Windows 10

[mrcrazy504]

as windows 10 is now out will there be a update soon for railmaster so i can ues my elink again

[Fishmanoz]

Mrc, welcome to the forums.  I don't think there is any reason to believe that RM needs an upgrade to work with 10.  You problem is most likely different.

 

Have you looked at the 2 top locked threads and tried all of the setup suggestions made in them (both do the same thing but a little differently).  If you have and are still having problems, email RM Support from within the Help window of RM and see what they have to say.  You should get an auto acjknowledgement immediately and a real reply from them soon after.

[2e0dtoeric]

I started loading W ten onto my little-used 32 bit W7 lappie, tonight. It told me that I needed to download KB (load of numbers) from the update site - so I did.

The lappie re-started after the download, and crashed, restarted into safe mode, and crashed, restarted into safe mode, crashed, restarted - and I turned it off in disgust.

I'll probbly have to format 'C' and re-install 7 from the disk - tomorrow!

I'm just glad I tried it on the 'spare' lappie first, and not the main machine I'm using now!

[RAINESCOLIN]

Have installed WINOWS 10 and Am having problems again with my ELINK, keeps telling me unable to hand shake with it .Tells me to disconnect ELINK from power and USB. Power ELINK wait 10 seconds reconnect USB and then restart RAILMASTER and I still get the same screen UNABLE to handshake with ELINK. I keep doing this with the same problem and have never as yet been able to connect to ELINK. AT THE MOMENT I HAVE A GLORIFIED TRACK DIAGRAM WITH NO CONNECTION TO TRACK.

This is exactly the same fault as originally having to keep re-booting my ELINK until RAILMASTER corrected the finally by RAILMASTER.

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

We have advised in the past that users should be wary, at best, of installing a new version of an operating system on the day it becomes available.  We have always advised that you wait until the inevitible bugs are ironed out and a  service pack fix released.  You need to ask yourself whether you really must have the latest version of Windows on the day it is released, especially if you are using your PC primarily to run RailMaster.

We have been testing RailMaster on a pre-release version of Windows 10 on several makes of hardware and it appears to work fine, bearing in mind the final release of the operating system will be different.  Our beta testers have also found no problems.  Having said that, you will appreciate that every PC is different and any new operating system may 'sit' differently on different hardware.  

We have held back releasing the latest maintenance update of RailMaster (1.62) until the final version of Windows 10 was released yesterday.  It appears that you Colin, are using a beta version of RailMaster 1.62 which incorporates a new 'wizard' which identifies connection problems and guides you through a shot down, start-up sequence which we have found to resolve comms problems in those rare cases where it doesn't work first time.  Perhaps you should try uninstalling the eLink serial port driver in the Windows Control panel (including deleting the driver), then allowing Windows to download and install the driver afresh.

We know that the introduction of Windows 8.1 caused eLink communications problems for a handful of users as something had clearly changed with the USB handling and we are hopeful that Microsoft has put this right.  We noted that happened more with one brand of PC than any other.  Several other companies' USB hardware devices experienced problems with the new Windows 8.1 (search the Internet) and we are thankful that fewer than ten (out of the many thousands of users of eLink/RailMaster) came to our attention with, we believe all but one, of those being resolved, ultimately, by 'downgrading' to Windows 7.

Again, we suggest that computer users, generally, hold off installing Windows 10, especially if there is no perceived need to do so (from a technical standpoint).  Let the rest of the computer community find the bugs, report them to Microsoft and allow Microsoft to produce a Service 1 pack fix, which they inevitibly do within a few weeks or months of releasing the system.

Hopefully, this information will be of help.

[Fireman_Ian]

I installed Windows 10 yesterday and my Railmaster and Elite both work exactly as before on my system, as HRMS point out it is down to the differences in PCs.

[St1ngr4y]

I installed Windows 10 yesterday and my Railmaster and Elite both work exactly as before on my system, as HRMS point out it is down to the differences in PCs.

Ian,

Which version of Windows were you on before you upgraded to Windows 10?

Ray

[Bert85]

I think the above comment from support is a little out there, I've upgraded to every version of Windows on its release date since the days of 3.11 & never have I had a problem with the OS or any hardware on my systems. 99% of people who have Windows 7 & 8 are going to upgrade as its currently a free upgrade and this is only for a limited time. By the time SP1 is released you will have to pay retail price for the OS. The whole idea of Microsoft releasing beta versions of Windows is so developers and hardware manufactuers can evaluate their software / drivers before the release date. I think the main downfall with e-link is that the drivers are bog standard Windows Communication Port drivers (from 8 upwards) and not a proper driver associated with the device. Maybe support could look at getting a proper driver made for the hardware? My graphics card can use a basic Windows driver but doesn't do half the stuff it can until the proper driver is installed. Where was the advice published about being wary of upgrading? Presunably as we register with RM Hornby know who has the software etc maybe an email could have been sent?

[Nick_]

Windows 10 is a free upgrade from Win7/8/8.1 for the next 12 months, so there is no need to jump immediately. If you don't absolutely need it, give it a few weeks to settle down. For Windows 10 Microsoft have gone away from the old service pack model and updates will be released as soon as problems are found and fixed. Windows 10 is currently pretty stable,it will be more stable in a couple of weeks time and even more stable in a couple of months. There is plenty of time to wait a while before the free upgrade offer finishes!

[Augustus Caesar]

There isn't any specific need or requirement to upgrade to Windows 10 immediately unless you really want to. If you reserved your install of Win 10 from Microsoft you will be among the first to install it. If you didn't reserve it (I am one of those) then we will have to wait a while for the rollout to be actioned.

Microsoft released an update to Windows as an optional update and if you chose to install that then it placed an icon on your screen so you could go get the OS as soon as it was released. MS didn't say what this update file did so lots of users didn't reserve a copy of the said OS.

They did this so that their own servers would be able to cope with a smaller rush for the system and when done others will receive a further update which will kick in the original mentioned above.

Windows 10 should work with RM without any hassle as it is simply a mixup of Win 8 and Win 7 with a few new features like a replacement for Internet Explorer.

As for updating Windows upon release every time since Win 3.11 as mentioned above without ANY hassle whatsoever... well, you have been MIGHTY lucky my friend... mighty lucky. I say that kindly of course... :-) Why lucky? Windows Me was a total disaster and failed to work first time on 83% of all machines it was installed on as an upgrade from (95, 98 or 98SE). There were so few drivers and a whole list as long as the Alps of hardware that was found to be so incompatible you could have swore you could make a cup of coffee with a tea bag. It was appalling. MS scrapped it after a very short time and replaced it with XP... Me being a stop gap between Windows 98 Second Edition and a forthcoming XP anyway. Even XP had problems big style, as I have mentioned before on here, at the beginning... so I doubt that anyone has had trouble free installs every time unless, like your good self, you have just been lucky! :-)

Anyway, it is not for me to doubt you or anyone else... I merely point out the facts.

I do fear that Windows 10 will not however cover the problems with USB issues as HRMS has suggested they might. This is down to hardware and not just software like an OS. This needs some collaboration.

 

I did say I would install Windows 10 and test all kinds of scenarios and place the results on the Help Site and this I will do. One will be patient enough for MS to kindly offer the update link sooner rather than later... but who knows. It might be days, weeks or months before we see it as we hadn't reserved it. So patience will be a virtue and thus bugs will be ironed out for us without anyone having to lose more hair than they care to do... lol

Right then... I am waiting MS... WE are waiting... :-)

[walkingthedog]

Once you've reserved W10 you can install it when ever you wish. They send it to your computer and the installation is up to you. 

[Bert85]

Railmaster seems to work perfectly with Windows 10, the only issue I had was the e-link was failing the handshake test within Windows 10. I reverted back to Windows 8.1 as I knew it was previously working however the elink was still failing the handshake test from within 8.1. (I will mention now that I used a backup as my HDD is backed up every month incase of failure so the system setup was identical to when it last worked) I solved this within Windows 8.1 by disconnecting the power & USB as it actually states in RailMaster and it seemed to work. Whilst I have time I will try the Windows 10 update again and fingers crossed it will work :) If truth be told the driver versions installed on Windows 8.1 & 10 are the same so I'm hoping it will be ok. Unfortuantley as my PC's are joined to a domain its far easier to have all PC's running the same version of Windows so leaving 8.1 on my railmaster PC leaves it vunrable.

[Augustus Caesar]

Once you've reserved W10 you can install it when ever you wish. They send it to your computer and the installation is up to you. 

Quite right WTD... it's only if you didn't reserve that you have to wait for the next update file to kick the other in so one can download and install at will later on. Trouble is... no-one knows when that update will ship under Windows Update except Microsoft.

[Fireman_Ian]

I installed Windows 10 yesterday and my Railmaster and Elite both work exactly as before on my system, as HRMS point out it is down to the differences in PCs.

Ian,

Which version of Windows were you on before you upgraded to Windows 10?

Ray

I originally had win 7 then upgraded to win 8 with a cheapie from amazon, then got win 8.1 for free when it came out and now upped it to win 10, have tried all aspects of Railmaster and Elite and all works perfectly, I can not find any fault with Railmaster and Elite combination working on win 10.

[Augustus Caesar]

Railmaster seems to work perfectly with Windows 10, the only issue I had was the e-link was failing the handshake test within Windows 10. I reverted back to Windows 8.1 as I knew it was previously working however the elink was still failing the handshake test from within 8.1. (I will mention now that I used a backup as my HDD is backed up every month incase of failure so the system setup was identical to when it last worked) I solved this within Windows 8.1 by disconnecting the power & USB as it actually states in RailMaster and it seemed to work. Whilst I have time I will try the Windows 10 update again and fingers crossed it will work :) If truth be told the driver versions installed on Windows 8.1 & 10 are the same so I'm hoping it will be ok. Unfortuantley as my PC's are joined to a domain its far easier to have all PC's running the same version of Windows so leaving 8.1 on my railmaster PC leaves it vunrable.

One of the mainprobs with Windows 10 is if Microsoft have simply tagged on software from Win dows 7 and new software besides so old issues will still remain. A strong suspicion of that is that you yourself are getting a handshake issue.

The drivers for Win 7/8 and 10 will be the same until the development team write a new one altogether. It is easier to use the same one and wait for a complete rewrite of Windows which hasn't happened here or a total rewrite of RM and the hardware it uses.

I run two PC's and several laptops and tablets plus Windows phones through Small Business Server 2011 Std at home as part of my business and don't have problems running different O/S's like W7 and W8.1 so 10 ain't gonna be any different. Exchange is used for domain email and a web site runs from the server too.

With a setup like that, and indeed if yours is the same or similar, one can test many different scenarios including networking RM to a tablet as a slave which is what I have done.

Leaving Win 8.1 with RM on its own shouldn't cause any issues at all with vulnerability. That will be down to the software you have protecting it and the router and firewall settings within etc. As I have no clue of your exact setup I can't really comment but you shouldn't need to worry about how less secure you are by just using Win 8.1 while it is different to other machines on the network. I run one laptop and tablet using Win 8.1 Pro and two PC's and a third laptop with Win 7 Enterprise with 2 Windows 8 mobiles. They are all very secure... I am on top of it all the time and need to be as I run servers for other organisations too. If you would prefer to run the setup with Win 10 then go ahead... no real problem should arise except early bugs maybe...

[Augustus Caesar]

Well now... after a bit of extra searching and Microsoft putting a link on their site for techies I can now tell you how to get Windows 10 earlier...

Click the following link and it will take you to a page where you can download and use the Media Creation Tool. This will allow you to create an installable version of W10 from a USB stick or DVD - of course both should be blank to start with and capable of saving 4Gb of data. You only require one or the other and not both before anyone asks... lol

If you install Windows 10 for the first time on a clean hard drive you need your product key but I strongly suspect that because an upgrade is happening the key already in use with W7 or W8/8.1 will be OK. Knowing Microsoft the latter should be the norm. It tells all you need to know on this link so feel free to give it a try.

Of course, neither I nor Hornby, can be held responsible if the install goes wrong. This is the norm anyway with any upgrade to your operating system.

I'll be downloading it all later on tonight or tomorrow and will see how it goes.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Good luck as the saying goes...

[Augustus Caesar]

Here's a table of the versions you will get if you upgrade from Win 7/8 or 8.1.....

Windows 7

 

From Windows 7 Starter to Windows 10 Home

Windows 7 Home Basic & Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 10 Home

Windows 7 Professional & Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro

 

Windows 8 

 

Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile

Windows Home 8.1 to Windows 10 Home

Windows 8.1 Pro & Windows 8.1 Pro for Students to Windows 10 Pro

 

Windows 10 Pro is required for networked PC's through a domain. Home editions will network to a very basic extent but not on servers.

Windows 10 Mobile will be available to Windows Phone users, like myself, later in the year.

[gilbert_chadefaux]

Have installed WINOWS 10 and Am having problems again with my ELINK, keeps telling me unable to hand shake with it .Tells me to disconnect ELINK from power and USB. Power ELINK wait 10 seconds reconnect USB and then restart RAILMASTER and I still get the same screen UNABLE to handshake with ELINK. I keep doing this with the same problem and have never as yet been able to connect to ELINK. AT THE MOMENT I HAVE A GLORIFIED TRACK DIAGRAM WITH NO CONNECTION TO TRACK.

This is exactly the same fault as originally having to keep re-booting my ELINK until RAILMASTER corrected the finally by RAILMASTER.

 

[96RAF]

@AC

Using your tech-savvy-download method you get the opption to make a dvd/USB media copy or you can just go ahead and load to that machine you are using.

Done that twice today and although a stwady job it went flawlessly on both a desktop and laptop.

[37lover]

RAF96,

Sorry, a what job?

[96RAF]

RAF96,

Sorry, a what job?

Steady not gobbledegook Job

[37lover]

RAF96,

I thought that's what you had intended to type bearing in mind the w is next to the e on a keyboard but I was struggling to understand why you had said although a steady job but then flawlessly and was thinking there might be some weird word. Anyway very pleased it all went okay for you.

[Graskie]

I spent the wee hours upgrading last night, not having the patience to wait. Yes, a very long tawdry job lasting until about 3am. Once started, I had to see it through, though, to the end. Very successful but have been tweaking it ever since today to suit my own personal preferences. Still quite a lot to sort through but fingers crossed. One problem I have found so far is trying to get out of high contrast mode in order to be able to re-access a few other adjustments such as icons and text. No doubt this will be corrected, but, to anyone else upgrading at the moment, don't set up high definition mode for the time being. 

[Augustus Caesar]

@RAF96

Glad you took the plunge and all went well. I was going to do mine today (well, one laptop and one tablet) but a couple of clients wanted their laptops fixed and this takes priority... so the gods have conspired to get im my way and by the look of it they seem determined to stop me upgrading to Win 10... feeling busy, sad and eager to get going and testing!

 

@Graskie

Would your monitor not have a control for contrast and brightness independant of Windows then? If not... that's a canny tip man just in case any others think their machine has gone wonky coz of the upgrade!!!

[westernwill]

I upgraded to Win 10 but hit the Flashing Screen problem after signing on.

Managed to roll back to 8.1 easily enough. I am now checking to see if there are any updates to drivers available. It is a Dell laptop only just over a year old.

Any hints would be welcome on solving my problem.