1.56 didn't work for me, any top tips?

[RobOO]

Well the plot thickens. Hornby Support sent me some instructions which I duely followed and the system worked, fantastic!

Powered down the system and when I restarted, guess what, nothing happens. Support told me to download the latest version but their link didn't work properly, set up files corrupted apparently??

 

Just waiting now for another suggestion from them.

[RobOO]

Just a quick one to update this topic. I reinstalled RM and followed Hornby supports email directions which got the thing working. Unfortunately, once the system was turned off something changed because now it doesn't. Be getting home again tomorrow to reinstall a newer update again as instructed by RM Support. Fingers crossed. 

[RobOO]

NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it hasn't worked, and in my frustration with installing and re installing I seem to have sent Railmaster back to 1.55 with all my loco information and track plan gone! 

Did a system restore as I thought that would sort it out but no, all gone. 

 

Still doesn't work. I've given up for tonight and am having a rather large Jim Beam. Life's too short for this!!

I honestly only bought RM in the first place as it looked like it was simple compared to other programmes out there. 

[TOMMY68]

You aren't alone.... I'm afraid I competely gave up with RM and E-link after a few days of trying to get things to work with this update and despite all the best efforts of HRMS, didn't get anywhere - they did their stuff, it worked... then it didn't. 

I fully understand your frustration as I went with the RM e-link for exactly the same reasons... unfotunately the update just hasn't worked for me and, as you say life is too short... I've gone with something completely different, computer control just isn't for me after all.. 

I hope that you do manage to get this sorted and working... 

[RobOO]

When you say you've gone with something completely different, what are you referring to?

I hope I can get the old version working again, I think I'm going to need HRMS to reset my activation code, again!

[Fishmanoz]

Rob, would you like to describe to us how you could possibly lose your data, that really is quite difficult to do. HRMS has even described how to find it all in your BAK files without exiting RM.  And if you are using ProPack, there is even a backup feature.

And how do you lose your activation? It has been described many times by many people how to deactivate and reactivate but again this should be quite unnecessary except in very unusual circumstances. 

Once you have RM installed as administrator and activated, even if it appears to you to be not working, it will not be due to any corruption of the installation, rather it will be something in your AV, Windows or RM setups and in 99% of cases it will be relatively simple to fix. Start by emailing RM Support from within the Help window of RM and they will sort it for you, despite TOMMY's experience. 

[RobOO]

Hi, I'm already 3 emails into HRMS with no joy so far. I have checked RM and I haven't lost my activation code. Just about 14 locos with sound and one pretty big complicated layout.

I know they should be in the files, but I can't see anything in there other than Hornbys stuff.

I'm not using Pro Pack; I would if this 1.56 had gone smoothly. 

[TOMMY68]

Hi Rob decided to go with another product all together, but Forum rules don't allow me to mention which as it's not Hornby.

I genuinely just had enough of the whole set up. Ultimately you buy something because of the simplicity and ease of use.... Unfortunately, this wasn't the case after this update... so the elink is relegated to a dark and dusty corner.

I know that this is not the case for everyone, so hopefully you will get your set up running.

Personally, and it is a personal opinion, if something is this delicate and proves to be so difficult, then frankly it's not for me... 

[TOMMY68]

I would like to stress that I have never had any issue or complaint with Hornby or HRMS, the level of customer service they have provided, as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, is tremdous! 

My experience is with the product itself.... for me, it doesn't do what it is supposed to and whilst it's very easy to blame user error, shouldn't it simply be a case of switching on and using the equipment? 

It's clear from this forum that this upgrade hasn't been as straight forward as it should have been for many people. However, these people have persisted and some have manged to get their system to work.. Unfortunately it didn't for me and truthfully I do not have the time or patience to seek support everytime I switch the system on.. therefore I made the decision rightly or wrongly to purchase an alternative product, which could be described as "plug and play" so keeps it simple and enables a Luddite such as myself to enjoy my hobby.... which at the end of the day is what we all want..

[96RAF]

@Tommy

I hope you will not be disappointed again if you find your new PnP package is not as simple as you expect it to be.

The very nature of setting up a pc controlled model railway is quite complex. RM is one of the simpler ones to get up and running.

I doubt there is any retail or free product out there that can be plugged in straight out of the box and play without a reasonable amount of setting up.

Having tried several both free and demo versions of paid software I managed to get just beyond beginner level with Rocrail, failed completely with JMRI and would have had to buy loads of expensive add ons to get RR&Co and others to work. Some did not offer try-before-you-buy so I didn't.

[TOMMY68]

Hi RAF... 

sorry for any confusion, what I meant was that I've given up completely on PC control, got myself a handheld DCC controller that was up and working in minutes with the connection of a couple of wires... so really happy again and so far so good..

There is an option to extend this to include PC control, but to be honest I'm not that advanced so the handheld controller does everything I need it to.. Happy days.

[idlemarvel]

I agree with your findings RAF, I have tried the other software solutions you have mentioned, and they all require varying degrees of fiddling to get them working.  The freeware ones especially so, not suprisingly with those the documentation is sparse and the level of knowledge assumed sometimes prodigious.  Probably not helped by the fact that they don't support Hornby Elite all that well, eLink not at all, and if you look on their forums for help with Hornby they mostly say buy another DCC controller.  So having invested in Hornby, climbed the mountain with RM and found the view not that bad, I'm going to stick with it.  I've just forked out for pro pack so we'll see how that goes.

But I'm very pleased that tommy is happy now, straight DCC should be just PnP, I doubt computer controlled DCC will ever be.

[96RAF]

@Tommy

Plain old DCC is as PnP as you can get, then all you have to fret about is CVs. Enjoy.

@idle

Definitely gonna get worser when loco detection comes on line, but RM is as complex a pc operated system as I need. I'm a real happy RM user, especially with the excellent support of both HRMS and the guys on this forum no matter their skill level. Everyone can add a bit to the whole.

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

Computer control of model railways will always involve more to set up and run, but then it is so much more sophisticated than just a stand-alone DCC controller.  Computer control is the next step when you find you want to do more than manually control trains and signals.

Switching points and signals alone is worth having a program of any kind, whoever supplies it, but as said before we designed RailMaster from the ground up to be as easy to operate as possible, and although there are those who may say it is still too complicated for them, when compared to other programs, RailMaster is a walk in the park, and offering facilities not on offer elsewhere at a comparable cost.

We are striving to make every aspect of RailMaster as easy as possible because we recognise that railway modellers do not want to to be computer geeks, but railway modellers.  You will note that we are trying to shield users from the complexities of loco and accessory decoder programming by building in the knowledge of available products and how they work.  A little persistence and learning provides great rewards from a computer controlled package and once you get into it there is no going back to simple DCC control.

At the end of the day you pay your money and take your choice and we wouldn't dream of telling anyone they need computer control of their railway, just as a very simple layout will do just fine with analogue control.

[tony_forward]

.. And despite the problems I have had I reckon you RM guys are doing a pretty good job too!

 

[RobOO]

Hello again guys.

Well I've been plugin awy at it all weekend so that's a tad annoying, BUT I have got RM working. It's been a bit off and on but seems to be stable now. The strange thing is, and I'm hoping you guys can answer this, is it says it's 1.56 but the graphics are the old type?

I don't mind the old style; it is a bit strange how the icons keep changing from the Hare to Cruise?? I remember changing the setting along time ago after reading something on here so that it said Cruise and Shunt, rather than the icons.

 

Anyway, heard nothing from RM support but it's the weekend so I'm not overly bothered, I wouldn't expect them to be 24/7!

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

They are usually 24/7 so have you used the correct address of support@rail-master.com or better emailed from within RM?

And have you tried going back to the new default colours to see if it goes back to normal 1.56?

[idlemarvel]

Ref the icons, if you set railmaster.ini to use text rather than tortoise/hare symbols in previous versions (Classic buttons=1) then with 1.56 you need to undo that change (Classic buttons=0) if you use the new metal skin.

[96RAF]

@Rob00

I presume you have got the latest 'hidden' revision.

RM Rev 8 on my download has defaulted to Metal skin and '>' '>>'  '||'  graphic symbols for 'shunt' 'cruise' and 'stop'. i.e. international symbols for Play, Fast Forward and Pause. 

[RDS]

@RAF96.  Interesting that one.

I didn't like the Metal theme, so I had stuck with the Classic display, with Shunt, Cruise and Stop icons.  

However, after reading your post I selected the Metal theme on my Revision 8 and it showed up as Shunt, Cruise and Stop.  

I then re-installed Revision 4 to see what that showed and the control icons were as you describe with the International symbols.  

I then re-installed my Revision 8 (downloaded on the 26th Sept) and the Metal theme now displays the International symbols but my preferred Classic Style now uses the Tortoise, Hare and Hand icons!

Maybe, the icons can be changed in the .ini file.

[RB51]

I can see how to get to the "ini" file and where to change the "0" to "1", but it seems I am not allowed to save the alteration. Any ideas? R-

[RDS]

Just open the .ini file in a text editor, make your change and then save the new file.

Close RailMaster down first and also better to copy the .ini file first just in case it all goes wrong! 

[RB51]

Windows is advising me that I dont have permission to save in the program file location (I am logged on as administrator) and is asking me if I want to save the copy in the documents folder. Is that OK? I also noticed that I am running RM in a W7 compatability mode, which presumably I did way way back. Is this OK as well? Thanks, R-

[RDS]

Roger

The file needs to be in the RailMaster folder in order to run correctly.

I don't know about compatibility mode but if you go into C:/Program Files, right click on the Railmaster folder and select Properties at the bottom of the list.  This will open up a window with Tabs across the top, select the Security Tab and it will show what permissions you have.  On my computer, when I select Administrators, it shows a tick in all the 'Allow' options.

[RB51]

There is clearly something different about my set-up as I have checked all the boxes and I am still denied access. I have sent you a PM in another forum. R-