JMRI vs Rocrail vs freidwald software

[Class5]

Thoughts on best software to use to control a couple patterns on layout. I have JMRI set up, just don't want to invest hours setting up the wrong system. Or just pay for the freidwald system????

[NP01]

Don't know what your goals are. But I am setting up JMRI and I am very happy with it. 

It's free and it's letting me do everything I want: detection, signaling, complex rules for signals and routes, wireless (iPhone) operation. 

NP. 

[DigitalGriffin]

What do you mean by "control a couple patterns" thats pretty vagie.

Di you mean signal heads or automating movement? Or automating turnout control?

[Class5]

I have a digitrax super chief system, I would like to run some automated routes as well be able to "work" in the yards, 3-4 trains on routes. Couple manually controlled,and 1 yard train

[DigitalGriffin]

The question now becomes...
Do you wsnt to either....
A) Different trains travel on the same route stopping at stations for x seconds and always apart by 1 block
B) train a goes track 2 then swutches to track 3 to the warehouse and stops while train b goes from track 2 to track 1 to loop around a passenger station

B is much more complex as it requires additional logic and xponders in the train to tranismit what block they are in. In that case jmri is your only hope...or you need a custom solution.

[fieryturbo]

I've had terrific luck with Rocrail, using some extremely old hardware.  I won't touch JMRI as it's a desktop Java application, and therefore guaranteed to crash all the time and eat up lots of resources doing nothing.

(Java + server = ok)

(Java + desktop = garbage)

[Class5]

What type of command center are you using?

[rrinker]

 For automation, I'd give the nod to RR&Co. For all the rest, JMRI. A friend of mine wanted to set up multiple trolleys to run through his oen town, so I tried doing it with JMRI. Besides a couple of false starts since it seems nearly impossible to undo a mistake in setting up the track (removed the bad piece, put in a new one, but in the end it acted like the removed part was still there - dang XML for a database...), I was also getting spurious detections constantly. I could run a trolley manually and monitor the detections and they were all fine. Start setting up the automatic script and section 5 would go occupied along wih section 11 which is where the trolley really was. Between visits, he downloaded a trial of RR&Co Silver and had the whole thing working the next time I came over, 4 sets of trolley cars following each other at least one block apart and it ran for hours with no faults. And he's a lawyer - I'm the computer guy.

 ANd I'm sorry, any programming or scripting language that relies on proper indenting is a complete non-starter (jython). Who ever though that was an great idea? I have no idea why anyone would use it. Code should be indented for readability, not because it uses that to denote procedures and other types of code blocks. JMRI is great for decoder programming and setting up signal logic, but some of the other stuff they keep cramming in I have to question.

                 --Randy

[Stevert]

fieryturbo

I've had terrific luck with Rocrail, using some extremely old hardware.  I won't touch JMRI as it's a desktop Java application, and therefore guaranteed to crash all the time and eat up lots of resources doing nothing.

(Java + server = ok)

(Java + desktop = garbage)

 

  That certainly hasn't been my experience.  I've been using JMRI for 10+ years, usually always the latest test release, and I can't recall it EVER crashing. 

 

And by far the majority of questions/problems on the JMRI Yahoo group are of the "How do I?" nature, not "It crashed!", so I don't think my situation is at all unusual.

 

As far as being resource-intensive, well, it'll run happy as a clam on a Raspberry Pi.  That's what, 700 Mhz and 512MB or so?  Hardly what I'd consider "lots of resources".

 

Now is JMRI the right solution for the OP?  That's a different question, but not because lack of stability or use of excessive computer resources on JMRI's part.