New Utility: Trainz Protocol Changer - fix broken Download Helper links

shaneturner12

Tutorial Creator
I am pleased to announce another utility.

This one is called the Trainz Protocol Changer.

Are you finding that the wrong version of Content Manager is loading when you click a Download (Helper) link, or that your browser says it cannot find the program to open trainz:// links?

This tool can change the relevant registry information to point at the correct version.

Please be aware that as this tool can modify Registry information, some security software may get uptight about it.

The tool can be downloaded from here, and can be run from any folder that can be written to. In Windows Vista/7, the tool will automatically run as administrator, and will require permission to run.

The first time the tool runs, it will take several minutes to prepare, as it will search for your Trainz versions.

At this point in time, it supports TRS2006,Trainz Classics,TS2009,TS2010 and TS12.

Any questions? Leave a comment below.

Upcoming Updates

In the next update, I am planning to add support for modifying which Content Manager is loaded when double-clicking CDP,CDP2 and CMPA files.

Important Information

A fault has been corrected in the latest version that was preventing the program from doing it's job. Please re-download the tool if it has not been changing the reference correctly.

UPDATE - 25/06/2015

I have released a new edition of the tool - see http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?120715-Trainz-Protocol-Changer-Second-Edition for details and a download link.
 
Hi Shane,
The tool freezes up after finding the trainz installations - exiting brings up a window to exit otr continue - clicking continue brings up a blank form with no information abouit the trainz versions etc - cnnot not do or change anything. Run in admin mode on win7.
Butler57
 
Thankyou for letting me know. I will investigate the issue ASAP, and will re-upload the file.

Shane

EDIT: The file appears to be working correctly at my end. Can I get you to send me the details of the error via private message (you can get the error details by clicking View Details or similar in the Continue/Quit box)
 
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I have now fixed what I believe the issue is, and have reuploaded the tool. Make sure you are not running the tool from a read-only folder.

Shane
 
Shane,

Luckily I don't have the particular problem that Protocol Changer addresses, but do you think it's possible to write another miracle utility - one that stops CM from 'seeing' assets on the DLS that it can't actually obtain because their trainz-build is higher than that of the Trainz version installed? At least I think that's what's going on. My CM3.3 is starting to accumulate a list of assets that it says have 'updates available' but which are not, although I can see them on the black pages. Just cannot download them. N3V must know about this, but have done nothing. Could be an opportunity for a clever 3rd party utility?

~ Deane
 
I will see what I can do - I've got some understanding of how the utilities work (as well as the .gs files) so it sounds like an interesting project.

Just out of interest, have you tried the TrainzUtil method (which is also mentioned in my blog)?


Shane
 
Dinorius_Redundicus;bt977 said:
Shane,

Luckily I don't have the particular problem that Protocol Changer addresses, but do you think it's possible to write another miracle utility - one that stops CM from 'seeing' assets on the DLS that it can't actually obtain because their trainz-build is higher than that of the Trainz version installed? At least I think that's what's going on. My CM3.3 is starting to accumulate a list of assets that it says have 'updates available' but which are not, although I can see them on the black pages. Just cannot download them. N3V must know about this, but have done nothing. Could be an opportunity for a clever 3rd party utility?

~ Deane
There should also be a utility that, when enabled prevents you from seeing and downloading assets from the DLS that are not compatible with your version of Trainz (i.e. jfe's Contemporary Hotel, which is faulty in TS12).
 
shaneturner12;bt978 said:
I will see what I can do - I've got some understanding of how the utilities work (as well as the .gs files) so it sounds like an interesting project.

Just out of interest, have you tried the TrainzUtil method (which is also mentioned in my blog)?


Shane

No Shane, I haven't had the need to use the Trainzutil method. As you say in the blog, "This method may allow assets that appear as 'Invalid Content' or 'Unknown Content' to install, as long as the content is not for a later version" - so it would not solve this particular problem anyway.

The point is that Trainz is not even supposed to be "aware" of assets above it's own trainz-build number. That's the way it always was in the past and it's essential for the integrity of the obsoleting system. Auran have somehow let this fall into disrepair and it's driving people nuts. Hiballer has posted in the forum about it before (so I'm confident it's not just me seeing it) but Auran as usual, are silent. I realise this is not the topic of this particular blog, so I will not bang on about it further here (apart from replying to Scottbe8 below).

.
 
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Scottbe8;bt979 said:
There should also be a utility that, when enabled prevents you from seeing and downloading assets from the DLS that are not compatible with your version of Trainz (i.e. jfe's Contemporary Hotel, which is faulty in TS12).

That's exactly the point I was trying to make. If Trainz/CM/DLS and its obsoleting system was working properly, as it did in the past, there would be no need for any utility. Auran created this problem but have failed to recognize it, hence our only hope is that some clever person like Shane can create a fix for it. It's a big ask, because I suspect it goes to the very guts of the Trainz/CM programs but we can only hope. I promised I wasn't going to divert this blog further but here I am doing it, so I'd better shut up.
 
Where is the link to the Trainz Protocol Changer please? Can not find it on your utility page.

*Edit: Found it. Perhaps you make your link above a red colour or something else sticking out prominent as light blue is VERY hard to see and also include this utility link on your, you guessed it, utility page.

I also get when trying to load the utility: "This tool requires a 'runtime' to run". This is with Win7 Ultimate. Does NOT tell me which version is required, so, what runtime version do I need?

VinnyBarb
 
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It's currently only available via the link above, but I will be adding it to the utility page shortly.

Shane

EDIT: The link is also now available on the Utilities page on my tutorial website.
 
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An update - I have now added support for .CDP, .CDP2, and .CMPA files.

There is a possible bug I am aware of though, and that's that the icons may not appear correctly. If this happens, let me know, and I will try and find out what has happened.

Shane
 
I am getting this error before aborting to load: "This tool requires a 'runtime' to run". This is with Win7 Ultimate. Does NOT tell me which version is required, so, what runtime version do I need? I have several M$ Runtime Versions installed including the one in W7 Ultimate.

Cheers

VinnyBarb
 
I have provided a link to the required runtime version on the Download page. Did you remember to follow the instructions I posted in the other thread?

Shane
 
I have your utility running now but it did not fix/address my DLS/CMP issues. TS12 CMP (3.5) can find a DLS Cdp and start d/loading it, halfway through it either stalls completely d/loading or fizzles to some 1-2kbs of speed and still does not d/load. This is with about half of CDPs I try to d/load. TadDeamon shows I am correctly logged in, ready to d/load. I do have a "Lifetime" FCT which shows of being active in my Profile.

Half of the dependencies of a CDP fail to d/load, one can see these being on the DLS on the black pages. Is this just me or are others in the same boat? When reading all the DLS complaints, I think I am not alone with my DLS/CM issues. Is there something else I can do to check, so I get complete d/loads as some other members get, usually US citizens and as AURAN/N3V's servers are in the US of A, this might be the reason why these get satisfactorily d/loads.

Similar issues/problems to above if I only d/load via FTP.

Cheers

VinnyBarb
 
Hi VinnyBarb,

Sorry to hear of your downloading issues.

I'm going to have a look into what's causing these to see if the problem can be solved at the user's end (i.e. another utility) or whether it's N3V's end (which would involve pestering Helpdesk).

Shane
 
Hi Scottbe8,

Sorry to hear that the tool is not working properly.

Can I check which features are not working properly, so I can release an update?

Shane
 
Program and file associations are not changed in Windows 7, even when running the utility as Administrator. It takes three to four hours just to find the drive paths. After running the program for H:/Trainz/TS12, file associations for .cdp and .cdp2 remain with H:/Trainz/TS2009, even when the TS12 Content Manager is running. In addition, using the "Download" link on the DLS webpage launches H:/Trainz/TS2009/bin/ContentManager.exe, not H:/Trainz/TS12/bin/ContentManager.exe as instructed, unless the latter is the only one open. When both are open, the trainz:// protocol does nothing.

TS2009 is the most recent installation on my machine. TS12 is the installation which I use most often.
 
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