I just received a Broadway Limited Imports Consolidation (2-8-0), a beautiful locomotive, once again BLI has done a superb job. However, when I try programming it with DecoderPro (version 4.2.1) selecting the Paragon 2 Rolling Thunder decoder when I get to the programming screen more than half the tabs are grayed out. And the CVs tab only shows a small number of the CVs the manual mentions.
Anyone else have this problem? Do you know how to solve it? I hesitate to install the newest test version of DecoderPro as it is beta, but does it contain a newer program file for this locomotive?
That IS odd...
I just opened DecoderPro and I get the same thing! Most option tabs are greyed out. This is DecoderPro V. 4.2-R6f3c1be I installed in December.
BlueLine, "light unit" and Paragon3 are the only options available under BLI.
Then...
I found this on the "known problems with this release" page at JMRI:
Some BLI decoder definitions (PR2, PR3 and similar) may not be available until you select the "Rebuild Decoder Index" item from the menu. It's on the Debug menu in PanelPro, and the Actions menu in DecoderPro.
[edit:] I just did what the above notation says (except the menu choice is "recreate decoder index") and, sure enough, the BLI options are back. A buggy Decoder Pro release? There is no acknowledgement that the index is rebuilt.
Good Question... Ed
The problem is that with version 4.2.1 of DecoderPro the locomotive is identified as Paragon 3 Rolling Thunder, but that only controls the new Rolling Thunder feature. You have to go to http://jmri.org/xml/decoders/ and download the BLI_Blueline_Paragon2_Steam.xml file. Import this decoder file into DecoderPro and you are ready to go.
Correction, you should download BLI_Paragon3_Steam.xml and not the Paragon 2 file.
My one-and-only Paragon 3 locomotive, the Pennsy L1, just returned from Florida a few days ago. I'll take a look at decoderPro when time permits. Right now it is still addressed to factory defaults.
Update:
I fired up Decoder Pro and put the L1 on the programming track. Decoder Pro had the selection tab for Paragon 3 Steam, which I chose and I continued with my usual programming settings. Everything wrote to the decoder OK. There is a "Sound" tab in the comprehensive programming pane to make Rolling Thunder options but I left everything there at default.
After placing the engine on the main line and selecting the address there seemed to be a brief period of the headlight flashing and the motor not responding. Then, reversing direction, everything seemed to be OK.
I ran the engine for maybe an hour without any problems. It is one of the best lugging steam locomotives I've experienced.
Regards, Ed
I must be missing something. I don't see anything on those links that would actually be used to update the Decoder Pro decoder list. It all looks like documentation of what they did to fix a bug or something.
And besides that, what I need are the decoder listing/parameters for Paragon2. I just got an email response from BLI and they basically said they can't help me and don't support JMRI.
Forget the links that JPD mentions, the definitions are there in V 4.2 but the decoder index needs to be rebuilt using the simple instructions given in the release notes.
Again, what version of Decoder Pro are you using?
And, did you follow the steps to rebuild the decoder index?
That's all I did and the screen shot I provided shows that everything was restored once the decoder index had been rebuilt.
Hope that helps, Ed