Post by: ronp on August 23, 2020, 11:55:38 AM
I’m having a problem with my controller recognizing a LM-3S-G receiver installed in a USAT GP-9. The receiver had previously been installed in an F7 but I didn’t care for the sound file and engine match. Otherwise it worked just fine. So the receiver was removed.
Now with the receiver installed in a GP-9 it doesn’t recognize or connect to the controller. It isn’t seen under new products or pulled up with its old I.D. It has power to the TRK connectors and power out of the common (wired to the board numbers), but no recognition of the controller.
Hopefully you may have a solution.
Ron
Post by: William Brillinger on August 24, 2020, 06:43:20 AM
I would remove it from the locomotive, connect it directly to the power and test.
If you still can't see it then I would contact Ring Engineering for assessment and repair.
Post by: G8B4Life on August 24, 2020, 12:46:22 PM
How are you powering the LM and what's the power supply capability (volts and amps)? If these are less than what the LM-3S-G can handle then a short is less likely (but not nil) the fault candidate.
You mentioned that you had power from the common terminal to the number board lights (I presume these are lighting up?). How have you got that wired, ie where have you got the negative wired to? I do note that the wiring diagram in the LM-3S-G instructions has all the (function) lighting using one of the +5v terminals, not the common terminal. I don't know why that is but it's a variable that is different to what you have done as well.
My guess as to why you see power on the common terminal is it's straight off the internal bridge rectifier, which is working fine.
As a note, if you have the LM already in the controller then it won't ever show up as a new item, you'd have to delete it from the controller first.
- Tim
Post by: ronp on August 24, 2020, 04:02:56 PM
I've tried to delete the receiver thru the remove product remove path but I can't find the receiver. It doesn't respond to the old I.D.
I have eight locos with R/P receivers. With only the -9 powered I have tried all eight I.D.s. Nothing connects. I mentioned the common just to show that there is power to the receiver. It seems the controller just doesn't see the receiver.
All this said, I'm pretty much working at my limit.
I will remove receiver and test it thru another source. I'll report the results.
Thanx again
Ron
Post by: KPack on August 25, 2020, 12:15:48 AM
I've seen it once before where a module somehow "acquired" a password, and then could not be found by the controller. Just follow the reset procedure to rule that out as a possibility before contacting Ring.
-Kevin
Post by: KiloWhiskey on August 25, 2020, 01:16:16 PM
Another Kevin
Post by: ronp on August 25, 2020, 01:47:37 PM
I was wondering about passwords. I don't intentionally set passwords so I won't forget them. But I may have clicked the wrong box when attempting to name the loco. I guess I will have to use the reset procedure on all of the loaded loco I.D.s.
I checked the voltage at the 5V-common and it read 4.97 on my meter. Seems close enough. I also changed power supplies with still no recognition.
My mistake of course was to not remove product when I pulled the receiver. But it seems like there must be a way to recover from that error.
I will certainly post a solution if I come across one
Thanx all for the help
Ron
Post by: KPack on August 25, 2020, 04:04:33 PM
I've bounced modules between locomotives many times for testing purposes. I never "remove product" for that. I just rename the module when it's installed in the new locomotive.
Also, there should be no reason to do the password reset procedure on all the locomotives. Just do it on the one module that is not getting recognized.
-Kevin
Post by: ronp on August 25, 2020, 05:42:00 PM
I guess I expected the ID to come up on the controller when I installed the new module. That didn't happen. So I started searching the existing IDs thinking maybe something had been double named. This module has a sound file on it that wasn't my favorite so it was relegated as a spare. When previously installed it operated as advertised. The wiring is disconnected except for the TRK connections. It simply isn't showing on the controller. I running out of tests.
Ron
Post by: KPack on August 25, 2020, 06:11:33 PM
If the product has been removed from the controller memory there are three possibilities for your not seeing the module now:
1.) Password problem. Solve with password reset
2.) "Ghost" module problem. I haven't seen this in a long time, but it's happened before. A module gets somehow partially deleted....the space on the controller screen is still present for that locomotive, but there is no picture and no name, and it is unable to be selected. It's there but it's not....therefore a ghost. Solve by contacting Ring Engineering.
3.) Module failure. Very rare, but it can happen. There have been extremely few failures or shorts of modules in the years that Ring has been producing Railpro. Solved by sending the module to Ring Engineering and they will repair/replace as necessary.
As a side note, why did you remove the module with the offending sound file, when you could have just installed a different sound file? Don't forget that Railpro modules are completely update-able. You can load any sound onto any module. So if you don't like something, just delete that file and load the one you want. If you're unsure of how to do that, let us know. We can walk you through everything.
-Kevin
Post by: ronp on August 25, 2020, 07:10:11 PM
1- I just did the password procedure and it was indicated successful. I then tried to link and got he error message..."error cannot connect". I did this procedure with no other locos powered.
2- that has a hint of what is happening but I'm not sure
3-Maybe but no sparks, smoke or other signs of disaster.
The problem with sound files has nothing to do w RailPro. My satellite WiFi is so pour that downloads often fail before completion. therefore I have no engine pic or sounds files other than those that come with the module. I knew I had this spare module with the correct sound file and that it had been run for a short test period in another loco. Hense the swap.
Ron
Post by: G8B4Life on August 26, 2020, 07:20:42 AM
Determining if it is a ghost LM should be fairly easy; Products are displayed in the HC in the order that they were loaded (no sorting) so for example if you had say 4 LM's loaded in the HC and the second one ended up being a ghost then there would be a blank spot in the locomotive select screen where it should be. Of course if it was the last one loaded into the HC that went ghost mode you wouldn't be able to tell unless you loaded another LM which would then either (hopefully) overwrite the ghost or most likely add it to the product list which should then make the ghost LM spot obvious.
- Tim
Post by: ronp on August 26, 2020, 09:12:16 AM
I only have 8 R/P controlled locos so it really wouldn't take too much time to unload all and then relink each loco. It would put to bed one more possibility. I'm going to put this procedure off for a bit to see if any simpler ideas come up. That said, it beats mailing the module back to R/P for a possible fix. Good idea. I'm glad I'm not further into the conversion process than I am.
Ron
Post by: ronp on August 26, 2020, 10:00:37 AM
Success
I just tried the removal idea. I removed all 8 locos one at a time until none showed on the controller. Then powered the troublesome receiver and tried to recognize a new product. It came right aboard just as it should. I removed all wiring except the two TRK connectors. I'm taking a break before I rewire all of the functions. I not sure what I ever did to cause this issue but the removal procedure fixed it. I want to thank all who have helped thru this frustrating process.
Ron
Post by: G8B4Life on August 26, 2020, 10:37:58 AM
You said you removed the locomotives one by one but just for me to be sure, out of interest, did you use the "Remove All Products" function or did you remove each locomotive one by one by selecting the Locomotive category? If you did one by one and removed 8 locomotives by selecting the Locomotive category without using the Remove All Products function then it wouldn't have been a ghost, but possibly some other data corruption in the locomotive list; though that would also be rare too.
- Tim
Post by: ronp on August 26, 2020, 10:59:32 AM
I get the difference in logic now. Yes I did one by one, not remove all. The ghost would still be there. Anyway after all were removed the controller recognized the receiver module after selecting new product. It came up as I would normally expect it to. Seems strange.
Ron
Post by: KPack on August 26, 2020, 05:18:22 PM
Tim - Locomotives on the locomotive pages are organized alphabetically now. So testing the "ghost" theory is relatively simple. Change the name/ID of one of the other modules to something later in the alphabet than the others and it should show up on the last page of locomotives. If there is a blank space somewhere in those pages then the affected module has become a "ghost".
Ron - I understand now why you moved the module. Satellite internet has been an issue for others as well, though I think Ring fixed most of the connection problems. The bigger issue is the download speed. If you'd like, I'm sure that users here could download a list you provide, then send you the "Railpro Assistant Storage" file. If you know your way around Windows, it's a pretty easy thing to place that file in the right directory, and then all the downloaded sounds will be available in your Railpro Assistant.
-Kevin
Post by: ronp on August 27, 2020, 07:44:57 PM
Thank you, that is a generous offer, I sort of know my way around windows. I have the CL-1 usb stick but have not been successful yet with the install. I will get it installed, work on a list and go from there.
There are good people on this forum and the time several have given me to help thru this issue is appreciated.
Ron
Post by: G8B4Life on August 28, 2020, 03:15:11 AM
That's interesting that they list alphabetically now. I haven't used my HC-2 in a very long time; all my testing in months has been with HC Sim and I haven't noticed that doing the alphabetical thing.
Ron,
There should not be any issues these days using the CI-1, the big bug that affected use for some users was fixed quite some time ago. The internet connection problem that affected users leaving RailPro Assistant unable to connect to Ring Engineering was also finally fixed this year so if your having issues let us know what they are and we'll try to solve them as well.
While you might think satellite is slow in reality the download is not really going to be any slower than it is for anyone else, Rings download speed is regulated and in the order of only a few bytes per second.
- Tim
Post by: ronp on August 28, 2020, 02:29:14 PM
I'm presently getting the Assistant and CI-1 up and working.
Ron
Post by: ronp on August 28, 2020, 02:54:30 PM
I'm using windows 10
I get the "RailProSimulatorinstall.EXE downloaded
I click "yes" to the do you "run this program as an administrator"
And "yes" to the software license
then I get..."error - could not create directories"
Ron
Post by: ronp on August 28, 2020, 03:25:17 PM
Post by: William Brillinger on August 28, 2020, 06:12:43 PM
Post by: ronp on August 28, 2020, 06:51:12 PM
Post by: William Brillinger on August 28, 2020, 10:06:27 PM
Then choose "run as administrator".
Post by: G8B4Life on August 29, 2020, 01:28:36 AM
I click "yes" to the do you "run this program as an administrator"
This is asking you conformation that you have "Run as Administrator" when you launched the installer. It does not make the installer run with administrator permissions for you. Bill has given you what you need to do but I'll expand the procedure to cover everything, even if you know how to do some of it already.
Download and save the installer to somewhere like your desktop (or any place on your computer that you can easily find). Do not let your browser run the installer, you must save it to your computer. To save the installer right click on the installers download button on Rings website and select "Save as" or "Save link as" depending on what your browser presents to you.
Once downloaded locate the installer in the place you saved it to. Right click on the installer and select "Run as Administrator".
When the "Do you run this program as an administrator?" dialog box pops up click yes
When the software license agreement pops up click yes
Everything should now install properly without error. This is the same procedure for RailPro Assistant as well which you'll also need to install if you haven't already had it installed.
- Tim
Post by: ronp on August 29, 2020, 06:32:59 PM
Tim, okay, I did not do it the way you have described. I will have to take my computer to a better data source than I have here. I will try to follow your procedure step by step
I'll report results.
Ron
Post by: ronp on August 31, 2020, 09:12:41 AM
Okay,
I followed the above procedure, good results. CI-1 installed!!!
Thank you
Ron
Post by: ronp on August 31, 2020, 09:25:15 AM
Bill and Tim,
And I now have both the CI-1 and the Assistant installed on my desktop.
The help is greatly appreciated.
Ron
Post by: William Brillinger on August 31, 2020, 10:05:15 AM