TCS UWT-100 setup

nljos Mar 7, 2023

  1. nljos

    nljos New Member

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    Hi,

    I was lucky to get my hand on a second hand TCS UWT-100
    It is not a very common product in Europe

    At startup, the screen shows:

    Bootloader 1.2 - ID 08:e9
    Searching for Wifi...
    Press 9 to exit / 8 for AP

    Nothing more than that, so no softkeys.

    And it stays that way until it auto shuts off.

    When I press 9, the screen goes off and on with the same info.
    When I press 8, the screen says it is in AccessPoint mode with an IP and it shows up on my computer as an available wifi connection, but I don't think that is what I need.

    What should I do to get Wifi connection?
    Of course I have a home network at 2.4Ghz and I also have a Digikeijs DR5000
    I don't have a LNWI module.

    According to this video , it should be possible, right?
     
    BigJake likes this.
  2. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    Welcome aboard!

    If nobody here is able to help, there is a TCS user group (TCS-Users) on groups.io, and it is frequented by knowledgeable TCS staff and users (not saying there are not any here!)
     
    nljos likes this.
  3. Atani

    Atani TrainBoard Member

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    This sounds like you have a stuck button on the keypad. Normally the UWT-100 will display the TCS logo with a "press 2 for normal startup" like message on the display. What you are seeing however is the OpenLCB / LCC Bootloader menu that is used for firmware updates.

    1. Double check that no keys are inadvertently stuck in a pressed state.
    2. If you remove the batteries and put them back in again and press any key on the keypad does it show the TCS logo?
    3. If you get the TCS logo and "press to 2 start" what happens if you press "2"?
    4. If you do get the bootloader, what happens if you press "9"?
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2023
    nljos and Sumner like this.
  4. nljos

    nljos New Member

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    BigJake, Atani, Thank you for your quick replies!
    I have been reading around here for a few years already and always could find answers when I had any question, untill now... so therefore my first post :)

    1. A stuck button, don't know.. I pushed everyone of them and they feel as if they bounce back properly.

    2. After I removed the batteries and put them back in, I have to press any key for 3 seconds, then it does not show the TCS logo but it immediately shows the screen with Bootloader 1.2

    3. The Bootloader screen is the only screen I get and when I press on the "2" key, nothing happens

    4. After I press "9", the screen goes off for half a second and then the same Bootloader screen appears.
     
  5. Atani

    Atani TrainBoard Member

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    Double check the button for "7", it sounds like it is triggering on startup.

    If that doesn't seem to resolve it I'd reach out to TCS Support as it shouldn't be going into the bootloader on startup except in the case where button "7" is being pressed during startup *OR* there is an actual firmware issue. It's possible there is an issue with the firmware and you might need to go through the firmware update process (JMRI profile using OpenLCB / LCC mode).
     
    nljos likes this.
  6. nljos

    nljos New Member

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    I pressed and wiggled 7 several times and feels the same as the other keys. Also, after the screen is less brighter, and then press 7, the screen goes to bright again, so the throtte seems to respond to that.

    Maybe I need to replace batteries for new fresh ones? The ones that are in there now, came with the package.

    If that doesn't work, I will contact TCS Support.

    I will report back when this issue is resolved. Thanks very much for the heads up.
     
  7. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    That's always a good choice to try!

    I seldom use the batteries supplied with anything (unless they are custom made for it).

    I have my own choices for "best" batteries, but I'll not go down that rabbit hole here!
     
    nljos likes this.
  8. Atani

    Atani TrainBoard Member

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    Surprisingly I just changed the batteries in my UWT-100 a couple months ago, mine is a first edition with ID #24. I only changed them as it would no longer connect to WiFi. Though, my throttle doesn't see as much usage as others do since my layout is not in full operational status right now. But both my UWT-100 and UWT-50 are in use this month on a new LCC enabled product that will be announced in the near future.
     
    BigJake likes this.
  9. James Fitch

    James Fitch TrainBoard Member

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    You can always reach out to TCS
     
  10. nljos

    nljos New Member

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    Unfortunately new batteries didn't make any difference.

    I have sent an email to TCS support.

    Thanks everyone!
     
  11. nljos

    nljos New Member

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    Great news!
    In the first answer I got here, BigJake pointed to the TCS user group on groups.io
    So today I was looking around there to see if there was any question that related to my issue. Not at first glance, but then I saw a post about updating the bootloader via JMRI and the Access Point Mode.

    Wait a minute... AP mode was just the only thing that seemed to work on my throttle, so that looked very promising!

    So I followed the instructions on https://www.tcsdcc.com/update-with-jmri
    And after completion of the firmware update process, the display of the throttle showed the long desired TCS logo, and then after pressning 2, a proper menu.

    It worked! And even better, I now have a fully updated UWT-100!

    Thanks everyone for your help, and for TCS for making such a great device that was so easy to update :D
     
    Atani, Mike C and BigJake like this.
  12. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    Awesome; glad it worked out, and thanks for posting the link to their instructions.
     
  13. Atani

    Atani TrainBoard Member

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    Since a firmware update fixed it, I'm going to guess something went wrong in the initial programming of the MCU in-factory or possibly some sort of anomaly corrupted the firmware which resulted in the bootloader starting up by default.

    Glad that you were able to fix it with a firmware update though!
     
  14. nljos

    nljos New Member

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    The guy I bought it from, said it worked fine at his place, and the only thing he did was a factory reset.
    I trust him with that, because his ad showed photos with a screen with TCS logo, and several other screens.

    Now I have it working, I could see his saved wifi networks, so my conclusion is that the factory reset went wrong.
     
  15. Atani

    Atani TrainBoard Member

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    Definitely something went wrong with factory reset. It should have cleared all data on there and left you with a default WiFi configuration for "Layout WiFi" or similarly named entry.
     
    BigJake likes this.

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