Go to reference, as far as I know, just means go to zero reference point on the motor (which should be pointed south). Recalculate, is supposed to realign the satellites you have stored, after you have located the first satellite with Diseqc 1.2. It never worked for me either, but it was prob because I knew little about it at the time. Can't help with the Trimax meter, never used one. USALS is just an 'enhanced" Diseqc 1.2, a program included with most receivers. Makes setting up the satellite's arc at your location a lot easier, once the lat/long is entered, the motor is able to determine where to drive the dish for a given location in the arc.
That's a simplification, but the general idea. And seems to work very well once you have the dish/motor aligned to due south, and have corrected your east/west setting and motor elevation. The fact that you can't find anything with Diseqc 1.2 may be that the motor is moving the dish too quickly past the satellite you seek, or that an active TP isn't being selected before moving the dish.