Problems with Function Buttons

[Chris Surrey]

I am having some problems with the function buttons. Am running version 1.63 on a Windows 10 PC.

First problem is that when opening the large throttle, the button names sometimes appear, at other times they do not and when they don't the F numbers run from F0 to F5 (which work when pressed), then repeat F0 and F1 with the rest blank. To clarify - those buttons that appear on the small throttles are labelled fine and work as expected.

Second issue is that I have allocated functions F19 & F20 to cab lights on my Heljan Class 128 with Loksound 4 decoder and Legomanbiffo sound. They work fine when tested from the locomotive list but do not appear on the pop out large throttle and pressing the relevant function buttons do not activate them.

Grateful for any pointers as to where I am going wrong - assuming it is me!

[Chrissaf]

Welcome Chris from another Chris with your 1st post.

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Probably the quickest way to get your problem resolved would be for you to post a screen shot(s) of your locomotive set up screen in Railmaster for the loco causing the problem.

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An example of the screen you need to capture and post is shown on page 34 of the Railmaster 1.63 manual. This example screen shot only shows F0 to F16 so you may need to scroll down and take a second fresh screen shot to show Function settings for F17 to F28.

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If your issue is just a basic 'I haven't done it right' issue, then these screens should show us what is required to correct the issue.

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For example, see the check boxes to the right hand side of the DCC Function column. You can only have 6 of these with ticks. The 6 with ticks are the ones that will be shown on the small throttle. The Function button label names have significance too, so it will be easier for us to offer further advice if we can see what you can see.

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

Can you ensure you are running the latest revision of RailMaster (1.63 rev 3) as we did some tidying up of the function buttons on the large pop-up controller very recently.

If you still have the probem after that can you email us at support@rail-master.com, attaching your locos database (resource.mdb) from the RailMaster prgram folder and explain exactly what is happening and to which buttons so that we can replicate the issue with your data.

[Chris Surrey]

Can you ensure you are running the latest revision of RailMaster (1.63 rev 3) as we did some tidying up of the function buttons on the large pop-up controller very recently.

If you still have the probem after that can you email us at support@rail-master.com, attaching your locos database (resource.mdb) from the RailMaster prgram folder and explain exactly what is happening and to which buttons so that we can replicate the issue with your data.

Hi

Thanks for the response, and that of chrissaf too. I have now figured out what I was doing wrong (operator error  - again!) and am now running perfectly..

Chris

[Chrissaf]

I know it can be embarrassing to own up to one's own silly user errors. But would you share what you did wrong with us, as it will help others to avoid the same mistake.

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And just for future reference, please try to avoid using the Blue 'Quote' button when replying. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, type your reply in that great big empty white text box and click the Green 'Reply' button.

[96RAF]

I have reported in to HRMS that when selecting a new loco over a previous loco in large throttle the function buttons overwrite and if the new loco has less active buttons than the old loco then these 'spare' buttons remain as artifacts, I.e. The throttle is not refreshing.

To date as I am out of country  I haven't been able to check if the latest rev has fixed this and HRMS has not reported back yet To say the job ticket is closed.

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

Have you downloaded and installed the latest RailMaster revision (1.63 rev 3)?  If not, do that and see if the problem has been resolved for you.

 

[Chris Surrey]

My error in getting unlabelled function was simply double clicking the small throttle! Single click is the correct method - doh. This also solved the second issue - more than 6 items not appearing on the large throttle.

One suggestion to the Board Admin which I have seen mentioned elsewhere is to add an "amend post" function so errors on a posting  (such as that I made) can be corrected. Particularly useful when replying to a specific comment on a post which has attracted a lot of responses where quoting the original comment is helpful so readers can see what point you are actually responding to and where for newbies the exact process is unclear?

[Chrissaf]

where quoting the original comment is helpful so readers can see what point you are actually responding to and where for newbies the exact process is unclear?

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Do you mean something like above. The way to achieve this effect without resorting to the 'Blue' Quote button. Is to use the 'clipboard' to copy and paste the relevant bit of text into the main 'reply' text box at the bottom of the page. Then (important) you must add a couple of line breaks to insert a clear paragraph gap between the pasted text and the text you want to add (this black text in this reply for example). Only once the clear paragraph gap is added, you go back to the pasted quote text and highlight it by dragging the cursor over it. Then you click the '66' quote icon in the reply box navigation bar. The third icon in from the left. This converts the pasted highlighted text into a yellow quote box.

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Notice that you can also layer text functions. I used the '66' icon to put the pasted quote in the text box and the 'B' icon to make some of the quoted text bold. I could have also made some of the text italic with and without bold using the various text modification buttons in the reply box navigation bar. The icons on the right are for adding photos and images in JPG format into the post. The chain link icons are for converting text to clickable Hyperlinks. That leaves the icons for listing options in the middle.

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As you can see, you can do everything you need to do in the main text reply box, there is no need to use the 'Blue' quote button.

[RDS]

... add an "amend post" function so errors on a posting  can be corrected ...

 

You do get 10 minutes to 'edit' your post and you will notice during that 10 minutes, that you have an 'edit' button against your post.

[96RAF]

Have you downloaded and installed the latest RailMaster revision (1.63 rev 3)?  If not, do that and see if the problem has been resolved for you.

 

Don't get back to within range of RM until 2 Jan but will give Rev 3 a whirl and report back as necessary to HRMS 

[58001]

I am having trouble with the latching functions on Railmaster. As I understand it any function name ending in on/off will latch (lights, sound, etc..) whereas functions not ending in on/off will activate once and switch off (whistle, etc..).

When I select interior lighting on/off (Eclairage Intérieur on/off) on the french version the locomotives internal lighting does not latch. A closer look shows that Railmaster converts the function "Eclairage Intérieur on/off" selected in the locomotive details screen to simply "Eclairage Intérieur" on the function buttons. The same doesn't apply to the head/tail lights function "Feux on/off" which latches on and off.

This looks like a bug in the Railmaster software, has anyone else had similar problems with latching functions?

[Chrissaf]

You probably need to shorten the name. The label on the function button only supports a limited number of characters. The 'on/off' has probably been cut off the end of the name because it exceeds the permitted character allowance.

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Try "Eclair-Int on/off" without the " "

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I haven't tried it, but I believe the "on/off" needs to be visible on the functon button for it to latch.

[96RAF]

Have you downloaded and installed the latest RailMaster revision (1.63 rev 3)?  If not, do that and see if the problem has been resolved for you.

 

Don't get back to within range of RM until 2 Jan but will give Rev 3 a whirl and report back as necessary to HRMS 

Rev 3 installed:

Secondary large controller still does not feedback from the Elite, although the small throttle does. Primary large/small throttle works fine.

Function buttons overwrite update problem appears to be fixed, although some functions are still not tabled in numerical order, eg F1, F2, F3, F5, F6,..F4, F7.etc (First Throttle) and some are corruptly numbered probably due to masking by the captions eg F1...F9, , F1, F1, etc (Second Throttle) - see picture...

As these are open snags I will not re-report them from within RM.

/media/tinymce_upload/4b281481c04ee3281d6cacf77af4c2bd.PNG

[58001]

Thank you for the suggestion. Effectively it does work if I rename the function button to something shorter and still ending in on/off. It just seems strange that Railmaster's proposed wording doesn't work!

[Chrissaf]

I'm not convinced that Hornby fully test every single feature and function in every language. Probably the person responsible for deriving the naming convention just had a temporary mind block and forgot to take into account the character limitation.

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Maybe they write it in English and farm out the translations to native speakers of that language. The native speakers wouldn't know the difference. Possibly they write it in English and use a computerised translator.....who knows......whatever the methodology used, the final name in French used was obviously too long.

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The main thing, you have got it working and you now know what to look out for in the future!!.