HELP PLEASE -Device not recognised -E Link Installation on Windows Vista.

[Baz48]

 Hi! I wonder if anyone has had the same problems as I am experiencing when trying to get Railmaster with e link up and running?

I have doemnloaded the Railmaster programs from the website and then I purchased the CD from Hattons, I then entered the activation key, and followed insrtructions, the first thing that I noticed was thwt the "INSTALLING RAILMASTER- read this first", instruction manual is contradicted by the "Windows Vista Driver Installation", Instructions as follows, - When we get through to the "Setting Up your DCC Controller" section on page 14, it states that "when FOUND NEW HARDWARE WIZARD window is displayed select "No not at this time" in response to allowing windows to search on the internet for a driver IF USING WINDOWS XP or VISTA".

However in the Vista Driver Installation instructions it states " LOCATE and INSTALL DRIVER SOFTWARE (recommended) Windows will guide you through  the process.

This I found confusing so I followed the instructions on the Windows Vista Driver installation manual and I came to a full stop when  on the Driver Software Installation window (step 3), Serching for the driver - "windows will try to find the driver itself including searching on the internet, if you have a connection ( Which I did have).this step seemed to satart ok, with the image showing the moving green light indicating that it was if fact "searching" - however after 2 HOURS -It was still searching, I couldn't get it to stop using the normal close button so I had to shut down the computer!

Now when I enegise the e link with Railmaster running, I get the message " device not recognised", I followed the instructions given and in device managor I do NOT have the category (or title ) "PORTS, as described in the insrtuctuions, all the other categories are there in the correct order as per the drwing in the instructions, but PORTS is missing???

PLEASE can anyone help, I have spend hours on this going through both sets of instructions over and over , and searching device manager for "CDC RS-232" Emulation Demo, as instructed but this is NOT in device manager,

I have ticked "Run as Administrator, and the Anti virous does show Railmaster as an exception.

Any Ideas before I go crackers !!!!! Many thanks!!! Barry.

[Chrissaf]

When you connect a new piece of hardware to a Windows PC then the "Found New Hardware" wizard should run the first time it is connected. Depending upon the hardware in question, the drivers for the new hardware may be located on Microsoft's driver repository servers OR in a folder put on your local hard disk by the application software installer.

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In the case of Hornby's eLink. If you are using Windows 7, 8.x or 10 then the driver used is the one provided by Microsoft from their server repository. However, if the version of Windows is either XP or in your case Vista then you have to use the drivers installed locally in your railmaster / drivers folder.

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Therefore choosing the 'let Windows search automatically' for the driver is not going to work when trying to install the eLink driver in Windows Vista.

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Try and re-trigger the "New Hardware found Wizard" again by plugging your eLink into a different USB2.0 port on your Windows Vista PC. Then assuming the wizard is triggered choose the "let ME find the driver manually" option [note that I am not using the exact words that Windows Vista may display just the essence of their meaning].

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Use the 'Browse' button to navigate to the "drivers" folder (I am assuming your Vista is 32 bits).

C:...........program files/railmaster/drivers

/media/tinymce_upload/fc8f1d0ac17ec2a51eb15cab5244a5ba.jpg

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After you have selected the 'drivers' folder...click "Next".

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Windows will probably protest that the drivers are not verified...ignore the protestations and choose the "Install this driver anyway" option.

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/media/tinymce_upload/c33199976dcb80cf6bfe35f25cc63f1a.jpg

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This should install the driver and when you check 'Device Manager' you should find one of two entries in the COM& LPT section:

EITHER

CDC -RS232 Emulation Demo.

OR

Hornby R8214 Elite (note this is also valid for eLink as well as it uses the same driver).

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/media/tinymce_upload/720a7ab8f3f030112e7bc7c7980673ab.jpg

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Click the + to expand the 'Ports COM & LPT' section to see the contents.

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If the COM & LPT section lists  "Hornby R8214 Elite" then the driver is installed and 'job done'.

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If the entry says "CDC -RS232 Emulation Demo" then right click this entry and choose the 'update driver' option. Then again follow the same process as previously documented to navigate 'Browse' back to the "driver" folder and let it update the 'CDC-RS232 Emulation Demo' driver from that driver folder. Once the driver update process has finished, check the driver entry in "Device Manager" again and you should find it now says "Hornby R8214 Elite".

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Take a note of the COM port number the driver is using and make sure that this COM number is set in the RailMaster "System Settings" window.

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Once you have got a working communications link, always make sure you use the SAME physical USB port to connect your eLink to as else it may well lose communication connectivity if you don't.

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EDIT:

PS - In 'Device Manager' the 'Ports' branch of the tree will only be shown listed if there are some valid ports installed on the PC system. The fact that you do not have a 'Ports' entry showing, means that, as yet, you have not successfully installed any devices applicable to that particular 'Device Manager' branch category.

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The Hornby 'Driver' documentation is poorly written and tries to cover too many different options in the same section. Thus (in my opinion) only experienced Windows 'users' can separate out the 'wheat from the chaff'. The documentation could have been written with greater clarity for novices and provided a different set of instructions for each and every option that a novice could encounter.

[96RAF]

In addition to Chris's suggestions there are 2 stickies at the top of the page of this forum, one leads you to a remote help site written by a forum member and the other is by forum Admin and RM support again giving instructions on how to get RM up and running on any platform that is supported.

Rob

[Baz48]

Many Thanks to Chris for his excellent advice and lucid explanations, I read these comments very carefully and eventually realised the mistake that I had made, not really a mistake but in the confusion trying to follow two sets of sometimes contradicting instructions I missed a simple check and this threw me , however after reading Chris's advice, I started again, connected to the internet and this time NOT starting up Railmaster but energising the e link after plugging the USB cable into another socket, then as Chris explained I went into device manager and hey presto, the PORTS category had appeared, I then opened the port and properties, and checked that the baud rate etc and comms number was correct 

I then started Railmaster and checked in SETTINGS section (in the Railmaster screen,top left cog) that the Comms settings, baud rate etc were the same as the device manager settings, this is where I found my oversight, the baud rate was different, I corrected this and tried to connect to the e link again, this time to my amazement and joy it worked.

-I post these notes in the hope that this may assist someone else who experiences the same frustrating problem that I encountered.

I haven't tried it connected to the  track yet as I still have to learn from the instructions how to program all the points etc. , but I have had a quick look today and this looks quite straightforward,  I will then connect to the track and carry out the programming etc. but I am now very confident that it will all work!!!!

MANY THANKS to Chris for the time and trouble that he went in providing me with this excellent explanation, it must have took him a considerable ammount of time.- and also to Rob, these two gents are a fountain of knowledge and a great asset to the forum.- Best Regards to ALL , Barry.

[Chrissaf]

OK not quite what I was expecting, but another satisfied customer all the same. The main thing is you are making progress. Don't forget there are plenty of resources on here to help you out if you get stuck with a setting up or RM configuration issue. Just ask.

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Yes....I should have added that the drivers only show in 'Device Manager' when the eLink or Elite controller is USB connected and powered up. They are loaded 'on demand' when Windows detects that the device is physically connected.

[Fishmanoz]

Chris didn't seem to mention baud rate in his post but he and others on here know well that when specifying your eLink in RM Setup, you have to ensure the correct baud rate for the eLink is set and is then reported the same by Device Manager.  So well spotted Baz.