Freiwald Traincontroller Version 10 now available

[WIMorrison]

He really does appear to trust his customers and provides full and complete details about the software - or then again, perhaps he doesn’t…

 

If such a widely used interface is not available then why release the software!!!!

[Andymsa]

What I find truly amazing that he’s released the 64 bit version that has installation issues, this is very basic stuff and does make me wonder how much beta testing has been done. I would of thought it would of been tested with every system supported before general release. I wonder what  other surprises lay in store.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Andymsa

[WIMorrison]

Andy, a Loconet isn't a difficult one to test as it is so widely used, if it was some esoteric interface like DCC++ I could understand, or accept it not having been tested by a group of testers - but one of the most common interfaces - he's 'avin a larf.

[5BarVT]

Discussion on the RR&Co forum about old versions has resulted in the following good news from Herr Freiwald.

”In demo mode, you have approx. 30 actual work days to save changes in a user's Version 8 file, for example.

After you have mailed your friend a new version of the file, let him change it, save it with his Version 8 license and return it back to you. By saving a file with a license the file is "refreshed" now and you have another 30 days.

The trick is not to send the file always in one direction, but to send it back and forth once in a while.”

 

Looks like “I’m in” for an upgrade once the layout is more developed.  Will also give others time to find out how well the Internet on start up option is.

 

Paul.

[5BarVT]

A related question for those who are more computer tech savvy than I am.

 

There was a concern earlier about having to connect “old” (and therefore vulnerable) computers to the internet.  If, as has been stated, the connection is only required at the start of a session, and is only to connect to the Freiwald server (one assumes), is there that much of a risk to such a computer if it is hidden behind a decent firewall?  It would only be necessary to enable the internet connection at the start of the session and it could be turned on as soon as the programme has initialised.

 

Paul.

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, njee20 said:

And it uses Comic Sans too. Truly the font of professional software!

I don't see where you got that idea from.

The error message box is standard Windows and the user can choose any font they like for the layout.

[Andymsa]

27 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

A related question for those who are more computer tech savvy than I am.

 

There was a concern earlier about having to connect “old” (and therefore vulnerable) computers to the internet.  If, as has been stated, the connection is only required at the start of a session, and is only to connect to the Freiwald server (one assumes), is there that much of a risk to such a computer if it is hidden behind a decent firewall?  It would only be necessary to enable the internet connection at the start of the session and it could be turned on as soon as the programme has initialised.

 

Paul.

my understanding is that it also needs a connection at shutdown of the program. Regardless of how good the firewall is I would never connect an old pc to the internet or my internal network. Also herr freiwald often blames things like virus programs and firewalls for the program not working as it should.

[njee20]

50 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I don't see where you got that idea from.

The error message box is standard Windows and the user can choose any font they like for the layout.

Fair enough, I don’t use TC, just follow the ridiculous saga associated with it! It was the UI I was talking about, which is using Comic Sans, not sure where the ambiguity is? If that’s user selected then fine. 

[melmerby]

4 hours ago, njee20 said:

Fair enough, I don’t use TC, just follow the ridiculous saga associated with it! It was the UI I was talking about, which is using Comic Sans, not sure where the ambiguity is? If that’s user selected then fine. 

The use of the font "Comic Sans" is entirely the choice of Alex who posted the shot.

The default (IIRC) is Microsoft Sans

[melmerby]

Sept 3rd Version 10 A1 launched, several bugs found, Sept 30th and there's an update to 10 A2, which has thrown up even more bugs.

Can't remember the launches of Ver 8 & Ver 9 throwing up so many problems.

[RFS]

I think V10 has seriously increased the complexity and it's not surprising there are more than a few bugs.  When I started with TC V5, it was a 4 Mb download. V8 is 15 Mb, V9 17 Mb but V10 is now 39 Mb. 

[melmerby]

12 hours ago, RFS said:

I think V10 has seriously increased the complexity and it's not surprising there are more than a few bugs.  When I started with TC V5, it was a 4 Mb download. V8 is 15 Mb, V9 17 Mb but V10 is now 39 Mb. 

Maybe all the extras should have been an extra 'super' version? Maybe Platinum?😄

 

I've still got copies of all the downloaded versions from when I started with TC Gold V7

The first version of TC Gold 9 is only 800k larger than the last version of TC Gold 8 but the step from V9 to V10 more than doubles the size.

 

Is it possibly firing a shot over the bows of iTrain by making sure it has much more functionality, as Gold 9 was looking way overpriced compared to iTrain's top version.

[Andymsa]

On 08/10/2022 at 09:29, melmerby said:

Maybe all the extras should have been an extra 'super' version? Maybe Platinum?😄

 

I've still got copies of all the downloaded versions from when I started with TC Gold V7

The first version of TC Gold 9 is only 800k larger than the last version of TC Gold 8 but the step from V9 to V10 more than doubles the size.

 

Is it possibly firing a shot over the bows of iTrain by making sure it has much more functionality, as Gold 9 was looking way overpriced compared to iTrain's top version.

i think it’s still the case as being overpriced

[WIMorrison]

1 hour ago, Andymsa said:

i think it’s still the case as being overpriced

 

Especially as a lot of the new functionality seems to be copied from iTrain anyway 🤣

[RFS]

On Friday Freiwald made a new patch level available that fixes a number of problems - 10.0 A3.  Do NOT install it - it causes all sorts of new problems. On my layout I've found many schedules won't start.  This has been reported and acknowledged and the advice is to wait for 10.0 A4 shortly. 

[Andymsa]

53 minutes ago, RFS said:

On Friday Freiwald made a new patch level available that fixes a number of problems - 10.0 A3.  Do NOT install it - it causes all sorts of new problems. On my layout I've found many schedules won't start.  This has been reported and acknowledged and the advice is to wait for 10.0 A4 shortly. 

I thought the fix will only resolve the layout state with multiple wagons and trains appearing, where did you get the info that it will fix your issue

[RFS]

36 minutes ago, Andymsa said:

I thought the fix will only resolve the layout state with multiple wagons and trains appearing, where did you get the info that it will fix your issue

 

The problem involves trainsets and this is Freiwald's explanation -

 

"In TrainController update 10.0A3 the state of the model railroad layout is not always loaded correctly.

This has the effect, for example, that the assignment of vehicles to train sets is not always saved or loaded correctly.

In the Engines & Trains window, it is possible that one and the same vehicle is displayed twice: once individually and once in its train set.

There will be a 10.0A4 update coming soon that will fix this issue."

 

In my case it meant any schedule trying to start using a train-set split up this way would not start. Here's an example - 

 

 

Train Set 5770 is a pair of Bachmann 2-EPBs 5770 and 5771 but these should not be listed separately. It seems the problem occurs on the update to A3. I update to A3 on my downstairs PC first and all was well (and still is) but the layout PC is wrong. I've gone back there to A2. 

 

 

[Andymsa]

14 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

The problem involves trainsets and this is Freiwald's explanation -

 

"In TrainController update 10.0A3 the state of the model railroad layout is not always loaded correctly.

This has the effect, for example, that the assignment of vehicles to train sets is not always saved or loaded correctly.

In the Engines & Trains window, it is possible that one and the same vehicle is displayed twice: once individually and once in its train set.

There will be a 10.0A4 update coming soon that will fix this issue."

 

In my case it meant any schedule trying to start using a train-set split up this way would not start. Here's an example - 

 

 

Train Set 5770 is a pair of Bachmann 2-EPBs 5770 and 5771 but these should not be listed separately. It seems the problem occurs on the update to A3. I update to A3 on my downstairs PC first and all was well (and still is) but the layout PC is wrong. I've gone back there to A2. 

 

 

ah now I understand your particular issue and it’s connection to the upcoming fix

[Andymsa]

A new version A4 has now been released to fix the issue

[RFS]

10.0 A4 is now available.  If you've already updated to 10.0 A3 and suffered corruption of your engines and trains data, there's details here on how to fix it. 

[BoD]

5 hours ago, RFS said:

  Do NOT install it - it causes all sorts of new problems. 

 

2 hours ago, RFS said:

 If you've already updated to 10.0 A3 and suffered corruption of your engines and trains data ….

It’s just as well you aren’t paying a lot for this software or relying on it to carry out critical tasks controlling your layout.

[RFS]

On 07/10/2022 at 21:12, RFS said:

I think V10 has seriously increased the complexity and it's not surprising there are more than a few bugs.  When I started with TC V5, it was a 4 Mb download. V8 is 15 Mb, V9 17 Mb but V10 is now 39 Mb. 

 

I suspect the large increase in size is mainly due to both 32-bit and 64-bit versions being available in the same download.

 

And talking of 64-bit versions, I would strongly recommend sticking with the 32-bit version for now. I tried 64-bit when I first installed, and after about 20 minutes intensive running I got an Appcrash and TC disappeared, leaving all the trains running and the database not up to date with train positions. Quite a mess to sort out. It has not been fixed in A3/A4 but others are reporting Appcrash failures now with A3 so I'm sticking on 32-bit until I see someone explain what the advantages of 64-bit are.....

Edited November 13, 2022 by RFS
Added a not

[Andymsa]

On 17/09/2022 at 17:23, 5BarVT said:

A related question for those who are more computer tech savvy than I am.

 

There was a concern earlier about having to connect “old” (and therefore vulnerable) computers to the internet.  If, as has been stated, the connection is only required at the start of a session, and is only to connect to the Freiwald server (one assumes), is there that much of a risk to such a computer if it is hidden behind a decent firewall?  It would only be necessary to enable the internet connection at the start of the session and it could be turned on as soon as the programme has initialised.

 

Paul.

here is a reply from herr freiwald on the matter of internet connection 

 

“TrainController requires access to the Internet the whole time during operation with a connected model railroad. This does not necessarily mean that it will be constantly accessing the Internet during this period, but it must be able to do it.

If you cannot or do not want to meet this requirement, I recommend not to purchase an upgrade.

Since you're paying cash for the upgrade, I wouldn't rely on testing or observing actual traffic. We will not publish details for obvious reasons. However, access during the session can vary from session to session and can be completely changed at any time by server-side settings.

Again: The only important thing is that TrainController has access to the Internet the whole time during operation with a connected model railroad.”

[WIMorrison]

Andy,

 

The worrying aspect of his statement is that he is not saying which ports will be used. The content of the traffic is not important, but the port that is used is very important. Many people lock their firewalls down to permit only the necessary traffic that they are aware of (me being one of those) and I have to specify which port an application wants to use to allow it through the firewall - with Herr Freiwald keeping this information to himself a user risks falling foul of his refusal to disclose the information.

 

What happens when TC isn't able to speak to the 'internet', does it fall over? Does it refuse to operate? By internet, does he only mean port 80? Or does he include all the well-known ports, and finally is the traffic he is generating UDP or TCP (presumably TCP, but could just as easily be UDP)?

 

In these security conscious days, this is all relevant information.

[5BarVT]

10 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

What happens when TC isn't able to speak to the 'internet', does it fall over? Does it refuse to operate? By internet, does he only mean port 80? Or does he include all the well-known ports, and finally is the traffic he is generating UDP or TCP (presumably TCP, but could just as easily be UDP)?

I would guess the link to the layout just stops - as it does if you run without the USB on earlier versions.

I suspect that it is TCP only as someone was asking about UDP on the forum and got a rather short answer.

Paul.