RM Support

[geoffb41]

had to replace my pc due hardware problems and couldn't deactivate railmaster myself.

emailed support 11th December to deactivate it so i could reinstall it on the new PC but still haven't received any response.

sent a 2nd email to support@rail-master.com 17th Dec and no response to this either.

was hopeing they had deactivated it and just not told me but if i try and activate it get error "unable to open resource" Looked at the trouble shooting and have

1/ reinstalled it as " run as administrator"

2/ allowed RM access thru win 10 firewall

3/turned off firewall

4/ have no other third party security installed.

is RM support usually so slow to respond. very frustrating that i can't use it because they not responding. Am also trying to get some help from customer service

 

appreciate any advice

 

rgds,

Geoff

[96RAF]

They are usually fairly prompt.

 

To check you have outgoing comms to HRMS, send a help request from the freshly installed RM which at this stage will be an evalutaion copy. You should get an almost immediate acknoledgement of the request saying they will respond in blah blah..

 

If you do not get this initial response then you may have a problem and HCC may be the best ‘side door’ way forward.

 

At no stage reveal your RM key code on the forum.

[Chrissaf]

Assuming that your PC does not pass the 'acknowledgement of request' check suggested by Rob.

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If it is a Laptop PC take it to a friend / family member or work location and use their broadband service. The error message is local to your PC in that it cannot see the HRMS servers. This is usually related to your PC security configuration to which RM is extremely sensitive for some reason (probably because RM is written for Windows XP and only runs on W10 under sufferance), but there have also been a number of reported instances where 'due to Spammers' RailMaster support (HRMS) have blacklisted blocks of IP addresses and due to being over zealous and aggressive have inadvertently blocked innocent IP addresses as well. This HRMS action they have implemented gives the same symptoms you have described.

.

Anyway, that said, some forum members who have reported very similar issues to you, that is to say your 'error message' and not receiving emails from HRMS that have been sent by them. Have found that using someone else's Internet connection (usually these will be on different IP address ranges) have successfully activated straight away.

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Other than that, all you can do is keep asking Hornby Customer Services to deal with HRMS on your behalf. It is really frustrating that HRMS refuse to publish a contact telephone number and only communicate through email.

[geoffb41]

 thanks guys for the advice. I can't send a help request as when i open RM on the new PC all i get  is a screen with the option to "Exit-Upgrade or Activate" and I can't get to anything else.

as RM was running and activated on the old PC understand support must deactivate it before i will be able to do it on the new PC.

so not sure if my error is a connection problem or support hasn't deactivated it yet

Just frustrating when they don't respond

Emailed HCC again tonight so hopefully they find out whats going on.

it is a pc but once i get confirmation they have deactivated my copy i'll take it to work and try there if need be

 

rgds,

 

Geoff

 

.

 

[96RAF]

That message is telling you the evaluation copy free trial period has timed out and in your case the only option is to activate which you can’t because it hasn’t been deactivated hence can only be done by HRMS who aren’t answering.

 

That time out is a real pest. I can’t see why they don’t allow it to run on restricted mode with 2 loco and few points limit forever, then at least folk like you could get in contact with them via RM.

[Chrissaf]

With HRMS you have to email them as you have no choice. But with HCC I recommend that you ring them rather than email.

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There are lots of posts on here about HCC not responding promptly to emails. Be aware that HCC (Hornby Customer Care) and HRMS (Hornby RailMaster Support) are two completely different companies. HCC is Hornby Hobbies Ltd. HRMS is a small independent software house sub-contracted to Hornby to develop and support the RM product. They are not co-located in the same offices nor even in the same part of the UK. Hornby are in east Kent, and I believe HRMS are in Bedfordshire. HCC have no direct involvement with HRMS, but they probably do have contact details that are not in the public domain. Hence the need to persuade HCC to act as the middle-man on your behalf to act as a mediator. You need to talk to the HCC line manager (name escapes me at present) and discuss your issue with him. He has been known in the past to help out other RM users with similar issues to yours in the past.

[Chrissaf]

Addition to post above:

The name I had forgotten is Mark Lodge and he is the 'HCC Team leader' not the manager.

[Yelrow]

Chris, mark no longer there, has moved to accounts dept. Guy called Matt now. john

[Chrissaf]

Thankyou.