Loksound v5 decoder (speed control issue in RailMaster)

[SamC]

Recently purchased the R3866 BofB Steam 34051 with an ESU LokSound v5.0, 8 pin decoder pre-fitted.

I loaded the loco on to my RailMaster (v1.73) Roster, read the cv's and manually entered the functions. CV7 initially was read as a LokSound 4 decoder but I forced cv7 to the Loksound 5 decoder option. The value of cv7 remained at 255 for both decoder versions. I operate my track from a Windows 10 laptop via eLink.

When I transferred the loco to a rolling road on my main track, the sound functions worked as expected but the motion was faulty. At any speed selection of 1mph or greater, the loco runs at a constant speed which I estimate to be near the cruise speed for the loco. This occurs in both directions.

I have read that v1.73 has issues with some decoders and inputting locos on to the Roster but I am not aware of the cure. I recall having a similar situation a few years ago but cannot recall or find how I overcame it. I suspect that this could apply to many different model.

I cannot find anything relevant on the Forum but could be looking in the wrong places.

Has anyone solved this issue?

[Chrissaf]

Yes, this issue has been covered before in this forum. This issue is prevalent in the 1.73 version of RailMaster. The current version is 1.74.5 and possibly contains a fix for this issue (unconfirmed). At the top of the RailMaster forum there are some sticky threads. The 'RailMaster Download' sticky provides links to the latest 1.74.5 version. Run this version as an administrator (right mouse click option) over the top of your installed version. When you install this update you may possibly lose communication syncronisation with your controller. If you do, just compare the Com port settings in Windows Device Manager and RM System Settings and make sure they match and are the correct values for your controller. If you are struggling to resync the controller, follow the guidance in FAQ number 1 (see below).

Once installed, then refer to the 'RailMaster FAQ Index' sticky and follow the guidance in FAQ number 4. This guidance still needs to be followed even if the 1.74.5 version contains a fix, as the fix will only apply to new loco additions to the RM roster, and is unlikely to fix speed control issues affecting existing installed locos in RM.

[SamC]

Chris, thanks for your rapid response. I will follow your advice and let you know the outcome.

[SamC]

I have followed your clear instructions and your links and my RailMaster is now v1.74 (5?). My existing loco's, well two of them, operate as always. There was no difficulty in the download and installation of v1.74.5.

I manually added my new R3866, v5 decoder to the Roster, repeating what I had attempted in RM v1.73. I explicitly followed FAQ No 4 as recommended and entered all data by hand. The operation of the loco has not altered at all. The sounds are available, the speed curser shows the pink maximum 127 speed steps but any input of 1mph or greater sends the motor to a constant fast speed. I have repeated this manual loading with no change.

Do I need to start looking at the decoder cv's for the loco motor?

More advice needed.

[Chrissaf]

Others have reported having to go through the delete loco and re-add it up to four times before it works.

All I can add is that during the adding the loco to the RM roster process. DO NOT use the green tick to read CVs in the CV read / write configuration screen and DO NOT use the search loco database using the R number process.

Also, before trying again following the above, write 8 to CV8 to factory reset the decoder to give a 'clean slate' starting position.

Based upon past forum reports, I doubt very much indeed that this issue can be fixed by altering CVs. It appears to be a reading RM database corruption issue. Hence why I advise that the CV reading green tick and R number search is not used as part of the loco configuration setup process.

[SamC]

Cheer Chris. I shall persevere for a while.

[SamC]

I have continued to delete R3866 from the Roster and re-enter it manually to no avail. In excess of eight attempts. I have shut down RailMaster and my track between attempts. I have unplug the v5 decoder and re-connected it. The loco speeds are still faulty.

I connected a TTS decoder to the loco and entered this arrangement in the Roster. The Roster accepted the loco and the TTS decoder sounds and loco speeds were correct although the RailMaster Roster did not retain the Functions details or loco illustration. There appear to be multiple issues with parts of RailMaster and I hope that they can be resolved by HRMS.

Thank you for you assistance.

[Fishmanoz]

In that case I trust you have contacted HRMS with your problem, preferably via the facility for doing so in the Help screen. They can’t fix what they don’t know about.