eLink Dissatisfaction

[wk]

Im afraid ladies and gentlemen that after hours and hours of trying i cannot get the elink to run reliably  on  Win 7, win xp  driver downloads ,com port updates -nothing works reliably

there is little point in buying a model railway system and spending your time fooling around with a pc , try this or ttry that or plug it out and plug it in again and see if it works

My conclusion is the Elink devices and software are not fit for purpose and should be discontinuedand purchasers be given a refund

 

[Chrissaf]

Welcome to the forum WK. Before giving up. Check this probable fix first.

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If you are getting error messages about plugging USB leads in and out, then the instructions below will fix it in 95% of cases. This is a well documented issue and is covered in the 'sticky' post at the top of the RailMaster section of the forum. But for your convenience I have replicated the relevant instruction below with a bit more enhancement.

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In RM open the 'Help Window' (Top Navigation Bar ? icon) and click the 'COG' icon in the bottom left corner. Follow on-screen prompts and this will open the railmaster.ini file editor.

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Now look for and delete if they are present, one or both of the following two lines. If they are not present, don't worry just carry on to the next instruction further below.

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Alternative coms=n

and

Check controller=n

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where n is either 1 or 0

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Now scroll down to the bottom of the list of entries and retype these entries (don't worry if they are the same as you had before. Many users have found re-typing existing entries again at the end of the file has fixed their issues). Remember to put each command on its own line in the .INI text file.

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Alternative coms=1

Check controller=1

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Now save and exit the .INI file editor. Close and re-open RailMaster and test your eLink again.

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If after performing the above, there is no improvement. That is to say, your system falls into the left over 5%. Then systematically follow through all the steps that are documented in the 'sticky' post I referred to earlier. It is called "RailMaster: Setting Up and Getting Started".

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eLink works, nearly all these types of issues are found to be setting up and configuration errors. Unfortunately, the Hornby documentation leaves a lot to be desired in terms of troubleshooting configuration problems. Which is why the 'sticky' was written by experienced forum members.

[Yelrow]

WK, tis a pity you did not contact us, prior to spending so many wasted hours, as the locked replies CHriss referred to at the Start of RM, would have, no doubt, not only saved you time, but got you set up..  Many of us have been in your position, from which, we have all succeeded in running our trains. Elink, was never designed as a plug and play, given the makes of computers, and Anti Viruses , out there.  On this forum, are many vastly experienced elink/ RM users, who will be more then happy to share their knowledge with you., happen you have not already made a premature decision, to return an item, without fault. john

[96RAF]

Speaking as an individual I am disappointed by the number of people who come onto the forums to rubbish Hornby kit when it is clearly obvious they have neither read nor practiced the very good  advice offered here.

 

The very learned people on these forum have years of experience in their field and have in many cases spent a lot of time to systematically work through the problems that crop up time and time again, but because people would rather post a repeating question rather than look at the information already set out in plain sight at the top of each forum you will find the same question being answered over and over again, often on a daily basis.

 

Enquirers may be beginners in model railways but to get onto the internet, and thus the forum in the first place, they must have a modicum of common sense that should allow them to make a search for the blindingly obvious information posted here, then to come back with questions driven by that knowledge.

 

Rob

[NormanQ4]

Thanks Rob for not holding back.

I agree it does become very tiresome reading the same old whinge.

Sometimes you've just got to tell it like it is, instead of having to keep your teeth firmly embedded in your tongue.

Well done.

[Chrissaf]

A correction to my first reply:

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"Alternative coms=1" should have read Alternative comms=1

[Fishmanoz]

I suspect he'd given up before posting Chris.  Hopefully this may help the next person along.

 

You'd think if someone can find the forums, they could also have a little read around and find one of the many topics that cover this very issue and would have solved his problem too.  Then maybe there is a clue in his posting in the DCC forum and saying he has an eLink problem when in fact there is no problem with his eLink, he has an RM setup problem.

[Chrissaf]

Yes Fishy...I agree 'a lost Hornby customer never to be seen again'. As you correctly surmised, I made my post correction for any future flyby reader that might just happen to land on this thread. I only realised I had made the typo error when formulating a response elsewhere on the forum and came back here to correct it.

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Maybe of interest to you, but I did ask Adam if he would consider private messaging the OP to advise that an answer had been posted. He is still thinking about it, but is reluctant to set a precedent. So I don't think that will happen now. A pity really, as I feel sure the OP's experience could have been turned around with forum assistance.

[Fishmanoz]

If he wanted it turned around, he may have perversely been looking to fail from straight out of the box with his failure to find the correct setup information hidden in the manual just reinforcing that for him.  As we know, the manual does actually contain all the info you need if you only know where and how to look.  Easy for us to say though, we recognize it when we see it, harder for the new user given the way it's written.

[37lover]

I do have a little sympathy with the OP. The manual is quite hard to read for a newcomer and as this forum shows there are several long time users who still need help [myself included]. When you buy is there literature with the product that suggests checking on the forum? I can easily imagine someone believing it will be almost plug and play, and perservering [alone] to try and get it to work ending up very frustrated.

I am reasonably happy with RM [apart from the promised LD!] but I'm aghast for example at the necessity to make your own changes to the ini.file to get things to work.

[Chrissaf]

My own experience of setting up RailMaster with Elite for the very first time in 2013 did not go smoothly. As a fairly experienced installer and user of software I made the mistake of following the Elite driver installation manual. My driver installation failed, I passed on my error messages to HRMS who said that they had never come across the error messages I was seeing before. I think that this was a time before they did remote access.

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I was installing on a Windows 8 PC and the driver installation guide was of little help and although Windows 8 was covered in it, the screen shots in the manual didn't in any way shape or form match what I was seeing on my screen. I wasted that first day chasing rainbows.

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In the end, on the following day and with a fresh mind after a nights sleep, I put the printed driver installation guide in the bin and followed my own instincts based on my computing experience. Five minutes later the driver was installed and working with me doing my own thing and ignoring the inaccurate, and poorly written guide.

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It was only my computer literacy and previous computing experience that saved the day. I would probably have ended up as frustrated as this threads OP if I had been a computer illiterate lay person and just trying to follow the dire manual of the time.

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I should point out, that it was only the Elite driver that caused me grief. RailMaster 'Activation' went through first time without issue as did setting up RailMaster with my DCC device addressing and track plan generation. I had been observant and experienced enough to see the security popups that appeared regarding setting Firewall access privileges and was careful to enable the Firewall access requests. I think sometimes that maybe the users who have Firewall / Security issues either ignore or cancel these popups because they don't recognise the importance and significance of them. Either that or in their mind, they see choosing the 'Block' option as the safer path to take.

[wk]

Well after all the driver problems etc I solved the problem with a copy of xp on an unused desktop

Windows now sees the comport and everything performs great

so now -in public- I'm eating my words

[Chrissaf]

Welcome back WK.

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I have hidden the post you just made above as you used the 'blue quote button' to re-quote my previous long post but didn't add any new text content. Since you hadn't written anything in the reply, it just takes up space if it is retained. Hence I have hidden it.

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It is advisable to not use the 'blue button with the white arrow' this is not a 'reply to this post' button. The most efficient way of making a reply is to write your reply in the 'Reply Text Box' at the bottom of the page and use the Green 'Reply' button. As you have done in your follow up reply.

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I see that you have used XP as your solution. RailMaster was originally written for XP at a time when XP was the current Microsoft Windows version. RM WILL work on later versions of Windows if you follow the advice I gave in my very first reply to your post. The railmaster.ini modifications were introduced by HRMS to add support to later Windows versions.

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You can download and install the RM installation file from the top of the forum RM section. You could then follow the previous offered setting up guidance and install it in its 'Evaluation' mode (Evaluation mode does not require you to activate it with your CD activation key). Then once it works to your satisfaction in 'Evaluation Mode' on a PC with a later Windows version (presumably the PC you intended to install it on in the first place). Then you could 'Deactivate' the key on the XP PC and 'Reactivate' the key on the later Windows version PC. This would update the 'Evaluation Mode' installation to a full 'Standard' installation.

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Of course, you might just choose to leave it running on XP even though XP is unsupported by MS and obsolete.

[wk]

One other observation

I lumped the Elink and Railmaster in the one box-not correct

Railmaster gave no probs whatsoever,Elink was the culprit  all the time 😎

[Chrissaf]

The Alternative comms=1 and Check controller=1 lines in the 'railmaster.ini' file enable eLink communications support in Windows versions later than XP. Please do have a read of my original reply on page 1.

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EDIT: For users who just struggle to get eLink working on later versions of Windows. HRMS can log into your PC and set it all up for you. You download (under HRMS instruction) a remote access utility called "areoadmin". This allows HRMS to remotely see your screen and keyboard. You can then sit back and watch what they do to get your installation working.

[Fishmanoz]

I should retract my negative speculation now you are back and have it fixed wk, and well done.

 

And you say it was all down to eLink and not RM, well apart from driver installation, it is RM setup that is usually the culprit, and done incorrectly makes the eLink appear to be not working.  And as Chris has indicated, setup can be simpler on XP, although just as reliable on all other Windows versions once dome correctly, again as Chris has indicated.

 

Do make sure you are running the latest version of RM by downloading from the link at the top of the RM forum.  If you originally installed from a CD, please throw that in the bin and just keep the licence code.  Those CDs should be banned, they just cause trouble.  In fact, if you do your original installation by download from the link, first ensuring your eLink is turned on, and you install the driver following the instructions that come with the downloaded files, all of the correct setup is done for you including the ini file when you install.  If only the documentation made that clear to people!

[wk]

Thanks everyone for all the attention

For the moment ill potter around with xp and do more software stuff later

[Spireblade]

I eventually gave up on the E-link, and bought an Elite instead. The first was faulty but the replacement behaves like a dream. My E-link, which was returned to hornby but returned to me with no known faults, now sits in the drawer, but I don't regret getting the Elite at all, it's opened up so much more.

[96RAF]

@spireblade

Rather than have eLink laying around redundant why not do as I did and relegate it to points duty as controller B in RM. Mine is happy as Larry on secondary duties, leaving the Elite to look after the trains.

Just rig your point bus separate from your track bus and jobs almost done.

[Spireblade]

I did give it some thought RAF. I may just do that.

[ADM]

I fully agree with wk's first post. I bought the RM and Elink package last week and I expected it to be a simple plug and play operation but on windows 10  it isn't. RM installed with no problems but getting elink  to work was a different kettle of fish as the installation guide is useless. It was only through my knowledge of windows device manager that I managed to sort the problems out. Hornby really should bring the help guide up to date as it doesn't even mention Windows 10 and it's not exactly a new operating system. 

[Fishmanoz]

I think we are all agreed that the RM manual could be much better, particularly on initial setup of your controller, but to be fair, it does cover the necessary use of Device Manager to set the com port number on pp14-15.

[ADM]

I agree with what you say Fishmanoz but on windows 10 you get nothing that says Hornby or “CDC RS-232 Emulation Demo in the device manager. What you do get if installation doesn't go right is a universal serial bus controller problem or multiple com ports that show up as in use, even if their not. At one point i ended up with six com ports in use. What Hornby doesn't seem to appreciate is that older people have probably never had to use the device manager, normally the hardest thing they've ever installed is a printer.

[Fishmanoz]

I suppose it depends on your point of view and experience ADM.  Being in my 8th decade (scary) and hence old by the definition of many I've been around Windows machines for over 20 years now and have no idea how I would have managed without understanding Device Manager, its use being fundamental to good setup.

 

But whether you knew about it or not, Chris has described its use for you in his usual chapter and verse in the Windows 10 Drivers for Hornby Elite thread.  Read that and it would be hard to go wrong.  Read the manual and you would definitely need to understand what they meant in the first place.  Then they do say RM is for people who know their way around a computer in that manual.