Lashup Engine Volume Troubles

I make the MU and then open the individual engines on the remote and set the sounds I want. I then go to the MU and press the soft key FSV. Then the volume control increases or decreases both engines. I do that with smoke off, so that is the default. They start up the way they were shut down. Doing it this way allows both engines to have sound, including the horn. When setting up, just select the individual engines and don't press Startup.

If you shut down the lashup first, then switch to the individual locomotive and then start it up, I think this will prevent the volume changing.

I also have sound issues in dcs when mu consisting. ps2-3v and ps3 all do this regardless of which type are consisted together.

only way I have found to solve this is as others have stated. make the consist then recall all the locos in it back to the active screen. then adjust the volumes of each loco as needed. then hit save lashup state(fsv).

this has always bothered me about mth.not sure why this happends. I never have sound issues like this with my lionel legacy locos when consisting.

You probably don’t have enough rope in the “lashup” and the locomotives aren’t tied together tight enough.  

</sarcasm off>

How I hate that terrible term “LASHUP.” I don’t care what the book says, it is a Multiple Unit Consist, not a “lashup.”

@Rich Melvin posted:

You probably don’t have enough rope in the “lashup” and the locomotives aren’t tied together tight enough.  

</sarcasm off>

How I hate that terrible term “LASHUP.” I don’t care what the book says, it is a Multiple Unit Consist, not a “lashup.”

Just for you Rich...

There ya go! Now there's a LASHUP that will work. 

A NOTE TO THE OP - VonFrank/ JOHN M.
Please don't take this as picking on you. You have a legitimate question that will get answered here.

I have a long-standing aversion to that silly term "lashup" and have expressed my displeasure with that word many, many times on this forum. In fact, that's why MartyE took his now-famous "Lashup picture."

Just havin' some fun. Hope you get the problem solved.

I tried to do my part in my post, Rich.

FWIW: I have had great difficulty getting PS3 locos to operate (and sound) reliably under lashup; less issues with PS2 locos, actually. I am at the point of giving up; the amount of time I've spent re-programming and adjusting the various sound levels is ridiculous.

Thanks to everyone who's responded so far!

@Rich Melvin posted:

There ya go! Now there's a LASHUP that will work. 

A NOTE TO THE OP - VonFrank/ JOHN M.
Please don't take this as picking on you. You have a legitimate question that will get answered here.

I have a long-standing aversion to that silly term "lashup" and have expressed my displeasure with that word many, many times on this forum. In fact, that's why MartyE took his now-famous "Lashup picture."

Just havin' some fun. Hope you get the problem solved.

It's all good! I appreciated the joke too. I'm not a fan of the "lashup" term either to be honest, haha.

@John H posted:

I make the MU and then open the individual engines on the remote and set the sounds I want. I then go to the MU and press the soft key FSV. Then the volume control increases or decreases both engines. I do that with smoke off, so that is the default. They start up the way they were shut down. Doing it this way allows both engines to have sound, including the horn. When setting up, just select the individual engines and don't press Startup.

I can't seem to find a soft key button labeled FSV. I went through the pages of default soft keys and even the list under the "more" option and FSV was not there. Is this button accessed through another menu?

@VonFrank posted:

I can't seem to find a soft key button labeled FSV. I went through the pages of default soft keys and even the list under the "more" option and FSV was not there. Is this button accessed through another menu?

It’s only available when the lashup is the active engine. It’s usually the first soft key.

@rplst8 posted:

It’s only available when the lashup is the active engine. It’s usually the first soft key.

The lashup is in the active list and it is the one selected when I was looking.

@VonFrank posted:

The lashup is in the active list and it is the one selected when I was looking.

Soft keys can be deleted. Maybe you accidentally removed it.  To restore it, delete the lashup and recreate it.

still unanswered is the question why does  all mth  consisting behave this way 🤔. lionel works as it should and is so easy to do.

@rplst8 posted:

Soft keys can be deleted. Maybe you accidentally removed it.  To restore it, delete the lashup and recreate it.

Ok, I feel silly, but I've figured out why the FSV button is not there.

I'm running DCS 4.2. The FSV function wasn't implemented until 4.3.

So, now it seems like my next task is to update my TIU and Remote. Any tips for doing so? Suggestions that are not typically mentioned in online instructional videos?

If you don't have Barry's DCS WiFi Companion 2nd Edition Rev. 3-18, it's a worthwhile investment.  It includes complete instructions for updating your DCS, as well as many valuable tips on DCS operations in general.

The one thing that may not be in the book is for remote updating, you will want a small clamp to hold the power button down on the remote.  You have no idea how long 8-10 minutes are with your thumb continually pressing on something, but it's a long time!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

If you don't have Barry's DCS WiFi Companion 2nd Edition Rev. 3-18, it's a worthwhile investment.  It includes complete instructions for updating your DCS, as well as many valuable tips on DCS operations in general.

The one thing that may not be in the book is for remote updating, you will want a small clamp to hold the power button down on the remote.  You have no idea how long 8-10 minutes are with your thumb continually pressing on something, but it's a long time!

Good to know!

As a side note, I assume my TIU and Remote both have to be using the same version of software, otherwise it won't work at all? I ask because I'm not 100% sure what version is loaded into the TIU, I only know what's on the remote because it lists the version number as I turn it on.

Well, you "can" run with differing versions, but sometimes there are oddball issues that come up.  The farther away from matched they are, the more likely the issues will arise.  I sure wouldn't update the TIU to 6.1 and leave the remote at 4.xx, that will very likely cause you issues somewhere down the road.

In order to check the version of the TIU, you go into the SYSTEM menu and scroll down to TIU SETUP, then scroll to TIU VERSION and press the thumbwheel.  Obviously, it helps a lot if the TIU is powered on and configured to talk to the remote.

OK, UPDATE!

I've successfully updated my TIU and Remote's software to 6.1. Both the remote (upon startup) and the TIU (in the TIU menu) list the correct v6.1 software.

I removed the old lashup, then created a new one. The FSV button is indeed there. Upon creation, both engines revert to 100% volume (as they did before). I select each engine from the inactive list, then manually adjust the sound settings back to my preferences. Then I return to the lashup, and press FSV. It claims to have saved.

Shutting down the lashup, then starting up a single one of the engines on its own.... reverts the sound back to max again. -_-

So my original problem still persists.

Should I remove the lashup and both engines completely, then re-add them? Or will that not make a difference and is this just a problem I've gotta live with? (It's more of a minor inconvenience really, but I'd rather solve it if possible.)

I have never been able to solve the MTH PS3 Lashup volume problem and anxiously await someone coming up with a proven step-by-step solution. (It shouldn't be this difficult.)

Why do you start them individually? My experience is that the sound settings are retained if I start the MU. Sometimes one engine will start in conventional, but I just turn the TIU off and restart. That's a PS3 problem I have always had. Doesn't happen with PS2.

@Lionelzwl2012 posted:

still unanswered is the question why does  all mth  consisting behave this way 🤔. lionel works as it should and is so easy to do.

To be accurate, it's not all MTH, but PS3, which is the latest, but not the greatest, unfortunately.

@VonFrank posted:

OK, UPDATE!

I've successfully updated my TIU and Remote's software to 6.1. Both the remote (upon startup) and the TIU (in the TIU menu) list the correct v6.1 software.

I removed the old lashup, then created a new one. The FSV button is indeed there. Upon creation, both engines revert to 100% volume (as they did before). I select each engine from the inactive list, then manually adjust the sound settings back to my preferences. Then I return to the lashup, and press FSV. It claims to have saved.

Shutting down the lashup, then starting up a single one of the engines on its own.... reverts the sound back to max again. -_-

So my original problem still persists.

Should I remove the lashup and both engines completely, then re-add them? Or will that not make a difference and is this just a problem I've gotta I've with? (It's more of a minor inconvenience really, but I'd rather solve it if possible.)

"The original problem still persists." As it has for me as well. Old TIU with latest software, or new ones, it doesn't matter. Just be grateful that you don't get the poltergeist screeching sounds in a lashup - that is the worst sound an electric train can make, and it will scare your socks off

I get this with ps2 3 volt engines as well. I have a consist of 2 ps2 3volt gp35's that give me sound fits some times.

is this a hardware or software issue that mth needs to address here someday?

I find this conversation interesting. I too have issues with building an MTH/DCS MU. I always thought it was just my setup/wiring or my TIU. If I build say a 3 loco MU and then immediately try to start the engines as one, I get one or two that sound normal and the third will screech like you cant imagine requiring an immediate eardrum saving power shutdown. If I build the MU and shut everything (TIU, WIU, app) down and bring it all back up then start the MU, it all functions fine.

It boggles my mind that this has been an issue for as long as it has.

Are those of us with these problems just doing something wrong? Many suggestions at the beginning of this thread talk about using the FSV button, but so far that button doesn't seem to do anything at all. At least no different than before I updated and had that button.

So I did a little testing.

I used two locomotives, one PS-3 and one PS-2 (3V). After setting up the volume, and using the FSV key, I could start up and shut down the consist/lashup with no trouble. All volume settings were preserved. I think some folks struggle with just this simple situation and the FSV key.

Reverting back to single locomotive operation was a bit more complicated. After shutting down the lashup and then starting one of the engines, they do return to some default volume setting. However, at least on mine, one press of the master volume down button seems to restore it to the value that was saved for that engine. I need to do more testing on this.

Also, it seemed to me that the values that are set in the MENU -> SOUND area persist through shut down and start up of individual engines and lashups, back and forth. It only seems to be the master volume setting that is not recalled correctly (though as stated, in my case, a press of master volume down seemed to fix this).

I did a quick test where I set each locomotives individual volume values (engine sounds, accent sounds, horn, and bell) to 20% and left the master volume at the max. This seemed to work, where recalling an engine or lashup (using start up) seemed to work no matter what. More testing is required to see if this holds across other engines in my fleet.

Hopefully some of this debugging might help @MTH RD or @MTH fix this in future firmware versions (if any).

Hope this helps (a little).

I certainly appreciate the testing. This adds contrast to how things operate on my layout.

The lashup I am trying to run consists of a PS3 and a PS2 3-V as well. I turn the lashup on using the startup button, then i select each engine individually to configure sounds. I have the master sound volume set to maximum, and then customize the individual sound levels on the Sound menu to 10% for engine sounds, 40% for bell, 40% for horn, and 30% for accents, with cab chatter off. Then go back to the lashup, and press FSV.

I can turn the layout on and off as many times as I want, and the sounds will remain at my settings as long as I startup the engines by selecting the lashup. If I start them up by selecting any one of the individual engines, the sound reverts to maximum levels. Conversely, if I adjust my sound levels outside of a lashup, and restart the engine sill outside of a lashup, the sounds will save. This issue ONLY occurs when switching into or out-of a lashup.