Railmaster DCC / Elink problems

[Augustus Caesar]

Well said Fishy... however, I would like to add a few small comments too regarding the state of certain electronic components being discussed in this thread...

 

First of all, if a user is constantly having trouble setting up and keeping RM going on a constant basis, and has followed either of the two posts at the top of this thread, namely my own and yelrow's (John's) then there is an inherent problem somewhere. Firstly, that is NOT with RM or the driver. Secondly, it is reasonably rare to find any USB socket to be at fault. That leaves the third area of concern as the eLink unit itself. I have stated MANY times on here it is even rarer for a USB cable to be a cause for concern and I find it oddly funny that folk change these and find no difference. But hey ho... One invariably will always say they had found a problem!

 

Now, because we may have narrowed things down to a possible fault with the eLink, this needs testing. Some folk can't test this but if a second laptop, PC or whatever is available then test the hardware, and subsequently RM, on there. It would be STAGGERING beyond belief to find TWO machines that won't run RM or the eLink unless the eLink IS faulty. If a second PC cannot be found then the testing of the USB socket on the laptop can be done by offering up many other USB peripherals like scanners, printers, cameras, mobile phones and many more. If the socket works with all those then the socket, 99% of the time, is OK. Only on a few machines would you be so unlucky to find a dodgy USB socket. Why do I say that? Easy... it's not the socket that will be at fault per say but the weak soldering and possibly below par power being offered up to that socket on the main board, usually due to poor soldering again or copper pathways showing miniscule cracks maybe. This is where it gets a tad hard or, even daunting, for the consumer to convince the seller that they need a replacement within guarantee warranty or a repair or whatever. I too know consumer law and how we all stand etc. on this in the eyes of the law but there are grey areas and sometimes the law can only cover certain aspects of things. Anyway, this isn’t part of this discussion.

 

I have soldered several USB sockets back to boards where cheap and nasty solder has been used during manufacture or the whole board is just weak anyway with poor manufacturing standards being to blame. If a new laptop is bought and it runs all but the eLink I would tend to favour the eLink being at fault and would find a way to have it tested... even if it meant taking it to a local guy in a model shop who can test it for a couple of quid... worth it in my view. If THEY struggle to get it to work then your point is proven and a replacement should be sought. Merely get them, if they are willing, to write a short report on how they tested the eLink and put that to getting a new unit.

 

The weak solder problem only really surfaces when users cannot get their once working printer, for example, to connect or print. The socket may ‘feel’ lose when connecting another peripheral to it and because many users plug and unplug cables, usually to that ONE socket all the time because ‘it is handily placed’ it IS possibl that some folk may just be a little heavy handed, unintentionally of course, and the socket will loosen. It may not even be ’loose’ to the user and only the tiniest fracture of the solder can cause an issue. Once solder cracks and the user fails to get some equipment to work whereas other things might just work as normal it gets harder to prove what or who is at fault… the user for being too heavy handed or the equipment for not being manufactured properly?

 

Sadly, the burden of proof may just lie with the user in some cases but generally speaking a decent seller will replace the equipment and will only begin to moan about it if the unit is replaced when unnecessary in their view, especially if they have tested it before sending the replacement out.

 

I am not advocating any path that any user should take here but I am merely offering a little guidance and food for thought. That food for thought should tell folk that not all equipment, even same model equipment, is going to work every time. I could make 1,000 TV’s, all exactly the same, and from those two or three won’t work at their level best. It happens.

 

It has been noted that a certain manufacturer, listed in this thread, are not great at manufacturing the best models of laptop for example but there are others. I am not going to list those I know who are guilty of using cheap labour and poor quality workmanship, sometimes unknowingly I admit until something goes wrong, but that’s the world we live in unfortunately.

 

So, if there’s a doubt over the eLink just have it tested as I stated or send it off to Hornby who will sort it out for you surely. You really have to show you have tried what you can to get this working and, having failed to achieve your goal, then the next step is independent testing by another party or Hornby themselves.

 

Unfortunately, testing on one laptop and all its USB sockets is not enough to say for absolute certainty what is at fault and what isn’t. You HAVE to test and eliminate other possibilities too.

 

My apologies for the long post but I merely try to offer another angle of thought and some other possible causes of the faults described as there are more than one possible areas of concern here.

[Yelrow]

The Pilot, hi, two very experienced computer gentlemen, both using  longer explanations than i, but both also accepting that you have a computer/ warranty problem. What you decide to do, is in your own hands, but for the good of fellow future purchasers, it does need to be investigated.  i accept  that  there are those, in the world, much nicer than i, but   if these shortcomings, go unchecked, we the public, are the loser. bon chance. john

[The Pilot]

Dear all, I have a very significant new discovery to report. Today I brought home my work computer, a Window 8.1 Fujitsu Q702 tablet. I downloaded the demo version of RM and, guess what? It connected first time and every time to my eLink. The connection sequence didn’t matter neither did the time between steps.

At home I use only Apple products, hence the need to buy a PC for Rail Master use. It would seem I have bought a second duff machine despite following advice on this forum to buy the Linx 10.

So, to summaries, my first dedicated purchase, a Lenovo, failed to connect even once. The second, a Linx 10, initially connected 75% of the time but now connects only 5% of the time. My third attempt connects instantly (15 seconds!) and has never failed to connect. For all three systems I have kept all the other variables the same.

Several of you have commented that I could cure this problem with an Elite replacing the eLink but if the problem is the USB architecture of my laptop, why would substituting the eLink with an Elite change this?

Unless it is an issue with the connectivity of the eLink?

[The Pilot]

And why is the Elite 'out-of-stock' until November? 

NCE Power Cab, no connection issues and ￡136!

[Yelrow]

Pilot, hi, well to quote my favourite expression, to my kids, quality, quality, quality, you get, what you pay for. secondly, it proves, as i thought, nothing wrong with the elink. You would not have to wait, as the usb, will be much quicker. I personally, have never recommended the  linx, 10, as am an apple man, and have Ipad. I belive it was you that asked about an Elite, which works, without Railmaster, and also, has a 4 amp transformer. That was another side to elink, as several of us found that seemed to improve connection, although the experts, scoffed. As you can now see, there is no connectivity issue, with Elink. All the more reason, to return your faulty machine.  The Elite, supply, was fine at xmas, but the demand, has now outstripped supply, as it has for other popular hornby items. You will find  new ones for sale, elsewhere, if that is the route you now wish to go down, or, available regularly on Ebay. We are not allowed to mention other makes on this forum, for obvious reasons, but  only the Elite, or Elink, will work with Railmaster, so, you would need another computer package, of which there are several, but very complicated, as you will see from other forums. So, Railmaster, would then be only available, with your Elink, and you are not able to sell the package, as the licence, is not transferable. You, certainly, have had a torrid introduction to DCC, and it was unfortunate, that your original machine, was with hind sight, and from reading previous posts on here, not the best choice for your trains, but, there by the grace of god, went many of us, buying machines, that appeared fine. I hope that covers most of your points. There are many DCC systems on the market, mostly more expensive, and in some cases, without the features you already have. I am personally, as are many others, delighted with Railmaster, and since purchasing my Elite, for nothing to do with connection issues, but more to do with disability. and would encourage you to persevere with Hornby. Certainly the support, and customers services, are second to none. john

[The Pilot]

Dear John,

Sorry to ask a simple question and to almost repeat an earlier question but you can imagine I am rather cautious now! If I buy an Elite, I will be able to connect it to my track and the Linx 10 and use both the RM interface and/or the Elite to control everything? In other words, the Elite would directly replace the eLink. Additionally, I see your point that there are no reported issues with Elite and connectivity to computers, therefore, can I assume that an Elite would connect to my existing computer, reliably, even though the eLink does not?

I fully agree with your pro-Rail Master view, I just don’t want to buy another PC. In fact the Linx 10 work brilliantly, when it works!

Thank you for your help and support!

Pilot.

[Yelrow]

Pilot, PHEW, wondered if i had said too much. In my humble (although, not supported by others, that i am a humble guy), opinion, YES, YES, AND YES. The Elite, firstly, will plug to track, and enable your layout to fully function. Remember this controller has been about for years, and does not need Railmaster, to work. It is totally, stand alone. It connects to your laptop, via a usb, and is a slower speed than elink. I have never read a post on this, or any other forum, where it has failed to connect with Railmaster. And it would do away with Elink, unless  you wish to use elink for Accessories, but their really is not any need, as the Elite has an accessory socket. I have strong views about your original computer, so, am not prepared to put my head on the line, but in theory, it ought to connect with that. My knowledge of tablets, is that they are prescribed, by doctors, but if your Linx 10, is as i think, a tablet, then you should be able to use it as a mobile controller, with RM tablet package, but others on here are more up to speed with that. Because of the shortage of Elites, if you buy from ebay, making sure it is 4.1 version, if you decided to return to Elink, you ought to recover your outlay. I am an ex banker, so look at things, totally on price. Your set, was excellent value for money, and most of thevalue, of Elink/ Railmaster package, is for the latter. You would be able to sell your elink, on ebay, should you wish to recover part of your outlay on Elite.   I dont wish to tell you about ebay, as we buy there daily, except to say, that i would not buy anything from a seller, with less than 100 sales, or less than 100% feedback, unless, it is something like a death, or seller has purchased a different system. Havbe a look at Gumtree, also.  Good hunting, if thats the way you go. john

[Augustus Caesar]

Dear John,

Sorry to ask a simple question and to almost repeat an earlier question but you can imagine I am rather cautious now! If I buy an Elite, I will be able to connect it to my track and the Linx 10 and use both the RM interface and/or the Elite to control everything? In other words, the Elite would directly replace the eLink. Additionally, I see your point that there are no reported issues with Elite and connectivity to computers, therefore, can I assume that an Elite would connect to my existing computer, reliably, even though the eLink does not?

I fully agree with your pro-Rail Master view, I just don’t want to buy another PC. In fact the Linx 10 work brilliantly, when it works!

Thank you for your help and support!

Pilot.

Pilot... if you are thinking of buying the Elite and not using the eLink and therefore connecting the Elite to the same laptop you have PROVEN has a fault with the eLink you are running a risk of not having any working system at all on that laptop. It is my suspicion that there is simply not enough power getting to the USB sockets on that main board inside your laptop. That is a fault that is basically telling you that the laptop IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.

 

You bought the laptop to run RailMaster from the eLink? It doesn't work? The eLink works on a PC you brought home from work? Then you have proven your laptop is not good enough to run a simple piece of software because of a USB socket/s that are not getting enough power to run them sufficiently for the task you originally purchased the laptop for so therefore you CAN legally return it for a refund if still under warranty.

 

From MY point of view there is little to gain by purchasing an Elite when you have the eLink already and being able to run it with RailMaser as you have proven to yourself. Future releases of the Elite will not see advances made to it on the scale the eLink will achieve as it is hardware only and there is only so much a programmable chip can take with the hardware surrounding it in the box. Whereas the eLink has RailMaster behind it so it will gain so much more as software can be extended a lot more. The Pro Pack is an example. The Elite has been stuck on v1.41 of its software for a good while now. I own both the Elite and eLink and I know where my priority lies with running trains and it ain't the Elite even though it's a great piece of kit!!!

 

If you buy the Elite it will connect to the track as you say but cannot be run from a Linx 10 (which is run by Windows 8 software). The Linx 10 will require the mobile version of RM as John says so that's another license is it not? I may be wrong but it's easy to find out. I have not looked into that as I have no intention of ever running from a handheld like a tablet or mobile - for my trains anyway! The Elite is a standalone piece of kit and cannot be used with the eLink per say on the same track. That would be pointless anyway.

 

If you get a refund for that Lenovo laptop go buy an Acer, Asus or Toshiba laptop in its place. Sturdy and easy to fix when they wrong... IF they go wrong! HP, Compaq and Lenovo have inherent faults although the first two are getting better after issues with graphics chips overheating and the laptop failing to boot - ever. Unless there is someone you know who can, like me, apply a decent fix with good solder, and clever work and tricks added to the fix. In the US these laptops are recalled but here in good old Blighty YOU have to prove the fault is a manufacturing one to have a fix applied or replacement motherboard fitted (a stark choice you have to make).

 

A trip to buy another laptop or PC (unless you get the change for the original faulty Lenovo) will ultimately give great dividends in the long run but as John also says - it IS your call.

[Fishmanoz]

I'm with AC on this, there is little reason to believe that, if you have a connection problem with eLink, you can solve it by substituting an Elite and having it connect to RM and your track without problem.

 

Also note that, as well as AC's mechanical connection problems of USB ports to the motherboard etc, HRMS has told that Windows 8/8.1 USB drivers may not have the port working to specification in some rare instances, with it more likely in some brands than others. I think the count on problems tracked down to this source is still under 5, so very rare.

 

And just on John's mention of 4 Amp supplies being more reliable than 1 Amp, this was in fact a subtle RM driver problem tracked down and fixed quite some time ago by HRMS.  It is not a current issue, whichever sense you want to read that.

[The Pilot]

So, to be clear, what we are saying is that this problem has occurred only 5 times but twice to me!!

I need to also make it clear that the Linx 10 is a full spec Windows 8 machine in a tablet form, the same as the Fujitsu Q702 that works well, neither are ‘hand held’ devices. The Linx works perfectly with RM and, for the first month, connected well and was a joy to use. Recently it has become reluctant to connect but when it does, wow the combination of eLink and Linx/RM is stunning. The only problem I have is its reluctance to connect.

Lastly, both the Lenovo and the Linx work perfectly with 15 USB peripherals, except one. Clearly both are fit for any purpose the manufacturer has implied or actually claimed. Also, to be clear, I appreciate the ‘legal advice’ but this is what I do for a living, I have a wig for reasons other than my lack of hair and I have advised myself accordingly.

Happily, I have ordered an Elite and found a new home for the Lenovo. All I want now is a consistent connection to the Linx – in my opinion the perfect solution with RM for DCC.

[Augustus Caesar]

@ThePilot

I had no idea you were a qualified wig wearer (no offence as I don't know what area you specialise in) so that is now unimportant to everyone trying to help.

The fact that the Lenovo operates 15 USB items and not the eLink does not make it fully fit for purpose however. I say no more than that other than if you disagree then it follows you MUST agree that the eLink is at fault. Otherwise you have no argument with ANY hardware being at fault and it then must be down to software or user issues. Hey ho.

As for the Linx 10 I do know that the system is fully utilising the Windows 8 operating system and is the full retail version at that. This is my job... IT and lots of areas of it and has been for over 30 years. My error was that I SHOULD have said that you require another license to oeprate it as John says, if you are running two installs of RailMaster at the same time, and I should not have mentioned the mobile one.... I picked that up from his post and so apologies for that oversight.

If the Linx 10 is dropping connection to the RM software and eLink you should check your wireless connection. How close the Linx is to the eLink will not matter too much as the signal can still be dropped. Try and connect with a permanently set IP address (fixed IP) set from your router and also in the following: Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) page of the Local Area Connection Properties window.

If you don't know how to do that then access your router via a browser window and the admin username and password your ISP supplied when you first took their broadband service. The IP address could one of a few but 192.168.1.1 is the most common now.

From there check the router instructions for setting a fixed IP address. You will need the MAC address of the wireless network card inside the Linx 10. A fixed IP of, say, 192.168.1.? (where ? is any number between 2 and 254).

Once the router is set you then go to Windows 8 on the Linx 10 and enter the Network and Sharing Centre. Click Change adapter settings. Right click on the wireless connection shown and then click Properties from the menu that pops up. DOUBLE click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and then highlight the bullet for Use the following IP address. In here you will place the IP address you set in the router. The Subnet mask will fill in automatically IF you use the TAB key to go to that field from the IP field you just filled in. It will probably be 255.255.255.0. The gateway address is the same one you used to enter the router settings when logging to that. Optionally, but recommended, you place that same IP address into the Preferred DNS server below after highlighting the bullet for Preferred DNS server.

Close all dialogue boxes and you SHOULD have a fixed IP address for your system on a permanent basis until you reset the router and lose settings or something else drastic happens. If NO other hardware in your network or setup has a fixed Ip address then you allocate them the same way. This saves the computer (Linx 10 included) searching for a new IP address each time the system is switched on. The router allocates these addresses and because it knows one is fixed it allocates that address every time that hardware is switched on and starts looking for one. It also means you will never have a situation where TWO devices can be allocated the same IP address and a clash stops those components working until you switch one off or allocate fixed addresses to them.

If you already know this then that's fine but it may help someone else anyway where dodgy wireless communications occur.

Just for information... wireless can be interfered with by the following: metal in walls and ceilings, fluorescent lighting, thick walls, remote controls like infra red, microwaves, fridges, freezers and a situation where little attention is sometimes paid... your neighbours may be using the same wireless channel as you on any hardware. You can change yours in your router! So just having a wireless signal drop is not really down to the software at all or usually bad hardware on the eLink or whatever... it is one of those I list above or an outdated or poorly written driver for the wireless card in the PC/laptop but these days it is hard to find a poorly written driver.

You ask why this situation has happened 5 times and why twice to you... well that just further proves members thoughts and ideas that the Lenovo is causing an issue. I detailed an elimination process to be looked at which would result in one or the other items being at fault. It is pretty obvious where the fault lies. However, you still choose to buy an Elite... of course that is your choice but you'll never know what was wrong. Some of us don't have money to throw away just like that, and no offence is intended, but it is your call. The Lenovo would have been replaced in my view unless your seller is so pedantic...

Why would you use an Elite when you will be using RM with the Linx 10 anyway... defeats the object to me.

Anyway... I am sure we all wish you well and whatever works then you will be able to enjoy your layout to the full. :-)

[Fishmanoz]

I'm confused AC.  Why is wireless an issue?  I thought we had established that the tablet has fully functional W8 so is running full RM, rather than being a handheld?

 

And Pilot, the fact your tablet has worked at all means you don't have the rare USB problem.  I would be emailing RM Support from within the Help window of RM to see what they have to say. 

[Augustus Caesar]

I'm confused AC.  Why is wireless an issue?  I thought we had established that the tablet has fully functional W8 so is running full RM, rather than being a handheld?

 

And Pilot, the fact your tablet has worked at all means you don't have the rare USB problem.  I would be emailing RM Support from within the Help window of RM to see what they have to say. 

Hi Fishy... the only thing I could think of is that the Linx 10 didn't have a USB port. If so, then his connection would keep dropping as it would be connecting through wireless. If the Linx 10 has a USB port then my error... so apologies to all for any confusion - though the tutorial on wireless connection and fixed IP's may come in handy somewhere!! lol

 

A tad research has now led me find the Linx 10 DOES have USB so my reaction to that one is ...aaaggghhhh!! Should have checked!! In my defence though it will still stand in good stead if he does use wireless and not the USB cable which will limit his movement around the layout anyway.

 

The support suggestion is still a strong one - after all, the original issue was resolved by his own elimination when using a works PC.

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

If not on the Linx, where would the USB connection for the Elite or eLink be that RM is talking to wirelessly?

 

And seems to me that this will probably turn out to be one of the more complicated configuration issues that need HRMS to log into the tablet to solve.  

 

Pilot, was connection lost after updates or programs were installed on the Linx, remembering default configuration will see Windows updates happen without asking.  You can test that simply if so by doing a system restore back to a date before the connection became a problem.

[Augustus Caesar]

If not on the Linx, where would the USB connection for the Elite or eLink be that RM is talking to wirelessly?

 

 "DOH!!!" Schoolboy error there me thinks Fishy... it seems I am having a bad day today with getting things wrong on here and on another forum it seems!! :-)

Think I will have a few days rest and go and sip some hard drink so I can contemplate my ruinous advice... :-)

Do you think I should pack my trains up for life just in case I give myself some info that will cause them to do some irrepairable damage to themselves? Wow... two in one day ay? I'll never live this down I can tell ya... :-)

 

[DRJ]

Hello Pilot.

 

I was concerned to read that you'd recently purchased a Linx 10 tablet (possibly influenced by my February posting praising it) and that you're now having problems. Here's an update to my last posting on this subject.

 

After getting RM running on my Linx 10 and upgrading to RM Pro, I was diverted onto other things and didn't return to it until a couple of weeks ago. I then started to experience an increasing frequency of eLink connectivity problems, even though I've followed all the start-up procedures advised in the forum.

 

Although my connection success rate is probably now less than 40%, I'm still persevering, as I can usually get things going after a few minutes and, once connected, it seems to stay that way until I close RM. I've now settled on 9,600 Baud rate, as this seemed to give less problems. I suspect that the fact that the Linx has a Micro-B type USB connector could be a factor.

 

My Compaq CQ58 laptop, also on Windows 8.1, only has the occasional connection problem when running RM with eLink, so I've tried using this in conjunction with my Linx in 2 ways:-

(1) Laptop running RM & connected to eLink. Linx also running RM and wirelessly linked to the laptop via its IP address. This test was done with RM on the Linx in evaluation form, so I'd need to purchase another copy of RM (and Pro?) to make this permanent.

(2) Laptop running RM & connected to eLink. Linx NOT running RM but controlling the laptop using TeamViewer.

Both methods worked OK but are rather messy and inconvenient, so, for the time being, I'm going to persevere with the Linx alone as it's great when connected!

 

By the way, I understand that Bluetooth was invented as an alternative to RS-232 serial ports. I wonder whether Hornby/invicto have considered this as a connection method?

 

PS I've also posted this message under my original topic 'Linx 10" tablet'.

 

DRJ

[The Pilot]

Hello everyone,

I have a further and I believe interesting development. Following the advice of yelrow (John) I managed to acquire an Elite. I connected it to the same piece of test track I have used all along and, of course, it worked perfectly. I can say it exceeded my expectations as a tool for DCC control. Now for the interesting part; I then connected it via the same USB printer cable to my Linx 10 and it also worked! I was able to perfectly control my sound Loco via the Elite or the Linx 10 running Rail Master. To be sure this was not a one-off fluke, I shut the total system down and restarted it all in a random order 5 time and …. Instant, perfect, stable connection. So, a huge thank you to John, this really is a good combination, Sir. However, comments in this thread quite correctly stated that this combination was unlikely to work any better than my eLink and Linx 10 if the issue were some weakness with the Linx, as assumed. So, my quandary is simply this; why should the Linx work with all of my USB peripherals AND my Elite but only occasionally connect to my eLink? I conclude that it is a COMBINATION of eLink and PC that is the issue and not the Linx alone.

DRJ, I did base the Linx purchase on your post and I am now very happy with the set up. If you get frustrated with the failure to connect issue I suggest a similar solution.

Thank you all for the help and support.

Pilot. 

[Fishmanoz]

Hi Pilot, that is interesting given the only difference in the 2 setups can be the data rate.  I assume you reset this for the recommended for eLink and Elite depending on which you have connected?

 

Can I suggest you report this to HRMS.  Start with your Elite connected and email them from within the Help window of RM, advising them of the contents of your post above.  Then can you connect your eLink, have it fail to connect (not succeed) and email again.  Then when eLink does connect, do it again.  The reason to do it this way is simple  - your logtxt file gets sent to HRMS with your emails so they can see just what is going on.  I think they need to know about this.

[RobinJ]

Hello everyone,

I have a further and I believe interesting development. Following the advice of yelrow (John) I managed to acquire an Elite. I connected it to the same piece of test track I have used all along and, of course, it worked perfectly. I can say it exceeded my expectations as a tool for DCC control. Now for the interesting part; I then connected it via the same USB printer cable to my Linx 10 and it also worked! I was able to perfectly control my sound Loco via the Elite or the Linx 10 running Rail Master. To be sure this was not a one-off fluke, I shut the total system down and restarted it all in a random order 5 time and …. Instant, perfect, stable connection. So, a huge thank you to John, this really is a good combination, Sir. However, comments in this thread quite correctly stated that this combination was unlikely to work any better than my eLink and Linx 10 if the issue were some weakness with the Linx, as assumed. So, my quandary is simply this; why should the Linx work with all of my USB peripherals AND my Elite but only occasionally connect to my eLink? I conclude that it is a COMBINATION of eLink and PC that is the issue and not the Linx alone.

DRJ, I did base the Linx purchase on your post and I am now very happy with the set up. If you get frustrated with the failure to connect issue I suggest a similar solution.

Thank you all for the help and support.

Pilot. 

As I stated in a previous thread (https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/post/view/topic_id/9083/?p=2)

USBSER which is the driver used for the eLink (which uses a PIC provided by MicroChip) does something to mangle SetCommState on certain computers (but not all) if sent within 4 seconds of creating a serial port object and returns a HResult of 31 (ERROR_GEN_FAILURE = 31; In the headers of MS the comment is "A device attached to the system is not functioning").It seems that because it is a Virtual Comm Port SetCommState is not actually required and when set, can cause errors.There is also a problem with the USBSER driver relating to ClearCommBreak as it always throws an exception.   The solution (which would have to be carried out by HRS) would be to comment out theses from their serial port implementation OR not set certain serialport properties that call the functions e.g. setting the baudrate (it is a VCP so not actually used).

It could of course be to do with the eLink firmware not handling the event properly also.

I suspect this is what is happening on the Linx 10. I am in the process of developing an app that works with the eLink that doesnt suffer with these problems and will be releasing it in the next few months!

 

 

[Augustus Caesar]

Like I said in my original post to this thread... the eLink is more likely the issue. See the second paragraph...

[PJR_slo]

Yup, and if you see my reply on page 5 of this thread, you will see that I experienced exactly the same - that is Elite = perfect, E-link = pretty useless.

 

And I don't change the windows device manager settings as this is overridden by the RM software.

 

Incidentally, I have just obtained a 3d printer which is Arduino-based.  The Arduino is pretty similar to the PIC controller; however the advice on serial comms for the Arduino is to use 250,000 baud (non-standard, but 1/64th the 16MHz processor clock rate) as 115200 is much less reliable as it does in no way match the processor clock.

 

I would suggest that the same is true of the PIC.  In fact, I have many PIC processors (some controlling the railway accessories) and I cannot achieve reliable serial comms above 4800 baud with a processor clock of 4MHz; I guess that the PIC in the E-Link is running with an 8MHz crystal = 32MHz clock rate and therefore maximum reliable serial comms = 19200 baud.  Now what's the baud rate of the Elite?

 

No need to answer that one...

 

Peter

 

[Mark390]

Just to update..

I tried the earlier suggestion of contacting retailer/manufacter's support to see if I could get refund on the laptop as it wasn't "fit for purpose". Tried arguing the point with several levels of customer "support", but they failed to accept my point. Unless the laptop USB sockets didn't work with any attached hardware, it was an issue with the hardware manufacters, not the laptop. Even though the ELink works almost perfectly on other laptops and PCs. When I said I realise this is a bit of a grey area, the advisor said "No, as far as HP is concerned it's black and white - the laptop works". He advised it is up to Hornby to ensure that their hardware is compatabile with users' PCs, or release suitable drivers for these to connect. Thought I would be flogging a dead horse, but was worth a try!

 Meanwhile the replacement, the Elite, continues to work perfectly every time!

Mark

[Yelrow]

Mark, HI, who was the retailer. It i think, needs a phone call, to Leveno, pointing out this is a known fault with their machine. Unfortunately, most people, are too nice. From past experience, i contact the PA, to the MD. It is in their interest to  correct the fault, for future sales, Normally, when you get high enough, they do something, but i can understand the reluctance. At least, you gave it a go.. They are wrong about Hornby. john

[Mark390]

Thanks John

The retailer was Littlewoods (catalogue/online). If it helps I purchased my starter train set (Majestic) from them at the same time as the laptop, 7 months ago. They said that all technical support and advice is provided by the manufacturer HP, and connected me to them, as well as giving me their number. If the manufacturer agreed that a return was warranted, Littlewoods would arrange this at their cost.

But HP argued that it was not a fault.

Mark

[Yelrow]

Mark, hi, i started DCC, with Majestic set, best value, on the market. Then your laptop, is HP, not leveno. Leveno, machines have been a problem, before. Very good at passing the buck, Littlewoods. I had an HP, that developed, what i said was a fault. HP, arranged collection, without argument, to repair, and 5 days later, delivered a new one. Obviously, agreed, with me. Its a shame that you are having these probs. I bought the TTS with sound tornado, so have 2. Also just bought both TTS, sound diesels. Great value, and both Hattons and Amazon, have cut priced them. Different machines the new diesels, go round almost anything, whereas the one in the set, is very fussy about tight curves. john