RM v1.65 Available

[Chrissaf]

Great news Norm.......I take it you were able to source HRMS' Aeroadmin remote access utility via another route....your mates internet access perhaps.

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Interesting that AC's and I correctly diagnosed it as a DNS issue in principle. Albeit, initially focusing on a local corrupt DNS cache at your end.

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I've logged the Google DNS fix away in memory for a future date. Thanks for the feedback. Fantastic that HRMS went that extra mile to resolve an issue not of their making or area of responsibility.

[Rog RJ]

I said it may be a DNS server error on page 8 of this thread.  Just sad that it took so long to resolve the problem.

[Augustus Caesar]

@AusMod

 

Well, would you believe it? So it WAS a DNS issue then. I think Roj (RJ) mentioned this also early in the proceedings... and possibly first if I remember.

 

With the information you have given us of late and HRMS offering up the Google IP 'fix' it seems, as Chris says, we found this possibility early on albeit not with the fix for it. What I did forget, in all honesty, was this particular workaround.

I've only ever had to use it twice when hosts inadvertently blocked their own servers and consequently mine from accessing parts of the web for a short time and also a clients access to services.

I'm going back about 7 or 8 years roughly to the most recent episode so it wasn't an obvious thing to think of and it is, quite frankly, extremely rare to use this 'fix'.

 

You mentioned in an earlier post here that you had been given two sets of DNS numbers for inclusion into the your own network settings (via PC or router). Then you say the company you got those details from (your ISP) was taken over.

It is quite possible that the new company changed those DNS server addresses to new ones and didn't inform you. The older numbers would work to a certain extent. I would enquire about that and the possibility that you may need to enter new details to conform with THEIR servers. They may be routing the old DNS through the new servers which COULD cause a clash and non recognition of certain name resolution protocols.

 

It would be worth asking even if it isn't the case. Keep in mind that the numbers of the Google Public IP address (8.8.8.8 or even 8.8.4.4) are just that, public. They should NOT be used long term at all and your old numbers, if entry is still required of them in network settings, should be put back in place.

Normally those numbers would be entered ONLY into the router and not the PC network settings at all. The reason for the PC side of entry is that some routers (not too many these days) do not give a facility for entering these DNS numbers.

It should also be noted that one doesn't, in fact, require BOTH numbers to be entered. You can get away with the primary set without using the secondary. It is good parctice, however, to include both if they are given where sometimes some ISP's do not give both.

 

Try not to rely on the 'fix' Hornby came up with as there is definitely an underlying fault that definitely needs sorting. Ask about the two DNS number sets you have and check if they are actually correct and the new company are still using both... or just ask for a switch to new DNS settings that they WILL have from their own services and that way you will be using new sets as opposed to old ones from your previous ISP. It doesn't always follow that the changeover automatically uses, correctly, old sets. This is commonly overlooked when companies take over others. They don't always cover old ground and certainly, and easily, miss certain configuration changes that should be implemented immediately.

 

** EDIT... it was indeed mentioned by Roj (RJ) and I note he has not long posted so I must have been typing this when he did that. Well done Roj for getting there first!

[Augustus Caesar]

Amendment to the above...

 

Where I have the following two sentences I didn't get my information to read as it should and rather jumped in with my thoughts on the router situation based on my own router which is high spec and non-standard...

A correction is laid out below... thanks to our good buddy Chris for spotting this!

 

"Normally those numbers would be entered ONLY into the router and not the PC network settings at all. The reason for the PC side of entry is that some routers (not too many these days) do not give a facility for entering these DNS numbers."

 

The wording should have been somewhat like this:

"...that these numbers would normally only be entered if a router didn’t have the facility to automatically enter them itself after reading the ISP’s own tables."

The second sentence makes more sense when talking of a Draytek which I use rather than the standard ISP issued router. This is because a Draytek can override the ISP DNS entry before needing to add them to the PC to do the same job.

[Fishmanoz]

Not sure about company takeovers being involved in DNS settings AC.  I think he only talks about change to support arrangements, the ISP itself is unchanged, even if ownership may have changed behind it.  Then I could be wrong.  As a customer of the same ISP, I've been with them for many years although 10 plus years ago I went through two takeovers before ending up with them.  Then again, I haven't had to do specific DNS entries from them, I'm on I think my third router with them and all setups have been quite automatic.  I did have an issue a couple of years back or so where I had to change from the primary network to my secondary, then re-setup the primary to solve a connection issue.  It's been fine since then.

[AusMod]

 I'm still waiting to hear back from my ISP.

 

The Google DNS 8.8.8.8 was entered into the settings on the computer I use for RM, not into the Modem/Router. I'm not sure if this makes a difference as I'm not really well informed about networks etc.

 

Chris I have downloaded your ip pdf manual mentioned on page 8. I'll print it out and try to expand my knowledge on all things internet....thanks for that.

 

Fishy, since the takeover of our ISP the support service has gone downhill, with much longer wait times to get through to them. They do have a call back service but it's not always running. The office in Sydney has been closed and I've heard the Melbourne one may close as well.  Otherwise it seems to be running ok, just if you need support be prepared for a long wait to talk to someone.

Norm

[Fishmanoz]

Thanks AusMod, they certainly had better sort it out or they won't be the third biggest in Australia for long.  There's still a lot of competition snapping at their heals, then there's what the NBN (National Broadband Network for the uninitiated, conceived as a fibre to the user system but throttled by short term cost and political considerations to fibre to the node and copper to the user, effectively making it a NNN or national narrowband network) may do to them.  No NBN around my way yet.

[AusMod]

 Fishy there's no NBN in my area either. Don't know when it will arrive, but I'm not looking forward to it given the number of complaints they are receiving. All due to a former prime minister who once said (on national TV) that the internet was only good for sending a few emails. Maybe that's part of the reason he's now a former PM.

[Augustus Caesar]

@Fishy

Norm does say in the post after yours pointing out the ISP hasn't changed that in fact it did. It was this in an earlier post I was referring to.

Perhaps in another way I could have said his new ISP, were he to change, would automatically give him new DNS numbers for both the primary and secondary entries... or just the primary (dependant upon how the ISP is set up).

Those numbers are picked up by the router (mostly, unless manual configuration is necessary) with absolutely no need for intervention by the user. He would still be informed of those numbers though by the ISP.

If ownership of the providing service changes hands then the only time the DNS settings would not change is if the whole service including hardware were to change hands and the new provider kept this going.

Normally on a change the new ISP would use their own DNS.

[Augustus Caesar]

@AusMod

Maybe that former PM has had too many of the jars filled with the golden nectar? 😮

It baffles me why countries are SO slow in the take up of faster services like fibre etc. and why companies whinge about letting their exchanges be opened up for use by other ISP's... like BT here.

If anyone searches the web for the countries who are actually providing much faster broadband than the likes of us in Blighty you'd be surprised who they are and how much more developed we are supposedly as a country.

[Fishmanoz]

Oz is with Blighty here AC.  And the change to the ISP is slightly unusual too. the change is to the ownership of the ISP rather then the ISP itself, no change of name or obvious change of servers.

[hosh]

NBN with TPG here in Port Stephens, NSW and it has been rock solid for about 12 months. I have been with TPG for donkey's years and they have been rock solid and without problems the entire time.

 

Their customer service is rubbish (bunch of chongers) , but the thing is, you'll never need to use it. I used it once or twice and that was only for account issues due to my bank.

[AusMod]

 Good news, guys. This morning I tried The RM download link from this site, and it worked!!!  😀

 

That's the first time in more than a month I've been able to download RM from here. According to my ISP's maintance page they have done a routine update. They don't give any details, but I believe this is what fixed my problem.

 

Thanks to all you guys who took an interest in ths sorry saga.

Norm

[Chrissaf]

Very good news Norm....in fact brilliant news.

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Back on page 14 of this thread I wrote:

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Probably at some future instant in time, the fault will clear. Invariably as a result of an overnight software update to the equipment providing your particular service.

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Looks like those words came true, but earlier than expected.

[Augustus Caesar]

@AusMod (Norm)

 

Great news... This just simply had to be an ISP and DNS issue as we said. Glad it is all working now. It might be worth asking the ISP exactly what the update actually did so if this happens in future you can point them to this episode and the eventual fix.

Just to say that the update itself may not have fixed the problem but a setting or two made AFTER that update may have sorted it. No matter... it is done and dusted thus far.

I can see you now running all the way to the Bondi for a good tan and swim and a brisk run home to play with the trains under the guise of an updated RM... magic!!! 😎

[Fishmanoz]

That would be a 4,500km run AC, he'll need the dip when he gets there.  We have temps on the East Coast around 40 degrees C today too, 100 in old money.

 

I just hope they haven't killed mine over here fixing Norm's over there either!

[Augustus Caesar]

Just 4,500km? That's a walk in the park over here in Blighty Fishy... lol

Some distance that though isn't it? I think he'll have to settle for a dip in the local pond and a pint at the bar considering those temperatures.

We're lucky if we see the maps on the forecast get near 15 on a good day just now and they are few and far between.

Think I'll up sticks and come over there for a few years... if I can take my ISP and whatever other bits and bobs I need... 😆

I've just got word that your ISP is considering a shut down so Norm's can work well for a while.... 😮

[St1ngr4y]

I have used this thread for this post because it concerns a difference I have noticed from previous versions. It concerns the INI file parameter "Double pulse=". According to the 1.64 guide, if this is set to 1, then Railmaster will send a double pulse to points. There are a couple of questions I would like to ask HRMS, which I think will be better asked on the Forum, rather than by a private email.

Firstly, I suspect that this parameter now applies to signals as well as points. Second, I believe that this parameter also applies to points switched in RM programs, whereas previously, points switched in programs only received a single pulse regardless of the setting of this parameter. Thirdly, when in Layout Designer, the points testing green/red buttons only send a single pulse regardless of this parameter.

Finally, this might sound trivial, but I have a Traintronics 4-aspect signal with feather. This has a decoder which only has one DCC address port. It is operated by sending a clear command which steps the signal to the next aspect in sequence, or a stop command which is used to toggle the feather on/off. This means, of course, that due to the "Double pulse" items I have mentioned above, if I have Double pulse set to 1, then this signal becomes impossible to operate. A clear command now steps the aspect by two, and a stop command switches the feather on then off again.

In my opinion, although the Double pulse feature is useful for both points and signals in most circumstances, wouldn't this parameter have been better employed as part of the configuration of each individual point or signal, so that the user can choose which items are to receive the "Double pulse". BTW, even the term "Double pulse" is a little confusing, because all that happens is that RM sends two DCC packets down the wire. It is the decoder which fires a "pulse" (usually from a CDU) at a point. But it is still useful, just to double the chances of a DCC packet reaching its target.

 

I invite comments from HRMS as well as Forum members.

 

Ray

[96RAF]

The double pulse was designed in to overcome sticky point motors, but this is obviously not applicable to signals use, so there needs to be some diferentiation in the DCC packet instruction to send double pulses to points but single pulses to signals.

[St1ngr4y]

I may be wrong, but I doubt whether the DCC protocol for packet content to an accessory decoder caters for requesting a double pulse in a single packet. All RM can do is send two packets to the same address containing the same information i.e. left or right, clear or stop. I've always had doubts as to whether this two pulse concept can help sticky point motors, because once a CDU fires, a second firing a fraction of a second later would surely be only a weak pulse, because the CDU won't have had time to recharge.

However, as I said before, sending two packets is still a good thing, because if, for some reason, the first packet gets corrupted in some way as to prevent it reaching the target, a second packet a fraction of a second later might get through.

Ray

[96RAF]

NMRA protocol for DCC packets is to send and the remote device carries out an error check before it actions the packet instructions, so if it was corrupt or the decoder didnt 'hear' it then a repeat packet would be along soon. Some 180-200 packets can be sent per second so even if you have an awful lot of locos and accessories on the go it will not be long before a point is told to fire again.

 

I agree there seems little point (sorry) in the double pulse.

[Chrissaf]

If that was the case, then one would be forever hearing subdued clicks from the solenoids. It is my belief that accessory point firing packets are not systematically repeated except for the 'doublepulse' setting option. I do concur however that loco motor control packets are continually repeated, as I have observed these packets being sent using my recently built Arduino based DCC packet analyser. With the analyser I have not observed any repeated accessory packets, but there again I have not been actively looking for them. I have also not observed any repeated function packets either, just motor control ones.

[St1ngr4y]

Hi Chris,

If you have time, could you use your packet analyser to look at point and/or signal packets when Double pulse=1 ?

Many thanks

Ray

[Chrissaf]

Ray, I can certainly do that for points. Signals may take a little longer as I don't have any DCC signals configured on my system. Thus I would have to load a dummy track plan that contains one. I would also have to modify my .INI file as doublepulse is currently =0.

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I will do it for you, probably some time over the coming weekend.

[St1ngr4y]

That would be great, Chris. Would you mind trying the extra scenarios I mentioned in my post - namely, operation from within a RM program and operation using the test buttons in Layout Designer?

Thanks again

Ray