Railpro software with MacBook+Parallels+Windows

[Musepro]

Hello group!

I bought a CI-1 and LM-3S, partly because I need to configure a customer's LM-3S for DCC-comparability, partly because I want to dip my toe in the waters of Railpro. I am currently unable to install Railpro Assistant and Railpro HC Simulator. Below are the details:

My workshop computer is a 2009 MacBook running Mac OS 10.12.6, Parallels 11.2.3 and Windows 7 Ultimate. This has always worked 100% with ESU Lokprogrammer and any other Windows program I need to run. On the Mac side, it runs DecoderPro which is USB'ed to my NCE. Everything is perfect. My other computers are all newer Macs. I do not own/use a Windows/PC-type machine. My cable modem is a Net Gear CM400 and my wireless router is a Netgear N600.

Apparently, this all has to do with my machine being able to reach Ring's servers to get the files.

I keep getting the error messages shown in the attached photos 1-2. I do not have any AntiVirus software installed on either Windows or the Mac. None. I added both programs to the Windows Firewall list, then turned Windows Firewall off entirely with no luck (photo 3). Same error messages. I tried running the installers by double-clicking them and right-clicking to run them as an Administrator but still get these same errors. I shut Windows down and rebooted the Mac and tried it all again. Same error message. I downloaded them from Ring's site a second time using a different web browser. Same error message.

Ring has told me to check that my ISP and wireless router are not blocking UDP port 80 and that my ISP does not use CGNAT. I spoke to Spectrum Internet and they informed me they are not blocking any ports and that I have a routable IP address. I logged in to my N600 router and added UDP port 80 ensuring that the MacBook was getting it (photo 4). No dice. I then unplugged the modem from the router and ran the modem's ethernet cable directly into my MacBook ethernet port; thus it's only cable->modem->MacBook (photo 5). This still does not work. However, the MacBook network settings do show some kind of "router" with a different IP. I do not know what this router is. The CM400 is a pure modem and has no ports to speak of that I know of. Logging in to the CM400 control panel shows no such features.

Ring and I have gone back and forth over 7-8 emails and I am still stuck, unable to install the software. Can anywhere here help me with this?

Thanks!

[Alan]

We have Tim, our forum all-things-connectivity guru from Australia. He will chime in and help you I am sure.

[KPack]

Welcome JT, glad to see you here.  Tim (not the same Tim from Ring Engineering) is good at working through these issues.  I'm almost positive others have used Mac's with Parallels or Boot Camp and been able to access Ring's servers, so there should be a way to get yours up and running.

If there was a way to install HC-Sim without having to connect to the internet, we could work around these issues.  You provide a list of the sounds you need, and one of use could send you a file with all those sounds on it that you would then put into the HC-Sim directory on the harddrive. 

-Kevin

[G8B4Life]

Welcome JT,

I can't see the pics as they are jp2 format so that'll have to wait until after work when I can convert them at home but one thing to check in the meantime is that the network adaptor in Parallels is set to bridged mode, The other modes (Shared and Host only) will not work with Rings software. There is a post here somewhere discussing this but I can't look for it right now.

Some more about Parallels network modes. https://kb.parallels.com/4948

- Tim

[Alan]

JT's pics

[Alan]

[G8B4Life]

Alan,

Thankyou for re-uploading uploading the pics, saved me from having to convert them.

Well I went looking and looking for the other thread I mentioned and lo and behold I referenced that exact same Parallels kb article in it!.

JT, The messages displayed about can not download are exactly what you'd see in a CGNAT scenario, though in this case it's not ISP level CGNAT from what I can see but in something about your home network set up that's doing the same thing.

As I mentioned earlier ensure that Parallels is set to Bridged networking mode, and also remove the port forward for port 80 in the router.
I haven't yet been able to capture what NAT mode (which is likely what Parallels defaulted to) does with the ports but if it changes them like CGNAT does then what you are experiencing is exactly what would be expected; I'll explain.

NAT mode works for ESU and all the other Windows programs you mentioned because of two things. 1) All those pieces of software let the OS choose the source port and 2), the servers that those programs connect to respond to the source ports that the router say to respond to. Rings software on the other hand has a major flaw in this regard, the software and server are coded with a fixed port, if a router changes the source port (such as what happens with CGNAT) then it's all over, you'll never get a reply back from Ring's server which is what you are seeing.

With the last picture giving the IP address, is that the MAC or Parallels showing the IP address and is the router connected or were you plugged directly into the modem?

- Tim

[Musepro]

Welcome JT,

I can't see the pics as they are jp2 format so that'll have to wait until after work when I can convert them at home but one thing to check in the meantime is that the network adaptor in Parallels is set to bridged mode, The other modes (Shared and Host only) will not work with Rings software. There is a post here somewhere discussing this but I can't look for it right now.

Some more about Parallels network modes. https://kb.parallels.com/4948

- Tim

Tim,

Woohoo! Setting the Parallels network adapter to bridged mode is all I needed to do! I will follow up with Ring Support so they can file this away as a solution. Both Assistant and HCSim installed and are working so far as I know now. The system found the locomotive and I have control of it and was able to enable DCC so that my NCE can control it.

Thanks Tim and everyone else!

[KPack]

Awesome!  Tim, what would we do without you?

JT if you have any questions as you go through setting up Railpro let us know.  It's all pretty straightforward, but there are some things we've learned along the way that you may run into.

-Kevin