Unusual DCS Behavior

Tom,

Are the WiFi apps and remote completely independent so that they don't interfere with one another?

Yes, they are.

try running that engine in conventional mode. (no DCS signal)

Good idea Joe.  The GG-1 engine started up just fine in the conventional mode (on a short test track).  But, when placed back on the DCS loop, the remote claimed that the engine was not on the track.  So I deleted the GG-1 and then selected Add an MTH.  But, this process took an existing engine that was working just fine on the remote, renamed it and assigned it to the address that the GG-1 was previously assigned.  

Any ideas on how I can get things back to reliable, working order?  Is there a reset command for the TIU that would erase all prior locomotives such that I can start afresh?  Is this a sign that the TIU needs to be repaired?

Thanks,

Tom

Tom,

But, this process took an existing engine that was working just fine on the remote, renamed it and assigned it to the address that the GG-1 was previously assigned.  

I have no idea what really happened, however, that most certainly was not what happened. What you describe, DCS is not capable of doing.

Very helpful Barry, thanks.  Tom

Tom , are you using a programming track?  If not, what you described can and does happen.

Delete whatever engines seem to be messed up and add them back one at a time using a programming track . (test track will work )   No other tracks with engine sitting on them should be powered up. 

I think your TIU is OK.

Gregg - thanks for your reply.  I am not using a programming track as I have limited space on my garage layout, but i am contemplating setting up a test track in my home office.

BTW, are you "GGG"?  If so, you come highly recommended for repairing MTH electronics and would you please provide e-mail contact information for future repairs.  

Thanks much,

Tom

Yep  , find a way to get a test track for adding engines. Adding  with numerous engine all over the layout is a receipt  for bad things,

No I'm not GGG.   His first  name is George however I wish I had his electronic skills... I send my stuff to him  as well.

Gregg,

If not, what you described can and does happen.

No, DCS absolutely cannot do what's stated:

"this process took an existing engine that was working just fine on the remote, renamed it and assigned it to the address that the GG-1 was previously assigned. 

DCS cannot spontaneously rename an engine that's already in the remote. Period.

I am not sure of what is exactly being discussed here.

I have had engines on powered track when I was trying to add a new engine. Instead of adding a new one, it changed the address on an engine already loaded. It has happened more than once to me. It took the new name of the new engine and different address. When called on that older engine would start.

 So I can only assume Barry is describing something else?

Tom, do you have any transformers hooked to the tracks that are not being used? Strange things will happen with DCS signal if a conventional control transformer is hooked to the tracks and unplugged from the wall outlet. Totally disconnect any when running with DCS and powering the tracks through the TIU.

I am GGG, my e-mail is in my profile.  G

Barry Broskowitz posted:

Gregg,

If not, what you described can and does happen.

No, DCS absolutely cannot do what's stated:

"this process took an existing engine that was working just fine on the remote, renamed it and assigned it to the address that the GG-1 was previously assigned. 

DCS cannot spontaneously rename an engine that's already in the remote. Period.

You sure. ???   If you have enough engines powered  on the layout and try adding without the use of a programming track all kind of weird things happens. Maybe not this exact scenario but very similar.   no doubt about it.

DCS can add an new  engine and it adds with   the name of a previous added engine.  I've seen it happen many times.

Dave Zucal posted:

Tom, do you have any transformers hooked to the tracks that are not being used? Strange things will happen with DCS signal if a conventional control transformer is hooked to the tracks and unplugged from the wall outlet. Totally disconnect any when running with DCS and powering the tracks through the TIU.

No Dave, I have two Z-4000s that provide power to the tracks via the TIU.  I was wondering if there would be an issue with me temporarily applying power to a section of track with a 3rd transformer to test a loco in the conventional mode.  Based on your comment, I will not do this.  On my list of future things to do is to figure out how to switch between DCS to conventional mode on a simple loop - tried early on with no success.  After things stabilize I will give it another try.   Tom

Gregg,

Maybe not this exact scenario but very similar.

That was my exact point.

DCS can add an new  engine and it adds with   the name of a previous added engine.  I've seen it happen many times.

I've seen this, as well,  however, only with releases prior to DCS 5.0.

What happens is that DCS thinks it finds an engine but then "looses" it and, instead, creates a nonexistent engine entry with the name of the engine that it last added or used, i.e., the last engine that it can remember.

I would get this sometimes due to a bug (increasingly rare since DCS 5.0) that would cause a command to be misinterpreted by a Z4000 and cause it to erroneously shut down the Z4 Track where the engine to be added is residing.

 On my list of future things to do is to figure out how to switch between DCS to conventional mode on a simple loop - tried early on with no success.  After things stabilize I will give it another try.   Tom

Good idea....  The following command is the secret to success.

Menu/System/ DCS set up/      this allows one to turn the dcs signal on or off on any channel, & also set the var to fixed mode or var mode. 

along with the TR command one can  set up a var channel to operate as a conventional channel with no dcs signal or a command channel with the dcs signal...  when you get a chance give it a go...

Gregg posted:

 On my list of future things to do is to figure out how to switch between DCS to conventional mode on a simple loop - tried early on with no success.  After things stabilize I will give it another try.   Tom

Good idea....  The following command is the secret to success.

Menu/System/ DCS set up/      this allows one to turn the dcs signal on or off on any channel, & also set the var to fixed mode or var mode. 

along with the TR command one can  set up a var channel to operate as a conventional channel with no dcs signal or a command channel with the dcs signal...  when you get a chance give it a go...

Gregg - thanks for your insightful tip.  Tom

I"m more confused than a goat on astro turf...eclipse related ?

There is nothing to do to operate both conventional and DCS on the same loop, unless you mean you want to operate a DCS loco in conventional mode.

I agree with Gregg.  While I don't use a programming track, I never have any locos powered up when adding another.  Reason: experience.

RJR posted:

There is nothing to do to operate both conventional and DCS on the same loop, unless you mean you want to operate a DCS loco in conventional mode.

Occasionally, I would like to be able to run a DCS loco in a conventional mode for testing or a PS1 or old Lionel train in the conventional mode  I tried setting this up before, but couldn't get it to work.  I will try again in a few months and I will likely be back requesting help.  Tom

Okay, back to basics.  I deleted all of my locomotives from the handheld remote, the iPhone and the iPad.  Then, carefully installed several DCS locomotives using the handheld remote.  All locomotives operated correctly after being installed.  Then, I created two lash-ups on the remote and these too operated beautifully.

In parallel with the handheld remote, I performed the same sequence with an iPad and then on an iPhone.  Initially, the locos and lash-ups worked well too.  A few hours later, I returned to run trains.  The handheld remote worked fine with the lash-ups, but both the iPhone and iPad only recognized the individual engines in the lash-up, but did not recognize the two previously installed lash-ups; they were listed as in-active.

Has anyone else experienced a problem with lash-ups via the wifi?

Is there an issue with using too many devices: handheld remote, iPhone, iPad?

Also, is their a point of contact for future beta testing?

Thanks for any help you can provide,

Tom

Tom,

When you created the lashup on the iOS devices, each one became the active engine and could be operated. Later, when you reran the app and you refreshed the engine roster, all member engines that were on powered tracks became active and all lashups became inactive, This is exactly what happens when you press READ on the remote.

To make a lashup active:

• Ensure that all members are on powered tracks.
• Tap Refresh.
• On the Engine Roster Screen, tap Edit on the upper left.
• Tap and hold the slider (3 parallel bars to the left of the lashup name) and slide the lashup up into the Active Engine List.
• Tap Done at the upper right of the screen.
• Tap the lashup to make it the active engine and then return to the Engine Control Screen.

   

  Is there an issue with using too many devices: handheld remote, iPhone, iPad?

No, there is not.

This and a whole lot more about DCS WiFi is all in MTH’s “The DCS WiFi Companion 1st Edition!" This book is available from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store! Get the free TMCC & Legacy Addendum here!

Tom, to run a PS1 or an old Lionel in conventional, all you have to do is put the loco on the track.  With the remote, press TRK and then control the voltage and use DIR and whistle/bell buttons.  The DCS signal has no effect.  I occasionally run both a DCS loco and a conventional loco on the same circuit/loop at the same time, with control over each.

RJR posted:

Tom, to run a PS1 or an old Lionel in conventional, all you have to do is put the loco on the track.  With the remote, press TRK and then control the voltage and use DIR and whistle/bell buttons.  The DCS signal has no effect.  I occasionally run both a DCS loco and a conventional loco on the same circuit/loop at the same time, with control over each.

I will give this a try.  Thanks for your suggestion.  Tom

Barry Broskowitz posted:

Tom,

When you created the lashup on the iOS devices, each one became the active engine and could be operated. Later, when you reran the app and you refreshed the engine roster, all member engines that were on powered tracks became active and all lashups became inactive, This is exactly what happens when you press READ on the remote.

To make a lashup active:

• Ensure that all members are on powered tracks.
• Tap Refresh.
• On the Engine Roster Screen, tap Edit on the upper left.
• Tap and hold the slider (3 parallel bars to the left of the lashup name) and slide the lashup up into the Active Engine List.
• Tap Done at the upper right of the screen.
• Tap the lashup to make it the active engine and then return to the Engine Control Screen.

   

Barry,

The process you outlined worked!  Thank you for the tip.  But, to clarify your point about "refresh" on the iOS devise being the same as READ on the remote.  Once I turn off the TIU (and Z4000) and later return, power the Z400s and ITU, apply power to the track that the lashup is on, press STARTUP on the iOS device with the Lashup displayed, I receive an error message saying that the "Request Failed".  The only way that I have found to gain access to the lashup is to refresh and then go through the steps that you outlined to move the lashup from inactive to active status.  This cumbersome sequence is not required on the Remote because the lashup is active once power is applied to the track (no need to press the READ button).  I hope that this can be fixed in a later s/w release.

BTW, I have all of your books and I don't believe that you discuss this situation in any of your them.  And, if not, you may want to do so in your next release.

Also, an unrelated question about your electronic editions ... is there a way of not requiring a password to open the PDF book file every time?

Thank you very much for your help,

Tom

Tom,

Once I turn off the TIU (and Z4000) and later return, power the Z400s and ITU, apply power to the track that the lashup is on, press STARTUP on the iOS device with the Lashup displayed, I receive an error message saying that the "Request Failed". 

The problem is that the WIU takes a few minutes to initialize, after everything comes up. If you currently have your WIU on your home network (MTH/Home switch set to Home), try setting the switch to MTH and connecting directly with the WIU, rather than via the Home network. It should come up a bit faster.

The only way that I have found to gain access to the lashup is to refresh and then go through the steps that you outlined to move the lashup from inactive to active status. 

The DCS App is a little different from the DCS Remote. It really wants to be refreshed after the WIU is power-cycled. I've noted that the Android version does an automatic refresh every time it's initially run, although the iOS version does not appear to do so.

I've removed the process intended to keep lashups in the Active Engine List between power cycles of the WIU since I just determined that it doesn't work. It seems that both the Android and iOS versions of the app require a refresh each time that the app connects to a WIU after the WIU's power has been cycled.

I'm going to contact MTH to determine if there's a workaround and will post whatever I learn.

I have all of your books and I don't believe that you discuss this situation in any of them.  And, if not, you may want to do so in your next release.

Actually, the process is in The DCS WiFi Companion 1st Edition on pages 63-64. However, it is discusses all entries in the Engine Roster, not just lashups.

Regardless, I am planning to include additional detail regarding selecting lashups, in the next edition of The DCS WiFi Companion.

an unrelated question about your electronic editions ... is there a way of not requiring a password to open the PDF book file every time?

No, there is not. However, if you simply leave it open in Adobe Acrobat or other pdf reader (e.g., Preview on a Mac) with the document minimized on your Desktop, to access it again only requires clicking on the minimized document icon (for Mac) or document drawer (at the bottom of the screen for Windows). This way, the only time that you'll need to re-open the file and re-enter the password is when you reboot the computer.

The above also works for iOS and Android devices.

Thanks Barry for taking the time to reply in detail.  Very helpful to me in understanding the DCS WiFi environment.  Tom