ipad software

[mal]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cyprusmith said:

 

Tim - Again many thanks for reply.

When I try to do some further testing later on this week with an Elite Controller and Live Track I will also try another PC with a fresh install (my wired

 

desktop) to see if that will make a difference at all.

 

I did download and install the fresh 1.44 on my laptop this morning even though I had it, just to make sure! :)

 

 

Hi I am having virtually the same problem with my laptop as well.

 

I have had some difficulty getting up and running as I do not have the specialist knowledge in relation to ports etc as you. However some how I have go it on my iphone and latest ipad. On both I am getting the same as you describe although I cannot use points

 

as I have more than two and unlike the one on my evaluation desktop which only shows two points activated on the ipad version all are there with the buttons so get message every time to say can only use two but cannot find the two. The trains certainly respond

 

for about a minute or two then do as you say. Again like you reload and we are back in business. I have emailed support for help on this one especially to test my points as this is what I use the railmaster for I have always found the train control lacking

 

in sensitivity. I prefer the elite and selects but still would like the option. Sorry to hear of your problems but at least you are not alone and I am pleased that it is happening to an expert and therefore unlikely to be an issue with my set up. I actually

 

got rid of my anti virus to take away the stock excuse for things not working even though I appreciate it is a reality.

 

Any further help I think needs to come from railmaster. Please LMSTim is okay. regards Malcolm

[wiggy25]

Hi,

 

I know that the screen rendering is not OK on my tablet but everything does work, and I'm getting the exact same problem.

 

I connect to the server using the correct IP address, if I use the wrong one it doesn't connect at all.

It opens

 

port 30 then connects, all is well for a few minutes then nothing, I checked the log and it says port 30 was closed.

So it opens port 31 receives the locos then nothing.

 

So I turned off the firewall and guess what, it still did the same thing.

So

 

on the tablet in the settings tab I changed to port 31, I still left the firewall turned off.

This stopped me getting the port closed message in the log, but sometimes the control just isn't there.

It has downloaded the full track plan to the Tablet

 

but none of the point change buttons are highlighted.

I can press a couple of the buttons on the tablet and the points will operate on the layout, but there is no indication on the tablet, the push buttons are not lit up.

 

Funny the guide lines in

 

the centre of the track on the PC do actually change when the button is pressed on the tablet and the lit up buttons also change on the PC, just nothing on the tablet so you never know which way the points are set.

 

I did read that TIM had said make

 

sure the full range of ports 30-37 are allowed through the firewall, how do you do that?

I have no idea so hence I turned the firewall off!

They need to really think the instructions through when this is fully released as it seems they all think we are

 

computer experts and are assuming we all know what they do.

 

Yes it's still only a Beta release but there are a few things that need ironing out.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[mal]

HI I totally agree about thinking we are all computer experts - I have told the support people this in an email in which I am trying to get help with the issues mentioned. It is beta but about to be released and it seems at least three of us are all experiencing

 

similar issues. At least one is a computer expert which may point to it being a beta issue. I am sure it will all sort out but frustrating in the meantime. One would have thought it would have been highlighted in testing. I wonder if they use Mr/Mrs Average

 

for the tests. At least you are able to work some points even if you do not know wish. Aren't computers fun. We will get there Malcolm

 

wiggy25 said:

 

Hi,

 

I know that the screen rendering is not OK on my tablet but everything does

 

work, and I'm getting the exact same problem.

 

I connect to the server using the correct IP address, if I use the wrong one it doesn't connect at all.

It opens port 30 then connects, all is well for a few minutes then nothing, I checked the log and

 

it says port 30 was closed.

So it opens port 31 receives the locos then nothing.

 

So I turned off the firewall and guess what, it still did the same thing.

So on the tablet in the settings tab I changed to port 31, I still left the firewall turned

 

off.

This stopped me getting the port closed message in the log, but sometimes the control just isn't there.

It has downloaded the full track plan to the Tablet but none of the point change buttons are highlighted.

I can press a couple of the buttons

 

on the tablet and the points will operate on the layout, but there is no indication on the tablet, the push buttons are not lit up.

 

Funny the guide lines in the centre of the track on the PC do actually change when the button is pressed on the tablet

 

and the lit up buttons also change on the PC, just nothing on the tablet so you never know which way the points are set.

 

I did read that TIM had said make sure the full range of ports 30-37 are allowed through the firewall, how do you do that?

I

 

have no idea so hence I turned the firewall off!

They need to really think the instructions through when this is fully released as it seems they all think we are computer experts and are assuming we all know what they do.

 

Yes it's still only a Beta

 

release but there are a few things that need ironing out.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[Ullswater]

Thought I'd my experiences here as well ...

 

I've got a number of Apple devices - iPad 1st and 3rd Gen, iPod touch latest Gen, iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. All work pretty well really with one or two rendering errors, but the main problem is the connectivity

 

as others have described.

 

I'm using a Windows 8 VAIO slider tablet / laptop and an Apple Airport Express router. I have a static IP configured for the laptop.

 

All seems to work fine for a random period of time, ranging from a few seconds to perhaps

 

a minute or two, and then connection is lost between the handheld and the laptop. It can be recovered by restarting the app.

 

I've been in touch with RM support and they are being very responsive and helpful.

 

I can see this being really good

 

when they get the connection issue sorted out, or if it is a user configuration issue, getting the instructions very clear.

[Ullswater]

Another thought ... would be great to hear from anybody who has the new software working perfectly (other than Tim of course!)

[Montywb]

I'd love to be that person, Ullswater, but I'm experiencing the same problems as everyone else. Hopefully, it won't be too long before support come with a solution.

[LMSTim]

There's a new download of the mobile software (1.09). Just switch your device on and it'll pull it down. Hopefully that will do the trick!

 

[Ullswater]

Thanks for leting us know so quickly Tim. I'm very sorry to report that I can not detect any discernable difference.

 

I have definitely upgraded the handheld software, it is reporting 1.09, and I have restarted both main PC and handheld just to ensure

 

a clean(ish) system.

 

The connection seems really quite unstable when starting it up - although I would say it works the majority of the time, sometimes the handheld will not connect - it gets stuck on "Receiving Locos" sometimes, sometimes it gets stuck

 

on the comment about "device surrently unregistered".

 

I wish I had better news! Hopefully others will have.

[mal]

Hi Railmaster support have been very helpful and soon recognised that a lot of people were having a problem. As mentioned above a new update for the handhelds is available AND one also for railmaster main programme as well. (1.45 I think) download from

 

the powerpros whatever site. I have now won a prize for finding one of the two points that it allows me to use (still searching for the other unless it counts the joint working of two as two) but I found the point will open but will not close and then settings

 

show it is polling for status of points and signals which is presumably preventing the closure of the point until this finishes. this is the latest response from Railmaster who are certainly doing their best ''

One thing to bear in mind, which should

 

help, is that the HandHeld software waits seven second from starting beofre commencing the polling for points, signals and locos from the Server.

 

If, when you start the HandHeld, you wait at leat seven seconds for the software to get the first lot of

 

status signals, then you should find activating your points works well

 

All will be sorted I am sure. I agree LMS Tim does seem to be very lucky with his devices.

 

Malcolm

 

 

Ullswater said:

 

Thanks for leting us know so

 

quickly Tim. I'm very sorry to report that I can not detect any discernable difference.

 

I have definitely upgraded the handheld software, it is reporting 1.09, and I have restarted both main PC and handheld just to ensure a clean(ish) system.

 

The

 

connection seems really quite unstable when starting it up - although I would say it works the majority of the time, sometimes the handheld will not connect - it gets stuck on "Receiving Locos" sometimes, sometimes it gets stuck on the comment about "device

 

surrently unregistered".

 

I wish I had better news! Hopefully others will have.

[Montywb]

Mine is the same also. Starts up and connects OK but works only briefly.

[Ullswater]

I've also downloaded Railmaster 1.45 that Mal mentioned - it's available at www.powerpos.com/rail-master/rm_setup145.exe even though Railmaster itself is not prompting to download it. No difference unfortunately.

[mal]

Hi Just gone through it again having waited for at least a minute before activating a command and whilst it changes point it takes another 3/4 minutes before it finishes checking date signals and points. You then change them the other way. So they work

 

but an obvious rather impractical delay in between. I have sent a copy of the log (you can access in parent railmaster 1.45 by clicking on one of those boxes to left of clock.) to railmaster so hope they will be able to tell if it is something personal to

 

me or a problem with railmaster. At least we are getting it sorted, hopefully, before it goes live. Malcolm

[Mike_G]

Hi All

 

I cant even get it to load on my iPhone at the moment

 

Its realy a shame they way they are doing this,

the iphone app for JRMI downloaded from the app store first time

and connected to the elite as soon as it was switched on

never

 

had to do anything

same with the app for z21/rocrail

 

so its not impossible , i think its because hornby are so frightened of loseing a penny they have made it so complicated,, as Tim keeps saying they are not railroad fanatics but a company catering

 

for the general public and the toy train set market, its not realy good enough

 

Mike

 

[wiggy25]

I'm finding exactly the same thing.

 

It all connects wait for 30secs by the clock on RM screen on the PC.

I can operate the points via the tablet on/off still have no idea which way the points are set though on the tablet.

 

Wait then operate

 

a loco then stop it, operate second loco then stop it then no communication between tablet and PC.

If I wait for about 2mins it sometimes comes back, mostly it's reload the app.

 

Now it could be me and this cheap Chinese clone tablet but as others

 

are having the same issues on branded items it's not looking great at the minute.

 

But this is a Beta and that's what it's for, plus we're all gaining information on how to set it up and learning more about it, which IMHO is no bad thing!

 

It's

 

still over a month away from release/purchase date so lets get it right for then.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[Ullswater]

I agree Wiggy, it's exciting to be involved in it and if you download a beta you expect issues. Am very much looking forward to it working properly! ALL software has bugs - I work for a large enterprise software company and we have our fair share!

[wiggy25]

Just noticed something, lets see how many experience the same thing once everything is connected up don't touch anything on the tablet, but double click on one of the numbers next to tthe clock on the RailMaster PC screen.

 

On mine it shows the clock

 

counting the seconds.

It then says something like "request loco data sent to device"

Then it will say the same thing but for points then for signals.

On mine it then says "data received on port 31"

It then continues with the "request loco data

 

to device" then "request Points data to device" and finally "request signal data to device"

Followed by data received on port 31, your ports may be a different number.

 

What I noticed while doing nothing, the "request loco data to device" type of

 

messages stopped and all I was getting was "data received on port 31" this was continuous until the request data message suddenly came back.

 

When I only have the "data received on port 31" message there is no control from the tablet, when the other

 

messages appear I can then control things from the tablet.

 

It's always varying and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.

I've managed to get approx 2mins maximum of continuous control from the tablet before the communication goes.

 

On

 

a positive note I've just worked out how to save the RailMaster icon on the "desktop" of this tablet!!!

As there is no STAR button to do bookmarks by accident I pressed the button with a series of lines on it on the side of the screen which opened up a

 

menu to save bookmarks!

This is major PICNIC!!! (Problem In Chair Not In Computer) as in I'm in the chair :-)

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[mal]

wiggy25 said:

Just noticed something, lets see how many experience the same thing once everything is connected up don't touch anything on the tablet, but double click on one of the numbers next to tthe clock on the RailMaster PC screen.

On

mine it shows the clock counting the seconds.
It then says something like "request loco data sent to device"
Then it will say the same thing but for points then for signals.
On mine it then says "data received on port 31"
It then continues with

the "request loco data to device" then "request Points data to device" and finally "request signal data to device"
Followed by data received on port 31, your ports may be a different number.

What I noticed while doing nothing, the "request loco data

to device" type of messages stopped and all I was getting was "data received on port 31" this was continuous until the request data message suddenly came back.

When I only have the "data received on port 31" message there is no control from the tablet,

when the other messages appear I can then control things from the tablet.

It's always varying and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.
I've managed to get approx 2mins maximum of continuous control from the tablet before the communication

goes.

On a positive note I've just worked out how to save the RailMaster icon on the "desktop" of this tablet!!!
As there is no STAR button to do bookmarks by accident I pressed the button with a series of lines on it on the side of the screen which

opened up a menu to save bookmarks!
This is major PICNIC!!! (Problem In Chair Not In Computer) as in I'm in the chair :-)

Cheers

Ian

[mal]

Hi. Clicking any number to left of clock will give the mobile data. (Inf from railmaster not my knowledge). I have just had another go and it said loading update on my iPad so may have been another but if so only seems to have cut down number of times

 

messages repeat on log. One good thing though I did get point to open and close in the time one would expect. Got quite excited but alas that was it . Not sure if still connection problem or not but your experiences would suggest it is a prog issue more than

 

our devices. Time will tell. That is it for tonight. Perhaps tomorrow it will all be sorted. Malcolm

[Mike_G]

Hi

So i managed to get the app loaded on my iPhone

and it connects to railmaster/elite ok

 

tried a loco and the sound and lights all work

it will send the command to move and the train moves

but only by selecting shunt/cruise the slider

 

does nothing ( will not move )

 

had to stop for now as have to take dog for hair cut

 

Mike

 

[Ullswater]

Quick update - have been emailing backwards and forwards with Railmaster support through this evening - they have continued to be very responsive and helpful. They have made a number of updates to the handheld software available over the last 24 hours

 

and also released a new version of 1.45 PC version which can be downloaded from www.powerpos.com/rail-master/rm_setup145.exe.

 

Even though version number not increased, it has changed, they tell me - no increase in version number since not on general

 

release.

 

I now have it working near perfectly on iPad 3, iPad 1, iPhone 4, iPod touch 2nd gen - trains stop, start, sounds, no loss of comms. Still seem to be issues with iPhone 5 and iPod latest gen, but much better than it was.

 

They tell me

 

a release with further improvements on its way.

 

One thing worth trying is setting the "poll interval" in settings to "off".

 

Sorry I don't have any non-Apple devices so cannot comment on those.

[cyprusmith]

I have now transferred the Railmaster to a desktop PC & downloaded 1.45 as Support suggested. The Handheld is still the Ipad 3 running 1.09 app. As my Ipad is next to the wireless Router & where the PC has a wired connection to the Router the ping time

 

from PC to Ipad is around average 2-3 ms, very good.

I have loaded with RM 1.45 track plan B ( 2 points only) and just installed 2 loco's for testing. I have ip address 192.168.0.5 Server port 30 on both systems, & the S/W loads very quickly onto the Ipad.

 

( Set time as default to 7.)

I can change the Loco speed , Direction, shunt/cruise/stop numerous times on either Loco & everything works well & very quick. As soon as I try to change a point it works first time on the PC screen, but after this any point

 

change seems to lock communication with the PC, then any change to loco although it shows on the Ipad but does not change on the PC. The Log file on the Ipad app does show any change I make on the Ipad whether it be points or Loco control, but nothing on the

 

PC. Sometimes after a period of time ( could be 20-160 secs) I then access the Ipad screen & control the Locos again & a single point operation, but again the point control breaks the link. This last statement is sporadic & sometimes a reload of the Ipad app

 

is needed. I've sent my comments back to Hornby Railmaster Support as all our info helps them while in Beta testing so we can get a Perfect !! version when on full release.

I hope this Helps the developers in working on the Beta version

 

[Ullswater]

Thought I'd mention that I've just had another email from Railmaster support at 9.15pm - very impressed with their commitment to get this fixed.

[wiggy25]

We are keeping them busy!

 

I've been emailing back and forwards this evening as well.

Installed the latest tweaked RM V1.45 and also turned the "update interval" to off on the tablet and it all worked very well, best it's been.

 

I'm using

 

the Chinese tablet clone (Android) tested switching points while running locos, stopping starting and forwards backwards, all worked OK with no loss of comms.

 

I can't really use the slider as the rendering is still not right, it's tried to put two loco

 

controls on the left hand side of the screen but they've overlapped each other a bit, can still almost use them but not quite.

They are working on the rendering which maybe done this week, I think the priority is to get the comms 100% first as without that

 

it doesn't matter what's on the tablet :-) IMHO

 

I still don't have any lit points buttons on the tablet layout diagram, the push buttons work and I can very quickly switch the point one way or another, but the button doesn't light up to indicate which

 

way the point is set, nor is there that grey line on the track which also shows which way it's set.

 

I think this might be because it's just the evaluation version and my plan has loads of points on it!

Still at least it's almost there.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

 

 

[cyprusmith]

I too have had many responses from Support this evening. Like you I was told to set Time interval to OFF which now allows points to change & the System is much more stable & doesn't break or loose connection to Server( PC) They have told me also the Red/Green

 

should change on the Handheld (Ipad 3 in my case) but it doesn't change colour. The Point No's or the Grey route marker of point direction Have not been requested in the initial release, so the only clue on which way the points are set on the Handheld will

 

be the Brighter Red or Green when lit. I've updated Support on this still to be resolved issue, so hopefully a fix will come soon. Still Hornby are putting plenty of effort into getting issues fixed & I cannot fault their commitment. I'm sure all our comments

 

are helping them get it better.

[mal]

cyprusmith said:

I too have had many responses from Support this evening. Like you I was told to set Time interval to OFF which now allows points to change & the System is much more stable & doesn't break or loose connection to Server( PC)

They have told me also the Red/Green should change on the Handheld (Ipad 3 in my case) but it doesn't change colour. The Point No's or the Grey route marker of point direction Have not been requested in the initial release, so the only clue on which way the

points are set on the Handheld will be the Brighter Red or Green when lit. I've updated Support on this still to be resolved issue, so hopefully a fix will come soon. Still Hornby are putting plenty of effort into getting issues fixed & I cannot fault their

commitment. I'm sure all our comments are helping them get it better.