Raildriver probs

[RobertM]

Not sure where this subject best goes, but seeing as I'm using my raildriver for Railworks this seemed like the best place.

I'm having one or two problems with my raildriver, for some reason I cant get the brake to the 'released' position on some loco's, such as the 7MT's, I pull the lever all the way back and it gets as far back as 'running', then just done the same thing with some other locos I can get it onto released, but not 100% (or in RW terms 0%). Also, I cant put my reverse into 100% forward on any loco I have tried so far, from steam to diesels, but I can get 100% reverse.

Is there a way of recalibrating the driver controller?

Rob

[dick8299]

Run this program:

C:\Program Files\PI Engineering\RailDriver MWII\RD Calibration\RDcalibration.exe

[FoggyMorning]

Some steam locos have been "fixed" so that you can only move the reverser to +/- 75%

[jimmyshand]

I found the best way to to do it was to delete the icon from your desktop, delete the entire PI Engineering folder from your C drive, you will then have completely removed all the software. If you then unplug the USB, go to the instructions page on the PI website for installing Raildriver in Railworks then start over from scratch. It only takes a few minutes but will enable you to re-calibrate and also it gives you a fresh install of the software in case you've accidentally messed something up.

[artisan]

Run this program:

C:\Program Files\PI Engineering\RailDriver MWII\RD Calibration\RDcalibration.exe

just use the provided calibration software as above it works fine,there should be no need to uninstall anything

[x5pgr]

Well – firstly something of a relief that I am clearly not the only frustrated virtual train driver having this problem!

Like many I deliberated on Raildriver for some time and encouraged by the recent very positive reports I also took the plunge and ordered one which arrived early this week – it is an impressive piece of kit with apparent first class build quality. Unfortunately I have not yet managed to get beyond the end of the station platform. I am on Vista 32.

I am suffering from exactly the same problems as RobertM. Having completed the calibration programme I get the following range of control (with reference to the Railworks HUD (F4)):

Forward/Reverse Control – this records a maximum of 84% in full forward gear, -5% at the neutral position and -100% in the fully reverse position.

Throttle Control – appears to be correct and covers the full range 0% to 100%.

Brake – This records 100% in both the CS and Emergency positions but the minimum ‘fully released’ position is 12% only, in which state of course the brakes are not fully released.

I get these readings on both the HST and Class 47 - haven't tried any other locos.

I note the comments regarding an uninstall/reinstall and have done this but with no difference. In any event you shouldn’t really have to do this as computers tend to either get it right or wrong and then do it consistently.

The calibration process appears to write three files namely Raildriver.def in the RD Calibration folder and ModernController.rdm and ModernCalibration.rdm in the controller sub folder.

The files ModernCalibration.rdm and ModernController.rdm are text files editable in a text editor such as Notepad. Moderncalibration.rdm contains minimum and maximum values for all the controls and is presumably intended to define the limits of their operation. I did wonder if the calibration programme was simply not producing the correct results and whether manually altering these values would make a difference but it is very difficult to no where to start and the few changes I did try did not produce any result.

I have emailed support at both raildriver.com and Just Trains who supplied my Raildriver and a response is awaited.

It will be interesting to see how many others are suffering this problem and hopefully to find a solution – apart from the frustration I am running up a big virtual bill in compensation payments to dissatisfied passengers (sorry I think they’re called customers these days) for late arrivals and cancelled trains!

Peter

[jimmyshand]

Peter, such a shame you are having problems. I have cross-checked my Raildriver controls with F4 HUD also but mine is working fine, all levers work through the full range 0 to 100% in the correct corresponding lever positions. On occasion my system has thrown a wobbly and the controls have not worked properly but only once or twice and a restart has always resolved the issue. I also had a snag once whereby on reloading a saved scenario the control levers went a bit haywire but this has only happened once. As a matter of procedure I always start the game with Raildriver "off" and all controls in neutral but with half lever set on the train brake. When the scenario loads I then switch on Raildriver and all is well. I too am using Vista 32

[jimmyshand]

Peter just as a thought, did you install Raildriver using the instructions and software from the manufacturers website? I think the stuff that comes in the box is only for Railsimulator. The website instructions and drivers/patches are the correct way to install the unit in Railworks

[bigphill2]

Hi Peter
Check your PI Engineering folder for the BLUE original launch icon. Use this version and recalibrate, that may help. Also 10-15% brakes are released, running on steam, try exiting the new

HUD and bring up the old tech Hud.
Phill

[x5pgr]

Here is an update on my Raildriver problems. It was good to see some response from you guys and suggestions – many thanks. Here’s the latest.

I have received a reply from tech support at raildriver.com which suggested a few possible solutions briefly:

i) Recalibrating with ‘bound limits disabled’ – I had previously seen their instructions on how to do this. Tried it with no result.

ii) Tricking the calibration tool by moving the controls back a little from their extreme positions before clicking calibrate. Tried this with no result.

iii) Manually editing the ModernCalibration.rdm file in Notepad – had previously tried this with no result.

It is quite clear that the calibration programme is writing a new ModernCalibration.rdm file to the RD Calibration\controller folder but I was starting to suspect that when Raildriver was actually activated for use this file was not being read – so I closed Raildriver down, deleted the file completely, reactivated Raildriver and started Railworks. The end result was exactly the same so obviously this file was being completely ignored – in effect Raildriver was not calibrated and hence the lack of full range on certain controls. A minor thing called work then intervened but I was determined to crack this so have been looking around again at the files in the Raildriver folder and found a surprise awaiting. There are two copies of both ModernController.rdm and ModernCalibration.rdm. In addition to those in the RD Calibration\controller folder there are further copies in the folder XKeyDevices\Vid05F3Pid00D2 and they are not the same. So I replaced this copy of ModernCalibtration.rdm with the one I had created from the RD Calibration\controller folder, reactivated Raildriver and restarted Railworks.

BINGO! – reverser, throttle and brake controls all now working fine and over their full working range from 0-100%. I have just driven Richard Jennings’ 0517 Great Malvern- Paddington ‘on the controls’ with no problems – great!

It never ceases to astound me how computers constantly amaze and baffle you in equal proportions but hopefully I am now sorted. Oh and by the way don’t forget to run your speaker cable through Raildriver and plug in the mains for a bit of extra Valenta Grunt, not to mention some sensation in the controls – brilliant, or at least it was until SWMBO suggested that the volume could be tuned down a notch. All I need to do now is install Michael’s key definitions and we should really be in business.

Thanks again guys for your input. I am going to send a further email to Raildriver technical support to advise them of what I have found. If I get anything of interest in response I will update you further.

Peter

[Padsterdood]

I too have RailDriver, and as you can probably guess, mine is now back in its box gathering dust. It's fine if you want to drive trains in MSTS or Trainz, but it just doesn't work in RS and RW. I gave up with it a while back now.

Best wishes,
Padster

[jimmyshand]

I too have RailDriver, and as you can probably guess, mine is now back in its box gathering dust. It's fine if you want to drive trains in MSTS or Trainz, but it just doesn't work in RS and RW. I gave up with it a while back now.

Best wishes,
Padster

Sorry mate but you are categorically wrong, Raildriver works perfectly with Railworks providing you have 32 bit Windows. A 64 bit driver is being worked on. I bought a Raildriver at Xmas and I had it up and running perfectly within 10 mins of it arriving at my door and I'm not the most pc savvy of people either. Raildriver has been the best thing I ever bought for any train sim and I would never be without it now. It works seamlessly like a dream with Railworks even for complicated engines like the 101 DMU. If you've got one sat in your loft then you are missing a real trick mate

[j72fan]

jimmyshand wrote

Sorry mate but you are categorically wrong, Raildriver works perfectly with Railworks

I second that, but must add that RailDriver works fine with 64bit Windows systems as well. Sure it requires a little knowledge of Windows file structure to get RailDriver pointing to the correct location of Railworks on your system but there is plenty of information held on this forum under "RailDriver" topics to get both 32 and 64 bit Windows systems working. I have been running Windows 7 64-bit with RailDriver and Railworks for about a year now and it is well worth the effort to get it up and running.

Dave

[OrpheusRocker]

I too have RailDriver, and as you can probably guess, mine is now back in its box gathering dust. It's fine if you want to drive trains in MSTS or Trainz, but it just doesn't work in RS and RW. I gave up with it a while back now.

Best wishes,
Padster

Sorry mate but you are categorically wrong, Raildriver works perfectly with Railworks providing you have 32 bit Windows. A 64 bit driver is being worked on. I bought a Raildriver at Xmas and I had it up and running perfectly within 10 mins of it arriving at my door and I'm not the most pc savvy of people either. Raildriver has been the best thing I ever bought for any train sim and I would never be without it now. It works seamlessly like a dream with Railworks even for complicated engines like the 101 DMU. If you've got one sat in your loft then you are missing a real trick mate

Couldn't agree with you more, Dave.
I'm still trying to get the codes to work for traversing the rake in coupler view but other than that, RD works with every loco I have (very few of which are not British).
I have even made colour-coded button legends

AndyR

[RobertM]

Just got back to this thread, forgot about it due to the Leaminton Show.

Peter, one idea I have (bear in mind I'm new to RD so it may be a bad idea) Matt (NeutonIC) brings his Raildriver to the UKTSLive's, thats pretty much the reason I got one, anyway, he has pretty much chucked out the operating software that came with it and has wrote his own RD tools, might be worth dropping him an email and seeing if he can oblige.

Again, I'm new to this whole area of simming and could be giving bad advice here, Jimmy, what do you say?

Oh, and by the way, for those who order there raildriver from Justtrains, the directory for the calibration tool is:

"C:\Program Files\justtrains\PI Engineering\RailDriver MWII\RD Calibration\RDcalibration.exe"

just for future reference

Robert