Mark390 Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 I'm fairly newbie to model railways, and as far as I can see have checked most of the obvious problems or suggestions mentioned on this forum, or elsewhere.My success in getting the system to work is fairly erratic, most times I get an error such as "the eLink com port is not open". "The eLink interface failed the handshake test". or "unable to open the designated DCC controller port".Constant restarting/unplugging will usually eventually get the system to work, but usually after a lot of failed attempts. All I am doing is unplugging and plugging back in again - surely I should not have no many problems, so often.I'm using Windows 7, latest version of RailMaster, running as Admininistrator. I have upgraded the power supply to the 4A supply (the difference I have found with this is when I do eventually get the setup working, the 4A tends to ensure that it stays working - the originally supplied 1A power unit used to fail more often after it had started working).If there is anything else I need to check, please advise. ThanksMark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Mark, welcome to the forums. See PJ's post on the RM forum with an apparently similar problem, and his solution of having RM Support take over his computer to fix it. For a start, you should email RM Support from within the Help window of RM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Have you tried using a different USB cable? Are you using a USB hub? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Thanks Poliss, Am using the USB cable that was supplied with the set, and direct into USB slot, not a hub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Thanks, will try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 If you have another USB cable, it's worth trying it. That would rule out something simple. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yelrow Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 mark,hi,many of us have been down your road, and if you look through the archives, you will find most solutions. There is a sequence of turning things on, allways turnon Elink, before laptop, and let every screen fully display, before moving on, eg, let the hard drive stop. There is also a plugging in sequence. If all else fails, contact through railmaster box, via email, hornby support. They can look at Your Railmaster log, and advise, taking over your machine if necessary. they are a very helpful bunch, and will quickly sort it out. it is a great system, but firewalls and anti viruses, have been known to cause prob may find a solution there. Good luck john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Well I am pleased (in a way) that my problems are not unique, and will take the suggestions and advice mentioned. Ironically on the times I have managed to connect, I have been able to program IDs on the 7 different locos I have, so they can be moved independentally (as should be the case for DCC systems). I understand that some other newbies can have problems setting the programming, but thankfully I haven't had too many issues with that! I can even get lights to work on some of them, controlled by RailMaster, so I am clearly having luck with some of my system. My main problem (at this stage) is that getting connected is a bit hit and miss, depsite (I believe) following the same connection routine each time. Thanks for all your help so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornbyRailMasterSupport Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Have you downloaded and installed RailMaster 1.56 and if so has this made a difference to the problem you have been having? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Yes, am using version 1.56 this has helped a bit. Before upgrading to this version, my system would start up even less often than it does now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 I have other USB cables, but tend to get the best results with the one supplied with the train set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NULL-176593 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 After suffering all the communication problems with elink, I finally ( in desperation !!! ) bought a refurbished 32 bit computer running XP pro.( £35 ) I loaded railmaster in, matched the ports and rebooted. Success !. The program and elink now work superbly. I've restarted it around a dozen times with no problems at all. So if you need a computer to run your layout exclusively, this is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 That's an interesting way to do things. While I am getting used to RailMaster and the model layout, I have it running on my desktop PC, with windows 7. And as per this thread, that only works sometimes. Now the intention is to control my model layout from a laptop, as this is going to give more mobility than a desktop. But the laptop is Windows 8 - and so far I have never had any luck connecting to RailMaster from this.. Seems like the newer the OS, the more problems that arise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornbyRailMasterSupport Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 RailMaster should not just works "sometimes" but all of the time, assuming you have a healthy PC.If you email us we can help you sort out whatever problems you are having. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark390 Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Thanks, will do. I'm away for the next week, but will email you on my return, when I have got more time to devote to my new hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NULL-176593 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Hi Mark. I was steered towards the older system by an I.T. boffin friend who looked at my computers ( pc + laptop both fairly new and running W7 ) and at railmaster concluding that the elink problem is down to the windows drivers. He found I believe 7 or 8 drivers on W7 compared to only 3 on XP, so it appears that its a windows problem and not Hornby. As usual the newer the tech, the more complex it becomes !. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westernwill Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I had also been having problems with Elink and v1.56 on Windows 8.1But I noticed that Hornby RM said they had made some tweaks to 1.56 and so I reloaded it yesterday and now Elink starts up everytime. I have turned RM off and on several times, powered down and up and it all starts straight away.Hopefully the problems have been resolved.Many Thanks to Hornby for getting it resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I just got back from UK after a couple of months hols and on starting my train pc it did the usual updates from everyone and his wife. I then started RM and it uploaded v1.56 OK but failed on eLink v1.06. I followed the posted advice and tried a manual update but that failed due to not finding the eLink Com port (mine are on a USB3 expansion card on the pc mobo).Long story short I shut down the PC completely and cold booted it, manually updated to v1.06 per RM documentation, restarted RM and all was well.Just a case of lettiung Microsoft get its ducks in a row after its updates to allow other apps (RM) to do their own thing.Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_van de burgt Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Last week I installed Railmaster 1.56 on my Windows 8.1 laptop. I use also an eLink controller.Today I got a strange problem.The lights of my DCC locomotive didn't work. With the function key program in Railmaster, it also didn't functioned.I reprogrammed the loc, also without a proper result. But in any cases the loc was driving well on the track.Restarting the computer and the eLink, gives lights again. When driving foreard or reverse the lights are working correct. But... To switch on/off the lights by a function key is still not possible. Is it a bug in the software?Grzz,Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Hans, you might download again from www.powerpos.com/rail-master/rm_setup.exe to get the latest revision as HRMS have been doing changes to function numbers, so this may resolve your problem. If not, email them from within the Help window of RM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Admin, would be useful if you moved this thread into the RM forum too and kept only non-RM DCC topics here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_van de burgt Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I am not certain if this is the right spot to answer. The title of this thread suggests problems with bothe Railmaster and eLink.The suggestion to re-install the software is a possibility. But is it able to re-activate it without problems. Or is a re-activation not neccessary?Grzz,Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientMariner Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 It looks as if at least one of your problems is a software issue that was fixed a few days ago by HRMS. Just go to www.powerpos.com/rail-master/rm_setup.exe, download that file and run it. The latest revision of the software will be set up for you over the existing files. There is no need to re-activate. It is quite likely that the issues you are having with Functions will be fixed. Try it anyway - nothing will be lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_van de burgt Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 @AncientMariner,Thanks a lot... The problem is solved. Now there's a little difference withe the old situation. You can see a tiny number (of the programmed F-key) on the left corner of the buttons of the Locomotive Controller. Grzz,Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientMariner Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Good to hear, pleased to be able to help. I wonder how many other people out there are having the same problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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