Release Notes for JMRI 5.15.8 release

Date: MM DD, 2026

From: Release Pumpkin

Subject: Test Release 5.15.8 of JMRI/DecoderPro is available for download.

This is a draft release note only; the download links do not yet work

Notes:

This is a test release. Please post a note if you encounter any new or old bugs! And please back up your JMRI files before installing this, in case you want to go back to an earlier version.

This is the next in a series of 5.15.* test releases. It requires at least Java 11 to work. We recommend that you use Java 21 if possible. (See our page on downloading Java) We expect this series to result in the next JMRI production release in July 2026. (See the tentative release schedule)

JMRI is now only available under the GNU General Public License. For more information, please see our copyright and licensing page.

Update From Older JMRI Versions

If you are currently using a version older than JMRI 5.0, please follow these instructions carefully:

1. Is your current version older than JMRI 4.12? If so, then update to JMRI 4.12 first, and ensure everything works correctly: check start-up, check things you need to be working, and check the JMRI log as well) before doing anything else. Store your configuration and panel files under a new name and use those from now on. Then continue with step 2.

   If you are currently using JMRI 4.7.3 or earlier on Linux or macOS (Windows doesn't need this), then it's very important that you update to JMRI 4.12 and carrying out the migration process described in the JMRI 4.12 release note before updating to any later release.

2. Is your current version older than JMRI 4.20? Then update to JMRI 4.20 first, and ensure that works correctly (check start-up, check things you need to be working, and check the JMRI log as well) before doing anything else. Save your preferences again. Store your configuration and panel files under a new name, use those from now on, and go on to step 3.
3. Is your current version older than JMRI 4.24? Then update to JMRI 4.24 first, and ensure that works correctly (check start-up, check things you need to be working, and check the JMRI log as well) before doing anything else. Save your preferences again. Store your configuration and panel files under a new name and use those from now on.
4. Is your current version older than JMRI 5.0? Then update to JMRI 5.0 first, and ensure that works correctly (check start-up, check things you need to be working, and check the JMRI log as well) before doing anything else. Save your preferences again. Store your configuration and panel files under a new name and use those from now on.
5. You can then install this release.

Following this multi-step order of updating via stable major releases safeguards you against possible migration issues that can arise from skipping these versions.

New problems with this release

• None yet

New warnings for this release:

Older warnings

See the JMRI 5.14 release note for more warnings predating the 5.15 development series, including pointers to various migration issues. These may be relevant to you if you're updating from an earlier version; we strongly recommend you update to at least JMRI 5.0 before installing this test release. See instructions above.

• Since JMRI 4.99.1 This test release, and all subsequent ones, require the use of Java 11 or later. We recommend that you use Java 21. Java 8 is explicitly not supported. There's more information on this migration on the JMRI Tech Road Map and JVM Capabilities pages.
• If you're using a Firefox web browser and opening JMRI help files locally (not over the web), a Firefox bug can sometimes cause it to enter a loop. There's a workaround in this JMRIusers post.
• Since JMRI 5.15.1 The serial communications library that JMRI uses has been updated. If your JMRI installation is having trouble communicating with your model railroad hardware, please contact us on the JMRI users group.
• Since JMRI 5.15.4 The way mouse clicks are handled has been updated. Although this has been tested with mice and trackpads, it's possible that this will cause problems with other hardware, e.g. touch panels. If you do encounter new problems with clicking on panels, please contact us on the JMRI users list.
• Since JMRI 5.15.4 The RailCom handling has been updated to current standards. In particular, the enum representing the orientation has been changed from ORIENTA and ORIENTB to EAST and WEST respectively and some of the text strings have changed. These may affect any scripts you have that reference the direction of a RailCom report (tag) or parse the status messages.
• Since JMRI 5.15.5 The web server folder app has been removed. It might cause third party applications to fail. If this happens to you, please contact us on the JMRI users group.
• Since JMRI 5.15.7 Raspberry Pi GPIO pin numbering has changed. The Pi4J library has been updated from version 1.2 to 2.8.0. Pi4J 2.x uses BCM (Broadcom) GPIO numbers instead of the WiringPi numbers used by Pi4J 1.x. Any panel files or scripts that define Raspberry Pi sensors or turnouts must have their GPIO address numbers updated to the equivalent BCM pin numbers before they will work correctly with this release.
• Since JMRI 5.15.7 Raspberry Pi: the libgpiod2 library is required for GpioD GPIO support. This release adds support for the Pi4J GpioD plugin, which uses the modern Linux GPIO character-device interface preferred on kernel 5.10 and later. To enable it, install the native library before starting JMRI: sudo apt install libgpiod2 (Raspberry Pi OS / Raspbian) or the equivalent for your distribution. If libgpiod2 is absent, Pi4J will fall back to the LinuxFS provider for digital I/O; all sensors and turnouts will still function.
• Since JMRI 5.15.7 Due to the refactoring the JMRI Swing Throttle code, some scripts may be broken, particularly :
  • ThrottleFrame was moved to package jmri.jmrit.throttle.implementation (was jmri.jmrit.throttle previously)
  • jmri.jmrit.throttle.ThrottleFrameManager.createThrottleFrame() now returns a jmri.jmrit.throttle.interfaces.ThrottleControllerUI which is an interface implemented by (among other) jmri.jmrit.throttle.implementation.ThrottleFrame (same class name as previously but moved to a new package)
  • if you need a small throttle, see ThrottleFrameManager.createSimpleThrottleFrame(RosterEntry) or ThrottleFrameManager.createSimpleThrottleFrame(DccLocoAddress)

Download links:

During development leading to the actual release, you can find test download files on the continuous integration build page. These are development files, and might not be working at any particular time.

Changes since Test Release 5.15.7:

The full list of included changes is available from our GitHub code repository.

Hardware Support

• The list of ports on a connection configuration page is now updated event time to click on it to open it. This lets you e.g. pull out your command station port, note the list of remaining ones, then reconnect your command station and select the new port that just appeared.

Acela CTI

Anyma DMX512

Bachrus Speedo

BiDiB

CBUS

C/MRI

DCC++ and DCC-EX

• DCC-EX Traffic Monitor: controls now wrap onto additional rows when the window is narrowed and the controls area grows upward to keep everything visible, rather than clipping checkboxes off the bottom (#15134). The window title and menu action label also now read "DCC-EX" rather than "DCC++".
• DCC-EX Traffic Monitor: traffic lines now show an explicit "TX:" or "RX:" direction marker regardless of whether the translated text or raw form is displayed, and the raw form is wrapped in <…> rather than […] to match DCC-EX's native command syntax.
• A new EXRAIL Automations window (under the DCC-EX menu) lists your CommandStation's Routes and Automations and lets you trigger them. Entry details are fetched sequentially for reliability on hardware with small WiFi buffers (Mega+WiFi) (PR #15160).
• The EXRAIL Automations window now remembers the last loco address you entered during the session - the prompt pre-fills it the next time you trigger an automation. The dialog also validates the address (1-10293) and re-prompts if the input is out of range or not a number.
• The Virtual LCD window now supports more than one display. Each display is shown in a single row in the Virtual LCD window, with the first display at the left.
• Change default DCCppOverTCP port from 1235 to 2560 to match DCC-EX default.
• DCC-EX: turnout details are now fetched one at a time after startup rather than all at once, preventing the command station's WiFi buffer from being overwhelmed on layouts with many turnouts.
• DCC-EX: out-of-range turnout IDs in the <jT> response (caused by WiFi buffer overflow on Mega+WiFi) are now ignored with a warning rather than being registered as bogus turnouts.
• DCC-EX Traffic Monitor: the display limit has been raised from 500 to 2000 lines, sufficient for large layouts that enumerate many turnouts on startup.
• DCC-EX: broadcast messages (<* ... *>) containing angle brackets in the body are now parsed correctly. Previously the first > inside the body terminated the frame early, which could leave the programmer stuck waiting for a reply that never arrived.

DCC4pc

Direct

ESU

Hornby

Internal

IPOCSMR

JMRI Simple Server/JMRI Client

KPF-Zeller

Lenz XPressNet

LocoNet

• LocoNet-over-TCP connections now automatically reconnect if the server goes away and comes back. Detection relies on a clean TCP close from the server; hard disconnects (network drop with no TCP FIN) are only detected when JMRI next tries to send a message.

Maple

Marklin CS2

MERG

MQTT

MRC

NCE

Oak Tree

OpenLCB / LCC

• Fixed a bug which could cause the Event Table to refresh too often, which annoyingly caused it to lose your current selected row.

Powerline

RFID

Raspberry PI

Roco z21/Z21

Secsi

SPROG

SRCP

TAMS

TMCC

Uhlenbrock Intellibox

Zimo

ZTC

New / Updated decoder definitions

AE Model

Arnold

Bachmann

BLI

BNM Hobbies

CT Elektronik

DCC Concepts

Digikeijs (Digirails)

Digitrax

Doehler & Haas

ESU

Hattoms

Hornby

Kuehn

LaisDCC

LDH

Lenz

MD Electronics

MGP

MTB Model

• Added series MND25 Locomotive decoders

Mistral Train Models

MTH

MRC

NCE

Norsk Modelljernbane (NJM)

Piko decoders

Public Domain and DIY decoders

QSI

Rampino Elektronic

Rautenhaus

RR-CirKits

SoundTraxx

Tam Valley Depot

TAMS

TCS

Team Digital

Technologistic (train-O-matic)

Trix Modelleisenbahn

Uhlenbrock

Umelec

Viessmann

Wangrow

ZIMO

Miscellaneous

Control Panel Editor

• The option Disable loco marker popup menus has been added to the Marker menu. If it's selected, it's possible to move around loco markers but it's not possible to open the popup menu for loco markers. This is useful for dispatcher that wants to move the loco markers but doesn't want to edit the loco markers.

Circuit Builder

Palette

CTC Tool

DecoderPro

• Fixed a bug were DecoderPro was include the height of non-visible columns in the row height calculation.

Dispatcher

Dispatcher System

Internationalization

Layout Editor

• Improved the layout of the edit tools to reduce the need for vertical scrolling when they're at the top or bottom of the window.
• Handle mouse down events, drag and popup menus, on shapes before background objects (level 0 and level 1).
• The option Disable loco marker popup menus has been added to the Marker menu. If it's selected, it's possible to move around loco markers but it's not possible to open the popup menu for loco markers. This is useful for dispatcher that wants to move the loco markers but doesn't want to edit the loco markers.
• Prevent a possible ClassCastException introduced by PR #14492 and PR #14928 to support signals on turntables and traversers. The exception occurs when Entry/Exit is used and a panel has a turntable and/or a traverser. The added logic did not consider that the bean might be an Entry/Exit sensor.

NX - Entry/Exit Tool

• Fix an incomplete route cancel cleanup which leaves the protected block allocated.

LccPro

Logix

LogixNG

• The LogixNG function regex() has been added. It lets you use a regular expression to extract information from a string.
  For more information about regular expressions, see the Java class Pattern
.
• Update the Turnout Lock action description.

Meters and MeterFrames

OperationsPro

• Added the ability to set the additional line tab size for Manifest and Switch Lists. Useful when using the smaller page widths. See "More Print Options" in the help.
• New feature, manual build for a train. See the OperationsPro help for more information.
• Operations tests now use an isolated NullProfile per test via @TempDir, preventing intermittent RosterConfigManager failures on machines with real JMRI profile data.
• New feature, Manifest and switch lists can now display rolling stock last moved date & time.
• Changed switch lists to now list trains arrivals by time, including turns. Previously a turns work was listed consecutively.
• You can now bold a Manifest or switch list word or line. At the start of the text add <b> and </b> at the end of the text.
• Manifest and switch list can now show the rolling stocks last location.

Panel Editor

• The option Disable loco marker popup menus has been added to the Marker menu. If it's selected, it's possible to move around loco markers but it's not possible to open the popup menu for loco markers. This is useful for dispatcher that wants to move the loco markers but doesn't want to edit the loco markers.

Permissions

Preferences

Resources

Roster

• The Continue/Quit dialog shown at startup when the configured roster location is unavailable now treats dismissing the dialog (the close button) as Quit, matching the behavior of the profile chooser. Previously the close button fell through to Continue (issue #15148).

• Roster Speed Profiling has been updated to allow profiling from either High to Low or Low to High and should now work for both NMRA and non NMRA speed steps.

Routes

Scripting

• Update the debugging section of Getting Started with Scripting to include the process to get the script line number from the Java exception report.

Signals

Signal Systems

Signal Heads

Signal Masts

Signal Groups

Cab Signals

Simple Signal Logic

USS CTC Logic

Switchboard Editor

Throttle

Timetable

Tracker

Turnouts, Lights, Sensors and other elements

Warrants

• Fixed intermittent CI failures in linked/looped warrant tests caused by race conditions and test isolation issues:
  • stopWarrant() now captures _idxCurrentOrder before dispatching deAllocate asynchronously, so looped warrants correctly report warrantComplete rather than warrantEnd.
  • Fixed a missed-wakeup race in the Engineer block-sync wait: the block entry check is now re-evaluated inside the synchronized block, so a sensor that fires between the outer check and wait() can no longer leave the engineer stuck indefinitely.
  • Warrant tests now wait for PROPERTY_WARRANT_START before firing block sensors for the next leg, ensuring sensors are not delivered before the new leg's engineer has started.
  • IndicatorTrackPaths now skips paint callbacks on disposed editor panels.
  • Six logix test classes now use an isolated NullProfile per test rather than the shared ./temp/ directory, preventing RosterConfigManager failures on developer machines with real profile data.
  • The changes above are done in PR #15151

Web Access

Web Server

Where Used

WiThrottle Server

Virtual Sound Decoder

• The restriction on Turntable using only an even number of rays has been lifted.

Z21 Server

Miscellaneous

• The class jmri.jmrix.ConnectionStatus has been refactorized to use SystemConnectionMemo instead of systemName and portName.
• Reading and writing of the user-interface.xml preferences file has been made more efficient. This shouldn't have any effect on users.
• Fixed the bug causing the "Premature end of file" in user-interface.xml.

---