FAQ - Microsoft Vista and the POLAR IRWAVE ADAPTER

Because the USB2.0 IR adapter does not come with its own drivers for Vista, Polar cannot offer full Vista support for it.
On the product package Vista does not appear on the list of compatible operating systems.

However most Vista users should be able to install the adapter with drivers built-in to Vista on both the
32-bit and 64-bit platforms. In practice this means that Vista should recognize the adapter when it is plugged in.

A few customers have experienced problems with installing IrDA USB 2.0 Adapter drivers to Vista.
Most of these problems seem to result from the customer having upgraded to Vista rather than doing a ‘clean’ installation.
This maybe due to a registry problem. A reload of Vista has helped. For more help, please turn to Microsoft.

Installation proceedure of the USB2.0 adapter with Vista which should work in most cases.

You can use Windows Vista’s own IrDA drivers for the Polar IrDA USB 2.0 Adapter.
The drivers for the STIR4210/15/20 are built-in to Vista on both the 32-bit and 64-bit platforms.

PLEASE NOTE:

DO NOT use the drivers on the packaged CD as they are not for Vista.

Plug in the Polar USB2.0 adapter into a spare USB port and follow the following steps.

When the interface is installed correctly you will note that a led will randomly flash inside the unit (viewed through
the front red cover). If the led is on solid or does not flash, the driver is not installed correctly.

Note: The LED inside the adapter will randomly flash when not being used.
This will happen irrespective of whether the Polar training software is installed or not.

The Polar Protrainer 5 or the PPP4 software is configured for IrDA for this interface.

To test the IRwave device

Put the Polar receiver into CONNECT mode - refer to the User Manual on how to do this. NO OTHER BUTTONS need to be pressed once the receiver is in Connect mode. The software will do the rest.

Face the Polar receiver infrared window towards the top of the IRwave within 50cm (on the S-Series infrared window is on the top of the receiver; on the F55/RS400/RS800, the infrared window is on the top on the display or just above, on the CS600 it is on the top left hand side).
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The computer/IRwave will detect the Polar receiver; a noise will be heard and an infrared symbol will appear on the task bar next to the time (as shown running Windows Vista). Place mouse over symbol to see what device was detected.

This should happen irrespective of the Polar software being installed or run. If the computer does not detect the Polar receiver, the Polar software will not be able to communicate with the IRwave device.

The Polar software options are to be set for IrDA and make sure the "Polar Interface USB Autocheck" is NOT ticked in the Options section.