Can't activate Railmaster

[rosswill]

Hello, new to the forums so apologies if this has been answered many times before but I can't get Railmaster to activate no matter what I change, disable or try! This is driving me insane! I have emailed support but not had a reply so I thought I'd see if anyone here has any suggestions. I've read the firewall and antivirus document and have tried with both configured as suggested and even diasabled alltogether. I'm running the latest s/w on Windows 7 Pro SP1. Program is set to run as admin and folder has correct write permissions etc. Each time I try I get an error saying the key was not downloaded correctly. This has to be the hardest software I have ever tried to install! Thanks for any help you can offer. 

[96RAF]

Needs shifting to the Railmaster forum Admin.

[Fishmanoz]

Hi Ross, welcome to the forums.

 

You definitely still have a problem with your setup.  You say you have contacted support but have done it by email from within the Help window of RM?  If you have, did you get an immediate automatic acknowledgement?  If yes, they should have  been back to you within hours.

 

if you didn't get the acknowledgement, then you have an Internet/AV problem despite what you've done to date.  You can get around this by emailing support@rail-master.com

 

if you've only emailed HCC, forget them and email as I've suggested, from within RM is better.

[rosswill]

Thanks for the reply. I have emailed support@rail-master.com but not had a reply, automated or otherwise so far. I can see the log file attempting to connect and am sure the faults with my setup... just dont know what it is.

From the log:

06/01/15 16:24:05 User pressed Activate button06/01/15 16:24:07 Starting Activation process06/01/15 16:24:07 Initiating connection to Licence/Updates server06/01/15 16:24:07 Connecting to remote gateway06/01/15 16:24:25 Setting remote host06/01/15 16:24:40 Setting server credentials 106/01/15 16:24:55 Setting server credentials 206/01/15 16:25:10    Set login credentials06/01/15 16:25:10 Set up connection to server06/01/15 16:25:10 Entering gateway root for updates check - attempt 106/01/15 16:26:02 Response:  (0)06/01/15 16:26:02 Entered gateway root06/01/15 16:26:02 Downloading latest settings (F)06/01/15 16:26:17 Entering keys gateway - attempt 106/01/15 16:27:08 Response:  (0)06/01/15 16:27:08 Entered resource: S....06/01/15 16:28:08 Connected to server06/01/15 16:28:08 Using temporary path: C:Program Files (x86)RailMaster06/01/15 16:28:08 Listing Key: (edited) - attempt 106/01/15 16:28:23 Response: 006/01/15 16:28:23 File size result=006/01/15 16:28:24 Listing Key: (edited) - attempt 206/01/15 16:28:49 Response: 006/01/15 16:28:49 File size result=006/01/15 16:28:50 Listing Key: (edited) - attempt 306/01/15 16:29:25 Response: 006/01/15 16:29:25 File size result=006/01/15 16:29:26 Obtaining key from activation server - Attempt 106/01/15 16:29:36 Response: 006/01/15 16:29:36 Key ln incorrect so Set new path: C:06/01/15 16:29:38 Obtaining key from activation server - Attempt 206/01/15 16:29:58 Response: 006/01/15 16:29:58 Key ln incorrect so Set new path: C:windowsTemp06/01/15 16:30:00 Obtaining key from activation server - Attempt 306/01/15 16:30:30 Response: 006/01/15 16:30:30 Key ln incorrect so Set new path: C:windows06/01/15 16:30:32 Obtaining key from activation server - Attempt 406/01/15 16:31:12 Response: 006/01/15 16:31:12 Key ln incorrect so Set new path: C:Users06/01/15 16:31:14 Using Windows comms06/01/15 16:31:44 No valid key obtained. Incorrect ln. (ln=0)06/01/15 16:32:20 Message displayed: Key was not downloaded correctly. (577) - Response=6

To confirm this is a brand new sealed copy I have purchased and am trying to install for the first time.

Thanks again

Ross

[Chrissaf]

Program is set to run as admin and folder has correct write permissions etc.

 

You say the program is set to run as admin.......but did you run the original "setup.exe" file "as administrator". I seem to vaguely remember reading somewhere that not running "setup.exe" as an administrator can cause activation errors.

 

Worth a try. Uninstall current installation. Insert CD, but then CLOSE the 'AutoRun' installer if it starts. Navigate using Windows Explorer to "Setup.exe" on the CD. Right click and choose "Run as Administrator". This may work, it did for me, I am also using WIndows 7 Pro.

If using a downloaded "rm_setup.exe" file instead of a CD, then as above, right click and choose "run as administrator".

[rosswill]

Thanks for the suggestion but it didnt work for me sadly. Installing disk version brings up a Incorrect password (12014) error when I try to activate it. After updating to the release version I'm back to square 1 with the No valid key obtained error. Highly frustrating!

[Fishmanoz]

Sorry but original setup as administrator is a furphy.  As long as it is set to administrator now which you check by the right click on the desktop shortcut method, that's all you need.

 

Didyou make sure your address was correct when emailing, including the dash in the middle of Railmaster?  The fact you can't do it from within RM confirms you still have an internet/AV problem.

[rosswill]

Thanks for all the help and advice. Good news is its woring now. I should say that although I'm not a software programmer my work does involve programming computers so I do know my way around them pretty well. For me to have this amount of trouble with something computer related is quite unprecedented! I had carefully checked that the program had access through the firewall and was run as administrator etc. This PC does not have any Antivirus sofware as it's not used online usually. This morning on a whim I disabled the administrator password and hey presto the activation went straight through. I made no other changes to my system.

Well thanks again to everyone who contributed.

[RDS]

@rosswill

Thanks for letting us know the outcome and solution.  Newish members occasionally come on the forum, ask a question, get a lot of people working hard to help find a solution and the originator is never heard again.  Very frustrating!

[jedimasterc]

I have also been having this issue. Removing my password did not fix the situation for me.

[rosswill]

@rosswill

Thanks for letting us know the outcome and solution.  Newish members occasionally come on the forum, ask a question, get a lot of people working hard to help find a solution and the originator is never heard again.  Very frustrating!

I'll try and contribute as and when I can!

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

We were doing maintenance on our activation servers yesterday so it is possible that you tried to activate when commns was not active.

[Graskie]

@ Fishy

 

You said, "Sorry but original setup as administrator is a furphy."

 

Well, not knowing what a furphy was, I assumed you had either misused predictive text or done a typo. I did wonder whether it was perhaps another marsupial animal I'd never heard of, but I checked and: 

 

"A furphy is Australian slang for a rumour, or an erroneous or improbable story, but usually claimed to be absolute fact."

 

Please use the Queen's English in future, Fishy, so as not to confuse us.

[Fishmanoz]

Did it tell you the origin of the term though, far more interesting and just on 100 years old (a clue).

 

And it is most certainly the Queen's English, Queen of Australia.

[walkingthedog]

Is it similar to fwit fishy?

[Fishmanoz]

You've got me on a fwit.  In fact, I'm completely fwitless right now.  But I usually know a furphy when I hear one.

[Sydney_railer]

I also can't activate Railmaster.

Windows 10.

My account is flagged as administrator.

I had activated Railmaster on this laptop previously when it was running Windows 7. I then upgraded to Windows 10 and maybe thats when the trouble started.

I think I'll uninstall Railmaster and download it again from Hornby, if I can find rm_setup.exe.

Anyone got a better suggestion?

Thanks

Simon

[96RAF]

Starting your own thread would have been a better idea instead of dragging up an eight year old one.

Have you read all the advice in the sticky posts on the RM forum index page. Then there is the external help site, but it is likely your anti-virus or firewalls are blocking access.

Did you deactivate on the old machine and what did you load the new machine from. The link to the latest version will also be found in the sticky posts.

[Yelrow]

Rob, agree about old post, but nice to see reply from Graskie. He was a great contributer.

[96RAF]

Rob, agree about old post, but nice to see reply from Graskie. He was a great contributer.

 

 

Yes he was John, his repartee with WTD was always entertaining.

[Fishmanoz]

SR, uninstalling and reinstalling RM hardly ever helps.

And do check out the stickies as there has been a lot of knowledge stored there in the last 5 years, enough to solve virtually all activation problems and more.

Yes, great to see posts from Graskie and WTD. Graskie is unfortunately no longer with us, his models and gold bar store long since sold off. WTD is on other forums. Graskie did find the meaning of furphy but not the origin, now 105 years old. It goes back to ANZAC Cove and the Gallipoli landing where the brand name on the water truck was Furphy. That’s where the soldiers gathered and the rumours and stories emerged, hence furphies. And that’s no furphy. Fwits another matter, especially if there is a dash between the f and the w. They could of course have been the originators of the more outlandish furphies and, if not the originators, the first to pass them on.