Windows 10

[GWR Greg]

Hi AC

I had intended to copy and print the last log for RM under W10 but failed. It seems that everything proceeds until the part where RM and the elink are ready to work together. "Handshake?" No green indicator at top of screen or red square in stop button. Points and signals set boxes appear and plan set to selected zoom level but of course nothing happens on the layout.  Here I am trying to remember what the log showed. It looked as though the fix was trying to complete the handshake as there was more activity listed but sorry cannot remember actually what it said.

 

[GWR Greg]

Hi AC

I have now looked at the log for my recent RM login. In W10 everything appears to work including com port settings RM initiates handshake, sends secure code . However in W10 elink does not respond.

[Augustus Caesar]

@RainesColin

I would suggest that the worst ever OS from Microsoft was the very ill-fated Windows ME (Millennium Edition) which was released between XP and the earlier Windows 98 Second Edition OS's. I still have orginal installation CD's for that version (10 of them I believe from an old basic network installation) which were uninstalled as soon as XP came out!! Don't ask why I have kept them... :-) I wouldn't know....

 

@GWR Greg

Did support actually send you a file to attempt the fix with or a little snippet of code or advice to change something? I still haven't heard from them so I assume they are not rolling this one out.

The handshake is physically done before the sequence to activate the eLink otherwise it wouldn't show in Device Manager. Some may say the handshake activates the eLink but if you think about it... meet a person, shake their hand (so you've recognised and acknowledged who they are) and then communicate. If you fail to speak then communication fails so you then don't know what to do next... so meeting is the equivalent of the handshake and acknowledging them and communication is when things can break down like Win 10 and the eLink.

 

Just like Mrs Elk in the Monty Python sketch - "I have a theory".... so I might test it shortly...

[RAINESCOLIN]

@RainesColin

I would suggest that the worst ever OS from Microsoft was the very ill-fated Windows ME (Millennium Edition) which was released between XP and the earlier Windows 98 Second Edition OS's. I still have orginal installation CD's for that version (10 of them I believe from an old basic network installation) which were uninstalled as soon as XP came out!! Don't ask why I have kept them... :-) I wouldn't know....

 

@GWR Greg

Did support actually send you a file to attempt the fix with or a little snippet of code or advice to change something? I still haven't heard from them so I assume they are not rolling this one out.

The handshake is physically done before the sequence to activate the eLink otherwise it wouldn't show in Device Manager. Some may say the handshake activates the eLink but if you think about it... meet a person, shake their hand (so you've recognised and acknowledged who they are) and then communicate. If you fail to speak then communication fails so you then don't know what to do next... so meeting is the equivalent of the handshake and acknowledging them and communication is when things can break down like Win 10 and the eLink.

 

Just like Mrs Elk in the Monty Python sketch - "I have a theory".... so I might test it shortly...

 

[RAINESCOLIN]

AC.Worst/Best this still doesn't solve the problem of Railmaster not communicating with Elink. OS are not designed to work with specific hardware/software. Railmaster has piggy backed onto W10 and has fallen over, is this Microsofts fault.

I have been the end user of new/updated software and very often it has fallen over, but our IT department composing of just one man would find a fix and issue it ASAP, the company who I worked for and relied on the system to control it's buisness  could not afford to have the system down for days let alone weeks without the company suffering.This I think AC you are aware of and appreciate. ColinR

[GWR Greg]

Hi AC

No HRMS did not send me anything. I was told to download the beta version of 1.62. Then find an elink software update. 0.08 in the RM file. I downloaded it  elink. I did this all under W8.1.  Tested all worked fine infact I would say slightly faster start up for RM.I then down loaded W10 and RM failed at the last hurdle. When I refer to handshake I am quoting directly from the RM log.

 

 

 

[Augustus Caesar]

@RainesColin

OS's not designed to work with specific hardware/software? I know. I simply pointed out that Win 8 or 8.1 is not actually regarded as the worst OS if you ask those that remember Win ME! It was absolutely useless. It failed on far more than any Win 8, 8.1 or 10 systems put together!

You're right of course about affording no time lost for business purposes and fixes have to be found rather quickly... even if they are temporary workarounds. I should know... I run my own business dealing with server based networks and websites etc so have to be on the ball all the time. That's one of the reasons why I did so much research concerning the usbser.sys file and its companion files for the eLink.

[Augustus Caesar]

Hi AC

No HRMS did not send me anything. I was told to download the beta version of 1.62. Then find an elink software update. 0.08 in the RM file. I downloaded it  elink. I did this all under W8.1.  Tested all worked fine infact I would say slightly faster start up for RM.I then down loaded W10 and RM failed at the last hurdle. When I refer to handshake I am quoting directly from the RM log.

OK... got it now. Maybe they were wanting to test the new update 1.62 before release so no-one had complaints to bring forward because it didn't work. Hence calling it beta... I may be wrong though.

Re the handshake... that's fair enough.

[GWR Greg]

I have now correctly downloaded the latest version of 1.62 beta having previously followed HRMS insturctions to set new elink software and additional line to ini file.. I can confirm that RM loads and works under W10. There is a however. It takes many minutes to load pausing for several seconds at various points. Last time took 5 minutes. I have reported to HRMS so hopefully they can sort this out. In the meantime I shall put up with the long load time. I have copied this to other W10 posts.

[mrcrazy504]

where is the ini file in railmaster file coz i can not find it

[RB51]

It's in your Railmaster Program files folder. Do you know where that is in your system? R-

[Nick_]

 It's in either c:Program filesRailmaster on a 32bit machine or c:program files (x86)RailMaster on a 64bit machine.

[GWR Greg]

Its called" Railmaster" and is a" configuration settings" type file

[renard80]

PLEASE can anyone help we pathetic individuals who don't understand this technical stuff!

Everything was OK with Windows 8 but after upgrading to Windows 10 I have the 'handshake' problem that so many others are experiencing. So, no trains for nearly two weeks . . .

Hornby Support have posted on here saying they might have a fix, all we had to do was email them. Well, I did, last week, but no reply. No use phoning, it replies that the system is down 'for training purposes'.

Last week GWR Gregg widely posted about "downloading the latest version of 1.62 beta having previously followed HRMS instructions to set new elink software and additional line to ini file.. "

Regretfully, that is as clear as mud to me!  Is it the solution to our problems? If so, I (and no doubt many others) will be extremely grateful if someone could please explain exactly what to do - in simple terms, suitable for my tiny brain cell!

Sorry to be a dumbo.

 

 

[Nick_]

@renard80, you could downgrade to Win 8 again if it's less than a month since you upgraded to Win10 and then re-upgrade to Win 10 after HRMS officially release v1.62 or try re-emailing HRMS at support@rail-master.com and they may well send you the full instruction on how to download the beta and how to configure the ini file 

[Fishmanoz]

Hi renard, Nick's advice is spot on.  Also, given you have already had an email reach HRMS, you should get an immediate automatic reply, followed by a quick real reply.  They are not known for ignoring emails.  Did you email HCC (Hornby Customer Care) by mistake, they can take longer?  And all they can do is refer it on to HRMS in any case.

[Augustus Caesar]

@renard80

Just to keep you in the loop so to speak...

HRMS did release a second possible fix to those who emailed them, or at least some of them (I did it on the first possible fix but got no reply either), and while the connection to the DCC Controller (eLink unit) was made with this second fix I had NO operational trains, lights, signals and nor could I read any CV's. I had a total power loss in effect even though power was getting to the track... just no info going back and forth.

The update is downloadable and the reason, I suspect, that they are not giving out an address for download on the forum is that they don't want everyone else installing the files in case they corrupt their working versions in W10.

This update was comprised of the full installation files for RM (at least one of which was modified), a note to say where to add one command line at the foot of the RailMaster.ini file and a firmware update to the eLink unit. It was thought that this stood a good chance of working. It did for one or two I do know of but not myself and others I suspect.

I reported back my findings but have had no reply to confirm they received it nor that they are looking into the issues I or others had after carrying this out.

The fix was attempted on two Win10 based machines... one after an upgrade from W8.1 and the other a clean install.

 

@All who are interested

I have replaced my original text on this subject on the Help Site to something a little brief detailing what is happening with HRMS with this scenario and how I got on with this potential fix.

http://www.octaviancs.com/railmaster/windows10issues.php?id=windows10issues

[GWR Greg]

Here is the link to the beta version. www.powerpos.com/rail-master/rm_setup162beta.exe. You also need to add "Alternarive comms=1" to the ini file. BE WARNED. This is the latest version and now includes an automatic update of the elink firmware to 1.07. This version of RM loads very slowly on my notebook often over 5 minutes. It is still in testing and I found it can stop responding at times.

[GWR Greg]

Downloading the beta 1.62 now cause the elink firmware to update to 1.07. However you still need to enter an extra line to ini file manually. On my notebook RM takes at least 5 minutes to load and can become unresponsive from time to time. Its useable but not ideal. HRMS no doubt will sort things out before release 1.62 for general download.

[Nick_]

@GWR_Greg

When you say 5 minutes to load is that the time from double-clicking on the icon to being able to run a loco? If so how does the time split up:

• double-clicking to Splash screen
• splash screen to start of setting points
• start of setting points to able to operate

I'm running the latest Beta on my dedicated win7 machine with the Alternative Comms=1 and Double Pulse=0. It is taking sub 30 secs to load with most of the time taken being from start of setting points to able to operate which is what I would expect. Not had any issue with it becoming unresponsive so far. 

When I have a minute I'll go back to my win10 laptop and see how it behaves on there. My last Win10 test, admittedly a brief one, worked well without any obvious issues.

 

[Yelrow]

Nick, for us simple souls also running on windows 7, would you like to elucidate on alternate comms and double pulse.. On mine, it is on comm 4, by its own choice, from the day of inception. dont understand Double Pulse. john

[St1ngr4y]

Nick, for us simple souls also running on windows 7, would you like to elucidate on alternate comms and double pulse.. On mine, it is on comm 4, by its own choice, from the day of inception. dont understand Double Pulse. john

Hi John,

Double Pulse is nothing to do with Windows 10. It is an amendment to RM so that, when you click a point button on your layout schematic, you can have it send only one pulse to the point, instead of two. It is a setting in the .INI file.....

Double Pulse=0     means it only sends one pulse (I think) and I assume that

Double Pulse=1     means it sends two pulses, as it has done in the past.

 

Unfortunately, it seems as though if this NEW entry is missing from the .INI file, then it defaults to Double Pulse=0 i.e. by NOT changing the .INI file when one installs v1.62, the operation of a point will change from TWO pulses to ONE.

 

Ray

[GWR Greg]

Nick. Time is from clicking OK on user account screen to running a loco. This used to take around 90 seconds on 8.1. The time to set points etc seems to be unchanged. By looking at the log it is clear to see that there are pauses, one as  long 55 seconds, during RM load. As I do not get this issue with anything else on my notebook I assume it is RM rather than W10.

[Nick_]

Just spent the last hour running my layout from my win10 laptop using the latest beta - have not found any problems so far :-)

Loading RM takes a bit longer than on my Win7 dedicated Railmaster PC but then the Win7 PC has a SSD (solid stated drive) whilst my Lapton has a normal hard disk so start-up times are as I would expect. 

 

[renard80]

FishmanOz,  yes, I sent my email to customer care - still no reply!  Thanks for your advice but I can't find an email address for HRMS. Please can you help?