Hello Jim, I start both of my transformers first, then I start my WIU. I then press "read" on my I-pad and Android phone. All of my engines go the the active list. I then select a engine and it starts up and runs. You can try a reset on the WIU and see if that will work for you.........rogerw.
Having a similar issue. When wiu is connected to a Rev L TIU #2, with either USB or serial cable, app has reading problems. Also, locos that it can read will jump into inaqctive mode, even when running. When connected to a Rev I or Rev G TIU #1 via serial cable, seems to read ok. 2 different Samsung phones and a Samsung tablet all yield different results.
I have also found that with the wiu connected only to TIU#1, it will start, run, and control PS3 locos in TIU#2 area, but not PS2 locos in the TIU#2 area.
UPDATE: I got the wiu to load many of the locos, with proper ID numbers. But it had the names misapplied to the IDs.
It sometime links up all the engines but only lasts a few minutes or so. Then they all go inactive again.
Porsche: Would you please describe, in precise and complete detail, what you did--what buttons did you push--Between the time the engines started running properly and the time they fell into the inactive list. And how did you know they fell into the inactive list? I'm trying to get the details, to compare with my experience, in which the trains were running and of a sudden I lost all control.
Any updates on this?
My layout now running fine, with 2 original release Rev G TIUs and wifi, while I figure out the TIU Rev L problem. Probably will send it back to MTH under warranty.
If you mean sending your wifi unit back,I don't think sending it back will do anything. MTH needs to update the app. We all seem to have the same problems.
No, I mean I'll send the Rev L back. The wifi seems to be working fine with the Rev G TIUs.
If you mean sending your wifi unit back,I don't think sending it back will do anything. MTH needs to update the app.
His problem is with the TIU, and that's what is being sent back.
We all seem to have the same problems.
What do you mean by "we"? My WIU has always, and continues, to work just fine.
Barry Broskowitz posted:If you mean sending your wifi unit back,I don't think sending it back will do anything. MTH needs to update the app.
His problem is with the TIU, and that's what is being sent back.
We all seem to have the same problems.
What do you mean by "we"? My WIU has always, and continues, to work just fine.
Hi Barry, any time I try to run more than 5 locos they all go inactive. I ran 5 all day yesterday and got ambitious added the 6th at the end of the night once #6 was added then they all went inactive in less than a minute.
Porsche, do you have the free app or the $4.99 upgrade?
Anyone, even if you've paid the $4.99, is there anyway to tell which app is actually running on the smartphone/tablet one happens to be using at the time?
RJR posted:Porsche, do you have the free app or the $4.99 upgrade?
Anyone, even if you've paid the $4.99, is there anyway to tell which app is actually running on the smartphone/tablet one happens to be using at the time?
As far as I know, you will have access to a lot more menu items. The free app many of them are grayed out.
I did pay for the upgrade. The free version only gives you 3 locos.
RJR posted:Porsche, do you have the free app or the $4.99 upgrade?
Anyone, even if you've paid the $4.99, is there anyway to tell which app is actually running on the smartphone/tablet one happens to be using at the time?
Its the same app. If you are getting more than 3 locos to run then your upgraded. I think I need the $9.99 upgrade to run more than 5 :-)
(FYI there is no $9.99 upgrade )
Gang, after several hours of trying to get my system to work this is what I found. I use all 4 out puts to power my layout. District 1 is fixed with 6 engines, District 2 is fixed and has 3 engines, District 3 is var. 2 with 2 engines and District 4 var 1 with 0 engines. When I power all up at the same time I get all engines in the inactive list, only when I power districts 1,2,3 I will get all to go active then after I get all in the active list then I power the 4th district on and all works fine. If I try to boot up with the var. 1 powered up its a no go. I have rev H TIU with level 5 update and I paid the $4.99
Also I can not get the to the net when I have the land line hooked up
Bad TIU or WIFI?
Please Help Henry
Dave Minarik said, The app will not find any engines (time out error) with the Fixed 2 channel powered up.
Now that I've gone back to the Rev G TIUs and can communicate through the wifi, I am experiencing the same thing. In fact, powering it up and trying a read moves everything else to inactive list. Tapping a l0oco in inactive list never does anything. I'm inclined to agree with a statement made by another poster that there appears to be a bug in the app. I'm going to enjoy my layout, using the remotes, until the bug is exterminated.
There's no point in adding my 26 locos one at a time if they jump back to inactive and stay there.l
FWIW: I tried something different this morning. I unplugged the wifi wallwart. Turned on layout & powered up all 6 tracks (including roundhouse). Some 15-18 locos powered up immediately, quietly since they all got the watchdog. I then plugged in the wifi and lo: all locos were found by the read, including one (of 4) on the TIU that isn't connected to the wifi. All of these were controllable from the tablet.
RJR posted:FWIW: I tried something different this morning. I unplugged the wifi wallwart. Turned on layout & powered up all 6 tracks (including roundhouse). Some 15-18 locos powered up immediately, quietly since they all got the watchdog. I then plugged in the wifi and lo: all locos were found by the read, including one (of 4) on the TIU that isn't connected to the wifi. All of these were controllable from the tablet.
Are you running BOTH Fixed 1 & Fixed 2?
D14S, yes. Before trying this, turning on Fixed 2 moved everything to inactive. Also running Variables 1 & 2, which have given no problems. Fixed 1 & 2 are fed from a Z4000.
That is what some one mentioned earlier and I said it need to be tried. So the step should be to turn wifi on last. Any issues in doing it that way? G
No issues, George. My 2nd wifi is due in tomorrow or Friday, and I'll see what happens when I connect it to my second TIU.
As of right now, I have 2 Rev G TIUs on the layout. My Rev L just went back to MTH before the warranty expired, because it wouldn't work at all with the wifi, and My Rev I is off the layout from when I was swapping TIUs to see if the Rev L was bad.
RJR posted:FWIW: I tried something different this morning. I unplugged the wifi wallwart. Turned on layout & powered up all 6 tracks (including roundhouse). Some 15-18 locos powered up immediately, quietly since they all got the watchdog. I then plugged in the wifi and lo: all locos were found by the read, including one (of 4) on the TIU that isn't connected to the wifi. All of these were controllable from the tablet.
Tried this sequence for myself. 8 out of 9 locos were shown as Active. 1 Powered Up on its own. All locos were on Fixed 2. An attempt to re-read resulted in all locos being shown as Inactive. When I have more time, I intend to try this sequence again with other variations of locos on Fixed 1 and Fixed 2.
Did more experimenting tonight on the Fixed 2 issue Dave Minarik mentioned above, and came up with a weird situation: If I disconnect the wire from the red output terminal on the TIU Fixed 2, the problem remains. If I disconnect the input red, the problem goes away.
My second WIU came in today, and is hooked up to TIU#2. Subject to the Fixed 2 issue, it works fine; all locos on layout came into active list. I did lose control of a loco that passed from one TIU's area to another.
ANother issue has developed, which is not really an MTH problem. I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII phone, a Samsung Galaxy S6 phone, and a Samsung Note 10.1 tablet. For some reason, the SIII wants to jump back from the MTH network to the house net work; the others do not.
Robert,
I did lose control of a loco that passed from one TIU's area to another.
That's exactly what I'd expect to have happen.
It's just like a remote that's in normal TIU mode. If you tap refresh on the engine screen, I'd expect that the engine would be re-acquireable by the app. Or, just wait for the engine to get to a track connected to the TIU with which it was associated when it was last added to the app.
For some reason, the SIII wants to jump back from the MTH network to the house net work; the others do not.
If you delete the home network from the SIII, does the phone still drop off the WIU's MTH network?
Until the firmware and app upgrades MTH just announced are released and installed, I wouldn't dare hit refresh. Everything might move to inactive and I'd have locos running all over the layout. It's easiest to just grab the remote. It's been so many years since I ran without super mode, I don't even remember what I did in those days.
I haven't deleted the home network yet , because I have some other functions it does that require access.
I've had my WIFI setup running for a few days now. I will be honest and say I haven't read through this entire thread but I thought I would post a few "features" I have run across.
1. With my 5409 PRR K4, the track voltage measurement reads 22-23 Volts all the way around the layout. I use a Lionel Post War ZW and I know the voltage is no greater than 18v. My 5711 PRR E8s read 17-18 Volts around the same loop. A K4 firmware thing maybe?
2. I've had 2 issues where I've selected the K4 and with it clearly selected in the display the E8's respond. Once with the playable horn. I was testing it with the K4 but the E8 was responding. And then once when I powered down the E8's, selected the K4, tried to move the K4 forward but the E8 powered up and moved forward.
I know there is a software update coming, just adding my observations here.
Tony
Tony,
If your K4 is a PS3 engine, the issue is possibly the firmware in the engine. Many of the PS3 engines read track voltage higher than it is actually. If it's a PS3, your remote will probably read high, as well.
Tony_V posted:I've had my WIFI setup running for a few days now. I will be honest and say I haven't read through this entire thread but I thought I would post a few "features" I have run across.
1. With my 5409 PRR K4, the track voltage measurement reads 22-23 Volts all the way around the layout. I use a Lionel Post War ZW and I know the voltage is no greater than 18v. My 5711 PRR E8s read 17-18 Volts around the same loop. A K4 firmware thing maybe?
2. I've had 2 issues where I've selected the K4 and with it clearly selected in the display the E8's respond. Once with the playable horn. I was testing it with the K4 but the E8 was responding. And then once when I powered down the E8's, selected the K4, tried to move the K4 forward but the E8 powered up and moved forward.
I know there is a software update coming, just adding my observations here.
Tony
Of my PS3 engines only one reports the voltage too high (around 22 to 23 volts). I just disregard it as I know the rest of my fleet reads voltage properly.
I have also experienced a similar issue with the app controlling the wrong engine. In my case I was using the DCS remote to operate my track switches, after activating the switch I would select a different engine in the app. However the app would still control the original engine that was previously selected. It wasn't until I press the purple bar at the top to change back to the original engine and do something with it (bell, whistle, change speed, etc.) then I press the purple bar at the top again to select the engine I wanted to control and it responds properly.
I should have mentioned that both are PS3, (from 2014). I disregard the actual voltage reading as well. I do look at the difference while the engine is moving around the layout. That is the important thing. But if I only had 1 PS3 engine with the issue and no multi meter, it would bother me.
For the wrong engine control, it at least 1 instance, I also was using the DCS remote to control a switch. I am going to investigate if maybe the selected engine in the DCS remote may have something to do with it.
Again I know there are issues and MTH is addressing them. I actually feel like we are all beta testers to a degree even though this is release software. I plan to continue posting the issues I find not to complain but to keep these dialogues going and it seems like MTH is listening.
Tony
For what it's worth, I've been using the WiFi DCS app for 3 weeks with 7 locomotives and haven't had the issue mentioned in this thread. I have a modest layout so I only use Fixed 1. I have run into other issues though. I lose control of all locomotives if I operate my magnetic uncoupler track. I then must press the Refresh icon at the top left of the app to regain control of the engines. I learned this the hard way in my switch yard. I uncoupled some cars, and by the time I regained control the locomotive had made the trip around the switch yard and rear ended the cars. When I lose control, even the E-Stop doesn't function. It's as if the magnetic pulse of the uncoupler track disrupts the WiFi communications. Perhaps the 50-1034 lacks enough shielding. I tried moving the module as far away from the uncoupler track as possible but to no avail. As long as I don't use the uncoupler, all seems okay. The only other issue I have noticed is that the Playable Whistle sometimes stops working. If I turn it off and on again, it starts working again, but, after a while, it stops again. Also you cannot yet create a lash-up with the WiFi DCS app. Hopefully a new version will include lash-up capabilities.
Doug, I haven't experienced that, but will give another try with the UCS and Gargraves uncoupling tracks I have. I expect I'll have much opportunity this weekend to try out trains, until the generator fuel runs out.l
Since I am willing to state issues, today I post that my 2-wifi/2 TIU layout, MTH network, today ran totally flawlessly. Read what was readable & had no hiccups. Used a Samsung Note 10.1, android.
Doug, I used uncoupling tracks (Gargraves & UCS) and had no problems.
In one of these wifi threads, someone stated that they had a sleeve for a tablet into which fingers could fit, so he could wear it like a glove. That would be interesting.
I though rotary plows could handle deep snow. My MTH rotary couldn't handle the snow in my driveway, which isn't quite 3'. Guess I'll have to send it back.
I have also been encountering issues where the Wifi connection to the TIU seems to stop; I encountered all engines on all 4 channels (12 engines total across my four TIU channels - all fixed) going to inactive once a PS2 engine (S2 turbine) jumped the tracks and the Z4000 voltage dropped, as it should, immediately to 0. Once that happened, I had the same issue of not being able to bring any of these engines back to active. I also got the additional message that the WIU could not find any TIUs even though the purple TIU indicator on the WIU was lit. Also, what does it mean if the purple TIU light is blinking?
Just ran a simple test of turning on the TIU, setting up all four TIU output channels to 18 volts and trying to read engines. I have one PS engine on Fixed 1. I got the request time out message. Then, without touching the TIU or the WIU, I turned off everything except Fixed 1 and, voila, the App read that one engine on Fixed 1. I then put two engines on Fixed 1, keeping that as the only TIU channel with voltage applied. Again, success! Both engines were read. Now I turned on Fixed 2 and I was able to read an engine on that channel. I put a third engine on Fixed 1 and it read that. I then turned off Fixed 2 and then turned on Fixed 1 with a fourth engine. It now tells me no TIUs are found even though the purple TIU indicator remains lit. I then turned on Fixed 1 and Variable 1 (which has been set to Fixed). When I do a read, it first shows ID numbers with no engines identified and then I get the timed out error with no DCS engines added. It's as iff it sees these engines but cannot translate them into active IDs. I went back to just Fixed 1 again and 6 engines were successfully read an added. Keeping Fixed 1 on I then turned on Fixed 2. I then had all engines revert to inactive with no ability to bring them back. What is strange is that an engine on Variable 2 (set to Fixed) all of a sudden appeared. This is very difficult to sort out but I am wondering if there is some kind of a conflict between Fixed 1 and the other channels.
Update: Keeping my TIU and my WIU powered, I turned off then turned back on again my Z-4000 with only Fixed 1 powered to 18 volts. With the Wifi app still running as it was, I pulled down the iPad screen to "refresh" the App and all engines on Fixed 1 reappeared as active. I may try seeing what happens using my old Rev I TIU.
When you lose control, go to "settings on you device and see if it has switched the network its connected to. I get different results from different handheld devices running different versions of the device OS.
Yes, I have checked that and all remains well on what is my home network. I even bypassed Wifi altogether using the ethernet connection from the users manual and, via, that route, setting the WIU to "MTH" instead of "home" like you do when you are setting up the WIU wirelessly. Bt thank you for the suggestion.
I received this reply from MTH today after I'd suggested I would be more comfortable if they replaced my WiFi unit:
Dave,
If I swap your unit with a new one (I assume you would not want that swap to occur until AFTER the new software is available) there is absolutely no way I can 100% guarantee that with your setup all the problems will go away with the new unit. Certainly no more so than if you updated the software yourself. Based on what you’ve described to me over-the-phone and in emails is exactly the software, and software only, problem that has already been identified by other customers, repeated here at our R&D center, verified with the App Developers, and new software is currently in Beta testing (App and WIU firmware). I do not believe you have any sort of hardware problem with that module that is causing the concerns you are seeing presently.
I appreciate and I am certainly sympathetic to your situation because you’re overseas. Trust me, I want you to be satisfied with our products. If you feel as though MTH has not lived up to its end of the bargain you have a few options:
1. Wait approximately 1 week for the new software to be available and then update the unit. If this does not work to your satisfaction then,
2. Return the unit to where you purchased it for a full refund
Thanks,
Jason Wenzel
MTH Electric Trains
Product Support Manager
Dave, Trouble shooting this type of issue in the UK is tricky. I have been having fun and games with a issue with Legacy and LCS sensor tracks.
Problem is you can't just pop down to your local model shop and check your WIU with theirs. I am guessing there are a handful of WIU's in the whole UK.
Nick
Dave,
Exactly what is the problem with your WIU? I don't recall seeing any posts from you previously on this subject.
Barry, the problems I've had can best be described as "all of the above". I don't enjoy spending my leisure hours trying to get someone else's buggy software to work. I'm annoyed that I've had to talk to the vendor directly; that they have no notice on their website, and they promoted National WiFi Day before they fixed the problems. The discipline of software engineering has come a long way since I first flicked the switches on a PDP8 so I'm disappointed to see this in a consumer product.
