Important features needed

[DevBiker]

<sigh>

 

As I've said, I fundamentally agree that this should be a feature. And Corsair has said that "hardware lighting" is coming at some point (just not exactly when). They can't simply drop everything to change a feature when the system - fundamentally - works as intended. So ... it gets prioritized along with everything else, scheduled and planned based on available resources, time to implement, risk of implementation, and business priorities. That's Project Management 101.

 

And now, Corsair has released a cooler that has "hardware lighting" as a feature - you have a lighting profile for when the workstation is locked/etc. But I'm guessing that y'all missed that. Take that as you will but it seems to me that this feature may be coming sooner than you think.

 

As for the feedback - it's been heard. It was also provided long before Piplos decided to go on his juvenile rants. But these things take time. Believe it or not, development is more than just waving a magic wand over a monitor. Crazy, I know, but it's true.

[DevBiker]

Why not just do a hotfix to allow the user to change the default to "Off" instead of "Rainbow" while you work on the permanent fix of translating code? Off can't be that hard to implement can it?

 

Ya know, I've been writing code for some 25 years.

 

I hate hearing this from users because, invariably, it's harder than they think to get it right.

[natefrog]

Members: 195,111 in total..

 

you have 21 people in your list lol... (0.01% of the member base)

 

must mean the other 195,090 members are Fan Boys (or Girls) lol. (99.98% of the member base)

 

You have heard the term silent majority haven't you. I guarantee you that if a poll was taken of every user of iCUE on Corsair lighting products the mast majority would say they would prefer to keep their custom profile instead of the default rainbow during times iCUE is not running. I'm also fairly certain you would prefer this as well because who wouldn't. I don't understand why you feel the need to attack someone with a legitimate complaint that many others have.

 

Corsair may be your favorite company in the world, but that doesn't change the fact that this is an issue that bothers allot of people. You are only seeing the hotheads that will take the time out of their live (such as me) to actively complain about it. The vast majority will just stay silent, deal with it, and just not buy Corsair again (I have that in common with the silent folks). This is very bad for Corsair losing customers like this and they should be very concerned about it.

[Piplos]

software development is not an easy thing to do, especially in an open and diverse hardware environment like the PC

 

See? You're absolutely right! And this is exactly the reason of why it's not a good idea to simply put some random unskilled people to do this complicated job for little money. I know Corsair is acting this way.

 

Also add me to the list. I've only had this setup for 3 days and it infuriates me that I spent 100s of dollars for customized lighting to have it go full rainbow disco when my monitor enters power savings mode. If anything the default should be RGBs off and then there would not be this issue.

 

My fix is I have turned off monitor power savings mode in Windows and I am manually pressing the power button on my monitor now. I shouldn't have to do that.

 

This should not be an acceptable fix for anyone. I need to lock my pc while I'm away. I have a Bitlocker full disk encryption enabled like every brained people would do, and it would be insane to leave it unlocked when I'm not on my PC. It sounds like having alarms in your house but leaving the house door open while you're away at the market.

 

Thanks, I've added you to the list.

 

Anyway I'm doing my part by discouraging everyone to buy Corsair product and to get others instead. All the people here know me and listen to me.

[natefrog]

Ya know, I've been writing code for some 25 years.

 

I hate hearing this from users because, invariably, it's harder than they think to get it right.

 

And you are making it sound like coding for "off" is the hardest thing in the world. Just update the firmware of the LNP (and other products) to cut power to the LEDs as default if other instructions are not received. How hard is that really?

[Technobeard]

Please stay on topic and don't assume things about other forum members, thanks.

[DevBiker]

And you are making it sound like coding for "off" is the hardest thing in the world. Just update the firmware of the LNP (and other products) to cut power to the LEDs as default if other instructions are not received. How hard is that really?

 

Have you ever coded firmware?

[natefrog]

While I am very angry about this issue and it completely ruins my experience with the product I must commend Corsair for allowing us to have this discussion on their forum. I have been on other forums where the company would have taken down a thread like this in a heartbeat. So for this, Corsair, you have my respect. Now please fix this one glaring issue in an otherwise stellar product as soon as you can. Thank you.

[natefrog]

Have you ever coded firmware?

 

As a matter of a fact yes, I am an IT professional for the last 22 years. Don't assume things about people. I know for a fact 'off' is one of the easiest functions to code. It would only be made difficult if your existing code makes it so. Since I don't know the existing code I can't speak on how difficult it would be in this instance, but it shouldn't be hard to do IF the existing code was designed well.

[DevBiker]

As a matter of a fact yes, I am an IT professional for the last 22 years. Don't assume things about people. I know for a fact 'off' is one of the easiest functions to code. It would only be made difficult if your existing code makes it so. Since I don't know the existing code I can't speak on how difficult it would be in this instance, but it shouldn't be hard to do IF the existing code was designed well.

 

So ... if you actually code for a living, then can you not attest to the frustration when a user thinks something is "easy" when it isn't?

 

And how there are often competing demands on limited development resources requiring prioritization and, sometimes, deferral of things that may "seem" easy but are lower priority? Or run a high risk of regression bugs (as any change to firmware would)?

 

Or has that never happened on any of your projects?

[Zotty]

While I am very angry about this issue and it completely ruins my experience with the product I must commend Corsair for allowing us to have this discussion on their forum. I have been on other forums where the company would have taken down a thread like this in a heartbeat. So for this, Corsair, you have my respect. Now please fix this one glaring issue in an otherwise stellar product as soon as you can. Thank you.

 

That's better,,,, it's nice to be nice dude.. if you guys approach this in an orderly fashion, things will get sorted... and prob sooner than most think!..

 

CorsairJames has taken a virtual beating on here from Piplos and the like.. as has his dev team.. now i am lucky enough to be on the iCue Beta test team.. i get to see a daily snapshot of whats going on..

 

1.. james does not sleep!.. honest dude.. He is at iCue at least 18 hrs a day at minimum...

2 GreyBeard, Same. that guy works real hard.. i see the hours that's put in... they need to be praised not abused..

3 talk with them.. engage.. reach out.. its what Corsair does.. and does it well. they do listen.

 

as you know your self, there is only so many times you can let someone shout the same thing at you before you have to switch off and crack on with everything else... dont be that guy ;)...

 

oh.. and number 4... Welcome aboard dude.... its a nice little community once you get to know the regulars :)

[natefrog]

So ... if you actually code for a living, then can you not attest to the frustration when a user thinks something is "easy" when it isn't?

 

And how there are often competing demands on limited development resources requiring prioritization and, sometimes, deferral of things that may "seem" easy but are lower priority? Or run a high risk of regression bugs (as any change to firmware would)?

 

Or has that never happened on any of your projects?

 

Completely with you on all of that. However, this is something that EVERY user of the product will experience and find find frustrating to varying levels. While not a high priority bug, it is a high priority customer retention item. I don't do coding at work anymore as I now manage a team so I have to consider things like this. Things that seem a priority to us aren't always what is a priority to customers. High visibility issues like this that quickly spread over YouTube and the like can kill a product before it gets off it's feet even if they're not as serious as a security flaw or something that we would consider a higher priority. Like I said every single person that uses this product will experience this issue and some may not care, some it may infuriate (like me), and some will just deal with it and never buy Corsair again.

 

I see you're a beta tester and I know even as a tester you put allot of work on a product and feel an attachment to it and defensive about it, but this is a big deal. I've been digging through stuff for 3 days trying to figure out a fix and I've come across review after review mentioning this issue. I think it is a bigger issue than folks realize and is turning customers off to the product.

[Inheritance]

I see you're a beta tester and I know even as a tester you put allot of work on a product and feel an attachment to it and defensive about it, but this is a big deal. I've been digging through stuff for 3 days trying to figure out a fix and I've come across review after review mentioning this issue. I think it is a bigger issue than folks realize and is turning customers off to the product.

 

It is a highly requested feature for sure. But there is a difference between being attached to a company and the products and having to listen to someone on the internet threaten to return their stuff and then demand a full refund after a few months like their the king of the world. Not saying you have said anything like this but the idea is if you don't like it return it. Right. You get your money back and the seller and manufacturer lose.

 

There have been cases in the past where users have demanded a feature and to rush it out it was slapped together and in the end, it wasn't a great experience for anyone. The folks at Corsair are aware of the demand and it's not something they are ignoring.

 

As a matter of a fact yes, I am an IT professional for the last 22 years. Don't assume things about people. I know for a fact 'off' is one of the easiest functions to code. It would only be made difficult if your existing code makes it so. Since I don't know the existing code I can't speak on how difficult it would be in this instance, but it shouldn't be hard to do IF the existing code was designed well.

 

I haven't seen the code either but yea Off shouldn't be that difficult. A few years back Corsair wasn't the giant it is today. Wouldnt surprise me if the code isn't the most optimal and easy to work with. Writing lighting FW for this many devices and fans is not a one day project, I'm sure you get that.

[DevBiker]

Completely with you on all of that. However, this is something that EVERY user of the product will experience and find find frustrating to varying levels. While not a high priority bug, it is a high priority customer retention item. I don't do coding at work anymore as I now manage a team so I have to consider things like this. Things that seem a priority to us aren't always what is a priority to customers. High visibility issues like this that quickly spread over YouTube and the like can kill a product before it gets off it's feet even if they're not as serious as a security flaw or something that we would consider a higher priority. Like I said every single person that uses this product will experience this issue and some may not care, some it may infuriate (like me), and some will just deal with it and never buy Corsair again.

 

Ah, OK, you're a manager. So you should totally get what I'm fixin' to say.

 

Given unlimited time, money and resources, all things are possible, right? As I'm sure that you are aware, there's no such thing as a project with any one of those three items in unlimited supply. So ... there are constraints.

 

Now ... iCue has been released out into the wild for not quite six months. So it's not been that long, in the grand scheme of things. They do pretty much a monthly release cadence - I'm sure that you are aware of the resources that are involved with any RTW of a new version. Now, in that time, there are also additional business priorities for new products (big bosses can't have product launches delayed because the software isn't ready), bug fixes and new features that are already on the drawing board. And some of these bugs are performance related, some are flat-out crashes (these happen, as I'm sure you know), and some are just - well, it doesn't work. New features can certainly be rescheduled but bug fixes - especially things around performance and crashes - have to be priority. And at least one of these bugs that has consumed quite a bit of time is really hard to repro and only happens to specific users with specific configurations. But it's really, really, really bad so that bumps up the priority. There's also the number of users affected that determines the severity and prioritization. Something that affects every user is a higher priority than something that only affects a subset of users.

 

Add to this that you have a code base dating back at least 2 years and that it's the unification of two completely different software packages (Link and iCue) from two different teams that used to be, perhaps, competitors. How competitive they were, I can't say ... but they were different sides of the house. Those two teams had to be brought together (while continuing to support the final versions of the previous products for a couple of months) and, undoubtedly, there's some friction there.

 

In those last six months, keep in mind that new product is still coming out. We've had new keyboards, new cases, new coolers, new RAM ... all requiring iCue support, some even requiring customized firmware. Plus new products on the horizon that need to be planned now and even started now to ensure that the software is there when it's time for them to release.

 

And the same guy that manages the dev team has to manage the rabble that is the Beta team. And we are quite the rabble, to be sure.

 

This is in six months. I know it seems like a lifetime in IT but, in reality, it isn't. If you look at the big picture and what's been accomplished, it's actually pretty impressive (IMHO). Sure, it was in planning and work was being done before then but that was also second to support and functionality for Link and CUE, the predecessors to iCue. It's actually been less time that the new, combined team has been able to singularly focus on iCue.

 

As for firmware - just having an off switch won't satisfy everyone. That may be your pet request but others would say that sucks as much as the unicorn barf mode. And ... firmware for new product still has to be done (which would also require this new functionality ... the Obsidian 1000D Commander Pro and the SPEC-OMEGA RGB Lighting Node Pro are both customized firmware specific to those cases) AND firmware for the PRO series coolers needs to be done AND the firmware and even the MCU for the Commander Pro and the Lighting Node Pro are different. So ... it's not just setting an "OFF" switch.

 

So ... as an IT manager, perhaps you have a touch of experience and perspective. As I'm sure you are well aware, what the users think is "simple enough to do" rarely ever is.

 

I see you're a beta tester and I know even as a tester you put allot of work on a product and feel an attachment to it and defensive about it, but this is a big deal. I've been digging through stuff for 3 days trying to figure out a fix and I've come across review after review mentioning this issue. I think it is a bigger issue than folks realize and is turning customers off to the product.

 

It's a big issue to some users, sure. And, as I've stated multiple times that you seem to ignore, it bugs me too. In fact, it was one of the first pieces of feedback that I gave when I came onto the beta team before iCue was even released and LONG before this thread was created. I even had long, late night discussions about it. I also have a quite long laundry list of suggestions, comments and bugs that I keep in Excel. And ... I also have a bit of insight behind the curtain and I understand why it's not the first priority on the list. The hard drive clicking was a bigger issue. The CPU usage in one of the releases was a bigger issue. Some of the crashes were bigger issues. Saving to device for some coolers was a bigger issue. The disappearing CoPro performance tab was a bigger issue. Other flat-out bugs were bigger issues. But it is on the list.

 

And note ... again, as I pointed out earlier ... that the first "DIY" (Inside-The-Box) device that came out since the team was fully combined and dedicated to iCue has hardware support for lighting modes. So that feedback has been heard. Of course, it's always easier to introduce net-new functionality in net-new code, right?

[Hagbard Celine]

I am not even sure if I want to respond to your smart phone analogy... its a bit off since computer parts functions way differently from a smart phone.

 

But I will address your # users that are not happy with this default rainbow effect. CORSAIR has been known to listen to their customers for many years now. We've proven that in the last decade by releasing multiple product lines that are based on our customer's suggestions. We do value our customer's feedback whether it's positive or negative, we all take them into consideration and evaluate them for future implementation. So to be fair, you've got a valid point on this particular topic and like what I said on my previous post, I will pass this along to the right personnel so they can go over it and decide whether this feature will stay or not. Knowing how the process works, the team will have to evaluate this and determine if changing this feature will benefit the product or not. We'll just have to wait and see in the future if it's staying or not,

 

And I wouldn't call it a "bug" either, because it doesn't really cause any problems to any of the components when the rainbow effect kicks in. Saying that it is a bug or an issue is a bit of a stretch, a bit misleading if you ask me. I would call it a bug myself if It's a indeed a bug. But in this case.

 

I just want to add my 2cent about the smart-phone-analogy; I'm using my K95 RGB on a laptop. Being a laptop it has one thing in common with a smartphone, it has a battery; and blinking lights drains batteries.

[Yannosh]

Hi everyone! I just registered to the forum because of this issue...

I just bought the Crystal 280x case, which is the best and most beautiful case I ever owned, but it is a shame that the only solution not to beacome crazy or blind (or both) is to downgrade the firmware and install an old software.

I hope you will fix this soon!

 

Add me to the list Piplos, peace!

[natefrog]

DevBiker, dude I'm not arguing with you. I understand what you're saying and I agree. However, my biggest issue with both the beta team's and the dev's responses in this thread is calling this issue low priority. When compared to severe performance bugs yes I get that it's a lower priority, but on the functionality side of things this should be one of the highest priorities since it effects every single user of the effected products. Add that to the fact that the biggest selling point of this software and it's related product line is customization, losing said customization whenever you do routine PC tasks such as locking, restarting, monitor power saving mode, etc. is a huge hit to the product.

 

So basically what I'm saying is for non-bug fix related items this issue should be among the highest of priorities. I know that the type of bug fixes you stated would jump in front of this issue definitely, but calling this a low priority to a customer, especially one that doesn't understand what we're discussing is basically saying "We don't really give a **** about your issue" in their eyes.

 

*EDIT*

I also wanted to add that I think this is a spectacular piece of software and product line. This one issue completely kills it for me though because it ruins the exact purpose of which I purchased the items for. That is why I am so upset and in the end it really doesn't matter the internal development issues, even though I understand them, bottom line is I purchased products for a specific reason and there is a flaw in the software causing it to not function as stated (customized).

[Zotty]

beta team's responses

 

NDA's suck at times.. really does limit how one can reply in a support type of way at times....

 

but.

 

Hold tight... really... hold tight man.... ;) ;) all I can say is.. if you was on a rocket to the moon.. you are already in the Moon Landing Craft. and preparing to slow your orbit down ready to land ;).. you will soon be saying "one small step for iCue one giant leap for RGB kind"

 

as DevB has already said.... things are being worked on and have been since before this thread started ;). we are limited on what we are allowed to say Dude.

[natefrog]

NDA's suck at times.. really does limit how one can reply in a support type of way at times....

 

but.

 

Hold tight... really... hold tight man.... ;) ;) all I can say is.. if you was on a rocket to the moon.. you are already in the Moon Landing Craft. and preparing to slow your orbit down ready to land ;).. you will soon be saying "one small step for iCue one giant leap for RGB kind"

 

as DevB has already said.... things are being worked on and have been since before this thread started ;). we are limited on what we are allowed to say Dude.

 

Completely understand all that, I deal with that kind of stuff on the daily. All I'm saying is calling someone's issue that is important to them on a product they spent allot of money on "low priority" will infuriate people because it's just like telling them you don't care about their issue. In fact "low priority" should never come out of someone's mouth when discussing a customer's issue regardless of its the correct priority or not, that's business 101.

 

Best response would have been "This issue has been noted and is being worked on, but other issues have a higher priority at this time. We will have something done on this as soon as we can." See how that is better then the "We know about this, but it's a low priority because it isn't a bug" statement. Also this is speaking about the Dev's responses in this thread, not yours as you don't work for Corsair so you can say it however you want to.

 

*EDIT*

Also I have my temporary fix working even though it is a pain. Used iCUE to set a hardware profile to my cooler then uninstalled iCUE and used Link to set my LNP up to match the cooler. Works perfectly, but will be a pain to change things up when I get the urge. Really looking forward to iCUE being able to do it all as ,like I said before, it really is a spectacular piece of software.

[solarity]

Completely understand all that, I deal with that kind of stuff on the daily. All I'm saying is calling someone's issue that is important to them on a product they spent allot of money on "low priority" will infuriate people because it's just like telling them you don't care about their issue. In fact "low priority" should never come out of someone's mouth when discussing a customer's issue regardless of its the correct priority or not, that's business 101.

 

Best response would have been "This issue has been noted and is being worked on, but other issues have a higher priority at this time. We will have something done on this as soon as we can." See how that is better then the "We know about this, but it's a low priority because it isn't a bug" statement. Also this is speaking about the Dev's responses in this thread, not yours as you don't work for Corsair so you can say it however you want to.

 

I don't think anyone called it a "low priority", I think DevBiker's "Lower Priority" was in context to other things that need to be addressed, like performance issues and items that cause the software to crash. Also new hardware priority can be put over smaller things that come as more of an annoyance. The hardware is what pays their bills, the software is given out free and is a cost center for them.

 

The Beta testers here, including myself are all volunteers. We like this software and that is why we are Beta testing it. We also like helping others. It can be frustrating at times. Some people are very rude to us i.e. insulting developers, calling people fan boys, and calling the product crap. Comments like that have no bearing or anyway to help the product or Corsair improve itself. As toxic as the OP has been, I think this thread has been helpful to bring to light how many people want this feature. After all for annoying items like this, it is the community that sets the priority. I think you kind of jumped into a little bit of fire after such a comment. If people seemed short with you, then that is the reason. There is a difference between constructive criticism/critiques and being rude.

 

I was livid when Windows released the "free" Windows update to Windows 10. My dad got upgraded to Windows 10 and didn't know how to get on the internet (no supported NIC drivers). Also my wife's and mother's Laptops didn't support Windows 10 and ran slow as hell. My old man tried to roll back, though that process didn't work out so well for him. My nerd rage exceeded the OP's, though I did not vent my rage to MS as they realized the F'ed up. I even run Windows 10 now on my current system. Though thank god I support Linux at work :)

[Zotty]

just to show that you can't please every one. whats good for the goose isnt always good for the gander

 

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=182373

[natefrog]

just to show that you can't please every one. whats good for the goose isnt always good for the gander

 

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=182373

 

There's bound to be some people that love it. I actually don't hate it that much, I just really hate the fact that it takes over when I don't want it to.

[Zotty]

There's bound to be some people that love it. I actually don't hate it that much, I just really hate the fact that it takes over when I don't want it to.

 

understandable.... and not aimed at you ;). i am the same dude as it bothers me little, but that's easy for me to say as a home user where i dont have to worry about security.. my PC doesnt sleep or lock it's self. when it's off.. it's off...

 

was just a general eye opener for those not paying attention ;) ;)

 

 

 

Imagine if it did bother me!!! lol

 

[ame]

[/ame]

[monakh]

Thread seems pretty heated but add me to the list of peeps who want the lighting to either stick to the active profile or completely turn off when I lock the PC.

 

I'll wait as long as it takes though, it's very bothersome for me but not enough to get into giant arguments over, with a company I like.

[guschen802]

Add me to the list. I ran several non-windows os on my pc, it is really annoying that the profile change to rainbow when not using iCue. I like rainbow, but I rather have it consistent no matter iCue is on or off.

 

Until the problem solved, I will still use Link.

 

I am kind of afraid that CP and LNP does not support this. Because they can only replay last light effect instead of a dedicate storage for storing profile. And it can not replay the fancy iCue light effect without iCue running and cause it to use the only one profile that come with the hardware, rainbow.

 

Hope this is not true and it will be address in future.