I’m building up my railroad again after having been boxed up for some time. Whilst I was trying to build up a new JRMI loc roster I put locomotives on the programming track to read the decoders. I have two of these locs (3016 and 3012). The first i coud read without an issue, using a Digitrax PR3xtra and JMRI Decoderpro, but the second one I got the lack of response error (306). Puting the loc on the normal track I can access it in a way that the function buttons for sound are working, but no lights and no movement.
ESU decoders do this. Not sure why but they have a reason.
Try selecting F8 again.
Pressing F8 just the once puts the locomotive to sleep. You press F8 twice to awaken it.
QSI uses a similar pattern to achieve this result. For QSI pressing F9 puts the locomotive to sleep and F6 is the start up or restart function. That is one annoying failure by NMRA when specifying decoder software. The first ten functions ought to be the same across all decoders. Too late now.
The first time you seem to permanently “disable” your locomotive like this it can be very puzzling.
You can also switch off the main DCC power and switch it back on again. I find this resets the decoder “start up” sequence to automatic startup (although Loksound has a user selected option to switch this automatic startup off!) .
Otherwise, you have to remember if you pressed F8 just the once to quieten down a ESU equipped locomotive that had been started up already. You can achieve the same power interruption by lifting the locomotive off the rails ( actually just tilting up one side will depower the locomotive in the same way as switching off the DCC power) .
Also, if you decide to reset the decoder both Loksound and QSI decoders are fussy about the power off and power on sequence when resetting the decoder to factory defaults. Some QSI even require a physical reset with a magnet to actuate an on/off switch on the decoder board. They use a magnet so you don’t have to take off the shell to press a physical reset button. At least ESU has a purely electronic reset.
Hi Paul, thanks. I’m afraid i lose all the settings when i use that. Do I still keep the original setting for engine sound etc. as from the box or do I end up with a basically empty decoder? Cheers, Rene
Hi Aleth, thanks. I tried that a few times (F8), but no movement at all. I have sound and lights though. These are fairly new locs with barely running hours on them. Quite puzzled. If I knew for certain the reset would bring it back to factury settingds i’d try. Just wondering if I tried/left it in a consist mode or similar before packing up… Cheers, Rene
Hi Ed, to clarify: I noted issues when I couln’t read the settings and after have tested the loc on the normal track, where i noticed the non-running. ESU says their decoders don’t need a program track booster and as above the first loc of the two could be read without issues. I’ll test a bit more, but the fact that I can address the decoder and make it work all, except for moving the locomotive puzzles me.
Go through and make sure all your functions are turned off … all the way to F28. I’ve had customers who just randomly “try all the buttons to see what they do” and inadvetently turn on a break or engine lock or something that prevents the engine from moving.
Your simplest bet, and always the first thing I do if the problem isn’t obvious, is to do a factory reset. CV8 to 8, then power cycle.