RailMaster - eLink problems

[Baz48]

Hi, I am asking for help and advice from the very learned and experienced members of this forum, I recently installed RailMaster and eLink but on activation, I received the message "device not recognised", and the computer would not communicate with the controller, after getting some very useful advice from this forum, I managed to get the system "working" i.e. the eLink was communicating with the eLink controller.

I have been very busy recently and today was the first chance I have had to get back onto the system, I plugged in the eLink to the computer, and to the "programming track" from the program terminals on the eLink, I then switched on the computer, let it settle down and then started "RailMaster", all went OK and I proceded to try to program my 0-4-0 Pug which I use for testing the track etc. This was set to DCC ID-02, from my previous set up when I used a "Select" controller , so to try it I changed the loco ID on RailMaster to 0002, and then changed wires to the "track" output terminals, and it worked on the loco control panel.

I had previously entered all my locos on the loco list and this loco as 0004, so I wanted to change the loco ID to 0004, I realised that I would have to program the loco on the programming track, and using the CV program screen I changed the CV1 address to 0004, and allowed the eLink to program the rest of the cv's, this takes a lot longer that you would think!.

At this stage I had to go out, so I shut down RailMaster and then the computer, then I unplugged the eLink.- I was very happy that I was making progress and that I had , eventually managed to program my first loco!

Then I returned I connected the eLink to the track via the "track" connectors then and plugged in the eLink and powered it up, and only then did I power up the computer, and then start "RailMaster" all seemed OK until I got the dreaded message "unable to communicate with controller, unplug USB for 5 seconds and then try again", of course this has not worked, I don't understand why it was working Ok then after shutting down in the proper systematic manner, and powering up in the corrrect order, it won't now recognised the controller, I have checked everything I can think of, the USB is in the correct port ,the eLink is on with a constant green light, the system settings are as they were previously,all the connections are good, CAN ANY ONE PLEASE HELP , THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY, I was so happy that I had got it to work I even ran the pug as 0002 on the track using the "loco controls".- I would appreciate any help , somone else must have had the same problem???

Many Thanks , Baz.

[Chrissaf]

Don't worry...this happens a lot and is easily fixable if I have correctly diagnosed your issue.

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The USB port management within RailMaster (RM) is very poor. This is because RM was originally written for Windows XP and later updates have only tinkered with the core code to get it to run under later Windows versions.

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This poor USB port management means that if for any reason the USB port that has been allocated for the eLink driver to use changes for any reason. This change is not automatically picked up by RM and needs to be manually amended. When the USB port being used by the eLink does not match the one configured in RM, RM reports the error message you have specified.

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So why does the USB port allocated to the eLink driver change. The most common reason for this, is that when connecting your PC/Laptop up to your eLink, you have plugged your eLink into a different USB port. Windows then detects the eLink as a NEW device and allocates a different USB port to it, so that it doesn't clash with the previous USB port used.

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With RM, it is VERY important to keep using the SAME physical USB port all the time for your eLink. Continually using the same physical USB port (preferably a USB 2.0 one and not a USB 3.0 one) helps to maintain a consistent USB port allocation within Windows Device Manager.

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Assuming that this diagnosis is in fact the reason why you have lost USB port synchronisation, then how do you correct the issue.........easy.

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In RM go to the 'System Setting' screen. In the bottom left hand corner you should see a small bluish COG icon......click it.

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This will open Windows Device Manager (your eLink needs to be plugged into the USB 2.0 port you intend to standardise on from now on and powered up).

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Navigate to the Device Manager "Ports (Com & LPT)" branch of the tree (I am assuming you have Windows 7 or higher for this). See image below.

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/media/tinymce_upload/98b6d675c3d99b47c661100cf39cc3e9.jpg

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In this example the USB Com Port allocated, is port 4 (yellow highlight). Make a mental note of the Com Port number allocated within your particular system.

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You can now close down Windows Device Manager.

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In the RM 'System Setting' screen you will see the Com Port number that RM is using for your eLink controller in a 'pull down' selection box. You need to select the SAME Com Port number in this selection box that was displayed in Device Manager. See image below.

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/media/tinymce_upload/212feb1c16e5bb24a6ae265357a600f7.jpg

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In the above example the DCC Com Port RM is using is port 3 (yellow highlight) and therefore doesn't match the Com Port 4 shown allocated in Device Manager example further above.

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If you make the RM Com Port entry MATCH the same as your Device Manager entry, then I feel confident that your RM will once again recognise your eLink. Remember, to keep using the SAME physical USB port on your computer to prevent this happening again.

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RailMaster.INI check

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It may be that your 'railmaster.ini. file needs some amending. Since you also mentioned that you subsequently got the "Unable to communicate to controller" error message. This is an indicator that you have not got the correct or missing entries in your 'railmaster.ini' file.

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To check your 'railmaster.ini' file. Open the RM 'Help Screen' and click the bluish COG icon in the bottom left of the help screen window. Follow the on screen prompts and this will open the 'railmaster.ini' file editor.

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Look for these two entries....note that they may be missing or have different =values to those stated below (again I am assuming that you have got Windows 7 or above.....if not come back here and advise).

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Alternative comms=1

Check controller=1

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If these two entries are missing or have =0 values. Then delete the entries (even if present and have =1 values) and retype them afresh as the LAST TWO lines in the 'railmaster.ini. file.

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Save the amended file (if amended) and close and restart RM. Test again for RM / eLink functionality and report back here with your findings.

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These two documented solutions fix 99% of eLink communication errors.

[Baz48]

 Many Thanks Chrisaf,

 I have Windows Vista home premium, and I always use the same USB port.

I have had a look in device manager and the comms port, and when I plug the e link in it says "com port 5", this has changed ! It was set as "com port 4!", I don't understand this, and I don't seem to be able to  change it back to match the setting in Railmaster?

Also in the controller setting in Railmaster is set as " e link " but this is now bordered in RED?-whereas I think it was the same colour as all the other settings previously?

Many thanks , Barry.

[Chrissaf]

If you are using Vista, then Alternative comms in the .INI file should either be =0 or not present at all. Alternative comms was introduced by HRMS to resolve functional issues with the Microsoft eLink driver. Since you are using Vista, you will (should) be using Hornby's provided driver and not the Microsoft one. I'm not sure what the effect of having "Check controller" present in Vista will be, that will need some experimentation to see the effect with the =0 or =1 values.

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Com port 5 has been documented by HRMS to sometimes cause issues. HRMS recommend that the driver should ideally use com port 3 or 4. Which is why I think com 5 is not in the RM pull down com port list? (or is it....I can't remember). You will find more information on this if you read the "driver.pdf" document installed by RM on your hard drive.

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As a starting point, you will need to use the tools within Windows to find out what devices you have installed that are using com ports 3 and/or 4. Could you have some peripherals such as a printer or scanner installed. Remember only devices that are connected and powered up will show in Device Manager, thus com port 3 and com port 4 may be reserved by Windows for these devices but not displayed in Device Manager until after they are connected and powered up. Once you know what they are, you should be able to force them in Device Manager to use a different higher port number. Once either com port 3 or 4 are free, then you should be able to force the eLink driver down to one of these lower values. The reason that you have not as yet been able to force eLink to use Com 3 or 4 is because of these hidden Windows com port reservations that have been hijacked by something else you have connected.

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The red border is telling you that there is a communication / configuration error between RM and the eLink. Not surprising if Device Manager is showing com 5.

[Fishmanoz]

Chris seems to have you covered on all relevant issues to check with your setup.  However, just on your loco addresses, address 02 and address 0002 are the same, not different, leading zeros are ignored, so there is no writing of addresses/CVs to be done.

 

 Can I also suggest that you read the manual for the recommended way of changing a loco address.  While the correct way does have a write operation as the last thing done, you enter the address you want in your loco setup, you do not just write a number to CV1.  One day you may want to write a long address, above 255 and these aren't stored in CV1 but in 18/19. You'll have lots of fun figuring out the values to put in these CVs but it would be simpler to just ask RM to change it all for you via the standard procedure. 

 

And finally, if you want to change a CV, this will involve writing that CV only, not every Cv supported by the decoder.

 

So a conclusion after all of that: at this stage you are yet to find out if you have managed to write anything to any CV because you have yet to describe actually changing any.  It wouldn't be surprising if you hadn't given your communication and setup problems. Once you've fixed those, try changing an address, from 02/0002 to say something actually different like 102 or 1102 and see how you go.

[St1ngr4y]

Hello Baz,

 

"I realised that I would have to program the loco on the programming track, and using the CV program sreen I changed the CV1 address to 0004, and allowed the e link to program the rest of the cv's, this takes a lot longer that you would think!."

This statement of yours makes me wonder whether you are using the CV screen in Railmaster correctly. It sounds to me like you have pressed the green "tick" button, which isn't used for programming cvs (i.e. writing to them) but for reading from them to populate the table on the screen.

 

Ray

[Chrissaf]

In case Ray is correct with his observation.....see below.

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/media/tinymce_upload/7e831c6c4c33001c55e739b974c7bcbf.jpg

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Arrow 2 shows the (pencil) icon button that is used to WRITE the CV(s) value to the decoder. Arrow 1 is where the DCC address you want to write is entered. With regard to Arrow 3, the red cross is the window 'Exit' button and the green tick is the 'READ' all CVs button.

[Baz48]

Many Thanks Chrisaf,  Fishmanoz, and Stingray,

regarding the com ports, I only use this old computer for this specific purpose, I do not use a printer or any other peripheral device on this computer, before I installed railmaster  I had the computer checked at PC world and it was given a clean bill of health, there are only two USB ports, as I said previously it was working before I shut it down yesterday, the com port was 4 in Railmaster and com port 4 in device manager , nothing has changed since then, I actually programmed my test loco, on my program track, and then I changed the connections to the track output , and ran it using the sliders on railmaster and it ran forward and reverse throughout a range of scale speeds.My problems only started after I shut everything down, how can the com port change when nothing has been done?

I wonder if I have anadvertently changed  some setting when I was trying to program the loco and change the ID from 02 to 04, - however the USB port was not changed , I religiously keep to the same one as I am very aware of problems when this is changed . 

Many Thanks , Barry.

 

[96RAF]

You could try a reset of the decoder - CV8 to value 8 to get you back to address 003.

I believe it is a handy additonal button feature of Pro-Pack - quote from manual...

 

• Loco decoder reset function in CVs programming window.

 

...else you will have to enter it manually in the CV read/write table

 

Rob

[Baz48]

Many Thanks to Chrissaf, Fishmanoz, Stingray , and RAF, Thanks to all your advice, I have managed to get "com4" on both the railmaster settings and on the "device manager" on the computer. 

The result is that the system is now up and running, and I have tested my test loco on my test track and it works very well.

It has been a struggle but I have learned a lot , Many Thanks to you guys!

Just one more thing, please could one of you jot down in a few lines the correct way to program a new loco with a new DCC ID?

The manual is not very clear, There is not a section on " programming a loco", there is however on page 34 a section called "Setting up Locomotives" and I would have thought that this would include how to program a new loco/ but it only tells you how to "select a DCC ID", It goes on to say that to program a loco ID and set other parameters then "see CV's programming later in this guide", -We then have to go to page 69, "Reading and Writing loco CV's", and it says " Generally all you have to do when you aquire a new loco is to  set its DCC ID, simply write the value in CV1, then press the "pencil" buttons to write the CV,?

What is the best way to program a new loco, i.e. to change its DCC ID and , to write this value to its decoder? and will the CV's remain as factory set or do you have to program these in again?

Many thanks, Barry.

 

 

[Chrissaf]

Baz, before spending time writing a long reply. A point of clarification first, so that any reply I subsequently give can be correctly targeted with the right information.

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Setting up a Hornby loco in RM is a two pronged task. First you have to call up the loco from the Hornby database and load it into your RM loco roster. Once it is added to the roster, you can then perform the second part of the task, defining CV's and the like such as the DCC address.

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Then there is the issue of completing the first phase of the task when the loco in question is not a Hornby loco but another brand that is not in the Hornby database.

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My question of clarification is:

Are you OK with the first part of the task i.e adding Hornby and non Hornby locos into the RM loco roster. In other words, you just want guidance on the second phase of the task, that is writing the DCC address and CVs in general.

OR DO YOU

Need the full guidance for the whole process i.e from the point of taking the loco out of its box, adding it to the RM roster and then configuring the address.

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If all you want is just writing the DCC address, then look at my 'three arrow' screen shot earlier on page one. Where Arrow 1 shows where you type in the DCC address you want for the loco, and Arrow 2 shows what button to click to write the address to the loco decoder placed on the programming track.

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PS - Once you successfully write a CV value to the decoder, then barring mishaps such as short circuit induced decoder corruptions, the decoder will remember all the CVs (including the DCC address) you have configured in it. It is not necessary to re-write them again unless you want to change them (barring the corruption mishap mentioned above).

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[Fishmanoz]

Chris, you seem to be suggesting the loco address should be set by doing a write operation to CV1.  While that will obviously work for short addresses, far better to insert the address you want in the loco setup screen, then write it to the decoder just like the manual page 34 tells you.  This works for both short and long addresses. It is of course different to writing values into other CVs which must be done on the screen you show.

 

Also see a complete description by HRMS for doing this in the 3rd post in the Setting Up and Getting Started sticky topic second from the top of the RM forum. 

[Chrissaf]

As far as I am aware. The DCC address pull-down box shown on page 34 does not actually write any addresses to the decoder. It simply tells RM what address to display in the loco roster. In case you are referring to something different to me, see image below for what my understanding is referring to:

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/media/tinymce_upload/f36be2288901aa38fd817fa6399f1a9f.jpg

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On the same page, the manual gives a statement that supports my understanding.

/media/tinymce_upload/caa0d9a283317ac42d9e779b27bddb21.jpg

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The yellow highlight, is basically saying, insert the DCC loco address in this field that you have already configured into the loco, or will do later (and makes reference to the CV writing section on page 69). It does not as far as I can see say that filling in this DCC address field will actually write the address. It certainly didn't do this function when I initially set up my locos 3 years ago, I had to resort to using the CV writing screen as per page 69 in the manual.

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PS, on the page 69 CV writing screen there is an icon next to the normal write pen that opens a wizard for writing long addresses (addresses above 127). See manual extract below.

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/media/tinymce_upload/5411e7e7019b0882606839cb6417aabf.jpg

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Further to supporting my understanding. Below is an extract from the Railmaster Setting Up 'sticky' you have referred to. I have yellow highlighted the relevant text that states writing the loco address using CV1 on the CV reading/writing screen as per page 69.

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/media/tinymce_upload/57d1beaea5210468da5f84e21c68a3bf.jpg

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Apologies for being so picky about this. But I didn't want other readers looking for 'How To' information being misled. The pasted text above, is an example of how poorly written the sticky is, something I have commented on before. It does not in my opinion, give 100% clarity of meaning.

 

 

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[96RAF]

If you select a loco from your list then hover over the little engine circled in the picture it says 'change decoder ID'...

 

/media/tinymce_upload/c9b5b6409d1448480f38dcdac1c687fd.PNG

 

If you click the engine you get this box again...

 

/media/tinymce_upload/027cbeaef9fd18bcb3a96e57fdba2430.PNG 

Rob

[Chrissaf]

Well I'll be....I've never noticed that icon before. I still can't see any mention of it in the manual text on page 34 though. It would appear to be yet another undocumented RM feature.

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An 'egg on face' moment. But at least my original post still prevents somebody thinking that the Loco DCC ID pull down box will configure the address.

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Apologies to Fishy, but I obviously misunderstood what part of the loco screen you were referring to.

[Fishmanoz]

No problem Chris. This topic has caused a lot of confusion in the past and the HRMS post in the sticky was written at that time to clarify the issue.  i agree as you say that even the HRMS post isn't chrystal clear, but it is certainly far better than what was being said at the time.   The issue at the time was failure to do the final write operation.

 

Now that you know it can be done without directly writing to CVs, go back and have another look at page 34 and those two other areas you say support your understanding. While I agree they do, they also support the alternative.  Consequently it is not surprising there was and is confusion. 

 

The final thing that that convinced me at the time that it could be done was that I didn't believe, given that Select and Elite would allow you to write a loco ID via their menus and without you needing to know what a CV is or which one/s store ID, that RM wouldn't also. As you can now see, it is very similar to Elite in that you can do it either way.

[Baz48]

CRIKEY MOSES!- I seem to have hit on a very controversial issue, - Many Thanks gents, there is certainly a lot of valuable information for me to go through!

Hiowever - I think that other members of the forum can see from the last few posts on this subject exactly why I raised this question, It does look on first examination to be very straightforward, but as our experts have found , the manual section  "Setting up a loco" does not explain how to take a loco from the box and program it to run on your track using your own DCC ID .  You can input a new DCC ID at this stage to change it on your loco list but this does NOT change it on the loco decoder, after several attemps I realised this and carried on wading through the manual looking for an explanation.

PLEASE NOTE -I already had a loco list, and I had inputted this with " new" DCC IDs  that I had chosen but all different from the existing addresses that I had when using a select controller,

I raised this because I DID read the manual and wade through the section, which takes you through "inputting a loco" onto your loco list, then jumps to scale speeds , voice activation and loads of other information which becomes information overload, I believe that it might be better if these subjects were ommitted at this early stage and entered into the manual as appendices at the end.

I think that a very simple section on "How to program your loco with a new DCC ID" could be very useful to many members of this forum, - then this could lead on to customising CVs at a later stage, most people want to get the loco working as is, and then as they gain confidence , then perhaps  experiment and change CVs to enhance their enjoyment.

Many Thanks to Chrissaf, Fishmanoz, Stingray and RAF, you really do help, MANy, MANY , Thanks, I am sure that other forum users have gained knowledge from this topic,  

Best regards to ALL, Barry.

[96RAF]

Barry

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We already have one. See the sticky in the RM page headed 'setting up and getting started'. Basic setup para is based on Fishy's write up and tells how to list a loco from the box with a default address, call it up in the loco list and change the address to your chosen one. This methodology works regardless of the existing address, but it could do with a few screen shots showing the exact buttons to press in sequence to make it more comprehensive.

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Rob

[Baz48]

Thank you RAF, Fishmanoz, Stingray and Chrisaf,

I will follow RAF and use the "sticky" as he advises to change the DCC address on my Hornby Prairie tank to the one I have allcated on my loco list in railmaster and to write this value to the decoder after placing the loco on the programming track, ( this essential bit is often neglected in the instuctions), I will follow the instructions and report back.

Many thanks, Barry.