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"Ghost" Engine Adds

S SJCOGR Forum Member

Another question....was adding/deleting engines in my remote on my oval of track. Oval of track runs on around a 4x8 table. No switches, other tracks, etc. Software is 4.01 which I know has an issue with adding engines but still wanted to ask. Sometimes if I add an engine, it will add fine. Other times it will go to Check Track and get a "ghost" engine with address, etc but no name, numbers, etc on the screen. Delete and re-add will clear it up. Tethering doesn't work all the time either. Track signal is 10s and track is clean. Occurs with PS2 and PS3 engines. Any particular causes?

Last edited by SJC
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S SJCOGR Forum Member

Thanks Barry. Enjoyed your York seminar By the way. Very informative. Always something new to learn with this system. 

 

Only reason I asked was I never recall the getting check track and the "ghost" engines adding. Just check track and/or no engine to add. 

 

Would you recommend going to 4.30 now or waiting until 4.31? I thought 4.31's release to the public was imminent based on the forum chatter. 

Last edited by SJC
Barry BroskowitzBarry BroskowitzOGR Forum Member MEMORIALIZED MEMBER

I'm glad that you enjoyed the seminar.

 

If you aren't funning in Super TIU mode, there's really little reason to not upgrade to 4.30 now. The only bugs in Normal TIU mode are minor.

 

I expect that we'll see DCS 4.31 before the end of the year, however, I don't have any real insight into, let alone control of, the development schedule.

Last edited by Barry Broskowitz
Barry BroskowitzBarry BroskowitzOGR Forum Member MEMORIALIZED MEMBER

John,

 

There are 2 bugs in 4.30 that were "ugly", both of which are in Super mode only.

 

Fortunately, the really ugly big in 4.30 is so rare that I only know of it occurring 3 times. That bug is fixed in the current 4.31 beta. The other "big bad bug" is that when smoke is toggled on or off, sometimes engine lights will go off. That is correctable via a Feature Reset.

 

There are 5 or 6 other bugs that are in 4.30, two of which are corrected in the 4.31 beta. The remaining 4.31 bugs pertain mainly to lashups and their settings. There's also one "nice to have" item for which I'm lobbying.

 

If one is running with one TIU, or with multiple TIUs in Normal TIU mode, 4.30 is by far a better release than 4.20.

 

rtr12rtr12OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Originally Posted by SJC:

Another question....was adding/deleting engines in my remote on my oval of track. Oval of track runs on around a 4x8 table. No switches, other tracks, etc. Software is 4.01 which I know has an issue with adding engines but still wanted to ask. Sometimes if I add an engine, it will add fine. Other times it will go to Check Track and get a "ghost" engine with address, etc but no name, numbers, etc on the screen. Delete and re-add will clear it up. Tethering doesn't work all the time either. Track signal is 10s and track is clean. Occurs with PS2 and PS3 engines. Any particular causes?

Have you got a break in your center rail somewhere on your 4x8 loop? The reason I ask is that adding that helped me eliminate Check Track errors on my temp layout a while back. Although I did have 4.20 on my small temp layout, this seemed to solve the check track problem I was having occasionally. May not help, but might be worth a try.

 

This was just a passing thought, as I don't know the versions (or the DCS system) like Barry or GRJ do. I would yield to them for any advice offered also. I got that idea for my temp layout from reading Barry's book about the blocks. I am working on my permanent layout now and have it all blocked per 'the book' (still have 4.20) and everything is working perfectly except for occasional operator errors.

Last edited by rtr12
S SJCOGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by rtr12:
Originally Posted by SJC:

Another question....was adding/deleting engines in my remote on my oval of track. Oval of track runs on around a 4x8 table. No switches, other tracks, etc. Software is 4.01 which I know has an issue with adding engines but still wanted to ask. Sometimes if I add an engine, it will add fine. Other times it will go to Check Track and get a "ghost" engine with address, etc but no name, numbers, etc on the screen. Delete and re-add will clear it up. Tethering doesn't work all the time either. Track signal is 10s and track is clean. Occurs with PS2 and PS3 engines. Any particular causes?

Have you got a break in your center rail somewhere on your 4x8 loop? The reason I ask is that adding that helped me eliminate Check Track errors on my temp layout a while back. Although I did have 4.20 on my small temp layout, this seemed to solve the check track problem I was having occasionally. May not help, but might be worth a try.

 

This was just a passing thought, as I don't know the versions (or the DCS system) like Barry or GRJ do. I would yield to them for any advice offered also. I got that idea for my temp layout from reading Barry's book about the blocks. I am working on my permanent layout now and have it all blocked per 'the book' (still have 4.20) and everything is working perfectly except for occasional operator errors.

I've got a break in the loop but still get the double softkey commands (really only on PS2, PS3 rarely double softkey commands) and add engine can, sometimes, be really a bear. I dropped my TIU and Remote off at my dealer to get updated to 4.3....should pick it up tomorrow. Go figure, when I broke all the "DCS commandments" on my old layout, never a repeating soft key command, or anything. 

Last edited by SJC
rtr12rtr12OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Originally Posted by SJC:
Originally Posted by rtr12:
Originally Posted by SJC:

Another question....was adding/deleting engines in my remote on my oval of track. Oval of track runs on around a 4x8 table. No switches, other tracks, etc. Software is 4.01 which I know has an issue with adding engines but still wanted to ask. Sometimes if I add an engine, it will add fine. Other times it will go to Check Track and get a "ghost" engine with address, etc but no name, numbers, etc on the screen. Delete and re-add will clear it up. Tethering doesn't work all the time either. Track signal is 10s and track is clean. Occurs with PS2 and PS3 engines. Any particular causes?

Have you got a break in your center rail somewhere on your 4x8 loop? The reason I ask is that adding that helped me eliminate Check Track errors on my temp layout a while back. Although I did have 4.20 on my small temp layout, this seemed to solve the check track problem I was having occasionally. May not help, but might be worth a try.

 

This was just a passing thought, as I don't know the versions (or the DCS system) like Barry or GRJ do. I would yield to them for any advice offered also. I got that idea for my temp layout from reading Barry's book about the blocks. I am working on my permanent layout now and have it all blocked per 'the book' (still have 4.20) and everything is working perfectly except for occasional operator errors.

I've got a break in the loop but still get the double softkey commands (really only on PS2, PS3 rarely double softkey commands) and add engine can, sometimes, be really a bear. I dropped my TIU and Remote off at my dealer to get updated to 4.3....should pick it up tomorrow. Go figure, when I broke all the "DCS commandments" on my old layout, never a repeating soft key command, or anything. 

I never had the double soft key commands that I can remember, just got the check track message a lot and also had trouble adding engines at times. Then they would sometimes give me the 'check track' error the next time I turned on the system. My new layout is far from finished, but is working really well so far. I tried to follow all the rules this time. It's only about 2 months old though. Hopefully the update will solve your problems and you will be operating properly again soon. Good luck.

S SJCOGR Forum Member

Quick update - picked up my newly updated TIU and Remote from my dealer today. Updated to 4.30. I think the last time it was updated was at least 5 years ago, whenever 4.01 came out. Anyway, he cloned the remote but I promptly deleted every engine in it to test the add engine function. While I have 2 PS2s out for repair, every other engine added the first time and I didn't need to reach for the phone cord. I never updated sooner since it was such a PITA to pull the TIU from the layout but it appears this time it was well worth it. Glad I finally made the move. 

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