I have a MFX/TGV problem, any help?

[Per Olsen]

Hello.

I have noticed several times that my Marklin TGV does not respond to some commands under WDP.  Sometimes it does not stop at station (continues past the signal at lowest speed, and will not stop), some times it does not reverse direction on command.  Today I was tired of this, and tried to find out what the problem is....

First I changed my controller from TAMS to Intellibox. I started to test the change of direction.  First I did it directly on the controller.  The direction changed correctly EVERY time.  Next I changed the direction with clicking on the direction-control in the small loco-window in WinDigiPet.  The problem showed up at once:  After just a few (1 to 6, mostly) direction-changes, the TGV did not respond.  It "skipped" one command.  Next command could be executed OK, and so on.

This is a problem I need to get solved.  I had some major crashes because the TGV did not change direction as it was supposed to.

I suspect it has something to do with the MFX decoder in the TGV.  By the way, my son has a Marklin Thalys, and the same problem is there.  Or maybe it has something to do with the setup in WDP, as it does work correctly when I use the controller manually.

In WDP I have set it up for MFX.  I also did try Motorola 2 27a/b, but the same there.

Any hints/tips/help?

Best regards,
Per.

[Adrian L]

I have the Thalys.  It is not on my layout at the moment, but I do recall that the train does something before it moves off.  It should stop on a reverse command and then take a few seconds before it moves off again. 

I know that this works well, because my temporary layout is a shuttle service where the Thalys (and other railcar services like the Insider Donald Duck) travels from one end of the layout to the other. So, from my perspective the loco, eCos and WDP work fine in this way.

[Per Olsen]

Hello !

Thank you for your answer.  Well, in my case it does not change direction before moving off, so it goes in the wrong direction.  Only under WDP control.  When I control it directly with the controller, by hand, it always changes direction as it should.  I find it very strange.  Hope somebody has any idea.....  I think it has something to do with MFX, as I do not have this problem (it seems) with other (non-MFX) trains. 

I will continue exploring   

Best regards,
Per.

[Stefan Lersch]

Hi Per,


how did you enter the Thalys in WDP? As mfx or something different?


Have you enabled M3 in the Tams which equals mfx?


Which software version do you run on your Tams?

[Per Olsen]

Hello Stefan !

Answers:
As you can see in my first post: as MFX.
I am not using the TAMS right now, I am trying with the Intellibox (see my first post).  Set as Motorola 2.
Software of the Tams is the newest 1.46 (I think it is still the newest..)

I tested some more today.  When WDP is up and running, I can easy change direction ALWAYS with the controller itself.  It newer fails.  But when clicking on the direction-change on the Loko in the Lokleiste, it fails very often.  The symbol for the direction DOES change (from "up" to "down" or vice versa) but the TGV does not actualle change direction.  When I start it, it runs the wrong way, opposite whet the indicator in the Lokleiste shows.  And that is also what happens when running a Tour Automatic:  Sometimes it does not change direction, even if it says so in WDP.  So I have a crash....

Any good ideas/suggestions?

Best regards,
Per.

[Stefan Lersch]

Hi Per,

the Intellibox doesn't support mfx! You have to set either Motorola 2 in WDP for the Thalys as you did in the Intellibox or change back to the Tams. But there you have to use M3 which is the same as mfx.

[Per Olsen]

Hi again.

As I said earlier, I DID try with Motorola in WDP and IB.  Same happened.

Per.

[Stefan Lersch]

Hello Per,

sorry, I misunderstood you twice. I have no experience with the IB nor with Motorola. But you can try a different Motorola type. Is it necessary to link the loco between WDP and the IB? If yes did you do so?

I would try it with M3 and the Tams.

[Per Olsen]

Hi again, Stefan.

Where is M3 in TAMS?  I checked, I found no M3 protocole in the TAMS.  I have version 1.4.6.  Where is it ?

Best regards,
Per.

[Stefan Lersch]

Hi Per,

M3 is the equivalent of Tams to mfx. It is there but disabled. You have to enable it first. (That's a so called easter egg because it's hidden.) I think you understand a little German? Have a look here: http://www.windigipet.de/foren/index.php?topic=69035.msg148785#msg148785

If you don't understand it let me know and I will translate it.

[Per Olsen]

Hi.

Why is it hidden?  Is there a risk involved?
I will try to read your link....

Regards,
Per

[Markus Herzog]

Hi Per,

Maerklin seems not to want others to implement MFX and Maerklin seems not to give anyone the required informations to do this. So I think the m3 stuff in den Tams MC is something like back-engineered. Maybe the most important argument for hidding might be, that it is inofficial feature for Tams, because if Maerklin would change MFX in the future in a radical way, the m3 stuff might not work any more with the MFX decoders of Maerklin.

By defining m3 as hidden inoffical feature no constumer can insist on this feature if Maerklin changes MFX and so on.

By the way, 1.4.6 is the current official release of the Tams firmware, but here you can find the beta 1.4.6m:
http://www.tams-online.de/htmls/SoftwareEasycontrol.html

Since 1.4.6 there have been made many enhancements in the Tams firmware and I know very many people using 1.4.6m, that I would suggest to install 1.4.6m.

Regards
Markus

[Per Olsen]

Thank you, Markus.

I found in "Handbuch_2012" in section 5.5.1 page 142 some interesting info.  So I did as it was described, I changed ALL MFX-locos in the database from MFX to Motorola 2 27b.  But the problem is still the same (on the IB, I wil try again with the TAMS tomorrow).

By the way, why is this section not in the English manual?

I will try to upgrade to 1.4.6m tomorrow.

Regards,
Per.

[Per Olsen]

Hi again.

Just to make one thing clear:  If I choose to NOT install M3 (MFX), should not all locos work perfect with Motorola 2 27b if all locos are set to this?  None set to MFX?  I mean, I know there will be only F0-F4 available, and not 128 speed-steps, but what else is there to loose? 

If the answer to this is that MM 2 27b should work ok, then I do have a problem.  As described before, the MFX locos work perfect when controlled from the TAMS manually (even with WDP running), but controlling from WDP is not perfect.  So I am still lost, what is the problem?

(By the way, is it MM2 27a or 27b I should use for MFX-locs?  I find both in different docs... What is the difference between a and b?)

Best regards,
Per.

[Markus Herzog]

Hello Per,

some points:

• For the Intellibox and the Tams MC there is no difference which decoder type you select in the vehicle database for normal operation. In the interface commands Win-Digipets always talks with these digital system using 128 speed steps. The digital system itself recalcs the speed steps and generates the data format (depending on the setting for the according address in the digital system itself). The selected digital format is for the Tams only relevant when you select to transfer this to the Tams using the vehicle database.
• As consequence of point 1, Win-Digipet has no influence wether some kind of decoder work correct or not with the Tams or the IB1. Because as stated Win-Digipet just says loco x, speed step y, direction z. So if there is a problem with some kind of decoders, you will have to search in direction of the digital system. Therefor I suggested to update the Tams MC to 1.4.6m.
• For the first Märklin MFX decoders manufactured by ESU Motorola 27b would have been the correct format. The newer ones produced by Märklin themselve (I think these are also installed in the Thalys and TGV) support as far as I know Motorola 27a. This also one reason for skipping this section in the english manual (written later than the german), because you can give not exact answer to the decoder settings question for MFX decoders.
• I use the Thalys as well as the TGV with m3 and Tams 1.4.6m without any problem.
• m3/mfx is much faster regarding transmission as Motorola, espacially faster as Motorola 27a, which needs to speed pakets for the uneven speed steps.

Regards
Markus