ok after deleting evrything and reinstalled it all. ive narrowed down the problem.. it seems that if one loco stalls out IE dirty part of track then i lose all function of that loco plus the others. i can turn the power button off and the locos are still running at what ever speed they were set to ... why is is doing that.? also happens when i forget to set a turn out back and the locos short at that spot same exact thing happens . then i reset the pi4 and all is well again till the next time a loco hits a dirty spot on the track.....
It sounds more like a short to me vs. a dirty spot. If there is a short anywhere the DCC++EX Command Station is going to shut down until it is resolved. It will keep trying to restore power. It isn't like a breaker has been thrown and you have to reset it. As soon as the short is resolved all the locos controlled by it will go back to the speed they were at. If a loco stalls because of a short the power goes off. One might think it is dirty track and push it a little and it takes off since the power comes back on at that moment giving them the impression that it was dirty track. Also not all the equipment might be causing the problem. Does this happen with the same loco or a similar one? Does this happen in the same section of track? Is it a straight section or a turnout? The other thing that leads me to believe there is a short is the comment about the turnout. I'd suggest that the next time it happens test the track voltage. If it is zero then there is a short going on and not dirty track that is causing the problem. Sumner
i dunno about a short . i know that i cannot regain control of the locos all of them untill i unplug the power then plug power back it. As far as turn outs it dont matter with of the 25 turn outs . two locos are the problem locos with dirty track the 2 sw2's kato and bachmann. all the other locos run fine around the same spots ( i think) ill have to check them. testing for a short Humm ...ill check that out ..... i question why when i turn the power button off on jmri screen nothing happens except everything freezes up and i can not do nothing except unplug all power....ill try the track power test for sure..... my other question is when i turn on power IE plug in the power strip all the locos run and pi4 jmri along with the arduino are not even turned on yet..??? those locos should not be running at all. all of them except the sw2's run . Thank you...maybe ill post a video of what exactly is going on so y'all can see what im seeing......
Good idea and also maybe list all the components you are using for the command station and power supplies. I'm also assuming that this is the latest version of DCC++EX. Other option is also posting this with their Discord group where they trouble shoot and are also working on DCC++EX.... https://discord.com/invite/PuPnNMp8Qf Use the 'Accept Invite' button. The guys there can give you better info than I can. A couple of them post here so maybe they will also see this. Sumner
well ive decided to separate all the components. now i just have Arduino hooked up to my main computer windows 11 and every thing works just fine and i think even better as all my locos are running at a crawl speed and when i shut down each one they stay exactly where i shut them down on the track. ive been playing with it this way for hrs and not one lil hiccup yet. so now im to believe the PI4 is the culprit something in that is corrupting. im gunna try to load just raspberry os and nothing else then load jmri separate and see if that does the trick. here is the componets im running=== PI4 4 gig,,,Arduino mega, deeks motor shield, key board for PI4,, logi ball mouse,, 10 inch screen and loaded up steves jmri image onto PI4 and dcc++ex on the Arduino... so far with out the PI4 and just the Arduino im having O problems actually i think the locos are running better with out the PI4......even my nw2's are running great and they have never run great.. for now im just running Arduino and my main PC JMRI. got some more experimenting to do with PI4 im ditching steves JMRi set up and make my own.....raspberry OS and JMRI separately installed . Im trying to edit video but now having any luck. now i need a wifi shield for Arduino got any ideas for one of those?
Sounds like you are making progress. I'm wondering how you are running the locos without the PI since it is the Wi-Fi connect point for the wireless throttle? Do you get the locos running using the Pi and JMRI and then just unplug the Pi and then have no throttle control but the engines run at the speed they were at before you unplugged the Pi? Do you have another Pi? I have a few from my boating days when I used one as a chart plotter on the boat. If you have a second one I'd put a new Steve's image file on it and see if that makes a difference and rule out the current Pi or not. I'm using an older one of his image files and haven't had any problems. I just setup another Mega with a Pi4 that I had and will use his latest version on it. Also you can go back to previous versions if you suspect something is not working with the one you have.... https://enginedriver.mstevetodd.com/downloads While I was researching this I did find that, at least in the past and maybe now also, there is an option to have momentum set to different parameters (in regards to a previous post in this thread I believe). Look to see if you have a 'Pause' button showing on your screen. If you do that turns it on/off... On Wi-Fi I'd go with the recommended shield... I have the shield in the video but haven't tried it yet. It will fit into the case I've designed ( HERE ) but the jumpers present a problem space wise so I recently bought a Mega that has Wi-Fi built into the board ( HERE ) so that I wouldn't have to deal with the added height of another shield. I haven't tried it yet so not sure it is going to work easily. Sumner
video #1 sumner im running the Arduino from my main pc and it works fine with no problem but when running from pi4 i get problem as stated. Quote: Do you get the locos running using the Pi and JMRI and then just unplug the Pi and then have no throttle control but the engines run at the speed they were at before you unplugged the Pi?) no i just took out the pi4 completely and run Arduino from my main pc... video # 2
i ordered an Arduino with wifi built in . im still messing with the pi4 and have not had any results yet....im intrigued by this for some reason , normally my patience would have the better of me and i would have tossed the whole sha bang. but i want to know why this is giving me the problem it is. as long as i dont use the pi4 everything works great (maybe the pi4 is bad ???)
Thanks for posting the videos. In the first video I could see what looks like a second throttle to the left. What was it showing track power wise for it? I notice the one we see shows the track power as yellow which usually indicats that throttle never turned on the track power so I would think it wasn't ever controlling the train. I'm believe that the throttles (at least my phone one does) come on with the power indicator as yellow. Then it will go to green when on and red when off and never back to yellow again. If so that indicates it never controlled the train or the track power and the train was being controlled but another throttle. Also since it doesn't show red it isn't indicating that the track power is off either. Interesting situation and glad you are pursuing it. I'm sure we will learn something from that, Sumner
I would use Steve Todd's Raspberry Pi OS image for model railroading. It has JMRI, etc. already installed, with desktop icons for DP (programming) and PP (running). It should auto-start PP on power up, with the WiFi running a stand-alone network access point. He has simple instructions for switching it to connect to your existing WiFi if you want. You will have to setup PP and DP to communicate with your DCC setup.
thanks Big Jake i was using steves image on the pi. some how it got corrupted . i have been running his software this whole time. all was working great untill i started shutting down everything then i had locos running wild sumner they (red , yellow buttons never turned green or red just yellow. I could get this very consistently too once i saw locos stalling. as far as throttles yes i had three throttles running three different locos ( i normally run 3 to 4 locos at a time )... this evening i was having a dickens of a time try to install jmri on just the pi os, (i gave up in frustration ) so then i told my self to wipe the sd cards clean and reinstall steve todds jmri setup again , LOW and Behold everything is working back to normal sorta. ( last engine run starts twitching when i shut down everything ) but when i hit the green power button it turns to red and everything lose's power (loco wise ) then i shot down the pi via the 10 inch screen buttons on rear and that in turn shuts down the pi4 and arduino . now when i turned everything back on WALA everything is running just great.. NOW what the in the world is going on??? this leads me to a corrupt system on steve todds first in stall ,,,Witch has me thinking that #1 i had the older file installed and with the arduino files current that the newer steve file has fixed the issues...... i got a head ache... but for now its all working like it should even the wifi throttle.... i wonder if my shut down procedure before caused some of these isues (i would just unplug the darn thing from the outlet ) its all very weird to me . the nw2 has stalled on a back stretch straight away (very dirty spot i missed ) and everything was still running great......ill keep playing for a few days and if all go right ill get back to building and painting. one thing for sure if any bady can screw this up its me i wonder if there is a certain shut down procedure ? (me thinking out loud )
Does the manner in which you shutdown use a linux shutdown command before you remove power? If not, then shutting down in your manner can occasionally corrupt the filesystem and fail to boot up later. Even if you are not doing anything, the Linux system is constantly doing things in the background. There are multiple ways to accomplish the proper shutdown, some including a simple mechanical pushbutton (followed by removing power). I'm sure there are many users who have never properly shut down their R-Pi's (they just simply removed power), and never suffered from it, but eventually that snake will bite. There are apps for smart phones that will do it, as well as just VNC in from your phone or other computer to use the shutdown menu command via the GUI. Then and only then is it safe to remove power.
Note the R-Pi model 400 (computer-in-keyboard) has a dedicated key that initiates Linux shutdown when pressed. It also happens to be the only R-Pi model that is currently readily available...
well darn its started doing that all over again. its definitely the pi4 and steve todds image causing the problem. every time i forget to change a switch and a loco hits it i get the yellow button and i can not control any locos. so i shut down everything and the locos retain that memory now and they run with out imput, but ive noticed its always on last loco run.. so for now good by pi4 and ill just run my lay out from my main computer . 4 times in a row i can duplicate the same response .. something in his image is and or gets corrupt when the locos short out . but for some reason when im on my windows computer i can not get that same thing .....i went to that discord site , but that place is a funny farm i have no clue how use it. ... i think for now its good by pi4 .........nothing but problem with that.... how ever the Arduino part works just fine as long as im on a windows machine.....man i really liked the phone throttle too.....now im just pissed 3 days of same thing and i had thought i was getting someplace too...
If a short happens the command station is going to cut power but will keep trying to reinstate power with DCC++EX. When the short is fixed and if the command station hasn't been turned off I would expect all the trains to go back to running at the same speed they were running regardless of what the JMRI throttle is indicating. Not sure why it is working one way with the Pi computer and another way with the other computer. Hopefully someone smarter will reply. I believe you have a keyboard/mouse and monitor connected to the Pi. If so use the Pi menu to the left of the JRMI screens that are up and go to shutdown there. As Andy has mentioned I'd shut the Pi down like that, what I do. Then I turn the power strip that has the power supplies to the Command Station and Pi connected to it. If you only shut the Pi down and not the Command Station I would expect the Command Station to still be controlling the trains at the last throttle setting/direction they had been running at with either the WiThrottle (phone) or using JMRI's screen throttle. The Command Station is still running and controlling the trains waiting for instructions if it has never been turned off. I'd reinstall the image file and shut down before turning the power off unless you just want to use the Windows computer. I like the fact that I've got a $35 dollar computer controlling the layout with JMRI on it . For anyone else reading this and considering the Pi/JMRI/DCC++EX option the problems Sid is having aren't common to my knowledge. Sumner
sumner ive tried that shut down procedure and i still have same results. i dont know why this is happening to me an nobody else. i mean i can very much duplicate this every time.. ive left a message in that discord place hope somebody can help me figger out what is going on... has any of you running this system shorted out your track and had similar effects if not would some try that an tell the result....im really trying to make this work, but at this rate im ready to give up and just use my windows computer (witch has presented me with another problem of getting my phone to work with that) the Arduino works great i just cant get the pi4 to play nice........ EDIT: i finally got the phone throttle working on windows .... man there is not much info out there for that... i would post how to except i cant remember what i did
I just ran my test track with 2 loco's running at the same time. Running a Pi3 with an older image file from Steve (probably at least a year old one). An Arduino Uno/motorshield combo with probably a 9+ month old version of DCC++EX. JMRI on the Pi using an Android phone throttle (EngineDriver--also older version) controlling the two engines. Receptively shorted the track. The engines would stop and start again as soon as I removed the short without me doing anything and the phone throttle was still in control of both engines. Later today maybe tomorrow I'll try and use a newer version of DCC++EX on a Mega, Sumner
SOMETHING told me to try an older version so i did.. results are>>>>>>> i just installed and older version RPI-JMRI.20220113 and that is working great so far and i shorted the track out and all trains stopped but as soon as i fix the short everything went back to normal.. ill give this a whirl for a few hrs and short out some locos here an there to see if the dcc++ex is the problem......
ok so with the help of steve todd we have resolved my problems..... #1 i was powering the pi4 from the 10 inch monitor i have hooked up. The FIX was getting the pi4 its own power (ie a power brick for the pi4 ) so far ive shorted out the system 4 times and all is normal now like its supposed to be... SO BIG THANK YOU to Steve and all for help. apparently the 10 inch monitor can not feed enough power to the pi4 even though i have lots of power feeding it (ie 12 volts @ 12 amps ) i left the Arduino hooked up via usb power and the pi4 on its own power and that seems to work pretty good so far..... 3 locos running and i shorted one out all is fine now.........YEEEEEEEE im glad this is over it was bugging the u know what out of me...
ok new update that didnt work it just went coplow now it wont evn boot up Im done with this.. going to use the one that worked.. back to the old
