Railmaster will not let me activate

[Anton Stedman]

Hello all,

I have been trying for days now to activate the full version of railmaster which I have a license key for. I purchased the Elink ( R8213 I think ) package which came with an activation key.

However after reading through start up guides on paper and on this forum and following the advice, I keep on getting the same error message displayed below.../media/tinymce_upload/755f5992cdf19fffc4cf657f7e42fcc4.jpg

I have made sure firewall is allowing the software which it is.

I am running railmaster as administrator. 

Railmaster can see and talk to my Elink controller.

I have tried using an ethernet cable from my router to my laptop to see if that works but it doesnt.

One thing I havent done is activating it when the elink is connected to the track.

Any suggestions would be greatly apprieciated thanks.

[96RAF]

You are activating the RM software. It doesn’t need a controller attached to do that.

 

Using an ethernet cable will rule out any WiFi problems.

 

Are you sure you have entered the key code correctly. I had problems with reading my own writing and misread a single number. HRMS would not tell me my full key code but ‘suggested’ where the error may have been in my input. I corrected this an the key code was accepted.

 

Are you,sure the key code is valid i.e. new and has not been used before, as pre-activated key codes are not transfereable. HRMS would be able to tell you that.

[Anton Stedman]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The set in which the activation key came in was brand new. 

I have checked the code quite a lot so it isnt that.

[96RAF]

Try a test report to HRMS. That may indicate if your AV is interfering.

[Chrissaf]

I know you say that you are running RM as administrator, but with your issue trying anything is worthwhile.

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• When you first installed RM, I assume you were using the supplied CD.
• I assume that your PC automatically ran the CD [autoplay] when it was inserted.
• If those two assumptions are correct, then I assume that the installation screen appeared and you started the installation.

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No guarantee that this will make any difference, but worth trying.

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Since RM is not yet activated. Then perform a total 'Uninstall' of the application using the 'uninstall' option in 'Windows Control Panel > Programs'. Also manually delete any artefact Railmaster folder left over in the Windows > Program(x86) folder. You need to remove as much of the installation as possible.....as if it was never installed.

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Ideally, if you know what you are doing (as not for the faint hearted) I would go as far as using 'System Restore' to go back to a time before you installed the RM software as this will clear out any RM entries that have been placed in the Windows Registry. If lucky, you may find a 'System Restore' point mentioning RailMaster. If there is one, then this restore point would have been created automatically by Windows as part of the RM installation and will have been created before the installation proceeded.

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Once the system is completely devoid of RM as much as it can be. Run 'System Restore' again to create a new restore point. This step is optional, but will allow you to restore back quickly to this point if you find you should have to do it again.

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Now do not run the CD just by inserting it. If the installer starts....close it down. Use 'Windows Explorer' or equivalent to look for and find the 'setup.exe' file on the CD. Right click it and choose 'Run as administrator' to start the installation process again. The version on the CD is probably old and out of date, so better still....download the latest 1.71 version from the download link located at the top of the RailMaster forum index page. You can then 'right click' this file instead and choose the 'Run as administrator' option.

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Of course, if this is how you ran the CD the first time.....then ignore the content of this reply.

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Why this suggestion.......yes you can install RM without 'Administrator' rights (i.e just let the CD run on its own) and then use the 'Administrator' check box in the 'properties' of the "railmaster.exe" file. But running the 'setup.exe' file 'as administrator' may be more effective at ensuring that all administrator settings are enabled within Windows. May not make the slightest difference, but given your error message, anything is worth trying.

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But first before doing any of the above....I concur with Rob's suggestion to check that your AV is not causing the issue. In the 'Help' window there is a 'support request' function. Use that to try and send a dummy message to HRMS support. Just put in a message to say that you are testing the AV and to ignore the message.

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This should result in one of two things. Either you will get an almost immediate automated 'we have received your message' type response OR you will get some form of communication error message. If you get the auto acknowledgement, then you can be sure that your AV and Firewall security are not the cause of your issue and then it is your choice to if you want to take the extreme reinstallation steps I have described above. If you get the error message, then your AV is the cause of the activation problem. Highly likely if your AV is McAfee which is a known problem AV product for its over zealous protection.

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Alternatively, send HRMS a mail explaining your issue (in great detail). Ideally use the internal RM process if that generates the 'auto acknowledgement' reply. If you get the 'error message' instead, then use HRMS mail address support@rail-master.com. You should ask HRMS to log on remotely to your PC to fix the activation, if they agree to do that, they will send you an email with instructions on how to prepare your PC for that remote access activity.

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To be honest, most user 'unable to activate' issues end up being fixed via the remote HRMS logon support process.

[rct]

disable firewall and retry i had the same problem and that resoved it

[Anton Stedman]

Hello, 

I have tried to email HRMS through the software and it came up with the error message that Chris was talking about. 

I have emailed railmaster support and am waiting for a reply. I am very confused because I have deactivated all my antivirus software and used an ethernet cable to connect the router to the laptop. I think I read somewhere on here that using an ethernet cable will rule out any Wi-Fi problems. One other thing I did try was connecting the laptop to a mobile hotspot in case my router was blocking something. 

This produced a different error message which just said error 12111. Not quite sure what this means. Maybe a connection problem? After trying it a few more times the error 12111 kept coming up, so I guess I will have to wait for HMRS to reply unless anyone else had any ideas?

[Chrissaf]

A 12xxx error means that RM cannot access (or has a specific problem with) the Internet. In the realms of RM, this usually means that your AV and/or Firewall is blocking RM to Internet communication. This is usually attributed to aggresive AV products from the likes of Norton and McAfee, particularly if these products install their own Firewall. Even disabling these products rarely works. I have no evidence for this, but I suspect that this a consequence (for some users) of RM being written in obsolete visual basic 6 for Windows XP. I have my RM on a Windows 10 PC and have absolutely no Internet issues, but I do not use Norton or McAfee products.

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Incidently, I did not have to add any exceptions manually to my Firewall (FW). The RM installer made these FW configuration changes automatically as part of running the RM installer. Similarly, the AV product I use (ESET NOD32) just worked with RM, without any manual intervention from me.

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In the case of error code 12111 this is specifically an Internet FTP error (FTP = File Transfer Protocol). Now in the case of a public Internet Hot Spot. The Hot Spot router may potentially be specifically configured to block FTP protocols to prevent hackers from using an unsecured 'Hot Spot' for malicious intent i.e preventing the use of FTP to transfer a virus file to your device. Or possibly to prevent using an anonymous public 'Hot Spot' to download illegal 'file' content.

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The 12xxx error code that gets reported most often on this forum is 12029 which if you look at the list below, is specifically being "unable to connect to the server". Server in this context would mean the remote RM servers, but access to these could still be blocked locally by your AV &/or FW.

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The full list of 12xxx error codes can be viewed here.

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What AV products have you got installed?

[pd91223]

I'm using RM v1.71 on a Windows 10 laptop with McAfee. If I want to communicate with HRMS (e.g. when I upgraded to RM Pro recently) then I have to follow the instructions in security_en.PDF. Even then, I can't use my ntlworld email address (because HRMS seem unable to send to that address) but my hotmail address works fine. 

[Anton Stedman]

I have got ESET installed and I did have McAfee but uninstalled it when I read about it causing problems with railmaster. 

Anton

[Anton Stedman]

Hello again,

Railmaster support are going to remote on and see if they can fix the problem.

Will let others know what the problem was. Might help other users in the future.

Regards

Anton

[Anton Stedman]

After contacting HRMS they found that the IP address on our broadband was in the region of addresses that railmaster block because of spam. After deactivating the block the activation key went through in about 3 seconds!

 

Anyway, thanks to those who provided me with suggestions and also if anyone else has problems with activating railmaster then after reading through the PDF guides, contact railmaster support team because they will always be able to sort the problem out!

[Chrissaf]

Good to hear that your issue is now resolved via HRMS logon.

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Hence why I wrote this is an earlier reply:

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"To be honest, most user 'unable to activate' issues end up being fixed via the remote HRMS logon support process."

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An interesting fix.....first time I have heard of this SPAM measure. I deduce that the IP address block is actually being applied on the HRMS firewall at their end, thus there would be absolutely nothing that you could have done at your end....short of changing to a totally different broadband provider to obtain an IP address outside the blocked range.

[Augustus Caesar]

Those blocks of IP addresses that get blocked are issued either

1. by yor ISP (be it Sky, Virgin, BT or whoever) as a dynamic IP address
2. by your web hosting company if you have taken out a package with them for web design or even email purposes etc. again as a dynamic or even static IP address

Your ISP is issued with many blocks of IP addresses of which one individual address is leased to you from one of the blocks every time you switch on your router. It is changed dynamically each time this occurs either through manually powering down, power cut or other means less likely.

If any of those addresses is used by spammers then that whole block of addresses which includes your own is totally blocked by the ISP or spam house. You then have to apply for that block to be freed up by proving you are not responsible for the spam etc. Difficult to do at the best of times.

The simplest approach is to simply switch the router off and clear any cached items on it by leaving it off for around 30 seconds. Switch the router back on and you will almost certainly have a new IP address from a different block. Then, if that block is clear, your Internet access should be normal.

 

If you have an IP address from a host provider you have virtually the same problems except that the router will not fix the issue here. If the IP address is still dynamic then you are allocated by the host company an address from a block similar to that above. You may then have to clear that address from spam houses via the host provider or direct to the spam house itself.

 

If your IP address is STATIC you have a simpler task. You go directly to the spam house to say the address is being blocked incorrectly and usually the block is removed very quickly.

Some host providers, or even ISP's offer static IP's and my own ISP does this. If my IP is is maliciously being used anyone as hacking, spamming etc I have another three on standby which can be brought in instantly to unblock the system.

 

To check if your IP address is being blocked by some or most of the spam houses you can do this by using these sites and inputting your IP address:

https://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx

or

https://dnschecker.org/ip-blacklist-checker.php

 

As usual there is a little more to this but that is the main meat and bones.

[Chrissaf]

What AC has explained is true, but with this caveat. Since HRMS performed the 'unblocking' in real time during their attempted remote log on connection window and they are a software house. Then it is logical to deduce that they implemented the block on their own 'in-house' firewall and/or servers. Thus in this instance, it is unlikely to be an ISP managed block of IP addresses.

[Augustus Caesar]

HRMS would only block that IP address range if prior knowledge came to light that the ISP (broadband provider) had issues with that range of addresses. They can block it themselves on their servers as you say Chris but have NO control over the ultimate blockage carried out by a spam house or ISP provider in the first instance.

All kinds of protocols would be broken here if HRMS or other software houses could block addresses at will. This case will almost certainly see the address blocked by the broadband provider and then manually listed at HRMS on their database or at server or router level dependent upon their own security levels and protocols in place.

 

Either way, I think we have covered this between us in a way where Anton and others could carry out checks to see what is going on with their own addresses whenever they wish.

 

When HRMS, as you rightly say Chris, unblock the access it is only on their own systems they do this. I have covered a wider scenario which may explain where others have a more complex issue which is not covered by blocking of addresses by HRMS themselves. This means all scenarios should be covered by us both relatively comfortably.

 

To all, the blockage of addresses by HRMS shouldn't really be confused by my own additional material here as they shouldn't often overlap but, if they do, you now how it can happen.

[kernow1]

Ive been putting railmaster on a new computer recently.Deactivated old pc to evaluation .

Loaded from RM cd onto new computer (win7 pro) ,allowed RM to do updates ,first one then a second .Could not activate.Uninstalled and tried again,this time only allowed first upgrade.This worked .

I've had this activation issue on 2 pcs now and both times origonal version from cd does not allow activation second update does 3rd update does not allow activation .So i stick to second update only and works fine.

[96RAF]

Why not just use the very latest version of RM from the download link at the top of the RM forum page. The CD copy will definitely be out of date and the update(s) required could complicate things.