When someone attains a new puter - what happened to their last one?
Heres a way you can solve your problem without further driver searching. Get a used PC with specs similar to the puter that had your LOK program on it - the last time it worked perfectly.
The benefits are:
You still have the current puter with Win11 - use this one for surfing the electronic sewer.
The second puter can be set back up like you had it when LOK worked last. Or with alterations…
“YOUR” puter - “YOUR” choice.
If you can keep it from connecting to the electronic sewer you will never have to worry about it forcably “updating” and wrecking YOUR puter with choices made for you by some millenial who couldnt program his way out of a pay toilet!
Can be done as cheap as “free” to as much as you really wanna spend on getting a puter specifically for your trains (this is NOT a bad idea!)
PMR
PS: The last time I bought a puter was last year at Goodwill no doubt! $12.12 “as is” for a laptop - no batt and no brick. I had those though. Its my throw-away now. Sometimes i use it here, doing the same things
Speaking of older machines, i’m a bit of a gamer and missed some of the really old games so got a computer to play them (we are talking back as far as 95), didn’t last long, guess I got spoiled with todays graphics.
While I totally get “Save the old heck with the new” mentality but to me…as big of company and into tech as ESU is…I shouldn’t have to “dumb down” or run 15 year old systems because of issues with the software. To me that’s just lame. So while that is an option as I still have my system I built in 2013 running fine, it’s also unacceptable as a consumer and feel Loksound needs to step up.
I never heard back from them as I was told “if it’s in our forums we won’t answer” type response. So I’ve been all over their forums for a week or two and still don’t have a solution.
Which sucks because I’ve got some new locos coming in August that will need some tweaking and I need to get it running on my laptop so I can make adjustments in the shop vs my office!
Both Windows 10 and windows 11 have something call driver signature enforcment. This is a way to for Microsoft to control which drivers are deemed “legitimate”. If you have signed drivers then windows will install the drivers automatically. For the most part drivers for larger manufacturers (think HP, Dell, Epson, etc.) will install with driver enforcment enabled. For smaller manufacturers, the cost of getting the drivers signed is enormous and not worth the hassle. Windows will not install the drivers correctly unless driver signature enforcement is turned off. LocProgrammer and many hobby electronics don’t have signed drivers and will not install correctly until this driver enforcement is disabled. The original drivers are probably correct but windows blocked them from being installed.
This articale will show you how to disable driver signature enforcement on windows 11.
I think a point most seem to be missing here, is that it looks like you did not just update from Windows 10 to 11, but hardware wise, as in it’s a new machine.
I just ran into a similar issue with a new laptop that I got, when using my BLI programmer. It would seldom work, where I had the driver loaded, it showed in there as the USB/Serial adapter, a COM port, but the software would not talk to it. I knew it was not a Windows 11 thing, because it worked on my old laptop, which I had upgraded from 10 to 11, and after I got the new one, the old one I reformatted and installed 11 fresh on it, and the software worked just fine.
In the end, before taking the step of testing through a VM, I connected a USB hub to the laptop, and connected the programmer through the USB hub, and low and behold, “issue” resolved. Now, I won’t have any luck getting Lenovo to troubleshoot the issue, as best I can tell there is an issue with the USB controller driver/software, as that is the only thing that would explain why I was having the issues, and they will refuse to look at the issue I am sure, especially for the programmer I am trying to use (even know I am sure many others use it, anyone that uses Microchip with a USB/Serial driver/interface). So basically something was not letting the program talk with the driver/device, but when the programmer was going through the “generic usb hub” as shown in Device Manager, it works like a champ.
So it may be worth giving it a try through a USB hub, assumign the driver shows up correctly, shows the right vendor info and whatnot.
For complete freedom to download 3rd party apps, “s mode” must be disabled … via a free app from Microsoft Store themselves. The disablement is permament.
Thank you! I forgot to address that as well in my last message. Basically most cheap laptops at stores has Windows S mode. That only allows apps from their app store to be loaded, and not apps outside of that. Those laptops can be switched out of S mode, though for the most part is perminant (unless you do a system restore, etc).
On your PC running Windows 11 in S mode, open Settings > System > Activation.
In the Switch to Windows 11 Pro section, select Go to the Store. (If you also see an “Upgrade your edition of Windows” section, be careful not to click the “Go to the Store” link that appears there.)
On the Switch out of S mode (or similar) page that appears in the Microsoft Store, select the Get button. After you see a confirmation message on the page, you’ll be able to install apps from outside of the Microsoft Store.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of really bad advice in this thread about IT and running old “unsupported” versions of software while being connected to the internet, but I want to focus on the absolutely worst advice provided:
Fourth - turn off any ‘auto-updating’ you have turned on. This is how pirateware propagates. As most of you have found out when you wake up the next morning and find you have totally new software you didnt ask for… and its broken to boot. “But what about my security updates, i gotta keep current dont I?” - if it was well written software and field tested properly - it wouldnt need security updates!
Do NOT follow that advice! Software is not primarily written to defend against any and all security vulnerabilities, but to assist you in completing a task and give you a good user experience. Hackers are permanently, in ever evolving ways, trying to find vulnerabilities in software and exploit them, often in ways that no one who originally coded the software could have even imagined. This has nothing to do with “badly written”. Microsoft and other software developers are constantly addressing those vulnerabilities with security patches (literally, it is an arms race). If you do tell your system not to install security patches, you are exposing yourself and your system to breaches, including data loss and data (including identity) theft. Any serious IT professional will tell you to keep your software updated with the latest patches.
Now whether or not you want to install Windows 11 over Windows 10 is a matter of personal preference. Both Operating Systems receive regular security updates to address discovered and potential security vulnerabilities, so take your pick. But whatever you pick, let it install (security) updates. And if you do keep a computer around that runs an unsupported Operati
Maybe I missed it, but what version of Windows 11?
I run Windows 11 Home build 22H2 on my HP Laptop, and it runs my LokProgrammer just fine. It was literally plug and play after downloading the newest software.
My PR4 works perfectly with Win11 with all the latest updates (as of yesterday (07/04/2023), anyway). Didn’t even have to download drivers for it. Win11 installed them as soon as I plugged it in!
And it worked perfectly with Win10 before that. Never had a lick of trouble with it.
But that’s all besides the point anyway, since this thread is about the LokProgrammer which is a different device produced by a different manufacturer
Agreed. I picked up a mini PC on ebay for $70 last week. It’s a quite nice little machine with an Intel i5-6500T, 16 gig of RAM, and 256 gb SSD. The Windows license is baked into it, so I just popped in a flash drive with a windows 10 install on it and I was up and running with JMRI & PR3 (needed a firmware update) in a few hours.
AlienKing) Oh wow, nice deal! Thats a nice machine. Should have no problems. See? Good deals can be found cheap! And you got a dog gone good one. [Y] Congrats!
Mr Beasley) I still know a few folks who run XP. My brother being one of them. Not a thang wrong with that (until you have to reload it).
Most people have software that progressed with the Op Sys., and that software wasnt as good as the old stuff - go figure! So they stayed with older systems. That and XP was a real stable system.
I myself run XPMode. For older programs, data, and actually to help with customers who… still use XP. Probably my second favorite op. sys., Win7 being the numero uno.
I dont see any need to get rid of it. It still has value as an op sys… Thus why its called XP… eXtra Potential!
I know this is an old thread; however, the fix for Windows 11 is to disable the Core Isolation security and get the latest FTDI USB Driver. Works fine on Windows 11 after this.
Settings → Windows Security → Core Isolation - set this to disable and reboot.
You’ll need to get the latest FTDI USB driver. The one provided by ESU is out of date. Get the latest one at: Drivers - FTDI (ftdichip.com)
This is an issue related to how multiple manufacturers are trying to improve security by more tightly integrating changes in the hardware and software, particularly OS and CPU.
To correct the issue with the LokProgrammer drivers on a Windows 11 PC:
Click on the Windows icon in the Task Bar at the bottom of your display.
Select “Settings”
Make sure you’re on the “Home” page of Settings
On the right side of your display you should see an area called “Recommended Settings”
Under “Recommended Settings”, select “Windows Security”
Then select “Device Security”
Select “Core Isolation”
Under “Core Isolation”, set “Memory Integrity” to “OFF” using the slider switch
Shut down the PC.
Reboot PC
LokProgrammer should work after performing the above.
As I mentioned in my previous post, “IF” you were using another programming track interface (for instance, Digitrax PR3 with JMRI - as I do), you’ll probably have to shut down the PC, disconnect the P