Post by: Josephbw on May 07, 2017, 12:39:43 PM
Post by: MtRR75 on May 07, 2017, 01:56:13 PM
Post by: G8B4Life on May 07, 2017, 10:52:38 PM
What screen? I don't see a picture.
Looks like Joe forgot to attach it. Joe if you have not done so already please take a screen capture of the error and then post it. Also please list the steps you took to try and download RPA.
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on May 08, 2017, 09:18:57 AM
I've tried this on my old computer running Win 7, my notebook computer running Win 7, and my new computer running Win 10, and I get the same results each time. Which by the way is the definition of insanity. :o
I get as far as the progress screen from RE, then everything stops until the above message pops up.
Sorry about the waste of bandwidth.
Joe
BTW, I did turn off my firewall during this process.
One more thing, I did send an email to Tim, but I have not heard back from him yet. (RE's Tim)
Post by: G8B4Life on May 08, 2017, 09:38:12 AM
I just checked and it downloaded for me just fine so I'll just check a couple of things from your end.
1. Did you download the latest installer for RPA from RE. The latest installer version will say Revision 2 when you run it. Old versions will no longer work as the server the old versions connected to don't exist anymore.
2. I was going to see if you disabled your firewall, but your edit beat me to it ;)
If answer to Q1 = no, then download the new installer from RE (http://ringengineering.com/Software/RailProAssistantInstaller.exe (http://ringengineering.com/Software/RailProAssistantInstaller.exe)) and give it another shot. If yes you used the latest installer then something else is going on that would require further investigation.
If you still can't download it even with the latest installer I can upload the RPA package to RPUG so you can download it here.
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on May 08, 2017, 09:51:10 AM
A few minutes ago I heard from the other Tim. I have been using a wireless connection for all three confusers, and Tim suggested that I make a direct wired connection to the router. It's a real PITA due to the location the Hughes guy chose to set up the router and all it's accoutrements. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I now have Hughesnet as my internet provider, using satellites to scramble my electrons rather than cables.
I'll try that this afternoon and see if that makes a difference.
BTW, I did download the newest installer, and everything went fine until it didn't.
Thanks for the offer Tim, I'll try the direct connection first and see if that works, if not I'll let you know.
And Thank you for being such a wealth of knowledge and possessing the desire to share it with us, I know I'm not the only one that really appreciates all you do for us and the hobby in general. ;D
Post by: Josephbw on May 08, 2017, 12:40:13 PM
I went to the basement, got my notebook confuser, took it to the room with the interweb connections and hooked it up with a cat5 to my notebook.
1. Without my approval it downloaded the latest iteration of Firefox.
2. Without my approval my notebook decided to do a backup.
3. I finally get on the interweb, and I'm getting cold (it was 30 F last night) so I bring in my heater. It's loading Rings website, I get up and get my Ring binder to make sure I poke the right buttons.
4. I get back, everything is off, and I see that the GFCI has tripped. I reset it, start over and it trips again.
5. I unplug the heater, start over and it trips again.
6. I unplug the power supply for the notebook and start over again. It gets all the way to the progress bar and all progress stops and once again I am notified that it cannot download the file from Ring.
7. I start from scratch and this time I get a window that the file I'm trying to download doesn't have authentication and after clicking the appropriate boxes, I proceed to the same blue progress box, and that's all folks. The End!!
I can't remember ever having a smooth download of anything from Ring, but I can usually manage it through dogged determination, but not this time. >:(
Joe
Post by: William Brillinger on May 08, 2017, 01:33:13 PM
It would be very helpful if you could tell us the exact wording of the error you are getting, and also what security software your PC is running.
Then maybe we can point you in the right direction.
Post by: Josephbw on May 08, 2017, 01:52:45 PM
I'm using Norton Internet Security. I did have the firewall turned off yesterday, but I didn't think to do it on my notebook today. As far as the message wording, I was so PO'd at the time that I didn't think to do a screen shot of it. I don't know if I'm going to have time to try it again today, if I do, I'll be back.
Thanks,
Joe
Post by: nodcc4me on May 08, 2017, 02:04:05 PM
Post by: Josephbw on May 08, 2017, 07:59:53 PM
Anyway I then came upstairs and tried to load the file again this time using IE. I still didn't get the job done, but it did make a little progress. I took a couple screenshots, now let's see if I can post them.
Post by: G8B4Life on May 08, 2017, 11:59:00 PM
Back to the topic. I really don't know why the installer supposedly doesn't like wireless connections but if there is some issue then that's something RE really needs to do something about, the issue will be with his software.
I have uploaded the RailPro Assistant package to the files area here (https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,265.msg2840.html#msg2840 (https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,265.msg2840.html#msg2840)) so you can bypass all that rigmarole of trying to get it from RE if you want but you'll have to manually install it as you won't get the benefit of RE's installer that puts all the files where they are supposed to go. Instructions are provided, of course.
Norton, well let's say if your protecting your banks web portal or your mega eCommerce site then what they offer is probably very good; much of the world seems to depend on them in that regard; their personal software; not so good. They could do good to hire Peter Norton back!
Once installed you may need to let Norton's firewall allow RPA to access the internet.
- Tim
Post by: Alan on May 09, 2017, 06:01:55 AM
RailPro downloads are not properly signed. Avast also blocks them. I have to temporarily disable Avast to download from Ring.
Post by: G8B4Life on May 09, 2017, 07:23:19 AM
After I had written up and posted the manual installation instructions I thought "I have to come up with a better way for those who might not be as computer proficient". Then I had a brilliant thought, why not create a batch file. So digging into the dusty knowledge from my DOS days and with some revision I created a batch file that'll perform an upgrade (with storage file backup!) or a full install.
I have to say it should work on anything up to Win7. After that I don't know for sure, it depends on if Win versions after 7 have a command interpreter built in.
The batch file is included in the same post in the files area for downloading the package (https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,265.msg2840.html#msg2840 (https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,265.msg2840.html#msg2840))
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on May 09, 2017, 11:28:57 AM
Thank you for all your work, but unfortunately I didn't get very far. I have RP assistant V1.03 on this confuser so I ran the offline installer and got the following error messages.
RailPro Assistant v3.00 offline Installer
v1.0 by The other Tim
You use this offline installer at your own risk. It should work for any verions
of Windows though it has not been tested on any version other than XP. You may
need to run this batch file with administrator rights.
Press the Control (CTRL) and C keys together to exit now (and then press Y
when asked to terminate the batch job) or
Press any key to continue . . .
Checking for previous installation of RailPro Assistant...
Performing Upgrade
Backing up storage file to "RPA Storage.bak"
Storage file not found...
Copying RailProAssistantPackage.exe
Access is denied.
0 file(s) copied.
Access is denied.
'"c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\"RailProAssistantPackage.e
xe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Moving files...
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA Buttons.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA Common.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA EditPage.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA EditProgram.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA LightEffectManager.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA MainPage.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA NewProject.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PageInformation.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PageKeyboardAlphaNumeric.
rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PageKeyboardNumeric.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PageSelectButton.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PageSelectText.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PageSetup.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA PictureManager.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA ProjectManager.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA SelectFile.rsc
Access is denied.
c:\Program Files\Ring Engineering\RailPro Assistant\RA SoundManager.rsc
Access is denied.
0 file(s) moved.
Tidying up...
Deleting unneeded installation files
Finished...
You performed an Upgrade of RailPro Assistant
Your storage file was not backed up as it was not found.
Press any key to continue . . .
Post by: William Brillinger on May 09, 2017, 11:38:33 AM
The real problem here, running Rings original file, is that Norton is getting in the way.
Feel free to give me a call this evening and I'll be happy to walk through it with you.
- Bill (1-204-324-4807)
Post by: Alan on May 09, 2017, 11:40:09 AM
Post by: William Brillinger on May 09, 2017, 11:57:47 AM
Post by: G8B4Life on May 09, 2017, 12:13:00 PM
I didn't realise that your PC only had RPA 1.03 on it. That make it a little more complicated to do a straight upgrade instead of a completely new install. I may have to modify the batch file a little bit to upgrade such an old version, but as Alan said, that has to wait until the sun comes up (which sadly is only another 4 hours away).
If you want to try again using Rings installer, you can call Bill as he mentioned but upgrading this way from v1.03 to v3.00 will not keep anything custom you currently have saved in RPA 1.03. If you have no custom data in 1.03 that you couldn't stand to loose and you want to give the batch file another go, run it with administrator privileges (right click, run as administrator). That should work.
- Tim, now definitely going to bed, geez, it's quarter past 3 in the morning again!!!!
Post by: G8B4Life on May 10, 2017, 12:02:00 AM
Run it with administrator privileges.
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on May 10, 2017, 10:01:15 AM
Joe
Post by: Josephbw on May 10, 2017, 08:06:03 PM
Thanks again, Joe
Post by: Josephbw on May 23, 2017, 02:50:10 PM
The last couple of weeks have been a real nightmare. I just thought I would stop in and let you know that I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth yet, although some days I feel like taking the plunge. :o
When I get time, I'll try to get this RP thing going again.
Thanks again for all your help.
Joe
Post by: KPack on November 05, 2017, 04:04:56 PM
What exactly have you done with RPA since you last posted here? Did you install using the updated batch file that Tim made? What version of RPA are you using? Did you disable antivirus? I'm completely confident we can figure out the issue and get this working correctly. Let's just pick up where we left off.
-Kevin
Post by: Josephbw on November 05, 2017, 07:49:44 PM
I did download the latest version of RPA and got it to working until the HC-2 showed that it no longer had an internet connection. After some more research I discovered that I have Rev. 1.05 software on my HC-2's. I need to upgrade both of them. I just got on Tim's site and was not allowed to download the software using my win 10 confuser.
I'm 99% sure that my biggest problem is Hughes Net. When I'm on a cable driven WiFi I can access Tim's site and his software, I just need to get everything updated because I couldn't before even with my old crappy cingular web provider. Once I get all my ducks in a row, and have the opportunity to go back to my friends house, I think I can get this monkey off my back, and have some fun.
BTW, I didn't have to use Tim's program, nor did I have to disable my firewall or any security software, I was able to go right to the source finally with the internet source that I don't have.
Are there any other updates that have to be made to the original software to continue this quest? Are there updates for the LM-2's and LM3's also?
Thanks, Joe
Post by: nodcc4me on November 05, 2017, 08:41:43 PM
Post by: KPack on November 05, 2017, 09:21:11 PM
Be sure you update the HC-2 and any LM-2/2S or LM3/3S modules you have. In order to access all the new features you will need everything fully updated. The HC update is large, so expect it to take a while. Also, there are all-new prime mover sounds that are simply awesome. They are much larger than the old ones, so again plan for it to take quite a while to download to the HC. The LM's need the newest program to be able to play the new sounds.
-Kevin
Post by: Josephbw on November 06, 2017, 09:43:48 AM
About how long does it take to do the update to the HC? And how long do the sound files usually take. Can you now charge your HC while you download files?
Thanks again for the help.
Joe
Post by: nodcc4me on November 06, 2017, 09:50:53 AM
The HC2 will not charge while plugged into a USB port.
Post by: KPack on November 06, 2017, 10:16:34 AM
The larger sound files (new prime mover files) will take somewhere between 15-25 minutes to download to the computer, then load to the HC. It takes about 15 min to transfer to the LM. Be sure you start with a full charge on the HC....updating with these larger files will drain the battery somewhat quickly.
-Kevin
Post by: Josephbw on November 06, 2017, 10:06:12 PM
When Tim and I were corresponding, I asked him if there was any way I could get a CD and use that to upgrade my stuff. He basically told me he didn't have time to fool with it.
I went to a train show yesterday and picked up a newish Atlas RS-3 w/DCC decoder and sound for $25. The guy that had it paid someone to install the decoder and speaker in it and the sound was terrible and the engine ran like crap. After asking him some questions I ascertained that a new decoder and speaker would cure the ills of it. I opened it up tonight and found the the speaker cone was dented and the housing was broken, which explained the sound. Then I found the front truck front shaft bearing was spinning and frozen to the shaft. It didn't take much to fix that.
At the last show I went to I found a guy that was 3D printing enclosures for sugar cube speakers. I bought 4 speakers and large enclosures, a few minutes later he ran me down and gave me a smaller enclosure to try for free. I'm going to put it in the roof of the cab. This engine has very little space inside, but it looks like I can make the LM-2s and speaker fit.
Was there someone on this forum that wanted to know if there was room for a decoder in an RS-3? It may have been in another forum if not here.
Post by: G8B4Life on November 06, 2017, 10:55:08 PM
Once you've updated the HC and downloaded the new LM programs etc to it you can do all the locomotive updating at home.
Let me get up to speed with this.
You have managed to download and install the latest version of RailPro Assistant (v3.20) ? You will need this new version.
You only have a HC-2 (not a HC-2b) ? If you only have a HC-2 you may need to install the drivers for it as RailPro Assistant no longer includes them in the download.
Do you have a CI-1? if you do I can provide all the LM updates and sounds etc that you want that you could copy directly to the HC Simulator software. I can't do this for the physical HC though, it's not possible.
You should be able to do all this at home, but you may need to be plugged in to your modem/router and not rely on wireless.
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on November 07, 2017, 10:14:14 AM
I thought I had the latest greatest version, but I just went downstairs and looked at my notebook, and it's ver. 3.10. When did the newest version come out? I downloaded 3.10 a little over a month ago.
I have 2 HC-2's.
I do have a CI-1, but as with everything else I haven't been able to do anything with it.
I have hughes net satellite internet, which is apparently totally incompatible with Rings software. I've tried before to hook up directly to the modem, but that didn't change a thing. Also when I went to my friends house I didn't have to do anything with Norton or windows security, it just went straight to Rings and started working.
I had another issue crop up when I started my notebook. Is netsh.exe a Ring file? I got an error message that "The instruction at 0x77b05a9f referenced memory at 0x00000000. The memory could not be written". I still had RPA open on the screen.
Thank you,
Joe
Post by: G8B4Life on November 08, 2017, 04:28:51 AM
netsh.exe is not a Ring file, it is a Windows command line executable. Why you had an error with it concerns me, it should not run unless you personally ran it which I doubt very much that you did or another program ran it (which could not have been Rings). I think you need to check your computer for malware or viruses; I would not put any faith in Norton.
Is there any reason you can't use the CI-1 other than you can't download HC Simulator? As said I can easily provide HC Simulator already loaded with whatever LM upgrades and sounds etc you'd like. All you'd need to do is tell me what you want loaded to it and then download and install the files manually (not using Rings Server). You could then update your LM's to the latest software etc though some of the new features wouldn't be able to be used by the physical HC's until they were updated as well.
Unfortunately we can't update the physical HC's this way, they definitely need to be updated through RPA. I could probably build a server to serve the files to RPA that you could run right from your PC but that'd take a lot of development time which I don't have.
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on November 09, 2017, 09:36:15 PM
Thank you very much for the offer.
The sound files I need are: Alco 244. EMD 567C & B, 645, 567D3A, 16-645E3, 20-645E3, 645E. GE FDL, FDL-16.
I don't know how many of these files RP has, as I wasn't able to get to the next sound page before the download ground to a halt.
I wasn't able to connect the CI-1 to Rings computer.
It may be a while before I can get to my friends cable network, but when I do I'll download the HC updates to both HC's.
Thanks again,
Joe
Post by: William Brillinger on November 09, 2017, 09:47:51 PM
https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,18.0.html
Post by: G8B4Life on November 09, 2017, 10:03:33 PM
With the list of sounds available that Bill posted, note all the "ULT" sounds (Sept 2017) are new recordings that require LM-2S's and LM-3S's be updated to version 2.02. Let me know which sounds from the list you want.
The CI-1 does not connect to Ring Engineering. The CI-1 is used by the HC Simulator software. HC Simulator and the CI-1 combine to give you a virtual HC-2 on your computer. Once you've finished reading through my illustrated guide it should all be clearer.
- Tim
Post by: Josephbw on November 13, 2017, 10:24:11 AM
Joe