Function key problems v1.65.1

[Mantagt]

Hi all

Having sorted my communication problems between RM and Elite (I think) and having a pleasant two hours playing trains I updated RM to v1.65.1 and this has thrown another spanner in the works.

After a period of trouble free running I selected a fourth sound loco but none of the function keys worked, they turned green and the Elite followed suit but nothing happened, the loco would run ok, so switched functions off. The elite switched the functions on ok and ran the loco but as soon as I touched RM's scene the functions switched off. Today I reloaded the update and tried again. After a while a different loco had the same problem when selected.

One thing I have noticed is the green icon at the top very rarely flashes and when I click a function key the 100% of the touch screen window turns blue then white, I don't have a touch screen.

Any suggestions before I bring the computer out the loft and try Hornby help, no wifi in loft.

[96RAF]

First thing is did you stop and restart RM after the update. This is something you should do after any reasonably major change has been made to RM including updating a trackplan or loco list. This ensures RM is loading all these changes.

 

When you say the icon at the top of the screen are you talking about the one that looks like a controller. If so hover your mouse over it and it will tell you which controller is connected and its revision state. This should be,green if you have good comms which you say you have got sorted now.

 

Or are you talking about the small square one next to the program list which seems to indicate processing activity.

 

I often find I can beat the Function buttons and get them out of synch with the Elite and even out of synch between small and expanded throttles. Also if you play a spot sound and hit another one before the first one finishes playing that causes problems. It can often get to the  point where the sound ismon but the button is off, switch the button on and the sound goes off. If they get,too far out of kilter I set everything off at the Elite and restart RM.

 

Rob

[Chrissaf]

In your other post you stated that you added the Alternative comms and Check controller lines to your .INI file, but you also stated that you made them 0 values even though you have Windows 10.

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With Windows 10, the Alternative comms value is better if set to =1

With regard to the Check controller value, some swear by making it 1 but some (like me) get better more reliable results if Check controller=0.

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So if it was me in your situation I would start by making:

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Alternative comms=1

and

Check controller=0

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I would then try Check controller=1 only if still experiencing problems.

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The other thing I would do, if not already, I would delete the current entries for these two lines and re-type them again at the very BOTTOM of the .INI file as the last two entries. Some 'users' have reported that adding them again at the end of the file solved their issues.

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Alternative comms=0 should only be used on Windows XP and Windows Vista, not Windows 10.

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Do what I have suggested above and test again, report back here with the results and, if required, further advice can be given.

[Mantagt]

Hi raf96

The icon I referred to is the small square green one and used to flash when connecting to the elite but doesn't now. I cannot recall ever seeing the touch screen icon doing anything before.

[Mantagt]

Hi Chrissaf,

First I'm using Win 8.1. I have tried all the combination, rebooting RM each time but no noticable change, the touch pad icon shows blue when using the function button. However this was done disconnected from the elite which may or may not make a difference

[Chrissaf]

Personally, I either use my Elite standalone (RailMaster not running) or I use it as a RailMaster interface to the layout with the Elite buttons and knobs untouched, just using the RM user interface.

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I have the extra Elite feedback=1 line in my .INI file.......do you?

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RAF wrote:

I often find I can beat the Function buttons and get them out of sync with the Elite and even out of sync between small and expanded throttles. Also if you play a spot sound and hit another one before the first one finishes playing that causes problems. It can often get to the  point where the sound is on but the button is off, switch the button on and the sound goes off. If they get,too far out of kilter I set everything off at the Elite and restart RM.

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What RAF describes above has previously been a common issue for many here including myself. The synchronisation between large and small throttle is improving with each new RM release. It would not surprise me in the least, if the newly added function synchronisation between Elite and RM is equally buggy. I found the loss of synchronisation gets worse if you try clicking function buttons sequentially too quickly. I find it is necessary to leave a little time gap between selecting different functions. Sometimes it also takes two presses for a function to register.

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I find standardising on just using the functions in the RM interface and leaving the Elite buttons alone gives the best function reliability.