's the first sensor above and below the ball/tee. 

4. The total time required for the club head to pass over all three sensor rows must not exceed 2 seconds.

If Ball Track sensors are connected and the Sensor setting: 'Launch Ball only when detected by Ball Track sensors' is set, then the ball must pass over at least one of the ball track sensors.

Undetected Shots. Incorrect trajectories.

Undetected shots can occur for a number of reasons. The main causes are: 

Incorrect Lighting, Head over mat, Club toe hits, Mat Impact Vibration, Out of Bounds club path.

    1. Incorrect lighting:

        Check that all sensors are running with the Show Sensors window open. Make sure that the correct sensor system has been selected in the Setup window.

        ie. If you have a ball track system then the Ball Track button is lit. If no Ball Track system is connected then make sure this button is off.

        Make sure the light source is placed directly over the sensor mat and that it casts a sharp shadow. Check this with a sheet of white paper placed on the mat.

        Make sure that no or little ambient light is reaching down on the sensors. If you have a ball tracking system insure that the second light source for the ball

        tracking sensors only on the ball track sensor strip and not reaching the sensor mat.

        Check that all sensors (apart from the two timer sensors) switch off when you wave your hand or clubface over one of the 3 reset sensors and that the timers

        are running.

        Likewise insure that when an object is placed over the sensors that they light up and that the timers stop when covered.

        If not, or some sensors are flickering, then this is an indication that the light source is either too bright or too dim or ambient light 

        ie day light or other light is present. If you are sure that no ambient light is present then experiment with the light intensity. 

        Either by changing the lamp with lower or higher wattage lamps or with a dimmer.

        Make slow practice swings and insure that the Valid Swing Detected message is shown every time.

        An Invalid Swing message should only occur if the swing is too slow ( that would be very slow ie over 2 seconds to get from back to front row sensors).

    2. Head over sensors:

        It is essential that only the club-head pass over the mat sensors during a swing. Your own head should never cast a shadow over the sensors.

        With long irons, woods and drivers this isn't a problem but with wedges and the putter you have to watch for this as your head shadow will cause incorrect club-head path and velocities to be read.

        Putting on the striking mat itself is therefore quite difficult and requires that you keep your head back. The purposely designed putting mat add-on solves this problem though.

    3. Mat Impact Vibration:

        Undetected or Invalid swings or Swings generating too high or too low trajectories can be caused by mat vibrations causing mat grass fibers to move or flip over and trigger sensors.

        If you are experiencing such problems and that these problems only occur when the club-head makes contact with the mat, then this is a strong indication

        that the mat grass fibers are moving over the sensors. This happens very fast so you probably won't actually see this happening. In order to correct this,

make sure no stray grass fibers in the mat sensor slots and holes. The 3 reset sensors are especially sensitive to this so you should cut down the fibers around the 3 holes if no

stray fibers can be found.

    4. Out of Bounds club path:

        With some very high handicap players it's possible that the swing path is so far off that the reset sensors aren't being triggered.

        ie. The swing path is so far in-to-out that the club face doesn't pass over one of the 3 reset senors.

    5. Ball Track set on when no ball track sensors are connected:

        If ball track sensors are not connected but in the Setup Window the ball track is activated then the ball trajectory won't launch.

    6. Striking the ball with just the toe of the club:

    Unless the Allow Ball to Launch on Sensor 1 Only has been checked in the sensor settings window, a valid swing can only be detected when the club-head passes over both club-head angle timer sensors.

That's the first sensors above and below the ball / tee.

  7. Sensor mat not directly under light / mat moving forward:

Ensure that the sensor mat is fixed to the ground and not moving forward after shots. The sensor mat must always be directly under the overhead halogen lamp.

8. Ball passed too close to lamp over ball track with high launch angled shots

When using standard reflector halogen lamps over the ball track, the shadow made by a ball that gets too close to the lamp (High lofted shots with wedges) will be diffused and not be sharp enough to trigger the ball track sensors.

The only solutions to this are:

1. Make sure that the ball hits the screen with all shots. This may mean using a lower lofted club even when the system is recomending a wedge (ie 9 or 8 iron)

2. Replace the ball track visible light lamp with our new pin-point infra-red lamp. This lamp not only has the advantage that the light is invisable but also - due to the reflector design - alllows balls to get very close to the lamp.

9. Ball not in path range of the ball track with high launch angled shots

Because the ball track lamp produces a cone of light over the ball tracks, the valid path range will decrease as the ball height over the ball track increases.

So even when you are sure the ball passed over the ball track this doesn't mean that the shadow casted by the ball did. And it is the shadow of the ball that triggers the ball track sensors.

Solutions:

1. Ensure that the shot path is as straight as possible when using wedges (don't hit left or right)

2. Use a lower lofted club

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Balls launching in system without making a swing.

Sensor Mat only configuration

If you are using a sensor mat without a ball track or a camera then any shadows cast over the mat may cause a ball to launch.

(especially practice swings and waggles where the club goes back over on of the 3 reset sensors at the back of the mat).

Please be aware of this when teeing up or waving a club over the sensor mat.

Another solution to this problem is to use the Swing Mat Activation feature.

When this mode is used, you will be required to activate the mat for a shot by holding a club over one of the 3 reset sensors on the mat for a short period.

After the shot the mat goes back into inactive mode so won't launch a ball inadvertantly.

The best solution to this problem is to add a ball track or camera though.

Verifying the calculated club path.

To verify that the mat is calculating the club-path correctly do the following experiment:

Open the Show Sensors window (without loading a golf course).

Place a piece of cardboard (or a large book or magazine) over the sensor mat covering at least both the timer sensors

(front sensor row - first sensors above and below tee) and the back row of sensors so that you have a straight square

edge going from the front row of sensors to the rear row of sensors. Do not cover any of the 3 rear reset sensor.

When you wave a club over one of the 3 reset sensors the Show Sensors window will show you what club path has been calculated.

If the card is dead straight then the calculated clue bath should be 0 degrees.

Ensure you only wave the club over one or more of the reset sensors and not over any of the exposed sensors during this test.

Experiment with changing the angle of the card to reproduce inside out and outside in swings. After each change wave a club (or your foot) over one of the reset sensors to see the new calculated club path.

To be sure, you should measure the angle produced with the card with a suitable tool (ie. compass) and compare with the reading in the Show Sensors window.

Ignore the club.face angle readings. These will not be correct with this experiment.

Incorrect club face angles

To test, use a straight edge tool (ruler will do) and pass it over the sensor mat at a uniform speed with just the Trajectories window open. Try square, closed and open.

You should see that the calculated face angles correspond to the straight edge angles you use.

If this test seems to be ok but you find that when taking a swing the face angle is incorrect then this can be caused by grass fibers bending over as you hit the mat

and these are triggering the sensors before the club head shadow. In this case the fibers on the leading edge of the front (small) slot should be cut further back.

Another cause for seemingly incorrect angles being calculated is that some woods and drivers have curved front faces.

We are working on a solution for this problem at present but untill then you might like to experiment with the Easy Face Angles settings.

In the Sensor Settings window (from Setup) you can set the Club face angle easy or very easy and this will reduce the measured face angle.

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Sensor mat timer not running / Short distance carries / incorrect club face angle

If the overhead lamp is not exactly aligned over the sensor mat then the sensor mat grass panel may be casting a shadow over one of the timer sensors and that will cause the timer not to function.

The timer sensors on the sensor mat (the two sensors immediately below and above the tee) are used to calculate the club-face angle at impact to the ball and the club speed.

( If not using a ball track then also the ball speed.)

Should one of these sensors not function then the face angle will be incorrect and the club and/or ball speed will be very low - resulting in short distance ball carries.

Check that the overhead light is reaching all sensors and that both sensor mat timers are running in the Show Sensors window.

Erratic / too high ball speeds resulting in too far carry distances with double bank XD ball tracks

This problem occurs when the XD ball tracks are placed too near the tee or ball launch position.

In this case the club-head is passing over the ball track sensors which is causing the speed timer to be reset with the following club-head.

Remedy: Move the XD ball tracks further away so that the club-head shadow is not passing over the ball tracks.

Alternatively: An XD ball track mod is now avaiable that allows you to move the XD ball tracks closer to the tee / or ball launch position so that the club-head shadow does not reset the ball speed timer.

Moving the XD ball tracks closer to the ball launch position gives a greater ball path range but it is possible that the club-head will affect the ball path calculations in certain conditions.

Contact us for more details if you wish to upgarde your XD ball track with this modification.

"Club-head data not used." message shown in post shot swing analysis window when using double bank XD ball tracks

There are two main reasons for this:

1.

The players own head shadow is moving over the one of the three reset sensors in the sensor mat during the swing.

This is particularly noticeable when using short irons because the players body has moved nearer the sensor mat.

In this case the shot is still being picked up by the double ball track

but due to the extra reset on the sensor mat caused by the players head shadow, the club-data has been corrupted and is discarded.

2.

The ball track is picking up the valid shot first and not waiting long enough to see if the club-head data is ready.

Remedy: Increase the Valid Swing Loop Count setting in the Sensor Settings window.

Balls pulling to the left when using double bank XD ball tracks

There are five possible reasons that might cause this.

1. the ball tracks are not exactly aligned with each other

2. the lamp is not over the center of the ball track

3. the ball track is not aligned correctly with the sensor mat. (it has to be dead center with the tee)

4. the shadow of the club-head is passing over bank 1 of the sensors.

5. Last-but-not-least: the ball is really going from right to left.

Especially the club-head shadow going over ball track will cause this problem.

Ball flight curving too much - hooks and slices instead of draws and fades in ProX

Remedy: Go to the Trajectories Window and reduce the Spin/Curve factor.

Sensor mat detected as MS Serial Ball Point mouse in Windows

Some users have reported that if a Sensor Mat is plugged in to a serial port whilst Windows is booting,

the mouse pointer jumps all over the screen. If this is the case do one of the following:

Unplug your Sensor mat from the system

Go to the device manager, select Mice and Pointing Devices and de-activate (right Click) the Serial Mouse.

1. Download and run the NoSerialMouse utility program (Works for both Vista and XP) select the COM port and click Fix

Download NoSerialMouse here

2. For XP users only:

Disable serial mouse device detection during boot sequence by doing the following:

Right click My Computer

Select Properties

Select Advanced Tab

Select Settings in Startup and Recovery

Select Edit

add /NoSerialMouse (this is case sensitive so add it exactly as shown here) to the line that looks like:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\XP="Windows XP" /fastdetect

so that it now reads:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\XP="Windows XP" /fastdetect/NoSerialMouse

File -> Exit Save yes

OK

and reboot

Once rebooted re attach your sensor mat.

Access Denied message when trying to connect to the COM port

If you boot the PC with the sensor mat on and connected to the PC, windows sometimes automatically configures a Serial Ball Pointing mouse device.

When this happens, the COM port will be blocked and you'll get the Access Denied message when trying to connect to the COM port in ProX or GSA Golf Interface.

Remedy: Go into the Device Manager (via System Control), go to the Mouse (or Mice) Item from the list and de-activate (not deinstall) the Serial Ball Pointing mouse.

Disconnect the Sensor mat from the PC and re-boot the PC.

To prevent this happening again

Run the NoSerialMouse utility program (Works for both Vista and XP) select the COM port and click the Fix button.

The NoSerialMouse program should be in the SerialUSBDrivers folder of GGS. If not, then download from the above link.

PC crashes, blue screen or hangs when GSA Golf is started.

GSA Golf running very slow.

Your PC is not up to spec or incorrect graphic card settings.

GSA Golf runs in a 1024 * 768 pixel frameless window. Your screen resolution should be set to this or greater.

GSA Golf is also very demanding on the grahics card and requires a good gaming PC to function properly.

PC should have at least 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended) and the graphics card should have 1 GB video memory.

You can save yourself a lot of bother by purchasing our custom made high-end PC with all software pre-installed and gauranteed to function perfectly.

After shot swing analysis windows flickering in GSA Golf

After shot swing analysis windows are overlayed windows and require GSA Golf to be run in windows mode to function properly.

If these windows are flickering then you are most probably running GSA Golf in full screen mode.

Go to Screen settings in GSA Golf and select window mode to rectify this problem.

Note: GSA Golf windows are frameless and thus appear as full screens when the screen/projector is set to the same resolution. (normally 1024*768)

How do I enter a player photo?

Add photo images to the GGS\playerPhotos folder. Images must be 64*64 bitmap files.

If the playerPhotos folder does not exist, create a new one with the Windows Explorer.

Name files playerPhoto1, playerPhoto2, playerPhoto3 etc...

How do I access the Device Mananger in windows XP?

To access Device Manager, use any of the following methods:

Click Start, click Run, and then type devmgmt.msc.

Right-click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.

Right-click My Computer, click Properties, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.

Type the following command at a command prompt:

start devmgmt.msc

Golf Courses are dissapearing from my list of courses in ProX (Vista, W7)

Windows User Account Control (UAC) is activated. UAC must be deactivated for both ProX and GSA Golf.

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Windows 7

ProX install program halts with error message "cannot locate Palling.exe" with Windows 7

Windows User Account Control (UAC) is activated. UAC must be deactivated for both ProX and GSA Golf.

To switch off UAC in Windows 7

Go to Control Panel and select User Accounts and Family Safety

Select User Accounts

Select Change User Account Settings

Bring slider bar down to Never Notify.

Exit and restart PC!

Restart ProX install program from DVD

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"No multitexturing supported" message when starting ProX software.

Your graphics does not have the OpenGL drivers installed.

Go to the support/driver download page of your graphics card vendor. Download and install the latest OpenGL drivers.

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Setting carry distances in ProX.