Problems with Railmaster (sorry - totally new to this!)

[JKPB]

Be patient with a unskilled mother please!

Dear All - we bought Railmaster for my son for Christmas.  Frustration levels are now running rather high!  Not helped that I know very little about train sets and only marginally more about computers.

We have - downloaded the software and updated it (in admistration mode)

Updated the DCC elite controller (through the lap top which gives me some comfort that the cable connecting them is working).

I have turned off the virus software and windows firewall (much to its annoyance)

My current position is - I cannot acivate the software it says either password not found or resource not found

When all is ready (using software in demo mode) to connect to the DCC controller and start running trains it says "the connection with DCC controller A has been lost.  This could be a short circuit or USB cable disconnection."  Have checked no short ciricuits and the cat has not detached the cable!

We have tried on two separate laptops one running XP and the other windows 10 and both have identical errors.  

Also - having read through all sorts of things on here - I see people mentioning send a request for help "from Railmaster" - but I have the software open and I do not see this option - is this because the software is not yet activated?

Please help! Thanks

 

[simon_hazeldine]

Hi

 

Got the Western Master set for Christmas. All set up and running with the loco provided but I cannot for the life of me get the system to run the 2 other DCC fitted locos I have which are the Jinty (R052) and Class 8 (R156). Have added them to the list in the way shown in the Guide and they are showing but no reaction.I have read the Guide but still can't hook up with them, Have activated the account. Any help greatfully received. Have tried everything already stated on this blog. Many thanks.

[RDS]

@JKPB

I run Railmaster with the Elite computer, using either XP or W10.

It is essential to ensure that your computer is connected to the Elite with it's USB lead and that the Elite has gone through its full start up procedure (until it says 03) BEFORE switching on the computer.  Try this and let us know how you get on.

 

[Fishmanoz]

Hi JKPB, welcome to the forums, and yes we can be patient.

 

Simon, may I ask that you exercise your patience by starting your own thread rather thsn hijacking JKPB's before anyone has had a chance to even answer her.

 

JKPB, as you may have noticed from recent threads, there is something of a process to go through to get RM working, and you will get it working.

 

For a start, go to the second top locked thread in the forum and make sure you have done everything there.  You will notice it mentions AV and making RM a full exception (see the AV manual installed on your desktop).  I can be almost 100% certain you've yet to achieve this, even not fully turning your Av off although you say you have.  The reason I know is the lack of activation which is almost always caused by AV blocking problems. 

 

Now go to the Hornby Railmaster thread and the HRMS post towards the bottom of page 1 and do everything there.

 

Finally, go to the Railmaster/eLink problems thread from today and follow everything in HRMS's 2 posts there.

 

Has doing everything, I repeat everything, there fixed your problem.  If not, do to things: first come back and let us know how you've gone; and second, email HRMS from with in the Help window of RM (the tab at the top with the big ?) and tell them what you've done so far.  You should get an immediate auto acknowledgement followed by a real reply in short order.  If you don't get that auto acknowledgement, that too means you are AV is blocking you so come back and we'll give you an alternative approach to emailing.

 

Trust it goes well, I assure you you will get it running.

[Chrissaf]

JKPB, firstly you don't need to have Railmaster activated to use the inbuilt help facility.

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See page 134 of the Railmaster version 1.63 manual on how to access it and use it. Note that the e-mail address used on this page should read support@rail-master.com, not customercare@hornby.com.

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With regard to your Railmaster loosing sync with your controller issue. You made a point of stating that the controller is Elite. I assume therefore that the layout was previously controlled with this controller and that Railmaster is a new Christmas purchase addition.

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Look at page 34 of the 1.63 manual with regard to the railmaster.INI file. Note the reference in the middle of this page to a 'cog' icon found on the Railmaster 'help' Window. The same 'help' Window where you will find the 'help request' button. Use the 'cog' icon to open your Railmaster.INI file in edit mode. Just follow on screen prompts after clicking the 'cog' icon.

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These .INI file mods assume that the eLink/Elite USB serial port driver has been installed correctly. To check this, connect the Elite to your railmaster PC (do not run Railmaster at this time) open Windows Device Manager and look at the 'Com' entry. If Windows 7 or above, it should have an entry similar to "USB Serial Com 3". If the Com number is 5 or higher, then you will need to force it to use a lower number. Refer to the posts referenced in Fishy's reply. Then once you are happy that the driver is present and correct, follow the suggestions below.

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Look for the following .INI file entries:

Check controller=

Alternative comms=

Elite feedback=

.

Only If the entries above are not present, then type them in as shown below at the end of the file. Do make absolutely sure first that they are NOT present as it will not help if these lines are duplicated in the file. If they are present, just edit them to read as below, subject to the version of Windows you are using. I have used the entry values that I found worked best for me when using these Windows versions with my Elite.

.

I would edit these to read (if using Windows 7 or 8.x):

Check controller=0

Alternative comms=0

Elite feedback=1

.

I would edit these to read (if using Windows 10):

Check controller=0

Alternative comms=1

Elite feedback=1

.

After editing the file, save the changes, close and reopen Railmaster and see if it now works correctly with your Elite.

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EDIT: I was typing this as Fishy was typing his reply. His reply is more comprehensive than mine. What I have suggested is also referenced in parts of the references he has made to other forum pages. My reply focuses on getting your Railmaster communicating to your Elite. You will still need to resolve the PC security issues if you are to successfully get your copy of Railmaster activated. Fishy's reply covers the security /activation 'how to resolve' as well.

[Fishmanoz]

My approach is simple - there are so many things, any one of which can be the particular problem, it's best to use an approach that covers all of them.  That way, you won't end up with 9 things done correctly and still not be working because you didn't fix the 10th.

 

Chris's reply above is of course excellent as usual on the topics he's covered, and he acknowledges the other issues too.  Some other replies lately are just a distraction from the main game of making sure all the steps have been followed.  They are usually perfectly valid single issue replies that a covered by the overall anyway.

 

For all new to DCC and RM in particular, there are unfortunately no short cuts to making sure you get everything set up correctly.  No one issue is likely to solve it for you, except as a fluke.  But rest assured, the system works and, if you can't get it going yourself, HRMS is excellent at doing it for you by emailing them from the Help window in RM, or using Chris's support email for them above if it doesn't work from RM.  From in RM is better as that sends additional info on your system to them as well, but AV problems can stop this route to help getting to them. 

[JKPB]

Huge thanks to you all - I will try all that today and see how I get on.

Many thanks

[Chrissaf]

JKPB, Just for your convenience I have taken the three forum locations Fishy has recommended and converted his text to clickable links to take you straight there.

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For a start, go to the second top locked thread in the forum and make sure you have done everything there. 

 .

Now go to the Hornby Railmaster thread and the HRMS post towards the bottom of page 1 and do everything there.

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Finally, go to the Railmaster/eLink problems thread from today and follow everything in HRMS's 2 posts there.

.

Note this omission from previous replies: If Railmaster is on a Vista or XP PC, the driver will not be shown as "USB Serial Port (Com x)" - this driver is Microsoft's own USB serial driver for Windows 7 and above. If the PC is Vista or XP then the driver entry in 'Device Manager' should have the Hornby R number in it. This driver file is located in the Railmaster Driver folder as part of the Railmaster application installation, as it is Hornby's OWN driver not Microsoft's. It's installation process is described in this document.