Lionel Universal Remote firmware update

PDDMI posted:

Bill Nielsen posted:

Just wondering if Paul (PDDMI) ever got his second LC Universal Remote to accept the software update, and what the problem was?

Bill in FtL

Bill, I was never able to successfully complete the update and Rudy did make it possible for me to send the LC+ Universal Remote back to Lionel. They were not able to do the upload either and an updated replacement unit was sent to me from Lionel. Apparently there was an issue with just that particular LC+ Universal Remote?

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the reply, glad you got one that is working. How strange that there was just one universal remote that wouldn't update, and that you were the lucky one to get it. Now I wonder what are the possibilities that there are actually two out there that won't update, and that I'll be the lucky one to get #2!

Bill in FtL

A big thank you to Lionel for this Universal Remote firmware update.  I applied the update, and was able to immediately connect to my Polar Express LC locomotive.

Thank you Lionel!

Rudy,

   I want to purchase the new upgraded Universal Remote so I do not need to do any down loading, right now I am having trouble finding a store that has one.  Can you tell me of a store on line, to purchase the new one from.  The new LC+ SD60M Diesel Ken is talking about looks real interesting also.

PCRR/Dave

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Rudy,

   I want to purchase the new upgraded Universal Remote so I do not need to do any down loading, right now I am having trouble finding a store that has one.  Can you tell me of a store on line, to purchase the new one from.  The new LC+ SD60M Diesel Ken is talking about looks real interesting also.

PCRR/Dave

Imperial Train Company has some still I believe. Worth a phone call and I can say without hesitation they are upgraded by yours truly. 

MartyE,

   Contact info for Imperial Train company please!

PCRR/Dave

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

MartyE,

   Contact info for Imperial Train company please!

PCRR/Dave

Hi Dave

Imperial Train Company

450 Penn Lincoln Drive

Imperial, PA

724-695-7552

The website is www.imperialtrainco.net 

Just FYI it's in the process of being rebuilt so it would be best to call as I don't know if everything has been transferred to the new site.

MartyE,

   Tanks much I wanted to make sure I was contacting the right store on the Net, as usual your the best!

Just ordered one of your up Grades via telephone -  Thanks a bunch

PCRR/Dave

Our train store does a lot of repairs on LC product. Customers always forget to bring their remotes. So, we use a LC universal remote (WITH UPDATED FIRMWARE) for testing purposes. 

The update was supposed to make the remote work with everything LC and LC+.  But we can't pair the remote with any LC Polar Express Engines.  We've been through a half-dozen sets out of the box, and the remote just won't pair with that particular engine.  Are there still certain locos that are not compatible?

GregR,

   As far as I was told, the upgraded Universal Remote is suppose to cover all the different LC/LC+ Trains.  This is the 1st I have heard of one that does not run with it.

Might want to contact Rudy direct at Lionel and ask a few questions about the Polar Express Trains and the Universal Remotes.

PCRR/Dave

GregR, I've personally paired the Universal Remote with both the original and 10th anniversary  Polar Express engines.  It works with both. I'm not sure why you are having a different result. If you've tried that many remotes and it won't connect, perhaps there is an issue with the locomotive. If I am reading your post correctly, it seems this locomotive was sent to the repair center without it's original remote. Perhaps that engine doesn't work with its dedicated remote either and that's why it was sent in for service?

Railsounds posted:

GregR, I've personally paired the Universal Remote with both the original and 10th anniversary  Polar Express engines.  It works with both. I'm not sure why you are having a different result. If you've tried that many remotes and it won't connect, perhaps there is an issue with the locomotive. If I am reading your post correctly, it seems this locomotive was sent to the repair center without it's original remote. Perhaps that engine doesn't work with its dedicated remote either and that's why it was sent in for service?

We have unsuccessfully tried pairing the universal remote with about 6 different LC Polar Express Engines.  All of these engines work with their dedicated remotes, but not the universal remote. Conversely, the universal remote works with all other LC and LC+ products.  Our store has another universal remote behind the counter which has been updated. I will try that one. Perhaps we have a unique condition where this specific remote won't play with a certain engine type. Now that our store has sold through last year's supply of PE sets, we are moving into the Bluetooth sets. It will be interesting to see if our remote works with those sets as they get sold and tested. Thanks for you help.

Thanks for that additional information. Please re-test using the Universal Remote with the updated firmware. That will enable the connection to any older/non-Bluetooth locomotive, including the Polar Express original or 10th Anniversary version.

This is how I am using the Universal Remote & Bluetooth

My favorite feature: Speed Limit - This keeps the grandchildren from going to fast.

I do have one clarification question for Rudy Trubitt: Director of Audio for Lionel, LLC. 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

trainroomgary posted:

 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

Using the Bluetooth App, you will have the same control and features on the Legacy engine that you have with a LC+ engine except you cannot vary the pitch of the bell or whistle like you can with the LC+ engines.  It will be like running a LC+ locomotive in every other way.  No Legacy base required.

MartyE posted:

trainroomgary posted:

 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

Using the Bluetooth App, you will have the same control and features on the Legacy engine that you have with a LC+ engine except you cannot vary the pitch of the bell or whistle like you can with the LC+ engines.  It will be like running a LC+ locomotive in every other way.  No Legacy base required.

How do you vary the pitch of the bell or whistle on a LC+ engine?

Davety posted:

MartyE posted:

trainroomgary posted:

 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

Using the Bluetooth App, you will have the same control and features on the Legacy engine that you have with a LC+ engine except you cannot vary the pitch of the bell or whistle like you can with the LC+ engines.  It will be like running a LC+ locomotive in every other way.  No Legacy base required.

How do you vary the pitch of the bell or whistle on a LC+ engine?

When you use the app, push the little speaker control and it brings up a sound sub menu.  There are controls to adjust the sound of the various engine sounds, announcement, bell, and horn/whistle.  There are also controls to vary the whistle / horn pitch and bell tone.

MartyE posted:

Davety posted:

MartyE posted:

trainroomgary posted:

 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

Using the Bluetooth App, you will have the same control and features on the Legacy engine that you have with a LC+ engine except you cannot vary the pitch of the bell or whistle like you can with the LC+ engines.  It will be like running a LC+ locomotive in every other way.  No Legacy base required.

How do you vary the pitch of the bell or whistle on a LC+ engine?

When you use the app, push the little speaker control and it brings up a sound sub menu.  There are controls to adjust the sound of the various engine sounds, announcement, bell, and horn/whistle.  There are also controls to vary the whistle / horn pitch and bell tone.

Thanks for that info, too bad my only LC+ engine doesn't have Bluetooth.

MartyE posted:

trainroomgary posted:

 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

Using the Bluetooth App, you will have the same control and features on the Legacy engine that you have with a LC+ engine except you cannot vary the pitch of the bell or whistle like you can with the LC+ engines.  It will be like running a LC+ locomotive in every other way.  No Legacy base required.

Whoa really?? I had no idea. That's awesome! 

MartyE posted:

trainroomgary posted:

 

The Lionel Signature Catalog: Volume 2, 2017.  All the Legacy Locomotives are being sold with Bluetooth.  Can I place one of these Lionel Legacy Locomotives, with Bluetooth on the track. Not having to have the Legacy System. What are the pros and cons? Just control the Legacy locomotive with the Bluetooth App on my iPhone.

Thanks: Gary

Using the Bluetooth App, you will have the same control and features on the Legacy engine that you have with a LC+ engine except you cannot vary the pitch of the bell or whistle like you can with the LC+ engines.  It will be like running a LC+ locomotive in every other way.  No Legacy base required.

Thanks, Marty. That's it exactly. 

The Pros: Don't have to buy a Legacy command base. Can use the Universal Remote or free smartphone App, both of which are easier to learn when guests visit.

The Cons: Can't access the many other Legacy features built into the locomotive, such as brake squeal, fuel re-filling sounds, preset speed commands, boost, creating a consist of two or more locomotives, just to name a few.

I am still patiently waiting for Lionel to release the Android version of the updater. Has there been any news about this?

Country Joe posted:

I am still patiently waiting for Lionel to release the Android version of the updater. Has there been any news about this?

Still in progress. Can't really say when it'll be ready as we're working through issues with it.

Dave Olson posted:

Country Joe posted:

I am still patiently waiting for Lionel to release the Android version of the updater. Has there been any news about this?

Still in progress. Can't really say when it'll be ready as we're working through issues with it.

Thanks for the response Dave. I don't mind waiting. It's just that I hadn't heard anything about it and I was wondering if it was still in the works.

I use a Mac Book Pro laptop. Can the Universal remote be updated with a Mac?

Just a note:  the Bluetooth phone app can only control one loco at a time.  So if you are planning to use Bluetooth to avoid purchasing the Legacy control system, the phone app limits you to only one loco at a time.   There is another thread discussing this.

Country Joe posted:

Dave Olson posted:

Country Joe posted:

I am still patiently waiting for Lionel to release the Android version of the updater. Has there been any news about this?

Still in progress. Can't really say when it'll be ready as we're working through issues with it.

Thanks for the response Dave. I don't mind waiting. It's just that I hadn't heard anything about it and I was wondering if it was still in the works.

I use a Mac Book Pro laptop. Can the Universal remote be updated with a Mac?

No, you can't update the Universal Remote using a Mac.

Ken-Oscale posted:

Just a note:  the Bluetooth phone app can only control one loco at a time.  So if you are planning to use Bluetooth to avoid purchasing the Legacy control system, the phone app limits you to only one loco at a time.   There is another thread discussing this.

Thanks. I don't have any Legacy locos, just LC+.

Railsounds posted:

Country Joe posted:

Dave Olson posted:

Country Joe posted:

I am still patiently waiting for Lionel to release the Android version of the updater. Has there been any news about this?

Still in progress. Can't really say when it'll be ready as we're working through issues with it.

Thanks for the response Dave. I don't mind waiting. It's just that I hadn't heard anything about it and I was wondering if it was still in the works.

I use a Mac Book Pro laptop. Can the Universal remote be updated with a Mac?

No, you can't update the Universal Remote using a Mac.

Thanks, that is what I thought. I looked in the App Store for the updater but couldn't find it.

Railsounds posted:

Thanks for that additional information. Please re-test using the Universal Remote with the updated firmware. That will enable the connection to any older/non-Bluetooth locomotive, including the Polar Express original or 10th Anniversary version.

@Railsounds 

The remotes on my workbench and in our store have all been programmed to v1.1.

As a repair tech, I get to work on a lot of different LC and LC+ products that come through our train store. The Universal Remote has been a great tool for bench testing trains that arrive missing their dedicated remotes.

However, even after the update, certain engine versions are unresponsive to the Universal Remote.  In my earlier post, I noted incompatibility with early Polar Express LC products. Recently, I have also discovered that some, but not all, versions of the Thomas engine are incompatible. In all cases, these engines work with their dedicated remotes, but do not work with any Universal Remotes, even when upgraded to 1.1.

I wonder if every version of every LC product ever manufactured really got tested.  After all, with the archives gone, how would one accomplish such a feat? 

Thanks for the follow-up, Gregr. I was curious to hear what you found. Are there any visibly identifiable differences in the electronics of a Thomas that does work vs. one that does not? The older RF-style Thomas engines should  all use the same communication channel and communication syntax. It may be frequency drift in a given engine (works with the original remote, but too-far off for the Universal Remote), or as you suggest, there might be some version difference between production runs, although I am not aware of any.

We'd certainly appreciate any further info you could provide.

Thanks,

Pardon me for being stupid, but I can't find the updater in the app store.  I tried every variation of the name and I never found it.  Not being an Apple person, I guess I don't really know for sure what I'm doing wrong, but I sure don't see it.

I sure could use the Android version, I know how to find things on that phone!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Pardon me for being stupid, but I can't find the updater in the app store.  I tried every variation of the name and I never found it.  Not being an Apple person, I guess I don't really know for sure what I'm doing wrong, but I sure don't see it.

I sure could use the Android version, I know how to find things on that phone!

What device are you using?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Pardon me for being stupid, but I can't find the updater in the app store.  I tried every variation of the name and I never found it.  Not being an Apple person, I guess I don't really know for sure what I'm doing wrong, but I sure don't see it.

iPad or iPhone?  If using the iPad make sure you filter it by iPhone and it should appear. Just did it. Search was "Lionel".  On the iPhone it came right up  3rd selection  

Oh, I didn't realize that I had to call the iPad an iPhone!  I'll try that.

Duh, how do I filter?  I don't see that on the iPad.

The first selection at the top of the screen. Yours probably says iPad. It's the blue text under the time on the example above. Tap it and it will drop down with iPhone selection. 

That started it, I do have a question.  Why should it be marked as iPhone only if it works on an iPad?  It's working on the update, don't know how long it takes.

All iPhone apps work on iPad but not all iPad apps work on iPhone. LCS for instance would be terrible on iPhone. It's an apple thing. 

I watched the update video, but on the iPad, you don't get the progress display, at least I didn't.  I went back to see the video again and realized that I just had the status that it was updating, but no percentage counter.  However, it did finally decide I was updated.  I'm doing the update again, and it said I had 1.1, but I thought I'd see if I got the progress display in portrait orientation, but nothing.  I guess that's one of the little picadillos of running in the iPad instead of the iPhone.

Well, I seem to be another unlucky chump who got a unit that flashes and flashes but will not update. So now what? Is there a fix to this, or do I throw it back at my LHS and forget about it?

pdxtrains posted:

Well, I seem to be another unlucky chump who got a unit that flashes and flashes but will not update. So now what? Is there a fix to this, or do I throw it back at my LHS and forget about it?

 

Or contact Lionel and get help.

Yes, I could do that. Or I could ask here in the forum, where two other customers had the same problem. And since it's 9:18 PDT, I thought I'd ask here first. But thanks for the help!