windows 7 finding frc ds data storage ini

I have looked through the C: drive doing searches for frc ds data storage ini file so that I can change the pointer to the dashboard I want to use. it doesn’t seem to exist. i have downloaded and installed the WPI Smart Dashboard. But the file does not appear when i do a search file for it.

It is in the user’s Documents/FRC folder

Which is where all of the instructions say it is also. But having looked there and not seeing it I had explorer look for FRC DS Data Storage and still did not find the ini file.

Did you look in
users/public/documents/
or in file explorer they show it as
users/public/public documents/
frc/

If the file doesn’t exist, the DS will attempt to create it and fill it with defaults. What portion of that location exists, and what doesn’t?

Greg McKaskle

If no .ini file is in Documents/FRC when the Driver station is started, then the DS creates the file.

If there is no .ini file after the DS has started, then the DS has been prevented from creating a file in /public documents/FRC.

this is on a school tech dept controlled computer. The default DS has been started several times.When I go to C:\ user\publlic\ it is public documents not just documents.
Is there anything I can check to see if it is being blocked?

And what is inside of public documents? Is there an FRC folder? The ini file is supposed to be inside of the Public Documents/FRC directory.

Greg McKaskle

C:\users\public\public documents\FRC
217-3367JaguarDatasheet.pdf
217-3367-JagauarFAQ.pdf
217-3367-JaguarGettingStartedGuide.pdf
bdc-comm-107.exe
black-jag-v109.bin
PCM-Application-1.62.crf
PDP-Apllication-1.3.7.crf
TalonSrx-Application-1.01.crf

Could I build the ini file myself by using Notepad then saving it as an ini file here?

Yes, but it will not really fix the problem. You also aren’t saving off log files and other useful info such as robot version numbers.

Please check the read/write setting and other permission settings. It seems that the installers wrote to the directory, but the DS has not.

Another thing to try is to run as Administrator.

Greg McKaskle

talking to the school district tech dept chief - they have written group policys which redirect anything designated for a public drive elsewhere. In this case it doesn’t matter where for I am not going to be in the school district intranet at competitions. So we are trying to find a way of getting around this roadblock. Thank you for your assistance.

We have a few laptops purchased by the team, and are unsullied by school district IT. Many fewer problems than with the desktops in the Engineering Lab managed by professionals.

If you can’t crawl out to the internet through a guest network from such a laptop, a smartphone might help.

Tim