St1ngr4y

The “Unconfirmed etc” file you’re seeing is the name of the file during the download. When the download is complete, only then will it change the name to rm_setup.exe. So check that the download finished.

Sorry- I know nothing about Mac or Parallels

Hi Joe, If by “ (Select 2 for the elink in the .ini file)” you mean “Reset elink on startup=2”, then I would try setting that value back to whatever it was before you changed it. It is an undocumented value, and it might have an effect on your group problem. Ray

As Paul says, a screenshot of the point configuration window would be the most useful in helping you. However, the only consequence of not snapping the red/green buttons into place relative to the point icon, is that the route indicator on the point icon will not react when the red or green button is pressed. The actual point on the layout should operate provided the configuration behind the red/green is correct, even if the buttons haven’t been snapped into position. Ray

Just tried sending a reset command to an Elite, but nothing happened, so Elite firmware not setup to support a reset via XPressnet. Ray

Has anyone considered the fact that the 65 limit imposed by RM might reflect the memory storage capacity within the Elite and eLink controllers. Each loco will need 7 or 8 bytes to hold the information necessary to control the loco. Once a loco is accessed by the controller, either by the Elite "manually", or by either controller via RM, then the controller will continually churn out this data for each loco onto the track bus for the duration of the controller's session. For reasons best known to the designers of RM, RM during startup sends to the controller a speed of 0 and all functions "off" for each loco in the current roster, so even before any loco has moved or had its sound switched on, all of these DCC commands are being pumped out onto the track bus. In my opinion, the more locos there are in the roster, the less efficient will this set up become.

I wonder what would happen if a “reset” command is sent to an Elite 🤔 Further to my earlier observation of the use of Value 2 as the parameter for the.INI file entry “Reset eLink on startup”, I noticed that the reset takes place after points have been set (if that option has been chosen). This might cause problems if there are electrofrog points controlled by ADS decoders. These decoders have an onboard latching relay which is used to switch the polarity of the points frog. However, these relays are held in one direction by the application of current but are switched to the other direction by a spring when power is removed. When the eLink is reset this might cause some points decoders to switch the frog polarity using the spring without the points themselves switching. The result would mean a short circuit would occur after the reset.

I have just carried out three startups of RM, each with a different setting for the .INI file parameter "Reset eLink on start". My normal setting has been =1, but then I tried =0, and I noticed no appreciable difference in the amount of time taken for the startup process. Finally, I tried =2, and this was the only setting which caused RM to physically reset the eLink. It could be that =2 is designed to cause the eLink to clear the table of locos, so that the list only grows as a fresh loco is selected (in the current RM session). I didn't have my Arduino DCC track monitor running for any of this, so I can't definitely confirm what is happening, however.

@gilbo2 That's a very interesting fact about "Reset eLink on start=2". I don't know if you were aware of this, but, when RM starts up, it sends out to the track bus, a few commands for each loco in your loco group, ensuring that for each loco, the speed is zero, and all of the functions are off. Further, as part of the DCC protocol, the controller for locos (whether Elite or eLink) will thereafter continuously send out commands for each loco it has so far encountered, repeating the current speed and current settings (off or on) for all functions. I am wondering whether the "=2" setting causes the RM startup procedure to skip past sending out the initial commands for all locos in the group for the eLink, so that the output traffic to the track bus only grows in the number of locos whenever a new loco is selected during the current RM session. This would mean that the eLink might spend less time maintaining the output message traffic, or have more time to handle incoming commands from RM. Might also reduce the amount of memory used inside the controller itself. Just a thought or two ! Ray

I don’t use RM any more but when I did, I added “on/off” to every spot sound on every loco, simply to get around this problem. I operated using programs so I had to change all my programs to repeat the function a few seconds later to “switch off” the function. Ray

If you still have a problem seeing your layout, I have a utility program which might help. Ray

Have you tried activating it on your new pc? Ray

@Padders The DCC protocol for accessory decoders only allows for one of two values to be sent to an accessory DCC address - 0 or 1. So for a set of points they will control left or right, or for a signal, red or green etc. So if you configure your accessory decoder as, for example, a Hornby R8247 decoder, that should be good enough to operate your decoder. On my layout I have a set of level crossing barriers operated by servos and an appropriate decoder. That decoder receives commands 0 or 1 to raise and lower the crossing barriers. Ray

@Topcat I have been thinking of posting a message similar to yours for a while. Back in July, a one-post-only OP asked a reasonable question about semaphore signals in the Railmaster section and I was one of two or three people who replied. The OP hasn’t responded or written any other posts since. It makes you wonder why we bother. Ray

The decoder should have a default DCC address of 3. Have you tried setting up a test locomotive in Railmaster with that address to see if you can get any response simply using the RM throttle? Ray