Problem reading and writing using Railmaster

[jaguar12]

I have Railmaster (now upgraded to Pro) with a handheld licence on my old iPad.  I use my Elite controller (with a Select walkabout connected to the Elite via the xpressnet port) to connect via USB to my Windows 10 laptop running the latest version of Railmaster.  I have tried unplugging the Select in case that was an issue.

All functions (sounds, movement, points) work very efficiently when controlling trains and other things in Railmaster, via the laptop or handheld. 

However, when I try to use the Railmaster software to read loco information, when I place a loco on my programming track, it takes absoutely ages for it to go through them and then usually keeps saying error reading (or similar) for certain CV's. The Elite red light comes on and off and the loco on the programming track makes ever so tiny movements as I guess current is put through the motor.

Normally it errors reading the R8249 Hornby decoders description and eventually (sometimes after many goes and quite some time) it knows the decoder as a Hornby R8249 but then lists unknown for the next value, which I think is usually Hornby Hobbies Ltd.  Its a similar story for many of the other CV's, where it will eventually read them, but has to keep trying again and again.  I think its taken me a good while to build to information from the CV's into Railmaster by reading in this way.

Once it knows its an R8249, it greys out many of the other CV's.  I purposely narrow down searching the CV value to do them individually because its so slow. My TTS locos have taken absolutely ages to gather the detail!

When I tried to use Railmaster to simply change direction (which is quite straightforward with the software) it would take numerous attempts and then just didn't change it.  Eventually I simply did the adjustment via the Elite and that was fine.

I know all of my Hornby R8249 decoders have DCC/DC operation set on as standard, as I use a Peco cleaning brush to clean the wheels, so configured them all to work with a DC controller to do this.  This was all done through the Elite controller, before I had Railmaster.  Not sure if this may have a bearing on the slow reading?

It just seems very odd that its much easier and far more reliable to go back to the Elite to program any of my DCC chips?  Is this normal behaviour?  Or am I doing something wrong or a setting I haven't enabled?

I do have a spare eLink and I seem to remember that when I first tried Railmaster, this was much quicker and more reliable to read DCC and program new values, with it not erroring when reading.

Incidentally, since I temporarily dropped the Windows firewall on my Windows 10 laptop, Railmaster is now much more responsive.  The previous flashing yellow square is now flickering only green from time to time, but this may be totally unconnected!

[96RAF]

RM sends the commands and the controller (Elite or eLink) passes them to the track. If there is trouble in the controller to pc comms then you can see errors. Try a different USB cable for starters.

 

If RM is having problems identifying your decoder you can force RM to select the decoder from a drop down list by double clicking on CV7. This will load the correct set of CVs for the decoder chosen.

 

It is normal for the read cycle to take a long time, it tells you this when you ask for the read. Getting the read error is also normal as RM is having problems getting an ACK back, although you say the loco twitches which is the pulse of current the decoder uses to send the ACK to the controller. The irritating thing is if RM fails to read twice it will ask you if you want to continue. If you say Yes it reads that one again, if you say No it goes on to the next one. There is also an oddity whereby RM can paint the previous CV value into the next CV slot before it reads it leading to possible confusion.

 

I have a Select as Walkabout to my Elite with RM and see no problems.

Rob

[Chrissaf]

Posting TIP:

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Jaguar, I can see that when you wrote your reply in the editing box you split your reply into distinct paragraphs. As you can see above, when published as a post, all the paragraph spacing has been lost.

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The forum software for some reason, strips out the FIRST manually entered 'carriage return' (paragraph space). In order to retain at least one 'carriage return and create gaps between paragraphs you have to type in 2 sequential 'carriage returns'. Just as I have done so below.

 

The first return is removed, leaving one behind to provide the paragraph gap seen directly above in this reply. Personally, I go one step further and place a period (full stop) as a single line character. This highlights to me in the edit window where I want my paragraph gaps to appear in the final post publication.

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Long unbroken posts like your one above is much harder and takes more effort to read than ones with separate paragraphs. I have used excessive paragraphs in this TIP just to demonstrate the principle.

 

[Chrissaf]

I previously went through a period where RM controlling my Elite returned multiple CV reading errors. Over time I tried several ways to cure the problem, none of them were 100% effective. Eventually, I did find a simple solution which I have documented below:

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Unlike the Track output on the Elite, the 'Prog' output of the Elite only passes a VERY LOW current when programming decoders. I found as a result of this very low current, that my Elite wiring terminals (inside the spring loaded connectors) on the 'Prog' terminals had over time become dirty and tarnished, as there was no higher current to burn through the dirt.

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My solution was to take a small piece of very fine grade 'wet n dry' paper and roll it up into a stiff tube about 4mm diameter. I then flattened the tube and with each spring terminal pressed open in turn, pushed the 'wet n dry' paper into the receptacles where the wires would normally go. A 'back and forth' sawing action, allowing the spring pressure to press the 'wet n dry' against the internal contacts, ensured that the contacts were thoroughly cleaned and burnished into a shine.

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To be 'belt n braces' I stripped back the ends of my wires going to my programming track to reveal clean fresh copper before reattaching them.

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Miraculously, my decoder CV reading & writing was restored to normal acceptable performance. Depending upon the exact cause of your issue, this potential fix may not work for you, but at least it is worth trying.

[jaguar12]

Thanks very much for everyones replies.

 

I am a fool - should have read the manual!

 

Turns out that I had been trying to adjust the CV value in the main box and wondering why it kept going back to the original value when I clicked the tick button.  If I'd read the manual, I would have realised that I needed to click on the pencil 'write' icon down on the left to actually make the change to the CV value!  This works just fine.

 

The reading of CV8 Manufacturer id still lists as unknown when read, but is corrected to Hornby Hobbies when I follow your advice of manually selecting the decoder type (CV7) in the drop down box.  Something else I wasn't aware of until you advised!

 

Have got the hang of the paragraphs now!

 

Sorry for wasting your time.

[Chrissaf]

The reading of CV8 Manufacturer id still lists as unknown when read.......

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I find that if I select CV8 as a SINGLE CV to be read, it fails to read it correctly. However, if I select a small range of CVs to read such as read CV1 to CV10, then CV8 is read back perfectly OK. Well at least that is what works for me.

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Very honest of you to admit to operator error, it is appreciated though as it helps others who read the thread later looking for a solution.