Elink & program track

[stuart_marshall]

Here is my problem, running rail master on main track ok, however when trying to read decoders on the program track it returns all decoders as unrecognisable. There does appear to be any express instructions on how this should be set up.

running windows 7 direct to elink, no other controller in the network.

any advice would be appreciated.

cheers from oz

 

[walkingthedog]

Hi Stuart, you would have been better putting this in the Railmaster section, all the incredibly knowledgeable people hang out there and you've more chance of getting a reply. They'll be along soon.

[Chrissaf]

Stuart, the two things I would try first are:

.

1. Download and install over the top of the current installation the very latest RM version from the link at the top of the forum Railmaster section
2. Disconnect your eLink output from your main track, leaving only the 'programming' track piece connected to the eLink programming output. Then try programming your loco decoder again.

.

There seem to be a flurry of similar posts recently regarding programming issues with eLink. There was a post recently by HRMS that stated that they had made some changes to RM regarding CV programming (albeit for Accessory Decoders). You may be affected by that. Hopefully, the latest RM version might resolve the issue. If it doesn't, then raise a 'support request' from within RM on the 'Help' page.

[walkingthedog]

Did I say geeks, meant to say incredibly knowledgable people. 

[Chrissaf]

Don't mind being a Geek WTD, it is a Nerd I would object to......

[RB51]

"Knowledgeable people" is a nicer term than either, in my view. R-

[Smithy58]

 I'm not the only one having this problem ,  I have tried all sorts trying to D register the soft ware,  contacted support by phone and got through after half an hour only to be told to email support at rail-master.com still waiting for a reply, now getting to the stage of seriously thinking of binning it and going for something that works, in some ways hornby are selling something that is not fit for purpose I might just consider sueing them!   I had great hopes for the system but time and again I think we have been let down, e.g the hornby decoders were not readily available so they have lost out to digital IP cobalt point motors, and now the reliability of the software leaves a lot to be desired.  E.g when starting up Railmaster it also starts up my autocad setup file!!!.   I can't deregister the software so I can do a clean install, the time between reading cv values is stuck at 4 s and I can't change it so all in all u can understand why I am totally exasperated .

so hornby what do u have to say?

 

[Fishmanoz]

Hi Smithy, just as your problem is similar to Stuart's, so will your solution be.  You will get it working, trust me.

 

For a start, in 99% of cases, there is no reason whatsover to uninstall and do a clean install.  All you need to do is download the latest from the link at the top of the RM forum and install that over your existing.

 

However, before you do that, please right click on the RM shortcut on your desktop and Select Properties.  Then there are 2 things to do.  First, given you say it starts Autocad, make sure that the shortcut only points to Railmaster.exe in your RM folder, not to any other programs like Autocad.  Delete any such files.  Second, Click on the Compatibility tab and make sure Run as Administrator is ticked.

 

Now download and install from the link.

[Fishmanoz]

Next Smithy, we should look at your not being able to deregister.  Despite your being able to register in the first place, this most likely indicates that your AV software is blocking RM when it tries to communicate with the HRMS servers to do the deregistration.  Start by looking through the PDF put on your desktop by RM and ensure you have listed RM as a full exception in accordance with the PDF.  And if that isn't allowing you to do it, come back and we can tell you what else to do.

 

And just so you know, there are full instructions on doing all of this in the locked threads at the top of the RM forum, plus an HRMS post towards the bottom of page 1 of the Hornby Railmaster thread in the RM forum.  Last time I looked, that thread had dropped to page 2.

[Smithy58]

This is all taking an unreasonable amount of time eg when I sent the details to the support team it was taking forever just as it was taking a long time progressing through the deregistration process and only stopped at the end by saying it couldn't do it surely it would make sense to have it check at the beginning to see if it could connect with the server.   i am pretty sure the antivirus is set to allow the software to work and it would usually come up and say Railmaster is trying to access the Internet   I will check it out, with regard to the autocad, I have checked this and it does not have autocad in the starting line, so it must be corrupt somewhere to do this.  Anyway last night I just went ahead and reinstalled over the existing software and it still had the same problem 4 seconds for cv readings.   Also when installing I tried to browse to the folder where I had installed, it didn't give me access to the folder where I wanted to install to so I just let it go with the default section, now I don't know if Rev 4.Is correctly installed as it doesn't say in the about box.    But as it was installing it did indicate it was being installed to the folder of my choice so I don't know what  the point of offering one where to install in the first place was.

Fishmanoz, I know you have helped me a lot in the past and I thank you for that so i will give it one last try before I look to writing it off as a bad experience. 

[Chrissaf]

Smithy, reading your last couiple of posts. It does seem to me that your PC has got some serious underlying problems. Access to Folders is Denied, Starting AutoCad in error as two examples. I would be running a whole load of security scans to look for undetected viruses. ie. not using you installed AV product, but using on-line scanners that some AV vendors provide from their websites, either directly or via small standalone downloadable scanners. If you are infected, your current AV hasn't found it. It is the Railmaster exclusion not being in the Firewall that is the most common omission for preventing RM from communicating with their servers.

.

I am going to post some screen shots of how to check and add RM to the Windows 7 Firewall. This should give you at least a clue where to look for the firewall exclusion. This assumes that your AV product hasn't replaced Windows OWN Firewall with their own. Being screen shot images, there will be of course a moderation delay before they appear.

.

What version of Windows?

What brand is your current AV?

.

With regard to the revision 4 number. You won't find that in the 'About' page it isn't shown there. Look to the bottom right hand corner of your RM screen, near the clock and big red stop button. You should see a little rectangular yellow box with 1.63 written in it. That obviously tells you that the installed version is 1.63. Now hover your mouse cursor over the top of the little yellow box and a pop-up should appear telling you the revision number.

[LuLuJo]

I also have the problem that the CV timing wont change from 4 but it does still work and reads and writes ok provided the loco is making a good connection to the programming track. Apart from that the software works ok but I agree it is a total pain to set up. However probably worth the effort

 

[Chrissaf]

Colin,

As promised here is my step by step guide for checking and/or adding Railmaster exclusion to Windows Firewall. This is for Windows 7 but will be similar if not the same in other Windows versions. This is covered in the RM Security PDF, but my version may be easier to follow. Don't know what AV product you have, but some AV products replace Windows Firewall with their own, but even then the principle is the same. It is just a case of finding the equivalent menu options in the AV Firewall software.

/media/tinymce_upload/6388d95b6f373651b538908b871e098d.JPG

/media/tinymce_upload/16d3d13c4185056001c04fed2ef2e792.JPG

/media/tinymce_upload/150c0ce2fc6a8a113c905a8d62bbc442.JPG

/media/tinymce_upload/b25f24deb4432ee80d43635118ba8e42.JPG

 

[Chrissaf]

Addendum to my last post.

.

In the second image there are two Green shields with ticks in them in the middle section of the screen shot relating to Home (Private) & Public networks. If these shields are Red, then this is an indicator that your AV product has installed its own Firewall and disabled the inbuilt Windows one. If you know for a fact that your AV product has installed its own FW and the Windows shields are also showing Green. Then that would indicate that you have both FWs operating. It is recommended that only 'one' FW should be running NOT two. In the same way as it is recommended that only 'one' AV product should be running. Whenever, you end up with duplicated security systems running, then functional issues are bound to happen.

[Smithy58]

I will give this a go and report back

thanks

[Fishmanoz]

Smithy, there is a simple check you can do, and ask for assistance at the same time - email HRMS from the facility in the Help window of RM.  This will work even in Evaluation mode which I assume you are using having reinstalled without deregistering (you can solve this too by doing a Windows Restore to get back to the registered version, remembering to then update to rev 4, and running as administrator).

 

Having sent that email, you should get an immediate auto response from HRMS, before a real response in short order.  If you don't get the auto response then the 99% of the time problem is your AV is blocking you.  If this happens to be the case, you can email them directly at support@rail-master.com.  Then the chances are they are going to want to log into your computer to fix it for you.  If this happens, watch carefully what they do and report back.

[Fishmanoz]

Stuart, apologies that your thread has rather been hijacked by others with problems and those with solutions.  However, the chances are that the solutions apply to you too.

 

Let us know how you are going.