I'm moveing to a new computer and operating system , this may not be the place, but trying to back up on (dvd) all my files picts ,docs ex. But cant seam to find a way to back up my jmri and or decoder pro files, is there a way to back up my decoder settings and roster ??
I'm moving from " vista" to "eight" and I know I seen the info but now that I NEED IT I CANT FIND IT ...
any willing to expand on this and please , and if you know the best version of the jmri /decoder pro for win eight I,m interested....Jerr
still got to get the spell checker for this ....
There is an export all files menu in Decoder Pro but I don't trust it.
Here is what I do:
On your C: drive there is a folder named JMRI you can copy the entire folder and subfolder to an USB Jump drive. Or you can only copy all the files found under C:\JMRI\Roster to your Jump drive.
Install JMRI on your new computer and paste to your new computer under C:\JMRI or c:\JMRI\Roster whatever copying method used.
Once done go to Debug in Decoder Pro and rebuilt the index.
Jack W.
Default user files location on Vista, 7, and 8 would be c:\users\<your user name>\JMRI
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
There is no "best" version of JMRI. You can run whatever is supported by JAVA on your computer. Make sure you have the current version of JAVA, then install whatever version(s) are compatible. There are details on the website about what you need for a specific OS.
The JMRI website has a lot of info on moving to another computer, and various ways of doing it. If you still have trouble, subscribe to their mailing list and ask for help. It is very active so you will get a response quickly.
I still haven't transferred my roster from the old XP machine to the win7 box. The instructions just don't make sense.
davidmbedardSTOP!!!!! Windows 8 and Java have issues! In short JMRI will give you a java stop-error on opening. I would strongly recommend win 7. David B
Lots of folks have JMRI working perfectly well with Windows 8, and on the other hand, some folks get the "Java has stopped working..." error even with Win7.
Evidence points to the error being caused by a hardware or possibly a driver timing condition that Java is unable to handle properly.
It affects other Java applications besides JMRI (Google the error message...), and it seems to be more prevalent with the 64-bit versions of Windows.
But it's certainly not a given in any particular installation that you'll encounter the error. I use JMRI with a Digitrax PR3 on a Win7, 64-bit system (a combination supposedly notorious for this problem) with no issues whatsoever.
hmmm, now you got me worried , would it be safe to ASSume that a version of java is on this *new* wonder of tech ? and would one know how to check that ,search ect
thanks Jw
Ahhh Windows 8. What a terrible wreck of an operating system, for non touch screen PCs.
Unfortunatley, all new laptops/PCs are shipping with 8. I however, own my own Win 7 64 DVD. So on my new laptop I installed Win 7.
Good luck trying to learn that system. Its a pain just to try to figure out a way to shut down.
Windows 8, the demise of Steve Ballmer?
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
went to the JAVA site and used the, verify version on my computer and ofcorse it cant verify that I have Java at all, did all the " search files" that were recommended by Java but no find ....JW
ps the plan was to put seven on this new com. but was getting use to the 8 until this , may have to go back to plan and buy win 7 for ALL my computors
Jerr,
I have JMRI loaded on a 64 bit HP WIN7 laptop and on a 64 bit HP Ultrabook laptop. I have no problems. Make sure you have the latest Java on the ,machine(just do a Google search on JAVA UPDATE and download the current stuff). I have the next to most current release of JMRI(R3.2 IIRC) on both laptops and have them attached with a Digitrax PR3(WIN7) and a LocoBuffer USB(WIN8)
Most of the problems I have seen others run into seem to be 'drivers' - Digitrax has a special set of instructions for loading their drivers on WIN8. My WIN7 laptop came with Vista and was upgraded when HP had to replace the hard drive. JMRI runs fine on both releases. The Ultrabook came with WIN7 and I had a 'free' upgrade for WIN8 - Again, no problems.
Randy gave you the location of the 'roster' files, but I think they may be in a different directory if you were running XP - There should be something out on the JMRI web site. The 'export' function for the roster still is not got all the code and really does not work(at least from what I have read).
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Following the JMRI group on Yahoo - almost every single one of the "Java stopped working" issues on Win 8 (and even Win 7) are interface related - the point being that Java in generally is really not so super awesome as the computing press would have you believe, and one major issue it has is absolutely horrid ability to handle I/O errors. Instead, it just crashes if the dwvice isn't accessible. If the device has the proper drivers, and JMRI is set tot he correct port, it should be fine. If JMRI is looking to the wrong port though, depsite JMRI itself having error checks that SHOULD bring up the settings window if it failes to find the device on the configured port, more often than not, the JVM just crashes and there's nothing JMRI can do about it. I can make this happen almost at will, by deliberately making the wrong settings. Yet the same thing in another model railroad interface program, written in other than Java, simply returns an error and gracefully exits.
It wasn;t always like this - JMRI used to work exactly as expected if the port was wrong. Somewhere since Oracle took over management of the Java system, this started happening. Problem is, unless you are running an older OS, you have to use a somewhat newer Java to even get it to install.
This seems to also only happen with USB devices - but since very few computers these days actually have a serial port, that means most everything - either a direct USB device like the PR3, or a USB to serial adapter to plug into another system, like NCE.
It's easy to say this is really a Windows problem, with their USB drivers, but on the very same hardware, with the very same Windows 7 64-bit, the only way i USED to be able to get JMRI to crash was to yank the USB cable out while it was running. Or neglect to make the setting change to that the computer wouldn't power off the USB port as a battery saving measure.
ok ALL good info, are we talking operating systems ex.xp,vista,seven ,8 or 32 or 64 bit versions of said operating systems. ? I may be wrong but I think my win eight is 32 bit if it matters but I will verify..
NOTE my old computer was running "vista" and the jmri/decoder pro linked thru a pr3 stand alone and then lately with a digi "Zephyr" for speed matching on a circle a track.
so I will try, as mentioned, to down load latest JAVA then recent bug free jmri/decoder pro, if it fails I will ether go with a downgrade to seven (since you can still find 3-pacs) or I well take the computer back to Costco. But to be honest I'm kinda liken this win 8 with the 2 screens (metro app based & the default windows screen )for news ,sports & weather the metro app based screen is smooth fast and no advertisement ... and it doesn't take long to figure out how to shut down ect . and I'm NOT computer savvy
you guys nailed it, its 64 bit with a x64 processer , JW
downloaded java ver 7 update 40 and jmri3.4 but don't remember how to link the port usb , jmri not finding or looking, tried most of the ports, makes no diff. I shall try the jmri site for ideas...Jerry
oops ,forgot about a driver nothing on this at jmri but digitrax has great BIG "do not conect to you computer till ! " I guess in windows eight you have to go into settings in safe mode to install driver yada yada , man hope I did'nt mess something up in the program, computer or pr-3 ...Ill keep ya posted JW
Dave called it ,got the "java tm platform SE binary has stopped working " error and shutdown every time I hit finish setup....BUT digitrax has a real nice step by step how to install pr-3 driver in win 8, that worked like a champ ! to bad though, thats just 2 hours sleep I've MISSED OUT ON tomorrow be another day...JW
BIG JERR Dave called it ,got the "java tm platform SE binary has stopped working " error and shutdown every time I hit finish setup....BUT digitrax has a real nice step by step how to install pr-3 driver in win 8, that worked like a champ ! to bad though, thats just 2 hours sleep I've MISSED OUT ON tomorrow be another day...JW
Yup, you will get that if there's an problem with the COM port JMRI is trying to communicate with.
In some cases it's caused by a timing issue within the USB hardware/driver used for the VCP (Virtual COM Port).
But no driver is obviously a problem, and will give you the same result.
I can produce (and correct) that error in my Win7 64-bit / JMRI / PR3 setup at will - All I have to do is specify the wrong COM port in my preferences, restart JMRI, and the error appears. Specify the correct COM port, restart JMRI, and no error.
That's because the PR3's driver is not installed on that "wrong" COM port.
Glad you got it running. Now just copy those roster files to the new system and you are good to go.
Stevert BIG JERR Dave called it ,got the "java tm platform SE binary has stopped working " error and shutdown every time I hit finish setup....BUT digitrax has a real nice step by step how to install pr-3 driver in win 8, that worked like a champ ! to bad though, thats just 2 hours sleep I've MISSED OUT ON tomorrow be another day...JW Yup, you will get that if there's an problem with the COM port JMRI is trying to communicate with. In some cases it's caused by a timing issue within the USB hardware/driver used for the VCP (Virtual COM Port). But no driver is obviously a problem, and will give you the same result. I can produce (and correct) that error in my Win7 64-bit / JMRI / PR3 setup at will - All I have to do is specify the wrong COM port in my preferences, restart JMRI, and the error appears. Specify the correct COM port, restart JMRI, and no error. That's because the PR3's driver is not installed on that "wrong" COM port.
and help me to understand the com-port thing,I assume a com port is plug in or usb port and each one has a # so this new machine has 2 reg (2.0) AND 2 SUPER (3.0) on the back and I ASSUMED each one has a pre assigned # like 1,2,3,4, and I just happened to plug the the usb/PR-3 into the port assigned com-3 or port #3 so when the driver install looked for a "live" port/usb it found the pr3 on port/usb #3 or com -3 .... is this close or am I just guessing here ? JW
Big Jerr,
Here's the short version of how it *should* work:
1) Install the PR3 drivers on Win8 according to the Digitrax instructions. Do NOT use a USB3 port. There is a known incompatibility between USB3 and the PR3. Also, you should ALWAYS use the same USB port every time you plug in your PR3 (more on this below)
2) Make note of the COM port that gets assigned to the PR3 by the install process (Step #1).
3) Install Java. My suggestion is to go to the "Get Java" Web page and let it determine which version is correct for your OS, rather than picking one to manually download.
4) Install JMRI. The latest Production release is fine.
5) Set up your JMRI preferences using the COM port noted in step #2. Be sure your JMRI preferences and the physical connections for your PR3 match it's intended use (LocoNet Interface, stand-alone programmer, etc). You can, for example, set the preferences for Decoder Pro to use the PR3 as a stand-alone programmer, and for Panel Pro to be a LocoNet interface.
6) Enjoy!
To answer your COM port question - A COM (Communication) port is traditionally a physical RS232 interface port. It was commonly used for external modems, which is where it got it's name. Windows enumerates these as COM1, COM2, etc. Every time it "finds" a new COM device, it simply picks the next unused COM port number and assigns it to that device.
Some devices, such as the PR3 and the NCE USB adapter, plug into a USB port, but use their driver software to create a VCP (Virtual COM Port). Windows thinks these are "real" and again, assigns the next available COM port number to them.
This COM port number is how JMRI communicates with your DCC interface device. If there is an issue with it, you may get either the "Java has stopped" error, or an error saying JMRI can't communicate with the command station. The exact error you may get depends on the specific set of circumstances/conditions.
That's also why it's important, with the PR3 and Windows, to always plug it into the same physical USB port every time. If you don't, Windows will think it's a "new" device, probably install the wrong drivers, and give it a new COM port number. Now your preferences are "wrong", and even if you correct them to point to the new COM port number, well, it probably has the wrong drivers installed. So you'll be wondering why it still doesn't work, the settings are right!
In that case, the correct fix is to leave the JMRI preferences as they were, and plug the PR3 back into the USB port it was originally installed on.
I hope this is helpful!
thanks Stevert, very informative and helpful....... I well update if I find a fix ..JW
I just thought of another thing you can do as sort of a "sanity check" to see if you have the PR3 installed properly:
After you've completed the PR3 install**, also install the Digitrax SoundLoader software and see if you can get that to communicate with the PR3.
It does not use Java, so you'll be eliminating one possible problem point. Once you get that working, move on to Java and JMRI (Just remember you can't run both SoundLoader and JMRI at the same time).
**I should also emphasize that it is VERY important that you follow the Digitrax instructions EXACTLY. Properly enabling communication between the PR3 and Windows, which is what the driver installation does, is the foundation upon which everything else is built.
thanks Stevert , Ive been working the issue with help after hours from a CS from digitrax ,VERY NICE.
I recycled the system and uninstalled any drivers found for com ports using a program found on digi site called "usbdeview" .
Then very carefully reinstalled pr3 and driver according to DIGITRAX instructions for win 8,then installed soundloader and wa-la got the com 3 port and the connected to pr3 light..
then I reinstalled latest JAVA then jmri, wizard recognized my com3 but apon finish got the binary shut down and NOW soundlouder can no longer connect or open com 3.....
I have rebooted and unplugged, replugged,shut down ,opened up and everything I can think short of a well placed bullet ! BUT I can not open the com 3 (pr3 ) anymore ,their must be a link in the soundloader ,pr3 driver , java ,jmri if one effects the other ....I well bet if I uninstall jmri /java (AGAIN), I well get soundloader to connect to pr3 again .... as you can see I'm frustrated as hell rightnow....JW
a few things I"ve noted , the latest JAVA is a 32bit or x86 ,java says thats ok , jmri says program is x86 ,Ithink that means 32 bit the driver for digitrax is 32 0r 64 bit if I understand right , the point here is when I read about ALL the problems with win 8 and seven for that matter , I keep seeing this 64 bit thing as being the problem and how 32 bit operating systems work better this is very confusing ..
I have spent hours in the JMRI group trying to make heads or tails of this but the 32 bit 64 bit thing just keeps rolling , some say you have to load both 32 and 64 bit JAVA to make it work but I did not see a choice when I down loaded the latest JAVA 7 update 40 , it did mention that it was 32 bit though and that was right for my system, but NO choice......
also concerning plugging in or out the pr3 from computer , I don't see to much on procedure except MUST go in same usb port/plug every time , but nothing about powering up pr3 first or opening program first or anything ? (Except at install)
still at the keyborard...JW
thank you Dave ; and not to go sideways here but was your win 7 64 bit 0r 32 bit ,not saying it matters just currious as I have NO problem dishing out another 100.00 american! its just if I do I want to make sure that its the rite one , ...Jerry
SORRY DAVE : I see in youre ealier post that youre useing win 7 64 bit and to note it seems most have no problems with win 7 64 and the jmri /java thing
yes I was right, uninstalled jmri & JAVA and soundloader connects to pr3 again
next I have an old hard copy(disk) of jmri decoder pro 2.2 , think I will put on in the new unit BUT need an older Java as my win "vista" unit is useing 6.0 JAVA and decoder pro works great ,I wonder?
thanks Dave: Im boxen the computer up and back to Costco it goes then I turn right around and order a nother just like her for 100 American more from Costco but with 7 pro on it ,dell wont warrenty if I change OS so that's cool cause I CANT GET A COPY OF 7PRO FOR 100.00 SO COSTCO SAID THEY DONT CARE BRING IT BACK ,customer comes first, I just hope its not a problem in the dell hardware that's causeing the problem ....Jerry
*UPDATE* GOT A NOTHER DELL ONLY WITH WIN 7 PRO 64 BIT . abit sluggish getting it going but with some fiddle time was able to get a link and read a decoder .
BUT still have not figured out how to import roster to new machine and jmri version , though JMRI decoder pro has *import roster* in the file menu, does not go any where that I can see when clicking the option
also have the roster.xml files burned to a disk but still haven't figured out how to *import * to the decoder pro program ..
but tomorrow is a nother day....Jerry
BIG JERRBUT still have not figured out how to import roster to new machine and jmri version
Instructions on how to move your roster to another computer are here.
THANKS stevert :I read thru that couple a weeks ago and that's how I copied and burned roster to dvd ,
BUT frustrated I decided to try the " EASY TRANSFER " feature in this new windows 7 and set it up last night before ,and this morning I have ALL files installed from old to new , was like waking up to a mirror image of my old windows machine AND YES decoder pro opened ,found its com port ,and found the roster and read the sheet of a loco on my desktop programer track
wow I'm happy , THANKS TO ALL of you!!! Jerry
Yes, the Widnows Easy Transfer thing in Win 7 is simply amazing. If you view the report it will even tell you what additional applications you need to reinstall, and that report is dynamic - as you install things, they are removed from the list. Applications generally cannot simply be copied from one computer to another, so the Easy Transfer copies all the data files and then makes note of what applications are required to open them.