PC Ts World Raildriver And Joystick Interface

zappatime, The main code I use to talk to TSW comes from the Microsoft examples on using Named Pipes. Both the dll and the main program have always tried to reconnect if the connection is lost. It seems for some unknown reason, yourself, Br425 and stephie are having problems with the communications going out of sync. I am still trying to figure out the reason but I will also look into implementing your idea of a popup warning or audible notification.

 

Yes, unfortunately, I have the same issue with the Pipes error playing the steam version of the game. Usually happens within 15-20 minutes. Thanks for trying though.

 

Hallo,
vielen Dank für dieses tolle Programm. Ich habe das gleiche Problem mit dem Pipes-Fehler. Nach einem Neustart Ihres Programms und TSW 3, nicht des PCs, tritt der Fehler nicht mehr auf.
Windows 11, i9 9900k

 

Hi and thank you so much for your effort! i really would enjoy driving with my warthog throttle!
I also get disconncets and they are very frequent, happens all the time after 1-2 min. of driving. your logfile has this, many times:

03/13/2023 17:01:39
System.IO.IOException: The semaphore timeout period has expired.

at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.Pipes.NamedPipeClientStream.Connect(Int32 timeout)
at TSW_Raildriver_And_Joystick_Interface.Form1.Connect()


Hope you can solve the issue.

ps. im on windows 11.

Best regards
Thomas

 

UPDATE! After i have excluded the folder in which the application is run from AND the folder in which the dll is i have almost no disconnects, only if i alt-tab a lot, for adjusting stuff.

I also set you application to be run as admin.

Thanks a lot for this application, i would not be driving, if i have to use a keyboard!

Best regards
Thomas

 

Sorry, do you mean exclude from windows defender? or file searches?

 

Glad you got it working Thomas, can you clarify the following for me, so I can try and ascertain the problem:
1. I assume by excluded you mean from your antivirus? if so, which antvirus software, windows defender or some other?
2. Can you go to 'Start\Settings\Accounts' and under your name it will say either Administrator or Local Account, can you tell me which.
3. Can you give me the exact location (path) to both the folders on your machine.

To do that, in File Explorer, navigate to the folder containing the PieHid64.dll and then in the text box just below the menu you will see it shows the full path (ending in ThirdParty > PieHid > Binaries). Right click in the box and select 'Copy address as text'.
Do the same for the Application folder..

I have three machine, two windows 11 and one windows 10 where the program works perfectly without having to exclude anything or run as Administrator so I am hoping your information may help with finding where the problem is.
Chris

 

Yes sure i will gladly answer the questions, and i am sorry for my missing information about the exclusions.

1. My exclusions was made in Windows 11 security. Under "Virus & threat protection settings\Exclusions".
2. Under my account name it says "Administrator".
3. Your application is here: "D:\TSW\TSW Raildriver And Joystick Interface V1.0.0.6" and PieHid64.dll is here: "D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Train Sim World 3\WindowsNoEditor\TS2Prototype\Binaries\ThirdParty\PieHid\Binaries"

I hope this information can help you get closer to why this is happining for some, and not others.

Best regards
Thomas

 

Hi there.
I have the same broken pipe issue.
Programm runs as admin and I have added the exceptions to firewall and AV. Happens 100% of the time after playing maybe 10 to 25 minutes.
Win 10 latest build DX and .Net installed as requested in the manual.

Error.txt:

03/18/2023 17:01:47System.IO.IOException: Das Zeitlimit für die Semaphore wurde erreicht. bei System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath) bei System.IO.Pipes.NamedPipeClientStream.Connect(Int32 timeout) bei TSW_Raildriver_And_Joystick_Interface.Form1.Connect()
bei System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
bei System.IO.Pipes.NamedPipeClientStream.Connect(Int32 timeout)
bei TSW_Raildriver_And_Joystick_Interface.Form1.Connect()

 

Hi Peter i know this is a total wildshot, but could you try and do a run, where you only have TSW and Raildriver And Joystick Interface open. By that I mean, make sure you have no other programs open and make sure you have no internetbrowser open also....

Can you run without problems for longer, that way?

Best regards
Thomas

 

I tried as you said...
It worked for 13 minutes till the pipe broke and connection got lost again.

I dont use a raildriver but a TM HOTAS Stick and Throttle which I assign here. The same setup works perfectly fine with TS Classic by the way.

Rgds PC

EDIT:
Rebooted, disabled UAC, connected only one joystick, no other apps open besides TSW and Joystick interface : 15 minutes and disconnected

 

Yeah okay we tried....im using a Thrustmaster warthog throttle only, but have around 5 other controllers connected, but not assigned to anything.

Hope Chris will find the issue.

Best regards
Thomas

 

Can you guys who are still having disconnects tell me whether the latest version is better, worse or the same as 1.0.0.5?

 

There is no difference. I tried V 1.0.0.2 to 1.0.0.6.
On early versions it causes TSW to crash to desktop wihtout any error message. In windows eventlog it says TSW3 has crashed because of the piehid64.dll.
In Version .5 and .6 TSW does not crash but the pipe is broken and wont reconnect.
I tried to run the interface as admin as well as not as admin.
I tried to run TSW3 as admin and not as admin.
I tried both as admin and both not as admin.
I excluded the dll and the program from Win defender and Firewall.
Dotnet 4.8 is installed as well as Direct X
I tried to connect Joystick via USB Hub (2.0) and direct to PC via USB3 and USB2 ports.
I tried to run everything without any background programs.
I rebooted the PC several times.
I have the latest Win10 build.
Whenever I start TSW3 it says that "Raildriver" is connected and calibrated of course because the program runs.
After the disconnects TSW3 says that it is not connected anymore of course.
Only a game restart can fix this.
For Version .5 and .6 there is no TSW3 CTD and thus no entry in the windows log of any error.
There is as well no entry in Win10 log in regard to the cause of this. No system faulst, USB errors etc....nothing not even close to the time of the broken pipe error.

Rgds PC

 

CobraOne, I’d say the two versions perform about the same for me, maybe, the 1.006 is slightly better, but the disconnect is so random and for me relatively infrequent - I can play for a couple of hours before any disconnect, if at all, though occasionally, I‘ll get a disconnect within 5-10 minutes of starting TSW3. Like PeterNeutron, running as admin, excluding the interface exe and the dll from AV, etc., doesn’t seem to reduce the disconnects for me, but the randomness makes it difficult to be certain.

Edit: running both TSW3 and the Interface's .exe as admin does reduce the disconnects - I tried again without running as admin and had 4 disconnects within one half hour session, going back to running as admin I've had none in some sessions or the occasional one with a long session.

 

I have only used the latest version, so I can not contribute i´m afraid. I appreciate you are looking into it. Thank you!

 

To make sure I can rule out any interference I just tested again...
No external device connected except the HOTAS Throttle via USB 3 directly to the PC.
I uninstalled all joystick related software liek JoytoKey, vJoy etc. and made sure all those services are not present any longer.
I did a freh install of USB/HID drivers for my mainboard.
I ran only TSW3 and the interface.

Result: about 15 minutes and then the .dll produces the I/O error and disconnects from the interface software.
Again, to be sure, I tested with Verison .1 to .6 and up to .4 TSW3 crashed to desktop. From V5 upwards pipe just disconnects.

I once had a raildriver and never had these issues with it and I have the TS classic version of the interface and there it runs smooth as silk for hours and never with any disconnect or issue.
And again there is no error message or whatsoever in win10 protocol.

Rgds PC

 

Wow that was some intense testing you have done! Sorry to hear nothing of that resolved the problem.

 

Hello everyone.

I'm new here. Hope to find some help. Sorry if this topic will look trivial for more experts among you.

I've been struggling for several days to properly setup my US BNSF locos ES44C4 and SD40-2 with TSW3, Thrustmaster TWCS and Honeycomb Bravo Throttle by using this CobraOne's sw, but after some good results on the ES44C4 when I tried to move to the OTHER loco I found myself in trouble. In particular with throttle and dynamic brake on separate physical levers. Actually I'm quite confused on the whole logics to implement these setups, as for described on page 3 of QuickStart. I still didn't catch, after initial quite straightforward procedure, the mechanism by which we may configure different setups (small but meaningful) on different locos. Any suggestion, included some tutorial of any kind?

Sorry if everything simply depends on my poor understanding of Chris' release notes ...

Cheers,
rob

 

Hi nonnosub#5391 , I’m not that familiar with the US locos, but have just tried my setup by selecting, in CobraOne’s interface, the selected ‘Loaded Lever Map’ as ‘ThrottleAndBrake’, (found within the ‘Enabled Assets’ dropdown list) - this gives the lever I have assigned to ‘ThrottleAndBrake’/‘Throttle’/‘DynamicBrake’ in my master joystick assignment as a split control with the first half of its full movement controlling the throttle in game and the second half of its total movement controlling the dynamic brake lever in game - both the ES44C4 and SD40-2 then work identically.

In my controller set-up I have 4 analogue levers, plus 2 analogue pots for the wipers and lights controls - see photo of the interface page showing the assignment, hope this helps.

 

Hi zappatime,

first of all I thank you for your help, but ... what you said put me even more in confusion. Likely showing there's still something I didn't catch in the logics of this sw. For how are ES44C4 and SD40-2 operating logics, what you did it is exactly WHAT I DONT WANT as a final result. I want THROTTLE (and only this one) on the horizontal lever that you move towards "aft", while DYNAMIC BRAKE on the OTHER horizontal lever that you move toward "front". Not still having throttle and dynamic brake split on the two halves of one lever. And what I thought to learn is that the proper setup for this situation it had to be "ThrottleFull Range". Into a little more details, I was succesful on ES44C4, but when I tried to use SD40-2 instead, I did not realize how to do. And DYNAMIC BRAKE lever stayed inoperative.

Thx btw, ciao
rob

 

Hi nonnosub#5391 ok, I get what you are after now, I think.

The reason I get the split axis control for throttle and dynamic brake, when I select ThrottleAndBrake is that (if you look at my Master Joystick Assignment in the screenshot) I have the same axis assigned to Throttle/ThrottleAndBrake/ThrottleAndDynamic. My other 3 levers cover Reverser, (Auto or)Train Brake, and Loco Brake. As far as I can tell, if I had a 5th analogue lever I could assign this separately to control Dynamic Brake, such that selecting the 'ThrottleAndDynamic' lever map would give separate 5 axis control for Throttle, Dynamic Brake, Auto Brake, Loco Brake, and Reverser.

How many analog controls have you and how are they assigned in the 'Master Joystick Assignment' listing?

To have Throttle and Dynamic Brake controls on separate levers you will need to have them assigned to individual joystick axes. If you have this, then selecting the lever map 'ThrottleAndDynamic' should work for both these locos.

I'm a little confused as to how you got one of the locos working but not the other as, as far as I know, they effectively have the same lever control layout.

 

Hello zappatime.

I thought about what you said and I made some progress, definitely. Now I have properly operating both locos, ES44C4 and SD40-2, by Thrustmaster TWCS and HC Bravo Throttle. In two words, on image you may see Master Joystick Assigments, with all different axis assignments, and by using "ThrottleandDynamic" on Enabled Assets.

My question is now: will I use from now on THAT Master Joystick Assignment and the three defaut profiles "ThrottleandDynamic", "ThrottleFullRange" and "ThrottleandBrake", depending on the specific loco I will select? How the assets for the many locos must be used? Is there a way to better use these asset profiles which name the locos in detail? What is the purpose of those ones? Still confused on that, sorry.

Re your question: I do not have any trouble with analog axis availability. With TWCS (basically a HOTAS), T16000 joy and HC Bravo Throttle, I have almost ten possible different assignments for my peripherals.

Thx. Cheers
rob

 

Hi Ron
My program has to emulate a Raildriver, which has 4 levers. Reverser, ThrottleAndBrake, Auto Brake and Independant Brake.
On the Raildriver, the ThrottleAndBrake lever is split into 2 sections, the top half acts as both the brake or the dynamic brake (depending on what loco you are driving) and the bottom half is the throttle. My program will combine your separate throttle and dynamic brake levers back into a combined ThrottleAndBrake that TSW needs.
For this to work, in the Master Joystick Assignment, you assign the ThrottleAndBrake and the Throttle to the same lever. You then assign the DynamicBrake to a separate lever as you have done.

In the Master Joystick Assignment, the first column refers to the levers on the Raildriver and the second is which of your joystick levers you have assigned to those functions.

The Enabled Assets (Lever Map) box list all the loco's TSW has that I knew of when I first wrote the program, but they are all setup the same as the ThrottleAndBrake lever map, they are there so that should the need arise, you can fine tune the settings for the individual loco's. I have found that 99.9% of the loco's in TSW will work with the main three assets of ThrottleAndBrake, ThrottleAndDynamic and ThrottleFullRange so you can ignore the others.

The three main lever maps are setup as follows.
The ThrottleAndBrake lever map has the ThrottleAndBrake Enabled and the DynamicBrake and Throttle Disabled. This is for loco's with a single lever for the throttle and brake like the class 377's.
The ThrottleAndDynamic lever map has the ThrottleAndBrake disabled and the DynamicBrake and Throttle enable. This is for your BNSF and SD40's.
The ThrottleFullRange lever map assigns the ThrottleAndBrake from the Master Joystick Assignment to the Throttle which means you can use the whole of the Raildriver ThrottleAndBrake lever (and not just the bottom half) as the throttle for loco's such as the class 37's which have a regulator and no dynamic brake.

You can set my program to only display the three main lever maps by using "Settings\Edit Displayed Loco's", click on the DeSelect All button, then in the right hand pane, unselect all but the DEFAULT options, finally, select the 3 lever maps in the left pane and click OK.

I hope this helps in understanding how my program works
Chris

 

TSW Raildriver And Joystick Interface V1.0.0.7 Released
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ylux....0.7.zip?rlkey=ywjyw7l6w1hga0nfyt7br5t25&dl=1

For security reasons, I will not share the folder as it will allow people to alter my files.
To download the files, simply hover your mouse over the required file and to the right you will see the Download option appear. Click it to download the file.

There is also a new PieHid64.dll (V1.0.0.5) that needs copying from the DefaultSettings folder to either
“SteamApps\Common\Train Sim World 2\WindowsNoEditor\TS2Prototype\Binaries\ThirdParty\PieHid\Binaries”
For TSW 2 or “SteamApps\Common\Train Sim World 3\WindowsNoEditor\TS3Prototype\Binaries\ThirdParty\PieHid\Binaries” for TSW3

I have changed the code that tried to reconnect to TSW if the pipe was broken, I'm hoping this finally fixes the problem with random disconnects. I have had the program running on my machine for 7 hours without a problem.
Can I ask, those who have had problems with the random disconnects, try the new version and let me know if it has made any difference.

Chris

@zappatime I forgot to say thank you for helping nonnosub#5391 with his problem.

 

That sounds great i will try it out! Can you please tell me what files to move from old to new installation, for keeping all my settings for both levers and buttons from the old installation?

Thanks a lot.

Best regards
Thomas

 

Hi Thomas
Simply copy all the files from inside the zip file to your current folder, it will not overwrite any of your lever or button setups.
If you want to create a new installation, then simply copy the Settings and Keymaps folders from your old installation to the new one.
Chris

 

Hi there.

WARNING: the PieHid64.dll file I copied from the last update 1.0.0.7 send my pc on CTD. TSW3 stays stuck on first screen and I must turn off manually the pc

 

the problem is still there. After about 10 minutes the connection breaks off with the message: unable to connect to TSW

 

nonnosub#5391 - Check you copied the PieHid64.dll from the default settings folder and not the PieHid64Net.dll from the main folder.

 

I just played for about 2 and half hours on a few timetable runs, alt-tabbing back, stopping and re-starting 'callback' ( to change the loaded lever map) and didn't have any issues. That's running with both the interface's exe and TSW3's exe as admin. I'll give it another go this aft!

 

I did, zappatime. I copied the right file, the one of March 22, 18:22, 28 kb. And when I put it into TSW3 described folder, TSW3 became inop. I made back online the original file, and all got regular. Of course without Raildriver Interface. Just to be sure, I replicated this last update with the SAME file, and now all is regular. So what caused my problems this morning had to be some other cause. I do apologise for the false alarm.

Sry,
rob

 

Can you try right clicking on the "TSW Raildriver And Joystick Interface.exe" and selecting "Run As Administrator" and see if that makes any difference.

 

Hi Ron
If you copied over the PieHid64.dll while TSW was running, then that is what caused your crash, I should have made it clear that TSW must not be running when copying over the file.
Chris

 

Hi Chris, sorry to add to your woes but v1.0.0.7 seems to have broken everything.
I updated when I saw the new version, I might add that I have not had any problems at all with lower versions up-to-now, no disconnects, no errors. I started up running the .exe as admin and got 'Broken pipe' straight away, if I stopped callback and restarted then I got 'Waiting for TSW'.
So no problem I'll rollback to v1.0.0.6 and somehow a version that has run fine now was giving me that same 'Broken pipe' error.
Have now reverted back to DTG's .dll.
FYI I normally just replace the .exe and .dll but when that didn't work I did a clean install of both v1.0.0.7 (failed) and v1.0.0.6 (which also now fails).
Phil

 

Hi Phil when you reverted back to 1.0.0.6 did you also copy over its PieHid64.dll to TSW. The two versions are not compatable with each other.
Can you also check to see if you have a errors.txt file in the program folder.
Chris

 

Been testing 1.0.0.7 a lot today. Strangely enough, it worked just fine for over 3 hours as I tested it with many different trains. But the disconnect came and now I can't go through more than 5 mins without a disconnect. Tried different configs of the software with many reboots of my system, but nothing works. There's no error.txt to troubleshoot. It's weird. Like something kicks in and the program never recovers.

I must say Cobraone, what you are doing here is quite special. I am certain you will make this happen for TSW, and to have movement on this from you is a Godsend! We've been begging and begging and begging and BEGGING for DTG to add directx support since TS Classic. They just won't move on it. Your work for TS Classic is legendary and I am delighted that you have brought your talents to TSW! Very impressive indeed.

 

Allsop4 Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. As I don't have access to the code for the original PieHid64.dll I am working in the dark trying to replicate it for use with joysticks. With TSC we had the Raildriver.dll we could access, but with TSW, there is nothing.
I am a bit confused as to why fizzbin14 after using 1.0.0.7 and then reverting back to 1.0.0.6 that neither now work.
Fortunately for us all, I am one of those people who never give up trying until I have exhausted all avenues, and I have a couple of other options to try, just need to rewrite the code again.
Chris

 

Hi Chris, I have attached the error.txt file which was created yesterday, regarding the PieHid64.dll I always use the version from the package I am using.
Have a look at attached error.txt and see if that helps.
Phil

 

Very cool program, I really appreciate it!

I had the same issue with the connection being lost after a couple of minutes, similar to what was suggested in the thread, I added a windows thread protection exclusion for the whole TSW3 folder, where inside i put the TSW Raildriver Interface program beside the "Train Sim World 3/WindowsNoEditor" folder so i have both the Tool and the game excluded from the antivirus thing and so far it seems to be holding up quite well.

 

Well, I've played about 3 hours with the latest version and no disconnects yet. I also excluded the app folder and tsw 3 game folders from windows security and run both the app and game as admin.

 

Hi Chris. (This is Rob, btw, not Ron as it seems you are convinced ... lol)

THIS post you wrote some days ago finally made me undertand how your sw works. I did appreciate your effort to clarify what I didn't realized, by writing this long note. I'm sure it's been helpful for many other simmers here.

Having said so, I entered the "fine tuning" step, let's say. And let's start with ES44AC (and BNSF other members of this family) that are presently of interest for me. I've been basically able to proper operate all the axis with "ThrottleAnd Dynamic" default profile by using two peripherals and 5 levers. BUT still unable to obtain "setup" position on dynamic brake and "fast release" on independent brake (levers indents in first step and in lower position, 90° of its move, respectively. In both cases I can only obtain these two results by pc keyboard. I tried by notches and mixing lever and button assigment, but in vain.

On a more general view, it would be nice if someone could provide us American locos fans with detailed profile sets for ALL four axis by using your Raildriver and Joystick Interface.

Thx in advance,
rob

P.S. Especially on how to configure the levers (if possible) to the different indents of Automatic Air Brakes (REL, ..., EMERGENCY) and of the Independent Brakes (MIN, MAX. FAST RELEASE)

 

I have just done 2 hours with the new version, everything went fine. I am still running as admin, and i have made exclusions in windows defender. I have also right clicked every dll file after download, and chose "unblock" file. Dont know if that does anything.

Thanks a lot for the new version.

Best regards
Thomas

 

Just lucked out into to something I hope. I re-calibrated my Raildriver within TSW3 and now my disconnects have disappeared. I had gotten tired of the disconnects so I went back to TSW3's default PieHid64.dll so that I could use my Raildriver to drive the Acela. In doing so I noticed that I couldn't move my break lever down to the release positions. Even the AFB lever was off. Calibrating the RD in TSW3 fixed this issue. Then I wondered if this would also fix my disconnect issue. I Set everything up again for TSW Raildriver And Joystick Interface and VOILA!!

Could it be something as simple as calibrating the RD again in TSW3? Goodness I hope so. We don't have a lot of easy fixes these days.

 

You certainly have given me something to think about.
I was always sceptical with the problem being with the antvirus because it should have blocked the whole program from the moment it was started and not 10 mins to 2 hours later.
Plus, the code I use is taken straight from the Microsoft examples so it shouldn't cause any issues!
Chris

 

Hi folks.

Today it does not work ... anything. Nothing at all. Connection seems working, but no commands react to any action on external peripherals. With the interface sw setup as yesterday. I'm on Steam ...

(((

 

I've not had any problems with this version. But in the past when I've had frequent disconnects I've used in the in game raildriver calibrator quite often. It didn't seem to help. But maybe replacing the old pie file before doing it makes a difference.

 

UPDATE - I copied over again the file PieHid64.dll. Everything seems ok now, in terms of connection. I tried to play with activated notches and by varying their values on the throttle and the dinamic brake ranges, but the issue is way far too complicated for my knowledge. Especially because of the native sharing of the two halves of the same axis. And also the need to pass through the 10 seconds of "setup" position for dynamic brake has been a trouble that I was not able to solve. If anyone else wants to try it would be nice.

 

I have a direct drive steering wheel in my setup. I've set it up with 270degree rotation, no centering and some resistance, which makes it ideal for the new locos like the Class 103. Pretty cool to have the throttle mapped to the wheel.