Lokprogrammer reports "no supported decoder detected" for a loco which can be shown to run under DCC

Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
To help sort a connectivity problem between Lokprogrammer and loco (fitted with ESU Loksound V5 XL decoder) I have been asked to read the values of CVs 7 and 8.

I have found that these read-only CVs are manufacturer dependent... a google search tells me that, for an ESU decoder, CV8 ought to be 151 decimal. As for CV7, I have not been able to find information on probable values for my decoder.

Anyone able to provide values for CV7.

Thank you, Graham
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
We are having connectivity issues between a Lokprogrammer and a loco fitted with an ESU decoder... with the loco standing on track which is isolated electrically from our layout. The loco is a known entity and operates correctly on track that is connected to a Lenz DCC system.

When the Lokprogrammer is used to communicate with the loco on the isolated track the Lokprogrammer reports that "no supported decoder.could be detected" which seems odd given that the loco has a Loksound XL V5 and has been working correctly on DCC track. I described the symptoms to a ESU / Lenz distributer and the suggested first step is to attempt to read from the decoder. Hence see what is returned by a read request on CVs 7 and 8.

If anyone knows why our Lokprogrammer fails to detect a decoder in a loco which can be demonstrated to work under DCC then please comment.

Rgds, Graham
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Dog Star said:
"no supported decoder.could be detected"
Click to expand...

This implies the decoder is either from: another manufacturer or the decoder is not in the LokProgrammer's Library.

Apologies if this may appear to be 'teaching grandmother to suck eggs' time.


Check the LokProgrammer version - mine is 5.2.9 and when I opened it today an update was available which I then uploaded (it updates the decoder library).

You can also check for updates in the Help tab.

ESU 2.jpg

In the Tools tab there is a list of supported decoders - to check this list unfortunately you need the Decoder Information from the decoder as in my post #5 earlier.

There are then drop down menus to select from.

ESU 3.jpg

ESU 4.jpg
ESU 5.jpg

If you've inadvertantly tried to use the old version of LokProgrammer i.e. 2.7.9 it would give you this message - A 4th Generation decoder has been detected.

ESU 10.jpg


Alternatively if you have access to JMRI DecoderPro the Decoder information can be read. JMRI shows my ESULoksound V5 decoder CV7 = 255 and read only.

Jmri.jpg

Hope it helps.
 
Last edited:
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
Never used a Lokprogrammer, so sorry, can’t help further.

Is it possible to access the Decoder/program track via JMRI decoder pro? That should be able to read everything. I’m a bit out of practice.
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
I have both LokProgrammer and JMRI decoderpro but always use both with a programming track - never 'on the main' or to an isolated section on a layout.

Obviously the LokProgrammer is used for ESU decoders as I can tweak their sound files to suit my locos and I use JMRI decoderpro for altering other manufacturers' decoders CVs and function mapping.

JMRI decoderpro proved handy tonight to see if I could read the ESU decoder information file and CV7.

I inadvertantly read a Zimo chipped loco on LokProgrammer 5.2.9 and it told me it was a Zimo decoder. :eek:
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
I agree with being a bit circumspect about PoM - the front siding of PD loco is arranged to be isolated by relay from the rest of the track (the relay is interlocked with the cross-over) so I can run a loco onto the isolatable section, and then switch to program track, program, and given the length of the siding & headshunt, I can do motor characterisation runs too, without any programming connection to the rest of the layout and therefore without risk to the locos parked on it.

which is all very cool, but doesn’t help Graham.

did the updates Dave suggested help?
 
richard carr

richard carr

Western Thunderer
Hi Graham

The no supported decoder actually means it can't it can;t find anything that it thinks it should be able to. Dirty track and wheels can give you this result.

I would also reboot your computer and totally power down the lok programmer for half an hour.

When it tries to read the decoder what is it kind of decoder is it expecting to read, is the lokP expecting to read a V5XL ?



Richard
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
richard carr said:
The no supported decoder actually means it can;t find anything that it thinks it should be able to. Dirty track and wheels can give you this result.

I would also reboot your computer and totally power down the lok programmer for half an hour.

When it tries to read the decoder what is it kind of decoder is it expecting to read, is the lokP expecting to read a V5XL ?
Click to expand...
All good questions and ones that I shall pass to Peter as he understands these things.


Richard, your comment about dirty track and wheels.

The loco.ran up / down the yard of S7 Peco-like track under Lenz control, we then removed the Lenz kit and connected the LokPro with the result as above... we then removed the LokPro, reconnected the Lenz kit and went back to making deep and meaningful noises with Peter's most recent 37/4 (which we hope shall make the trip in at the end of the month).

Rgds, Graham
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
I now only use a rolling road for programming tasks. This is hard conected the Digikjies D5000 program output. I have steered clear of PoM for many years as it caused me some problems in the past.
 
TheSnapper

TheSnapper

Western Thunderer
Daft question:
Is the connection from the Lokprogrammer to the prgramming track secure? ie. is it connected OK?
The reason I ask is because my Lokprogrammer is in a box with a Sprog and sometimes I have forgotten to switch it in…..
Worth checking?
Cheers
Tim
 
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