Railmaster & Elite start up issues

[Mal_R]

Does anyone face the same problem I do, it can take around 20 minutes of restarting the software and hardware before it will finally connect and work correctly.  This happens every time I switch on the model railway.  I wondered if this was just me or a "feature" in the Elite system.  

I am getting to the point where I think I may have to purchase a simpler DCC system and again wondered if anyone had gone down this route as they were sick of the difficulty.

I must also add that I am a little vexed as the only help given to my issues of this and in the past has been through the kindness of other modellers with little response obtained from Hornby themselves.  Sorry for the rant but as you can imagine I wanted to start up the trians this moming but after an hour I have still not managed to get it up and running.

[RDS]

I use the Elite and I have found it to be 100% reliable.  I have not suffered from any of the Start-up problems you are experiencing in the 2 years I have been operating the system.  I also have it connected to RailMaster, where again, it connects 1st time every time.  I like the Elite in conjunction with RailMaster because I can use either one, or both of them, without problems and without any need to change any wiring.

What version of software are you running in your Elite?  Mine is v1.41.

[Mal_R]

I dont know where Elite came from, I mean elink.  I think it has been the frustration of the morning that caused that.  My system is windows 7 on which I now run nothing other than the railmaster software as I found that other software running at the sametime can cause issues, even browsers.  The equipment came in the Majestic set and to this day have not yet managed to get started without at least one reboot of the elink and a shutdown of railmaster.   Linking to another post I read, it would be nice for Hornby or the elink manufactorers to produce an update to give a little more stability.

Anyhow thanks guys for the responses, as always you seem to help everytime.

[Yelrow]

Mal R, hi have exactly same set, and set up, and there are 1 or2 things to try. Firstly, most of us have had better success by fitting a 4 amp transformer. You will need it anyway, to run points etc. Secondly, there is a connection sequence, which appears to help. Leave usb  permanently connected. Start up elink, before turning on laptop, once all powered up, leave a few seconds for them all to find each other, then start RM. Mine now works 90%, first time. If it fails, unplug, elink, for 10 seconds, and try again. Normally good.  If your troubles persist, contact hornby support, who will check your installation. They are excellent. Let us know how you go... Other systems, are a lot more expensive, and more complicated, john

[RDS]

Hi Mal

The start up sequence that John has suggested above, is exactly the sequence I use for my Elite / RailMaster combination.  John has also suggested contacting Hornby Support.  It may be worthwhile contacting RailMaster support, either with a new thread within the RailMaster section of the forum or directly.  The support that I have seen to users with problems by RailMaster support has been excellent.

With you having elink, sorry I cannot help further but again John is correct to point out that the 4A supply does seem to have enabled a few people to overcome problems with elink.

I would be interested to hear your own start-up sequence.

[gilbo2]

Just to support what's been said above, I find that plugging the elink into the USB port AFTER the computer has fully booted up (and stable) can make a more reliable start-up. Also, are you using a black or blue USB port on your computer?

[Mal_R]

Thanks for the responses, but I am still having no better connection issues, the day before yesterday took around 30 minutes of reboots etc whilst today I have not connected in almost 2 hours.  The same routine of cannot find com port then it does and looks like it is initiating but then bombs out at the end stating it couldnt confirm handshake.  

To answer about the USB's.  i seem to be connecting to black ones. or at least they look black.

It gets frustrating as most times I get about an hour a day to have some time running trains and to spend half of that just turning the set on does make me not bothering at all some days just because of the e-link 

[RDS]

Mal

It is disappointing that you are still experiencing this issue.  I don't know which section of Hornby you have tried but (if you haven't already) it would be worth you contacting RailMaster support.  They have provided some excellent support to other users on this forum.

Also, it may be worthwhile you registering this query on the RailMaster section of the forum.  I presume you have already searched that section of the forum for a similar problem.

[Greybags]

When I first started with Elink I had exactly the same problems. Only 30mins trying to get them connected, one particular day it took me over 2 hours..

The best startup sequence is to let each step complete before plugging in the next bit...

Start the PC/Laptop and the elink, but no connections between them, and wait for the PC/LAptop to completely finish it's boot up. The easiest way to know is to watch the disk activity LED, and when that stops flashing frantically and settles to more off than on, then the PC is fully up and running.

Connect the Elink to the PC, and again wait for the connection to be completed, again watch the Disk LED for the activity to stop.

Then start the Railmaster software, and it should connect...

I will also add that even with this sequence, connection would often take many attempts, and it was only when I aquired a 4A power unit that it now all connects 1st time every time and works as it should.

I also changed the rather flimsy USB cable that comes with it to a quality one.

[Fishmanoz]

More evidence that there are warranty issues with either the eLink working with the 1 Amp supply, or those supplies being faulty. 

I'd also be interested in HRMS's view on the quality of the USB cable supplied. 

[Mal_R]

Guys I wanted to update you on my issues.  On your advice I have now purchased and had delivered the 4 amp supply and would like to report that my elink fires every time, taking into account Greybags suggestions.  My opinion is that the 1 amp power supply supplied in the Majestic set is not fit for purpose and a little angry when companies are happy to provide items that do not give the quality you would expect especially when you are paying a premium price.

However enough moaning and pleased with your help that I have sorted the problem and of course now have a power supply capable of running alot more locos at the sametime, when I eventually get some more.

Thanks for all your help and hope sometimes that I can be of help to someone in return

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

We have been reading this forum and see one or two of you have been having problems with starting up RailMaster with your eLink DCC controller.  Since we monitor RailMaster-related issues we had missed them as these postings are in the DCC forum.  We would otherwise have stepped in earlier.

You should not have to use a 4amp power supply in order to have eLink with RailMaster work smoothly.  You should also not need to be so particular in the sequence with which you start your PC, RailMaster and eLink.  It should certainly not take more than a few seconds, every time, for RailMaster to initialise either the eLink or Elite controllers.

There is something wrong on your set-up that the vast majority of RailMaster/eLink users do not experience.

Did you ever contact our Support team using the Help Request system or by email?  If not, you should do this so that we can see what was causing the problem on your PC and see if we can rectify it.  Although you mention that you have now resolved the issue, the fact is that you should not have to use a different power supply to that supplied in order for the system to work smoothly.

We look forward to receiving your Help Request.