Wi-Fi DCS Update from MTH

Thanks!  

Thank you for a very great product and excellent support I and I hope everybody appreciates everthyning you guys and Gals do at MTH and make excellent products. keep up the good work and tech support issues, I recommend all your products to all my friends on and off the forum.

Thanks Again Alan

Thanks for being on top of things enjoying the wifi so far with limited problems . Need to try a couple of times to add a engine but it will come up . The 5 year old grandson has taken the pad and run the trains with no problem of course with a speed limit . Looking forward to much more .  Tom

Cool, great work MTH

I work for a software company and everybody's stuff has warts occasionally.  It's really great to see MTH admit to this and nice to know that you are actively working on a fix.

Thank you!

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the update, the fix and for monitoring the forum.

Glad MTH RD and other manufacturers uses the forum for product improvements and that they appreciate input.

Kudo' not only to MTH, but Lionel, Atlas and others as well.

Kevin 

Thanks for the acknowledgement and information on what's coming.  I hope this will fix the Fixed 2 issue that's been noted in other threads.

Thanks for monitoring the forum and support.

thanks for listening

Clem k

As a new member I just want to thank those dedicated members on this forum who've been helping those in need for many many years without them who knows where we'd be but like my grandpa use to say "who asked you"

Thanks MTH. 

The bell shuts off when you press the horn on android. I think this is a bug.

Possible bug, I've found with my PS2 3v Mohawk with quilable whistle, sometimes you pull the whistle cord and you get nothing.  Have to get to the option page shut of the quilable option or change directions resets it.

Steve Kilmer posted:

Thanks MTH. 

The bell shuts off when you press the horn on android. I think this is a bug.

Steve, this is indeed a bug.  It's a simple fix and should be included in the next update.  If not, then the one after that.  There will be farily frequent updates as you guys find these quirks.  As someone said, this is the nature of the software beast.

superwarp1 posted:

Possible bug, I've found with my PS2 3v Mohawk with quilable whistle, sometimes you pull the whistle cord and you get nothing.  Have to get to the option page shut of the quilable option or change directions resets it.

Hey Gary, this is actually not a bug, just an issue that needs to be understood and handled better in the app.  Let me explain.  The quilable whistle feature is a temporary on/off in the engine.  Each time you shut down (or power down) the engine, the feature is turned off.  However, the "playable whistle" switch in the app remains on.  So, the app is sending quilable whistle commands when the feature is off in the engine.  The result is no whistle.  

Honestly, the playable whistle feature should have been persistent in the engine like so many other features.  Because the thumb wheel on the DCS remote is dual purpose, it had to be done this way.  

So, a change coming in the app is that when you shut down an engine or hard close your app, the playable whistle switch will revert back to off.  At least this way, it should be easier to keep in sync.  In the meantime, you have to sync the engine mode with the app settings.  A nuisance but, once you know what is going on, easy to deal with.

Perfect amount of  detail in explaining the issue.  Thank you, G

MTH RD posted:

superwarp1 posted:

Possible bug, I've found with my PS2 3v Mohawk with quilable whistle, sometimes you pull the whistle cord and you get nothing.  Have to get to the option page shut of the quilable option or change directions resets it.

Hey Gary, this is actually not a bug, just an issue that needs to be understood and handled better in the app.  Let me explain.  The quilable whistle feature is a temporary on/off in the engine.  Each time you shut down (or power down) the engine, the feature is turned off.  However, the "playable whistle" switch in the app remains on.  So, the app is sending quilable whistle commands when the feature is off in the engine.  The result is no whistle.  

Honestly, the playable whistle feature should have been persistent in the engine like so many other features.  Because the thumb wheel on the DCS remote is dual purpose, it had to be done this way.  

So, a change coming in the app is that when you shut down an engine or hard close your app, the playable whistle switch will revert back to off.  At least this way, it should be easier to keep in sync.  In the meantime, you have to sync the engine mode with the app settings.  A nuisance but, once you know what is going on, easy to deal with.

I'll have to play around a little bit but the issue I was having(I think) is when you select quilable whistle during a operation session, I would lose it during that session.   Not leaving it on, shutting everything down and coming back the next day.  Will advise if I turn it on, lose the whistle, and have to reset during the same operation session.

Nice work MTH.  I've seen a software exec smash an egg on his face during a VAR conference after an incredibly bad release.  They worked through the issues, made the corrections and didn't repeat the mistakes.  Turned out OK for them as they later sold to Microsoft for $1B.

I'm in the "sweet" spot with only four engines and the app is working great.

MTHRD,

The bell shuts off when you press the horn on android. I think this is a bug.

It's a simple fix and should be included in the next update.  If not, then the one after that.

Is this Android-specific or has some other selective criteria? I tried, with 3 different engines, to replicate this problem and could not. I even tried it with an engine that has a playable whistle, in both normal and playable modes, and the problem did not appear.

I'm using iOS 9.2 on an iPhone 6.

Hello Barry, I have a 4th Generation I-pad and a Android phone. Both devices have the standard app. The bell only shuts off when I activate the horn using my Android phone. I don't have this issue with my I-pad.............rogerw.

 

The APP is outstanding and very fast. The developer did an excellent job on the graphics and technical workings. The ADD engine is particularly fast; click click and each one goes in.    

I have my WIU coming soon (and a new TIU due to some hardware fault).  I cannot wait to try this out!  Thanks to MTH for this awesome product!  And in defense of the programmers, its nearly impossible to catch EVERY bug in the system!  The sign of a good programmer and company is the actions taken once a bug is discovered by the customers.  MTH is obviously keeping on top of these things and I truly appreciate that!

MTH RD, this post and your participation in the forum is the best public relations move MTH has ever made, and I've been dealing with MTH since Mike Wolf was selling Weaver locos over the counter in his little store in Columbia.  Don't know who made the decision to do it but they are to be congratulated.

Thanks to all for your compliments, understanding and patience.  Especially the compliments.  Just kidding.  It is all appreciated.  Yes, this is a complex system.  More so than most would imagine.  To further complicate things, we are interfacing with the TIU that is pretty much fully matured from a firmware standpoint.  We can't do much outside of what the TIU is capable of.  In time, this too will be addressed.

MTH RD, I'll pass on 3 items, for info (not complaint):

1. I use android.  Pressing horn shuts off bell.

2. I have the fixed 2 powerup problem, by which powering up fixed 2 with my Z4000 (w/ Z4k receiver) moves all locos to inactive list.  I have found this occurs even if I have nothing connected to the Fixed 2 red output terminal.

3. I've been told that pressing the E-stop button requires a long press.  FYI, mine acts immediately.

Hmm... Are you going to be able to fix the regular remote  feature reset at the same time. After 14 years it's changed,

RJR posted:

MTH RD, I'll pass on 3 items, for info (not complaint):

1. I use android.  Pressing horn shuts off bell.

2. I have the fixed 2 powerup problem, by which powering up fixed 2 with my Z4000 (w/ Z4k receiver) moves all locos to inactive list.  I have found this occurs even if I have nothing connected to the Fixed 2 red output terminal.

3. I've been told that pressing the E-stop button requires a long press.  FYI, mine acts immediately.

Thanks RJR.

Yes, the horn turning off the bell, but leaving the bell icon in the "on" state is a known Android bug.  No worries.  Easy to fix.  Will be fixed.

Regarding the fixed 2 power up problem, are you saying that with active engines on fixed 1 simply applying power to fixed 2 makes the engines go inactive or, are you saying once fixed 2 is powered and you hit refresh (read) the engines go inactive?  These are very different and if the latter, the bug fix I've talked about should resolve it.  If somehow just applying power to a channel initiates some communication with the app and makes engines inactive, I'm a little scared.  I just cannot see how that is even possible.  The TIU cannot initiate communication with the app.  Please let me know on this and thanks.

Initially, in beta testing, E-Stop had a longer delay.  I think it was 1 second.  This was done to avoid to avoid accidental E-Stops.  Marty pointed out it was too long and we dialed the delay back to about 250ms or, 1/4 of a second.  Just trying to avoid activating E-stop when a finger brushes it.  In the next release of the app, and I've already played with this, you will be able to turn the E-Stop on and off in the app settings screen.  We added a switch so, if you're a brave soul and want to run without E-stop, you simply turn it off and the red stop sign icon on the main engine control screen disappears.

 

I have one question for MTH, is there any chance this hot fix will be ready for the 23rd? 

This is interesting what MTH RD said about the TIU being at it's firmware limits " In time, this too will be addressed."

Tony_V posted:

I have one question for MTH, is there any chance this hot fix will be ready for the 23rd? 

Sorry, but no.  We just identified the problem and fix yesterday.  Now, we need to do some thorough testing and then, release.  While the app update has nothing to do with the read/add/inactive issues, we have some updates ready for that too.  We will coordinate the release and so, are also impacted by the iOS and Android reviews.  Hopefully, around the end of the month assuming all goes well.

superwarp1 posted:

This is interesting what MTH RD said about the TIU being at it's firmware limits " In time, this too will be addressed."

Please don't read too much into that.  Nothing will happen anytime soon.  The point is, eventually, we will have to address the TIU firmware maturity.  When we do, significant advancements are possible.

I've heard that Super TIU and Lash-ups are supposedly planned for the "Pro" release of the APP.

Our club has five TIU's that run in Super TIU mode on the remotes. We have a router that's connected to a Lionel WiFi and [for now] have five WIU's tied to it to allow members to connect to a single point rather than change WiFi access points when switching between TMCC and DCS. This is what we'd prefer to do as the router's transmission range is much higher.

The Manual says to "slave" the other WIU's to one WIU, but in testing, communication with the locomotive was lost when it moved from one TIU zone to another.

 

Matt,

The Manual says to "slave" the other WIU's to one WIU, but in testing, communication with the locomotive was lost when it moved from one TIU zone to another.

That should be expected. It works just like a remote in Normal TIU Mode.. The DCS engine is only associated with one TIU and, when it leaves that TIU's domain, just like with  the remote no other TIU is sent commands from the app.

MTH RD posted:

Tony_V posted:

I have one question for MTH, is there any chance this hot fix will be ready for the 23rd? 

Sorry, but no.  We just identified the problem and fix yesterday.  Now, we need to do some thorough testing and then, release.  While the app update has nothing to do with the read/add/inactive issues, we have some updates ready for that too.  We will coordinate the release and so, are also impacted by the iOS and Android reviews.  Hopefully, around the end of the month assuming all goes well.

Yup, the fix is always easier than the QA.  I was just asking as I am sure you know there will be a lot of updating going on that day.

Tony

Gregg posted:

Hmm... Are you going to be able to fix the regular remote  feature reset at the same time. After 14 years it's changed,

It's my understanding the feature reset  doesn't work as well with the App???  The custom name  disappears.  Id sticks though.   

I'm glad to see that MTH is working on the up-grade issues. But first I have to get it into my equipment. (See my DCS up grade post for help).

MTH RD, you asked:

Regarding the fixed 2 power up problem, are you saying that with active engines on fixed 1 simply applying power to fixed 2 makes the engines go inactive or, are you saying once fixed 2 is powered and you hit refresh (read) the engines go inactive?  These are very different and if the latter, the bug fix I've talked about should resolve it.

The answer is both.  With regard to the first, it also made locos on Variables 1 and 2, fed from a different transformer, go inactive.  In another thread, which you probably have followed, I posted in 3 posts as follows:

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.

**********

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.

**************

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.

 

The last post in interesting and unexplainable. 

Today I tried again.  I now have 2 wifis hooked up.  Turning fixed 2 on or off did not appear to affect what was active or inactive.

Reading is still a problem, with several issues:

1. A Samsung tablet will not read the locos on TIU#2/slave wifi, but a Samsung S6 phone does. 

2. If read at all, loco ID numbers are always read correctly, but not names.  Sometimes names are on wrong locos or occasionally come up "no name" and occasionally have a question mark after them.

3. Locos in inactive are usually in numerical (by ID#) order, but locos in active never are.

 

You say that the TIU cannot "initiate" comms with the app.  But I assume, it can respond to the app or the read function won't work.  Is it possible that the app sends random queries, or that the TIU "holds" the inquiry and send repeated responses???????

I will update this with any further result I receive.

 

Great information = debugging = Comments and resolutions