DCS App - New Android Version

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The update says you need software 6.1 on your TIU for the app update to work. How do I know if I have 6.1 on the TIU and what if I load the update for the app but my TIU is still at 6.0? I bought the TIU new about 5 years ago or so new. I am afraid to load the update and the app stop working. The app currently states I need the premium version to view the TIU software. I only have the mid grade version of the app currently.

Brad

Just apply the 6.1 update to the TIU, then you're all set.  You don't need to connect the remote or WiFi to upgrade the TIU software.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Just apply the 6.1 update to the TIU, then you're all set.  You don't need to connect the remote or WiFi to upgrade the TIU software.

I don't have a clue how to do that.

Brad

Got the app store update the other day. my wiu,tiu and app are now all up to date thanks.so I played with the app the other day on april 4 to see what changes or improvements had been made.

just a note to mth RND. when I was running a ps3 or ps2-3 volt engine. did not matter wich engine the controll sceen went dead so to speak.

let me explain. after several button presses on various things like the whistle or speed increments. the app froze up and pushing any button on the screen did nothing.

controlling the engine again was only retained by swiping right to the aux button screen and pressing the forward horn signal. then when returning back to the engine screen I was able to press any key and it worked as normal again.

this abnormalitie occurred often and occured even when I ran two brand new ps3 engines consisted together. since I was just testing out the app for the first time again. the engines were going slow enough not to cause an out of controll loco situation luckily enough. that would have not been good.

other thing that I want to add is that the rear coupler slack sound when two engines are mu'd together was finnaly working and audible. at least for me the coupler slack sound when changing to reverse would never play. it never worked with the physical remote for me either. this sound now works as it should all the time. using the app or physical remote. kudos for fixing that.

also could you adress this isssue. for ps2 and 3 engines that have the grade crossing horn soft key. when engines are consisted together this softkey does not show up on the remote. this happens in all my consist builds. ps2 or 3. the lead engine playing the sounds has only the forward or reverse horn softkey. no grade crossing horn softkey is available.

when you switch back to the lead engine by itself in the remote the horn crossing softkey is there and working. why is this? and can this be addressed for engines in a multiple unit consist?

this grade crossing softkey is very prototypical and I like using it in all my operating sessions. so having it in the softkey menu in a consist is very useful and handy. please look into this thanks.

@Lionelzwl2012 posted:

Got the app store update the other day. my wiu,tiu and app are now all up to date thanks.so I played with the app the other day on april 4 to see what changes or improvements had been made.

just a note to mth RND. when I was running a ps3 or ps2-3 volt engine. did not matter wich engine the controll sceen went dead so to speak.

let me explain. after several button presses on various things like the whistle or speed increments. the app froze up and pushing any button on the screen did nothing.

controlling the engine again was only retained by swiping right to the aux button screen and pressing the forward horn signal. then when returning back to the engine screen I was able to press any key and it worked as normal again.

this abnormalitie occurred often and occured even when I ran two brand new ps3 engines consisted together. since I was just testing out the app for the first time again. the engines were going slow enough not to cause an out of controll loco situation luckily enough. that would have not been good.

other thing that I want to add is that the rear coupler slack sound when two engines are mu'd together was finnaly working and audible. at least for me the coupler slack sound when changing to reverse would never play. it never worked with the physical remote for me either. this sound now works as it should all the time. using the app or physical remote. kudos for fixing that.

also could you adress this isssue. for ps2 and 3 engines that have the grade crossing horn soft key. when engines are consisted together this softkey does not show up on the remote. this happens in all my consist builds. ps2 or 3. the lead engine playing the sounds has only the forward or reverse horn softkey. no grade crossing horn softkey is available.

when you switch back to the lead engine by itself in the remote the horn crossing softkey is there and working. why is this? and can this be addressed for engines in a multiple unit consist?

this grade crossing softkey is very prototypical and I like using it in all my operating sessions. so having it in the softkey menu in a consist is very useful and handy. please look into this thanks.

If there is an equivalent of the #4 (eng snd) key on the app, please check and see if after using app setting to mute engine sounds, you can unmute engine sounds. This cannot be done with the DCS remote, as the engine sound can be muted, but a feature reset must be done to restore sounds back to normal. This is a failing of most PS2 and PS3 engines, with some exceptions.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

If there is an equivalent of the #4 (eng snd) key on the app, please check and see if after using app setting to mute engine sounds, you can unmute engine sounds. This cannot be done with the DCS remote, as the engine sound can be muted, but a feature reset must be done to restore sounds back to normal. This is a failing of most PS2 and PS3 engines, with some exceptions.

I mute and unmute the engines sounds with the DCS remote all the time, I've never had it fail.

FWIW, I noticed the same thing as Roger with the latest version of the DCS app, I was running and then it just froze.  I fiddled around with all the keys until it woke up, then exited the app and decided that my thought to get spare DCS remotes and TIU's was a pretty smart move!

Only have 4 MTH engines accessible. 3/4 need feature reset to recapture sound after #4 button successfully mutes sound.

mark, I just now tryed the app again and also the remote. the app does have an engine mute button. it does mute the engine sound,but only the lead engine in a consist. the rear engine still has the engine sounds at the volume wich it is set at.

not sure if mth intended this. I wish it would mute both or all locos in a consist. I have always had volume issues in a consist using the remote. lowering or rasing the overall volume would some times get the two engine volumes out of sink.

one would be louder than the other. to get the overall engine volume sounds the same on both engines. I would have to address each engine individually and ajust their respective volumes. then go back the the consist and run the two locos.

so I tryed what you said. when I used the remote to mute the engine sounds. the lead engine only just like using the app would only go silent. tryed turning  the lead engine sounds on again with the remote and could not get them to come back on.

I then went back to the app and was able to turn the lead engine sounds back on with the app engine volume slider and engine mute button. I also tryed just a single engine run by itself and got the same results. had to load it into the app to get the engine sounds restored. I did not have this loco programed into the app.

also when I went back to controlling the single engine that had its engine sounds muted with the pysical remote. the remote engine volume menu stated I need to turn on the mute volume button. this happens when I tryed to ajust the individual engine volume or accent sounds.

the only way to get it back to normal was a complete engine factory reset. doing a feature reset did not solve the issue. this was very annoying to say the least. so I will not be doing any engine muting again till they solve this issue.

I also went back to my ps3 gp35 consist. these engines feature the quilling whistle. so I tryed to activate it via the app. since the app makes using this feature more freindly I thought I would try it.

it only worked when the lead loco was addressed and ran by itself. when the consist was addressed and the loco in question was run in a consist with another ps3 gp35 having the quilling horn feature it would not work at all.

no horn fuction or horn souds at all. all other engine fuctions on the engine run screen froze up also with the consist.

going back to only the lead loco addressed by itself and turning the quilling feature off. then and only then would the app screen that is controlling the consist work correctly again.

also john I am still getting the main screen to freez up again as you did. this seemed to happen after repeated horn button presses. I am no dcs software exspert,but what ever is going on sound wise maye be affecting the screen freezing up also.

like john I am sure glad I have spare remotes. untill this app works properly I will be running with my remotes only. I only hope the app bugs do not affect our physical remotes.

@Lionelzwl2012 posted:

like john I am sure glad I have spare remotes. untill this app works properly I will be running with my remotes only. I only hope the app bugs do not affect our physical remotes.

I can't imagine anything in the app affecting your remote operation.  Worst comes to worst, just unplug the WiFi box, then there's no way the app has any contact with the TIU.

Hey all, thanks much for the feedback.  We test the apps, and everything else, thoroughly prior to release but, what is going on "under the hood" in DCS is quite complex.  When you guys run it in all the various environments with lots of different nuances, things can crop up that we may not see.

We will dig into the control screen freeze issue as well as look into the engine sounds on/off feature.  Things get a little more complicated when running lash ups as the TIU has to remember the configuration and then apply commands from the remote (or app) to the engines in a serial fashion.  Under these circumstances, any reduced signal throughput can significantly impact things.  It literally just takes longer so, one tip is to be wait a beat when muting and unmuting and avoid throwing additional commands at it while it's working on something.  Again, we'll look into the engine sounds (mute) behavior.  FYI, this is actually just the TIU addressing each engine individually and turning the sound down, or up.  There isn't an actual "mute" type of command. 

Keep the feedback coming, it's appreciated. 

The DCS Remote engine sounds #4 button successful mute/unsuccessful restore problem seems endemic, like a root software or hardware problem.

mth RND THANKS, also should not both locos in a consist be tied together so to speek. when the overall volume is ajusted up or down. both engines sounds should go in sync should they not.

I have seen issues when doing this overall volume ajustment causes one engine to be louder than another. like one loco is seeing the command and the other loco is not.

if you could look into this that would be great also. thanks again for addressing these issues.

@MTH RD

Some bugs identified:

Environment:

TIU: Rev I, newest android app, Galaxy S23, Android 14

Two Amtrak genesis engines, PS3, in lashup (elephant style).

-Seems commands got sent twice over the track, for example sending one forward signal, would trigger the head-end engine to play it twice for some reason. This happened consistently for all commands. Restarting the TIU resolved this issue.

-PFA sequence worked until the last bit, pressing close did not end the sequence, after manually restarting the engines (set lashup to off, and then starting the lashup again, without rebuilding it), the rear engine smoke stopped. Restarting the TIU/Power Cycle brought smoke back for the rear engine, but then the front engine smoke stopped. Feature resets for both engines individually in the app did not bring back the smoke. I had to disconnect the TIU and go back to conventional to get smoke back. re-building the lashup did not bring the smoke back, neither did manually setting smoke from high, to low, to high, for the train as a whole, and for each engine individually.

-Screen froze a few times, had to close the app out and reopen it to get the screen to unfreeze.