Rail Master Function buttons Intermittently work.

[DickiesDog]

Hello

I'm having an issue with my Rail Master program that hopefully someone can help with!

My Rail Master program is running on an old XP Laptop connected to an Elite and has done for about 6 years with no issues. All of a sudden lately I'm having problems with the function buttons for the Loco`s.

 

All is fine when first loaded up and everything works as it should, however after  a while the function buttons stop doing what their meant to!  For example if I want to activate the lights on a Loco the button will turn green like its meant to but the lights wont turn on the Loco no matter how many times it is cycled. If I try to then activate anything on a different Loco that wont work either.  

 

I can activate any lights or sounds on any Loco using the Elite when the buttons on Rail Master are inoperable which is leading me to believe is a Rail Master issue rather than a Elite issue.   Everything else works correctly Eg, directions, speeds, points and signals while the buttons are inop leading me to think its not a comms issue.

 

It does seem to me if i use a loco which has a lot of functions and use them straight away and keep using them Eg a sound Loco the buttons remain working for longer. Once I stop using them then after a short while they fail again.

 

This has started happening out of the blue when  NO changes to the system have been made, either to RM, Elite or the laptop its self

 I will admit that the RM version is on 1.55 as  the laptop is old and does not get connected to the internet as its running XP and has no antivirus on it what so ever. That to me just makes it more odd as its been stable for 6 years!

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many Thanks.

[Chrissaf]

You say that the system has been stable for 6 years and is only just starting to play up. So something must have changed. Since the PC is never connected to the Internet and you have been using version 1.55 on XP the whole time, then it would be logical to assume that your RailMaster may be able to be eliminated from the issue (baring compatibility issues with a new decoder .... see question below or file corruption ... see 'resource.mdb' comment below).

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Then the only thing that might have changed in your setup is the locos and/or decoders.

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So my question to you is .... are the locos that are only now playing up also ones that have been working fine for 6 years or are they new additions to your loco roster list in RailMaster?

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You say sound .... would these be Hornby TTS locos or some other sound decoder brand?

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If you were to escalate your issue to HRMS for support. I would not be surprised if the very first that they asked you to do was to update RailMaster to the current 1.73 version. I believe that for you, that would be a 'high risk' strategy as your current 'railmaster.ini' file would very likely need editing to make your Elite fully compatible again with the latest 1.73 version.

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If the locos that have been stable for 6 years are affected, then there is always a possibility that a file in RM has become corrupted. Possibly 'resource.mdb' where all your loco configurations are held. This configuration data would also include 'Function Button' configurations. You could try deleting one of the locos that exhibit this behaviour from your RM loco roster, then re-installing it again from scratch to see if that fixes the issue. In theory, deletion and reinstallation should flush out that locos old data from 'resource.mdb'.

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TIP: As a newbie poster on the forum, just be aware that the 'Blue Button with the White Arrow' is not a 'Reply to this post' button. If you want to reply to any of the posts, scroll down and write your reply in the reply text box at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

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See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/

[DickiesDog]

Hi Chrissaf

Thankyou for the reply.

 

In answer to your questions:

Yes The Locos that are playing up are the locos that Ive had all this time if not longer.

I have converted an R867 Pacer 142 to Dcc recently using a gaugemaster DCC90 decoder as it has a high 1.5 Amp stall current and the Pacer is a twin motor example. Ive also fitted it with a DCC99 stay alive unit too. It has no usable functions on the Pacer what so ever so never activated the function buttons for this Loco.

I "think" I was having this problem before I introduced this Loco to the layout, but I will now remove it and see wether the problem persists.

 

No the sound Locos I have are all pre TTS and have more or less been on the layout for the 6 years.

 

I did think the update may be a valid answer to the resolution to this issue but was concerned that if I updated RM I might have issues connecting back to the Elite which is on version 1.41.  I have  been looking on the forum before I posted but couldnt see how to update RM from a usb stick. 

 

I also thought a file in RM could of corrupted as its an old laptop however thought it strange that it would work to begin with then stop after a period of inactivity of operating any loco function.

 

I hope this helps!

[Chrissaf]

I have been looking on the forum before I posted, but couldn't see how to update RM from a USB stick.

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Not that I am suggesting you do this, but just to answer the question. Updating from a USB stick is 'easy peasy'.

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Just download the 1.73 installer from the link at the top of the RailMaster forum. Ignore that it says 1.72 -- the version text just hasn't been updated on the website yet. The file that downloads will be 1.73 which was released on July 3rd 2020.

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Transfer the downloaded file via the USB stick to the XP Laptop. 'Right Click' the downloaded file that you have copied onto the XP and choose 'Run as administrator'. But if you haven't got the original 1.55 installer file saved somewhere, then you won't be able to revert back if it all goes 'pear shaped'. As luck would have it, I happen to have the original 1.55 installer saved on my PC hard drive. If you need it, I can upload it onto my personal ISP file sharing area and provide a link to it. I would have to upload it within a ZIP file as no ISP will allow an upload of a .EXE file for obvious reasons.

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But note this ... updating to 1.73 or reloading 1.55 RailMaster, will not overwrite the 'resource.mdb' file with a new version of it. So if that is indeed corrupted it will remain so.

 

You could if you wanted to, also update your 1.41 Elite to firmware version 1.45. The firmware files are in the 'Help & Advice --- Download' section of the website. Again you can copy the downloaded files via a USB stick to the XP machine. Internet access on the XP machine is not required to perform these update tasks.

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This is a very long shot as if this is actually your problem I would have expected it to show up at some time during the last 6 years. Very strange things can happen on a DCC layout if the track is powered via DC Analogue power track / power clip products. Namely, R602, R8206 and R8201.

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These three Hornby track power connectors have suppression capacitors inside them that disrupt DCC signals in very odd and unusual ways and can affect different users in many different ways. I suggest that just as a check, that you open your track power connections and double check that there are no capacitors present.

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I would also suggest as a diagnostic test, that you remove all locos from the layout, then put them back one at a time, testing each one individually as you do so to see. Firstly, does the issue go away, and secondly when does it come back.

 

 

[96RAF]

To see if the Functions commands are actually being transmitted look at your Elite screen as you press the errant Function icons. Depending again as Chris says depending  upon your RM and Elite revision states and how your ini file is written you should see the Function indicators at the bottom of the Elite screen popping up as you select a function.

 

This is the Elite revisions progression from where you are now..

Version 1.41 - Controller lockup fixed. Speed knob selection logic changed. Programming of R8215 decoders fixed. Reboot in last mode. Minor display anomalies fixed.

 

Version 1.42 - Dummy car programming wasnt working - fixed. Improved support for Bachmann decoders. Display corruption in Operate mode mode fixed. Support for Select v1.5.

 

Version 1.43 - Xpressnet response fix from Elite Emergy Stop recovery. Bug fix in TTS decoder programming and reading in service mode. Quicker response with Select in Walkabout mode. Feedback from hand controllers to Elite screen. POM for suitable accessory decoders. 

 

Version 1.44 - Elite not handling TTS diesel functions F5-F8 correctly - fixed.

 

Version 1.45 - Elite not handling Sapphire decoder fuel burn utility correctly - fixed.

[DickiesDog]

So after a couple of days of testing I'm come to some rather mixed results.

 

First off I can confirm I'm not using a power clip what so ever as i have dropper wires soldered onto the track and connected to the bus lines running around below the baseboard.

 

I took your advice Chris and started off by removing the newest edition to the layout, the Pacer.

After an hour of running everything was operating correctly and the function buttons operated perfectly for what ever i chose to operate.  Normally after about 10 mins they would of stopped working. I then switched everything off reinstated the pacer turned everything back on loaded RM back up and ran everything again.

 

After about 10 mins the buttons stopped working!  Eureka moment its the Gauge master chip some how effecting this fault.   At the time I noticed I was just before I pushed the Loco button on the top so i could adjust CV 10 and turn back EMF off on a Railroad class 31 I have that runs like a bag of bolts at low speed  yet beautifully one it speeds up.

 

After completing the adjustment and saving and exiting the loco adjustment section I re tried the function buttons and they worked!!!.  They continued to work for the rest of that session and have worked while testing today too ! which although is great as for now the problem seems to gone away is also annoying as I'm now really unsure to what will have caused it in case it returns.

 

So Decoder or corrupt file in RM that is now fixed what do you think?

 

RAF 96 I checked to see if the function indicators came on and off on the elite when operated from RM and they didn't. I even called up the loco on Elite then operated the Functions on RM and they still didn't even though everything was working correctly. 

 

That is nice to see what the Elite updates do.  

As I don't own any TTS Decoders and the Elite is working flawlessly I think I might leave as is until such time i need too update it.

 

 

[Chrissaf]

Gaugemaster decoders do seem to have issues with Hornby controllers with alarming regularity on this forum. But not normally queries posted with the issues that you have been observing.

[96RAF]

@ double D

You need to have Elite feedback enabled in the .ini file for the Elite and RM screens to echo each other.