intermitent coming and going of RM

[Yelrow]

I have an irritating new problem. You switch power on, and everything is fine. You start loco with elite, click on sound with mouse on RM, and its great. Then after about 2 mins, you try to stop the sound but cant. RM, has gone of, despite everything looking normal. Green Elite symbol still shows , lit up, but when you slow loco down with Elite, RM throttle refuses to follow. So you are left with sound on. I know i can switch off with Elite, but i prefer the mouse option.  Any ideas, Brains Trust. john

[96RAF]

@John

There is an outstanding problem with RM and the Elite not echoing each other.

 

Some of it was covered by fiddling with entries in the .ini file, but I still find you can easily get RM and its sound buttons out of synch with the Elite and the loco, so I end up having to faff about to get them all lined up again - that shouldn't be necessary in my view..

 

I know that when I fiddle with the Elite it echoes on RM, but not the other way round, no matter what you write in the files.

[Yelrow]

RAF, hi, thanks. I can kinda live with that, but its RM, going off line, so to speak that is annoying. It starts great, you get your locos singing/ dancing, only to find its not responding, so when loco stops,  sound continues, as RM, not with me. I have a wireless mouse, and a metal floor, that moves a tad. I wondered if they were to blame. Also, just bought a better usb lead, but to no avail. Somebody else brought this up recently, so am not alone. john

[96RAF]

I have said long time since that RM is flaky, but got lambasted for my comments by their fun police, so backed off, but I still feel the Roy Rogers' effect if you know what I mean.

[Yelrow]

Rather surprised by lack of comments after 40 odd viewings, as this has arisen before. I was hoping somebody had found a cure. john

[Fishmanoz]

Sorry John, no ideas from me.  Time to email HRMS from within the help window of RM after this has happened.  I know you don't normally have Internet access when running trains but you need to email them as I say so that your log.txt file is sent to them for them to see what it is saying about the state of play.

[Fishmanoz]

Sorry, double post, knew that was going to happen too.  Safari progress bar locked up after I hit send and the only option I had to move it was to hit send again, very annoying. 

[St1ngr4y]

Hi John,

What are your INI file settings for Alternative Comms etc. ? My RM / Elite combination works fine but with Elite symbol greyed out. All of my comms INI values =0

Ray

[Yelrow]

Hi Ray thanks  just looked at ini file.   i have check controller = 0   elite feedback =1   alternate comms = 1    .  Further up, just under ping time =60, next line rest elink on start = 1  then check controller = 1.   These two probably are not involved, except that i am using Elite. What do you think i need to change to stabilise. thanks. john

[Chrissaf]

Those settings are perfect John, I wouldn't change them. I don't think the issue you have described has anything to do with your particular current railmaster.ini settings. Mind you that said, I have no suggestions for what IS causing your issue. I avoid using the Elite buttons for sound control (when running in conjunction with RM) as there is no synchronisation to RM for functions. When I have tried, everything goes awry. If ever I do use the Elite physical knobs and buttons (when running RM)  I limit my use of the physical Elite to loco movement ONLY. So in general, as a rule of thumb, I try as far as I can to use RM interface for everything and leave the physical Elite alone.

[Yelrow]

Chrissaf, hi, thank you, i think.    i  use Elite for loco running, and RM, for sounds . This has up to recently been ok, but now, after 2 mins, RM, stops working, despite all lights showing that it is. It sorta flickers. Turning off and back on, restors, pro tem.  You can tell immediately, as throttles on RM, dont move with Elite., which is on comm 3..   I used only to use the mouse, but with my hands as they are, find Elite easier. I have my first bionic op on friday, and have 3 weeks of recoup, which i had intended to use, to play trains. Hence the urgency to solve the prob. There was another post in last few weeks with similar prob. Its interesting that Rays Elite is greyed out, but mine is not. Any further thoughts, gents. john

[St1ngr4y]

It might be worth trying INI values =0. If it doesn't cure the problem, you can always change them back again.

Ray

[Yelrow]

Ray, hi, thanks, at this point, happy to try anything. It just seems a shame not to be able to rely on RM, working sounds. When it goes offline, so to speak, of course, the sound stays on, and i have to cut the power, to stop them. john

[96RAF]

The only thing I can add John is the Elite is wired to the track and seems to be working fine, so what else is involved.

 

RM is talking to the pc and then to the Elite via USB. Is it possible the usb connection is a bit loose or otherwise dodgy. Could you try a diferrent usb port and all that entails (such as changing the com port number in RM) just to rule it out.

 

As It is an intermittent fault that would be my best guess.

 

The greyed out icon was from memory a product of those .ini file settings.

 

Good luck with the hands.

Rob

[Yelrow]

RAF, hi, thanks,  right hand friday, then depends on my pain threshold, as/ when left one follows. I dont know about Cyprus, but here, each body part has a special Clinic, so 135 miles, to op.  Will look at usb, although, tis a recent laptop. I do, have a spare Elite, although not up to date, but reluctant to do too much with 2 hands, in case next week requires  one handed changes. john

[Chrissaf]

The greyed out icon was from memory a product of those .ini file settings.

.

Just a point of clarification. It was Ray that said his Elite icon is greyed out (his .INI file settings are different to John's and mine that are the same). Both John and I both say that our Elite icon is Green.

[Yelrow]

I have an idea that RDS, is also greyed out, or he was..

[96RAF]

@chris

as is mine (green that is)

 

@john

my hand problems were named after a French guy Dupuytrens, and affected both hands so were done separately with recoup time atwixt. The main problem I found was carrying out basic necessary tasks with the wrong hand - think bathroom. 

 

fortunately  i could use a mouse and keyboard so was able to work from home and keep the job on the rails.

 

I had them done years ago in uk, but here whilst the surgical side is very good apparently and prompt, the aftercare side is lacking, to the point a window-cleaner friend (who fell off his ladder) had to supply his own ice packs to reduce swelling on a damaged foot before they could operate, then he had to find his own wheel chair and surgical brace for an associated bad back.

[Fishmanoz]

John, I'm with Chris in not fiddling with your ini file.  Again though, you need to email HRMS about this from the RM email after the problem has occurred.

[St1ngr4y]

John, I'm with Chris in not fiddling with your ini file.  Again though, you need to email HRMS about this from the RM email after the problem has occurred.

Hi Fishy,

I can't understand why you and Chris are advising John not to change the INI file, bearing in mind that neither of you have any other suggestions. Surely it's worth a try - 5 minutes to change them and 5 minutes to change them back if it doesn't work.

Ray

[Yelrow]

Ray, hi, am playing with your schematic suggestion, and note your further comments, (this is me being diplomatic). Intend to try Everything. john

[Fishmanoz]

My reason for not changing is simple Ray, assuming my memory is correct.  HRMS set John's ini file, nothing has changed in his set up, so the ini file will still be correct.  Something new has happened to him and I can't see it related to the ini file.  Again, he needs to email HRMS with his log.txt file for them to examine.

[Chrissaf]

I can't understand why you and Chris are advising John not to change the INI file.

.

Can't speak for Fishy, but my rationale is as follows:

.

Firstly, John has had HRMS log in to his PC on several occasions to resolve issues as they have arisen. It would be logical to assume that they have already optimised his RM settings including his .INI entries for his specific particular set up.

.

Secondly, John has reported his current problem as a NEW issue. Thus again applying logic, if this new issue related to his .INI file settings, then one would have expected the issue to have been present for as long as the current .INI settings had been in place. Thus, if his system had been working fine on the current .INI settings then why would his situation suddenly change if the .INI configuration were still the same. Some external event (external to RM software) would appear to have taken place to change the inner working of his RM installation.

.

John's current problem is a new event on a previously stable system. Subject to John having provided all the details of his observations, for example he is not reporting any error messages, it is just as if RM is freezing or not responding to button presses. This to me would appear to be a Windows and RM interaction issue. This is probably why Fishy is recommending processing a HRMS report process as the RM log files will be sent to HRMS and a better understanding of what is happening should be forthcoming rather than amateur (I include myself as an amateur in this respect) analysis & suggestions.

[Chrissaf]

Strewth, I must have been in contact psychically with Fishy's mind as we each wrote our replies. Our two independent replies concur with each other almost exactly. As usual, my reply was more wordy than his, but the sentiment expressed was the same.

[St1ngr4y]

I bow to your superior knowledge, guys. I did not realise HRMS had set John's INI file. All I can say is that I had loads of problems when I had Elite feedback=1 and Alternative comms=1 and zero values for these parameters work fine for me.

But there again, I am on Windows 10, and I think John is on Windows 7 (?)  ☹️

Ray