miniThrottle: A model railroad WiFi throttle.
The miniThrottle is a complex piece of software, which it is hoped will give you flawless operation. But given the variety of hardware and software options it permits, there is a good chance you may encounter issues. So where do you start?!!
NB: some diagnostics won't work on version 0.4, version 0.5 and higher expanded diagnostic capability.
| Symptom | Suggestion |
|---|---|
| How do I connect to the USB console? | The USB console provides the primary diagnotic interface for miniThrottle. It may be reached using the Arduino development environment or terminal emulation software like Putty, Minicom or TeratermPro. Use settings of Speed: 115200, 8 bits data, no parity, 1 stop bit. Using CR/LF line endings is also recommened if your emulation offers that option. Once connected use the help command or help followed by a command name to find your way around. The miniThrottle's serial interface is unique and differs from diagnostics on other projects. |
| Can I backup or clone my settings? | Using the USB console, run the export command. You should be able to cut and paste these to somewhere else. These commands can be run on the same or another miniThrttle to clone it. Before doing a major upgrade, say from version 0.4 to 0.6, use export to back up your settings. |
| The project doesn't run |
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| My keypad buttons does strange things |
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| How can I see if commands are going between my throttle and command station? | Use the USB serial port and type "showpackets" and enter. Use the throttle, the commands and responses should be displayed. |
| Can I monitor communication with the control station if miniThrottle is bolted away in a box or under my benchwork? | Yes, perhaps. V 0.6a and later has a "diag" port that can be enabled from settings on the web interface. Once enabled, you can telnet to the diag port to monitor control station commands. This diagnostic port won't restart when miniThrottle is restarted, it is a temporary facility. |
| miniThrottle crashes and reboots | That is not intended! Did it work previously? Did you change a setting? Does it always crash when you do the same thing? Now to figure out what went wrong by increasing the debug level prior to the next crash. To do that run "debug 3", the debug levels persist reboots and are:
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| How can I check what data is loaded? | If you an to see the raw data about your rosters etc, try "locos", "turnouts" or "routes" at the USB console. If you want delve deeper check "help dump" and "help nvs" for descriptions of deeper diagnostics. |
| When I select a route there is a time when it is inconsistent. Is that a bug? | It is intentional. The route is being set up. Parts of it is set up and part is not. Trying to make use of it in this state can result in an accident if a turnout position changes while a train is passing over it. |
| Can I test the throttle without connecting to a control station? | No not really! miniThrottle relies on getting control station responses to confirm settings. miniThrottle works on a design principle of getting feedback from the control station. You are not going forward at 60% speed until the control station has confirmed it. A side effect of that is sometimes miniThrottle may appear to lag in response compared to throttles that simply assume their requests will be obeyed and set a speed without having any confirmation. |
| I am using miniThrottle as a WiThrottle relay, my speed settings are diplayed briefly in EngineDriver then drop to zero. | Check you have the track power on, without track power, your speed will be zero. Also check your serial connections between miniThrottle and DCC-Ex are correct. Without proper communications you'll not be able to move. |
| I get no joy from code or soldering. I just want run trains. | Avoid projects like this one. Buy a commercial product. On the other hand, you may get a kick at looking at your own customised throttle and thinking "I did that!" - in that case it will be worth the effort. |
| The throttle menu is missing options | By default the menu only shows options which are usable. You may need to check you have track power applied, or refresh the menu by going back one menu level. CV Programming is not possible using WiThrottle, you need to use the DCC-Ex protocol for that. |
| This looks more complicated than other throttle projects! | There are several other throttle projects that create throttles with less code or less soldering.
But check if any of these are important to you:
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| So does that mean this is better than other Arduino DCC throttles? | No! Depending on what and how you are trying to do things others maybe better. Look at build complexity, and features. Then compare and decide what you want to do. Many of these have been around for years and have wide support bases. miniThrottle has only been around since early 2022.
Here are some examples, although not an exhaustive list and not in any order of preference:
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