UVAChEEngineer

One update. Tried VirtualBox 7.0.6 today after years of using versions of 4.3.x and 6.0.x for other reasons and noticed that the slow to non USB camera performance seems to no longer be an issue. Very happy with that but really confused why it took years for Oracle to identify and resolve this kind of issue over several major and dozens of minor releases. Oh well...onward and upward.

Hi DrJB, I finally pulled down and installed the zip file you posted but it appears to only be about half the size of the cd size you cited and missing some files. Anyway to copy the cd to a iso file and reupload?

Heppu, The WinXP install did not crash / freeze and the in program camera image did not lag or stutter anywhere near as much as the Win98 version. I saw similar dark / low res issue w the image similar to what you posted. I think that it is simply a limitation of the camera tech…it’s a late 90s budget webcam…nothing by today’s standards but not bad 23 years ago. As for VMs, I can tell you Virtual Box significantly squashed the throughput usb data on both installs of VC to the point the camera was unusable. Perhaps there is a better VM solution out there, but I eventually took a Win7 64 bit laptop I had, downgraded the Win version to Win7 32 bit, and Vision Command XP install ran great. Hope that helps!

For the most part, I agree. I'm a moderate tech user but have struggled to get most of the RIS system fully working on any 64 bit platform. For most casual Lego users, I think its a stretch especially since we are battling a ton of other issues with the sets like 9v wire rot. At some point, you throw your hands up and move on to the newer stuff. I know the Lego developed driver for the USB IR tower from RIS 2.0 doesn't seem to have any known workaround on 64 bit platforms other than to run a 32 bit VM OR to buy the serial IR tower and use a USB to serial adapter. This discovery around Win98 vs WinXP VC was more of an issue with flagrant bugs and a really buggy Logitec quick cam driver. Getting the latest known applications like DrJB's WinXP Vision Control in English find removes a significant hurdle for a lot of users so I think we can call this a big win! Thank you DrJB! I have pulled a copy of the file but will probably not get back around to testing it until this weekend. If its anything like the Frankenstein of a program I created (Installing the French WinXP VC and backending the english data directories from my English Win98 VC), then I am sure it is going to work well for many users who chance upon it.

Very cool! So my suspicion was true. I know a number of people have sought that install over the years. The fact you had to mail away for it most likely explains its scarcity online. Easiest way is to probably rip it to iso and host on a google drive. Alternatively, you can copy all the cd files to a zip folder and host that on a google drive. I can pull that down, test it, and eventually rebundle it as an iso should someone else need it.

I am about 99.9% sure that there was a follow up release specific to Windows XP for two reasons. First, a google search will uncover numerous images showing print runs of Vision Command software CDs specifically branded for WinXP - Example: https://archive.org/details/legovisioncommandxp. Second, I have found several branded .iso files for French, Dutch, and German language installs that are tagged for WinXP. I have installed the French Win XP .iso version found on the web and the English Win 98 version I have the CD for on two physical PCs and two virtual boxes to do performance testing / comparisons. In every scenario, the software and camera worked better on the WinXP version. A deeper dive into the install files shows a Logitech Qucik Cam driver update on the XP install that is approximately 2 years newer than the Win98 install which probably explains alot of the performance improvements. I don't recall for sure, but I think the help menu versioning on both installs implies they are both version 1.0 but this is most likely an oversite by the software developers as the underlying drivers in each install are definitely different. Interestingly, I have yet to find an English WinXP .iso for Vision Command or a CD via 3rd party sales sites. I suspect Lego may have released the Vision Command product at different times in different regions of the world OR they may have just done a regional update for the product at some point. Either scenario may explain the lack of an English Windows XP version of the software.

Just posted a comment on another, older thread. I had the same issue but essentially found a way to install VC in English for Win98, copy the back end data files, uninstall VC in English for Win98, install VC in French for XP, and then paste over its data files with the data files from the original install. Bit of a tedious effort but it ultimately gave me the XP version with more stable QuickCam drivers and ended up having all of the critical menus / buttons, videos, audios, and mission text in English. Vision Command didn't work well at all in any of the Win98/XP virtual box VMs I set up. It seems the USB passthrough severely limits data speed and the camera just stutters and stalls until it eventually crashes. Hyper-V in Windows doesn't have a solution for USB passthrough (I think) and I did not try other VM solutions but I suspect any type of virtualization is going to have issues passing data efficiently for a USB 1.1 camera. You can find that post at:

Just posted a comment on another, older thread. I had the same issue but essentially found a way to install VC in English for Win98, copy the back end data files, uninstall VC in English for Win98, install VC in French for XP, and then paste over its data files with the data files from the original install. Bit of a tedious effort but it ultimately gave me the XP version with more stable QuickCam drivers and ended up having all of the critical menus / buttons, videos, audios, and mission text in english. You can find that post at:

I realize this response is about 9 years late but I just wanted to provide some information that might be helpful. I dug out my old 1.0 RIS Mindstorm sets a couple months ago and tried resurrecting them. My goal was to get all stock LEGO software and programming environments working. Yes, I know BRICX is there and supports most modern 64bit OS systems but I found it was lacking when it came to support for the expansion sets like Vision Command (#9731) set - more on this set later. As far as getting the RIS core software working on my Win 10 / 11 64 bit machines, I simply created a WinXP 32 bit virtual machine in Oracle VirtualBox, installed the latest RIS 2.0 software on the VM, and used my RIS 1.0 set's serial IR tower with a USB to serial adapter to communicate with the RCX. As far as my testing went, this went extraordinarily well and everything worked just as if it were running on a physical Win98/XP 32 bit machine from the time period this product was released. I would say for most people who simply want to use the RCX, the original software, and expansion set software other than vision command, this solution will solve 99% of your issues. Unfortunately, the Vision Command expansion set was an entirely different story. Working with the smart camera presented numerous issues. First, my VC kit came with a software package designed for Windows 98 and I believe this release was essentially 1.0 for the product. I found it incredibly buggy on both Win 98 and Win XP 32 bit VMs...so buggy that I basically gave up on trying to use the software. I found a number of Vision Command Win XP .iso files but they were in numerous languages other than English (French, German, Dutch, etc). I reached out to Lego customer support and explained this scenario and asked if they happened to have a copy of the WinXP software in English they could provide. My hope was that someone on their engineering team would dig up a copy from a desk drawer or an old server drive and turn it over. Instead, I got a canned response telling me the product was essentially retired...kind of a sad response but not surprising given Lego is essentially giving up on Mindstorms all together after 25 years. Based on this response, I installed the French version of the software on my Win XP VM and it showed a significant improvement in bugs but left me with 2 large issues...1) I don't speak French and 2) the USB camera would intermittently work, freeze, and eventually crash the software. After some research it appears that the USB pass through for Virtual Box significantly slows down USB data rates which explained the slow, intermittent performance of the camera. With this discovery, I abandoned using a VM, dug out a 20 year old Windows XP 32 bit laptop, and spent hours getting the laptop back up and running. I reset up the French version of Vision Command WinXP on the machine and noticed significant improvement of the camera performance running natively on a real WinXP pc versus its performance on a WinXP VM. With this data, I went ahead and recore loaded a more "modern" win 7 laptop I had with a 32 bit version of Win 7 and got everything running just as I had on my older Win XP laptop. At this point, the only problem left to solve was the language issue. After a lot of poking around the backend install files, I found that grabbing the data folders from the English Win 98 version of VC and pasting the files in those folders over the equivalent data files for the French Win XP version of the installed software translated nearly all of the core software's menu screens, mission descriptions, video files, and audio files. The initial launch menu and various software error messages were still in French, but nearly all of the user interfaces were updated to English to the point the language barrier was essentially a non-issue. So long story short, with a lot of trial and error, it is possible to get your original Mindstorms set working along with the expansion sets including Vision Command. I am not sure you average end user will go to these lengths but it is possible.

Agreed. Watched since its release last year and no significant change from MSRP on any of the big sites: Amazon, Target, Walmart, Jet.com, and the now defunct TRU.

I'm envious of those EU Amazon price drops. 2017 and 2018 Q1 sets have been locked at MSRP on US Amazon. I have been watching the MACK truck since it came out and its been stuck at $179.99 US. Same with last years flagship even! Incredible....

How do I report as well? I blocked user but that doesn't block the boards I see from him...

Not to get off topic but it appears that the general lego technic boards are getting flooded by a chinese spammer. Any chance a moderator can boot the responsible user.

Wish we saw some price drops on last year's 2H sets in the USA. 42069 and 42070 have not budged on amazon. The firetruck did get a $20 discount at a bunch of stores during the holiday; however, I am a pass on that one. 42069 https://keepa.com/#!product/1-B07212T2BV 42070 https://keepa.com/#!product/1-B07146N1MP Given Toys R Us botched my 42053 Volvo order which would have saved me 20% and now its is out of stock everywhere...looks like 2017 was a no LEGO year for me. Hopefully, this year's sets have a few more sales...

I must give lego a little credit. On FB, it looks like they did come up with a cross promotion idea using 31313...just took me a while to find it.

That was the point I was trying to get to several pages ago...TLG burned all their powder in 2016 and set up 2017 for a let down. They should have traded out one or two of the 2016 2H sets with one or two of 2017 2H sets. Would have leveled out the expectations / let down issue going from 2016 to 2017. In the bigger scheme of things, its not a big deal. I just need to exercise self restraint and hold out on opening up my 42056 and 42053 sets until this summer so that I will have something new to build. Longer term though, I would like to see some of these larger, AFOL sets have a formal option from LEGO on 31313 integration. It seams that Mindstorms is off on its own little island once its released despite being mostly compatible with Technic...official support for PF would be nice though. Mindstorms is fun to explore and tinker with but sometimes its nice to just check your brain at the door and follow some instructions which result in a cool creation.

Talk about let down in the build up to August 2017. 2013 to 2016 flagships generated lots of excitement on their own for me and most years had at least 1 other 2H set that was worth getting. This year does nothing...makes you wonder why Lego didn't keep one of the 2016 2H sets as a carry over to 2017 to generate some excitement. I think the 42053 Volvo would have stood out as the winner among the three 2017 2H sets. Maybe 2018 will be better or is this the start of a down trend? To this day, I am kind of surprised Lego hasn't used at least one of the 2H sets to formally bridge a gap over to the current EV3 Mindstorm kit. It would be neat to see new and formal Lego innovation that ties in the 31313 kit with a large Technic parts kit / model. I'd love to see something like an autonomous vehicle. Also, his would open up a world of creations outside of the standard construction / recreational vehicles like robotic arms, automated material handlers, etc.

In case anyone is looking to pick this up stateside, jet.com has a good deal on 42055. Applied coupon code TRIPLE15 at check out and got $30 bucks off - 15% off up to $30, can be used 3 times on new accounts. I opted for no free returns so deal worked out as follows: $279.99 - $5.68 - $30 = $241.31 + free shipping / no tax. Appears they also have 42054 available as well. Lets hope they get 42056 before code expires. https://jet.com/product/LEGO-Technic-Bucket-Wheel-Excavator/62d09d352d754216ae7c2bf6beeca9a0