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I picked up a nice ps3 premier steamer that was basically new but had no tender or engine boards I had a railking ps3 steamer I decided to use as a donor and everything plugged in and worked I loaded up the proper sound file and that worked perfect. Then i noticed the firebox light did not work. Knowing the railking donor did not have that I downloaded the chain file for the premier engine and loaded it followed by a reload of the sound file. Firebox lights worked and it ran fine but the sounds went crazy with random bell whistle electronic beeps and static! I went back to the railking chain file and premier sound and that fixed it but lost firebox lights. Is there a way to make the right chain file work or should I just stop while I’m ahead?

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What was the item number for the RK steam locomotive you removed the boards from and also the item number of the Premier locomotive the sound/chain files are from? There is an issue with older PS3 chain files not working with some later EMI boards. That might be the case here, so the item numbers will help us determine that.

Last edited by Lou1985

Something is clearly amiss with either the files, the equipment being used to load them, or the technique used for loading.

Not to say there haven't been a one or two corrupt sound files posted, a few months ago we ran across one that corrupted the boards so bad we had to send them back to MTH for reprogramming the boot loader!  A friend that's also an ASC initially bricked several boards, so he came over and we bricked one of mine.  That's when we knew it wasn't the equipment, the load procedure, but really the file.  That's the only time I've encountered that, and I hope not to see it again!

@NYCBuffalo posted:

The mix of rk chain and premier sound works. Using premier chain and premier sound cause big sound issues

@NYCBuffalo posted:

Yeah I was surprised too. I definitely put the railking chain back on followed by premier sound to make it work. If the premier chain file is corrupt that would explain it. I will get both loco product numbers when I have a chance.

so your blanket statement that people might read as a problem with all MTH files is based on one sound file?

It would be nice in the future if you posted that with your statement.

Since this is a sound file that doesn't brick the board, you might convince someone to load it into a different locomotive or take your locomotive to another location and load it there with different equipment.

I've found that loading PS/3 files using pure DC to power the TIU and also including 25-30 feet of lead between the TIU and your locomotive or testset with the boards makes for more reliable loading.  For mine I use a bench DC supply to power the TIU.  This is also how MTH configures their test benches at the factory, or at least they did when I was there.

I've found that loading PS/3 files using pure DC to power the TIU and also including 25-30 feet of lead between the TIU and your locomotive or testset with the boards makes for more reliable loading.  For mine I use a bench DC supply to power the TIU.  This is also how MTH configures their test benches at the factory, or at least they did when I was there.

Not sure it actually helps, but I twist my leads too.  Since it’s carrying a signal I figure it might help reduce noise.  

After a load you need to cycle the board power on and off to get the chain and SF in sync.  Many times a board will emit weird sounds after a load, until the full power cycle.  I have never seen any issue or warning about RK versus PR chain files.  Most of the code is the same, it is the engine specific Hardware that is different.

Now there is always a possibility of difference between years possibly.  But MTH has continually been upgrading/refining the flash codes on these.  G

Hi all. I had time tonight to work on it again. I did a new program setup with a 3ft piece of track, tiu and a dc transformer feeding fixed in 1. I loaded the premier chain which loaded ok but warned a few times about writing a code block. I hit retry a couple times at the prompt and it seemed like it was ok and said finished successfully. I powered off for 2 min then on. Ran fine and sound was fine but no markers, no firebox lights and no smoke but headlight ok. I reloaded the premier sound file and that was fine no warnings. Shut off all power again 2 min. Ran and sounded fine but still only headlight worked no markers, firebox light or smoke.
smoke and markers did work originally with the initial railking chain and premier sound but since I started messing with chain files I can’t get them back.
I might have my Mth repair tech look next as I feel stuck.

You say "DC Transformer", but what you really need is pure DC from a real DC supply.  If you're using something like an HO transformer, some of them are pretty noisy electrically, and would likely be worse than AC.  Second best is a pure sine wave AC transformer, they seem to work as well as my DC bench supply.

If you're getting errors and retries on writing the FLASH or sound files, I'd adjust the setup and load them again.

The Morse code is when the chain files change, if they're the same as previous loaded, you won't hear it.  Also, when you power down after loading the chain file, you need to wait until you hear the code, usually 15-20 seconds.  If you don't hear it within a minute, it's not coming.  The flashing lights can happen on power-up, but only very briefly.

Again thank you all for the help. I burned the midnight oil last night and happy to report it is all working now!



I setup with my filtered dc power supply, tiu, remote and computer and my 3ft straight section. Loading the premier chain file, I got a few retry prompts on some sectors and finally got to one it would not get past. I swapped to my layout tiu which is rev h (idk what rev my bench tiu is it’s not labeled) this went much better. I got maybe 3 retry prompts total but the retry worked the first time on each. After load I shut it down, waited 60 sec with no track power then powered up. The backup light did a blink sequence then I got sounds lights and smoke! I power cycled for 1 min again, no more blinking backup light when power applied and everything worked perfect. I did not load the sound file again as it all looked good.
thanks again everyone!!!

@NYCBuffalo posted:

Again thank you all for the help. I burned the midnight oil last night and happy to report it is all working now!



I setup with my filtered dc power supply, tiu, remote and computer and my 3ft straight section. Loading the premier chain file, I got a few retry prompts on some sectors and finally got to one it would not get past. I swapped to my layout tiu which is rev h (idk what rev my bench tiu is it’s not labeled) this went much better. I got maybe 3 retry prompts total but the retry worked the first time on each. After load I shut it down, waited 60 sec with no track power then powered up. The backup light did a blink sequence then I got sounds lights and smoke! I power cycled for 1 min again, no more blinking backup light when power applied and everything worked perfect. I did not load the sound file again as it all looked good.
thanks again everyone!!!

You need good track signal to load a file. I'm wondering if the sector problem was actually a loss of signal during the load?

You actually state that it went better with another TIU.

If using an older TIU, even with a short test track for loading, a good bulb or Susan's filter maybe needed to get optimum signal strength.

Most of the TIUs are identified on the bottom as far as I know. Maybe there's exceptions?

Anything other than a newer version "L", may need a filter for optimum signal.

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