USB Device not recognised.

[jug1938]

RAF96 said:

posted out 50 years ago last July...

[jug1938]

Hi Rob

I too have had problems with Windows 8 and Railmaster not handshaking with eLink it seem others

have too, mine seems to be a Intel USB driver problem.

I am also unable to find the R/M .ini file to turn off the Point button arrows.

I

 

also want to set-up the mimic diagram on a separate monitor to operate the points and use my main monitor to run trains, some guys have said they have done this but not how.

My layout is already installed and working prior to buying R/M and eLink with Merg

 

accessory

decoders programmed, do you think Railmaster will operate them without my taking them all out to reprogram.?

 

Jug

 

 

 

 

[96RAF]

I personally think much of the handshake problem is OEM pc initiated with their pre-loaded versions of Win7/8/9. I have 2xHP pcs and they have shown odd but differing characteristics in several op areas not just RM. Why didn't MS just do XP-GT

 

RM

 

.ini. file is in the RM folder as railmaster.inin - right click the folder and sort by file type and its easier to locate.

 

2 monitor scenario is possible but under Windows I think rather than RM - could be I am (and probably will be) wrong.

 

Much

 

has been writ I seem to remember about MERG kit and Hornby, but not sure if it was RM associated. Worth asking the MERG forum guys about it.

[Deeps60]

All. I quickly erected a single track circle to confirm if my e-link was working properly and I managed to get both trains of the Majestic set working. The only way I have been able to get elink to work is to proceed as follows. Open firewall and check

 

both public and private boxes, check the port from the Device manger, in my case com port 4 which is a USB 2 (USB 3 ports did not work for me) set the higher baud rate as shown in instructions. Now right click the RM short cut, select properties, go to compatability

 

mode. Leave it on W8.1, do the diagnostic and then click on test program. The link may fail the first time as the com port has yet to be set on the RM program. Let the program go throuigh the complete fail process and then set the com port to 4 (or the one

 

that matches yours) and the baud rate. Shut the program down. Power down the elink, wait 15 secs and power up. Repeat the right click of the RM short cut and follow the procedure from select properties. This time around it has always made a handshake with

 

elink.

 

I note that another person has achieved the same using compatabilty mode winXP so perhaps you may need to experiment with different compatabilty modes. Remember to power of and back on the elink after each attempt as it seems to keep in memory

 

the last failed effort. I hope this will get everybody up and running until RM can send out an update or a firmware change, whichever is causing the problem.

 

Win 8.1, 64-bit RM elink Majestic set.

[jug1938]

Deeps60 said:

All. I quickly erected a single track circle to confirm if my e-link was working properly and I managed to get both trains of the Majestic set working. The only way I have been able to get elink to work is to proceed as follows.

Open firewall and check both public and private boxes, check the port from the Device manger, in my case com port 4 which is a USB 2 (USB 3 ports did not work for me) set the higher baud rate as shown in instructions. Now right click the RM short cut, select

properties, go to compatability mode. Leave it on W8.1, do the diagnostic and then click on test program. The link may fail the first time as the com port has yet to be set on the RM program. Let the program go throuigh the complete fail process and then set

the com port to 4 (or the one that matches yours) and the baud rate. Shut the program down. Power down the elink, wait 15 secs and power up. Repeat the right click of the RM short cut and follow the procedure from select properties. This time around it has

always made a handshake with elink.

I note that another person has achieved the same using compatabilty mode winXP so perhaps you may need to experiment with different compatabilty modes. Remember to power of and back on the elink after each attempt

as it seems to keep in memory the last failed effort. I hope this will get everybody up and running until RM can send out an update or a firmware change, whichever is causing the problem.

Win 8.1, 64-bit RM elink Majestic set.

[jug1938]

Hi guys

 

I have tried XP and W7 compatible mode on my W8-1pro 64bit PC all as described without success

it does seem to be that W8 has not just USB3 driver problems.

I have set-up on COM 3 which is a USB2, the Device Manager and Devices and

 

Printers screen show

the R8214 Elite driver but I cannot get a handshake.

As mentioned twice before in my posts I just cannot find Railmaster .ini in C:Program Files

(x86)railmaster

 

Until Railmaster sees the eLink I cannot progress other than

 

my mimic design and listing my

loco,s in Railmaster.

 

Thanks for your advice

 

Jug

[96RAF]

jug1938 said:

Hi guys

I have tried XP and W7 compatible mode on my W8-1pro 64bit PC all as described without success
it does seem to be that W8 has not just USB3 driver problems.
I have set-up on COM 3 which is a USB2, the Device

Manager and Devices and Printers screen show
the R8214 Elite driver but I cannot get a handshake.
As mentioned twice before in my posts I just cannot find Railmaster .ini in C:Program Files
(x86)railmaster

Until Railmaster sees the eLink I

cannot progress other than my mimic design and listing my
loco,s in Railmaster.

Thanks for your advice

Jug

@jug
You should see the .ini. file in the Railmaster folder list - see this link from a screen grab of my RM folder

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/57074-capture/

I

think that if RM is starting and not running the .ini file then that is likely your problem.
If the .ini is definitely missing then you could try going to powerpos (the full URL is on the forum somewhere) and downloading the latest version of RM and reinstalling

it, having saved your trackplan to the desktop 1st - just in case. You can put it back into the RM folder later.

[jug1938]

Hi Rob

Thanks for the link, my directory does not show the.ini file in spite of my downloading the latest 155 download from powerpos.

I will do as you advise .

Jug

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

The RailMaster.ini file must always be present in the RailMaster program folder. It is impossible for it not to be there. The simple reason is, even if the ini file is deliberately deleted, RailMaster will itself create a fresh one with default settings

 

the instant the program is run.

 

Windows often hides the extensions of file names so the file may just appear as "RailMaster" in the folder listing. You will also see another "RailMaster" file. One is the program itself (RailMaster.exe) and the other

 

is RailMaster.ini. You can right click on the file and check the properties to be sure.

 

If the Hornby Elite driver is being shown on Windows' Device Manager, then that is your first problem. In Windows 7 and 8, the operating system downloads and installs

 

its own driver from the Windows Update server. You must allow it to do this and not force the installation of the Hornby-supplied driver. Full details are contained in the dedicated Drivers Installation PDF guide installed on your Windows desktop.

 

[frankstewart]

hi, i have just run my first programe using the elink using a class 66 sound ,i run it for a testing and it was amazing light on and of horn on and of run slow run fast all whith my w8 laptop run it round my layout in loft a tot of 32m when run round three

 

times and not a hitch ,however on the startup of rm it did not hand shake with elink untill the thired time ,i had not used the laptop or elink for about a week it lay idel for that time in the loft all was shut down but before i shut it down every thing was

 

ok after taking addvice from hornby regarding restating rm ,then starting back up i encounterd the no hand shake to elinke three times ,i only use the laptop for the raiway so i am going to let it sleep rather than shut it down not ideal but for me it overcomes

 

the need for handshakingall the time untill another solotion os found soon i hope

[Mousehole]

Reading the comments on this thread and other comments on the forum, it appears that I am having very similar problems to other users of Railmaster with eLink. Although the problems have been spelled out by the other users, I have not seen a solution to

 

them.

 

On Monday 3rd February I purchased eLink with Railmaster and installed the software on a Toshiba laptop running under Windows 8, following all the instructions. On first using the system, the DCC controller was recognised and I could run locomotives.

 

Thereafter, whenever I switched on, the DCC controller was not recognised. I checked the port settings (COM4) and whether I set the baud rate at 19.2kbaud (according to the manual) or 115.2kbaud (which the eLink controller requested) it made no difference.

 

 

 

Being thoroughly frustrated, I repeated the exercise by installing on a Dell desktop running under Windows 7 and had no problems at all.

 

Following these problems, I contacted the Railmaster technical support and over the next few days had prompt

 

responses to my requests for help with advice for resolving the issue.

 

The first advice I received was to uninstall and then reinstall the driver – and the system worked. On closing down and restarting, however it was as before. On reinstalling the

 

driver again, sometimes the system works, but always on restarting I get a series of messages:

 

Please wait ... initialising controller

(after 18 segments on the progress bar the system hangs up until the next message after about 30sec)

 

eLink

 

com port is not open

Unable to initiate handshaking

 

Sometimes there is a further message:

Please wait updating eLink to version 1.04

(the system then hangs indefinitely with only two segments on the progress bar)

 

On subsequently restarting,

 

the messages are different:

 

Please wait checking for updates

Please wait connecting to Hornby eLink

(after about 6sec the message)

 

Couldn’t find DCC controller so trying port ...

(with a quick sequence through port numbers 1 to 16, followed

 

by)

Unable to open designated DCC controller port

Couldn’t open DCC controller port

 

As recommended by technical support, I always ensured that the program was run as administrator, always ensured that the eLink unit had been on for at least several

 

seconds, checked that the status of Railmaster in the Norton firewall is ‘Allow’, tried running in compatibility mode with both Windows 7 and XP SP3 and I have also tried more than one USB cable, but none of these made any difference.

 

In less than a

 

week after the purchase, Railmaster technical support could not offer any further suggestions other than the eLink unit could be faulty and asked me to contact customer care to organise a replacement. This I did, and in spite of several reminders I have heard

 

nothing in the past two weeks beyond an initial automated acknowledgment.

 

How can I now proceed?

 

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

In everything that you tried did you ensure that Windows used its update system to download its own driver rather than using the Hornby supplied one? Windows 8 and Window 7 need to use Windows' own driver for the eLink.

 

With regard to the replacement

 

eLink unit how are you reminding them? Phone Customer Care and ask them where it is. They are normally efficient at replacing things.

 

[Fishmanoz]

Ring HCC to follow up your email. Unlike RM Support, they can be slow.

[gilbo2]

Mousehole said:

Please wait ... initialising controller
(after 18 segments on the progress bar the system hangs up until the next message after about 30sec)

eLink com port is not open
Unable to initiate handshaking

This

message is SOOOO frustrating and I get it on about 10% of start ups on either XP and Windows 8 based systems. Now, it may not be related at all but based on my own findings you could try the following before sending it to Hornby repairs (who are VERY good

by the way), especially as your eLink works on the Dell desktop;

When this error occurs eLink needs to be switched off from the mains for a good 10 seconds, (Railmaster software also closed) and then plugged back in. It will not recover without as its

in some kind of "latched" state.

Its also worth checking you have no short circuits on the rails as I find eLink does not like starting up if there are any. (Simply disconnect any wires from the TRACK terminals for now).

If you see Windows "USB

Unrecognized" balloon then the computer needs restarting too.

Next I would check the driver settings with eLink connected. ie under Device ManagerPorts locate the Com port that appears when eLink is plugged into the computer. With my Windows 8.1 I

see "USB Serial Port (COM3)". Then right click it, select Properties then Port Settings tab. Check bits per second is set to 115200, then going down the other fields 8, None, 1, None. I've found that on some machines Windows sets a low speed here which eLink

does not like.

Finally if still no joy, locate the file Railmaster.ini in path C:Program Files (x86)RailMaster. Rename it so you keep a copy eg RailmasterOrignial.ini Now, when RailMaster restarts it will create a new default copy and correct any

anomalies. I've found a few problems fixed by doing this so worth a try!

Good luck!

[Mousehole]

dgilbert2 said:

This message is SOOOO frustrating and I get it on about 10% of start ups on either XP and Windows 8 based systems. Now, it may not be related at all but based on my own findings you could try the following before sending it

to Hornby repairs (who are VERY good by the way), especially as your eLink works on the Dell desktop;

When this error occurs eLink needs to be switched off from the mains for a good 10 seconds, (Railmaster software also closed) and then plugged back

in. It will not recover without as its in some kind of "latched" state.

Its also worth checking you have no short circuits on the rails as I find eLink does not like starting up if there are any. (Simply disconnect any wires from the TRACK terminals

for now).

If you see Windows "USB Unrecognized" balloon then the computer needs restarting too.

Next I would check the driver settings with eLink connected. ie under Device ManagerPorts locate the Com port that appears when eLink is plugged

into the computer. With my Windows 8.1 I see "USB Serial Port (COM3)". Then right click it, select Properties then Port Settings tab. Check bits per second is set to 115200, then going down the other fields 8, None, 1, None. I've found that on some machines

Windows sets a low speed here which eLink does not like.

Finally if still no joy, locate the file Railmaster.ini in path C:Program Files (x86)RailMaster. Rename it so you keep a copy eg RailmasterOrignial.ini Now, when RailMaster restarts it will

create a new default copy and correct any anomalies. I've found a few problems fixed by doing this so worth a try!

Good luck!

[Mousehole]

Thank you for your replies. I have sent the eLink back to Hornby and I will let you know what happens.

[gilbo2]

Mousehole said:

Thank you for your replies. I have sent the eLink back to Hornby and I will let you know what happens.

It will certainly be interesting to hear the outcome of this, thanks.

[gilbo2]

Mousehole said:

Thank you for your replies. I have sent the eLink back to Hornby and I will let you know what happens.

I thought I would give my USB3 port a try tonight with eLink / Windows 8.1. Sadly I confirm what people

are saying in this thread that there seem to be a compatibility issue between USB3/Windows 8.1 and eLink/Railmaster. Even though I know eLinks little quirks I just could NOT get it to start up reliably, seeing all the problems in this thread.

It would

work but only on about 5% of start ups.

As soon as I moved back to the USB2 port, everything worked fine again. (Well 90% startup reliability as I mentioned earlier.)

I hope Hornby and their software developers take note and urgently look at

resolving this issue which I would have thought could be done by a software update. In the meantime, if your reading this thread with the same problem, simply use a USB2 port until a software update is issued.

No wonder new eLink users get so frustrated.

I'm

sure this can be easily fixed though and with so many reports of the compatibility bug, sooner rather than later to avoid unnecessary eLink hardware returns.

[96RAF]

dgilbert2 said:

I thought I would give my USB3 port a try tonight with eLink / Windows 8.1. Sadly I confirm what people are saying in this thread that there seem to be a compatibility issue between USB3/Windows 8.1 and eLink/Railmaster. Even

though I know eLinks little quirks I just could NOT get it to start up reliably, seeing all the problems in this thread.

It would work but only on about 5% of start ups.

As soon as I moved back to the USB2 port, everything worked fine again.

(Well 90% startup reliability as I mentioned earlier.)

I hope Hornby and their software developers take note and urgently look at resolving this issue which I would have thought could be done by a software update. In the meantime, if your reading this

thread with the same problem, simply use a USB2 port until a software update is issued.

No wonder new eLink users get so frustrated.

I'm sure this can be easily fixed though and with so many reports of the compatibility bug, sooner rather than

later to avoid unnecessary eLink hardware returns.

Both my Elite and eLink are connected via USB 3.0 albeit on a desktop and a pci card as opposed to front USB 3.0 ports or USB 2.0 rear ports. No problems in any area.

[Yelrow]

its really fascinating, put usb in lh side of laptop, it connects, put it in RH side, usb, does not. Add powered 4 socket usb connector to either side, no problems. curious, john

[gilbo2]

yelrow said:

its really fascinating, put usb in lh side of laptop, it connects, put it in RH side, usb, does not. Add powered 4 socket usb connector to either side, no problems. curious, john

Is RH side usb3? Also when plugging

into different USB ports the com port number will be changing and so you need to check RM has detected this or setup manually if you have disabled serial check in the .ini file.

It can all get REALLY confusing!!!!

[gilbo2]

RAF96 said:

Both my Elite and eLink are connected via USB 3.0 albeit on a desktop and a pci card as opposed to front USB 3.0 ports or USB 2.0 rear ports. No problems in any area.

This information should be helpful to the developers

but it's also highlighting an issue where on some hardware configurations it works and on others not. It is not the first time we have seen people with RM problems but on other systems it all works fine.

[Yelrow]

dgilbert,hi, no not usb 3, laptop is 4 years old. Dont know anything about disabling serial check, and this is compounded by it being a french laptop, and windows 7, differs quite a lot from uk windows. Had fearful trouble initially, as half the bits on

 

RM, for windows7. did not appear on the french machine. Still, it works fine, once it decides to start. Main problem was, that when laptop went to sleep, had to re start prog. Have solved that by cancelling sleep mode so machine remains on, but instructions

 

for so doing in uk windows, bore no resemblance to those on french windows, so not sure i would ever find serial check. john

[96RAF]

dgilbert2 said:

Is RH side usb3? Also when plugging into different USB ports the com port number will be changing and so you need to check RM has detected this or setup manually if you have disabled serial check in the .ini file.

It

can all get REALLY confusing!!!!

To add to the confusion some laptops (like my Greek Toshiba notebook ) have USB ports that are live with the machine OFF. Such ports can be thus used to charge your phone/iPad, etc. They also run the battery

down when laptop is not in use with nothing plugged in as they are 'listening for a customer', but fortunately the live charging facility can be disabled. This may have an effect on if a USB port is picked up by RM or not.

[Mousehole]

In earlier posts I said I was having problems with connecting eLink, had sent it back to Hornby and would report on progress.

Two days ago I received an eLink back from Hornby with a note to say it was new and tested. On connecting it to my laptop

 

it worked and on closing down and restarting several times it still worked. On then connecting it to my railway, it failed and thereafter I had a message on the laptop to say that it did not recognise the device connected to the USB port. Having read in one

 

of the threads that someone had successfully used a powered USB hub (in spite of an explicit instruction in the manual not to use a USB hub), I connected through a powered 4-way hub and everything worked. There was no problem changing output ports on the hub

 

– it all worked with ports COM4 to 7. I then tried a non-powered 4-way hub, with the same results. Occasionally connection fails but can be restored by plugging into a different port on the hub.

Overall, I now have a working railway to which I can connect

 

with reasonable reliability but it does seem to me that there is a fundamental problem with connectivity that needs to be resolved. Nowadays one expects devices to be plug-and-play – this is the only system that I have ever used that I could only run as administrator

 

and for which I had to modify or reinstall the drivers manually.