Not trying to pick on your wording but it does matter so that we can have a technical conversation.
Engines are either TMCC Command Control or Legacy. That is the 2 basic flavors of command control in Lionel terms.
CAB1 is the old grey remote.
CAB2 is the Legacy 990 remote.
When using the Legacy CAB2 remote, any of the 1-98 engine ID slots can be CAB1, TMCC, R100, or Legacy modes
TMCC engines can accept or use either CAB1 mode (which emulated the numeric icon button only of the original grey CAB1 remote) or TMCC (which changes the numeric buttons to TMCC icons) typically. R100 mode is for specialized engines that support that specific speed control mode.
Only Legacy engines can accept Legacy commands. Sending Legacy commands (even the set button) to a TMCC engine will not be read by the engine. Again, Legacy is a more advanced command format, and TMCC engines do not understand that format and cannot follow any commands sent in this mode. Conversely, Legacy engines are backwards compatible and do receive and can execute TMCC commands.
As such, the CAB2 Legacy system specifically has the following starting rules on a blank fresh database. This is done to ensure the widest baseline compatibility with either TMCC or Legacy equipment.
By default, the CAB2 engine ID slots are in CAB1 mode. Unless a user programs that ID for another engine and changes it from CAB1 mode to something higher, it should be in CAB1 mode when first addressed.
To change a mode of a specific ID, simply hit ENG, then the ID number, then INFO, and use the scroll button to navigate the various tabs. Obviously, do this and change to CAB1 mode if needing to program a TMCC only engine to an ID that was previously used for something else.
