Ray Proudfoot

Hi John, the aircraft in question is Xtreme Prototype’s Learjet 25 from the 1970s. I tried another aircraft - Vertx Diamond DA62 - and the hit was far less. I didn’t set all lights on to run a full test but even looking at the GPU usage it was well down. It appears to be a combination of 1) Bilbao, 2) XP Learjet 25 and 3) 3840*2160. Remove any one of those and the problem disappears. This is in daytime, not dusk or night. You can use SimStarterNG for the settings in P3D but as you say, it can’t change them on the fly. I’m sure there must be a reason why LM never gave us this option especially DL as it has such a profound impact on performance. SimStarterNG is great for having different scenarios where you might want very different settings for each. I’ve used it since it was donation-ware. Very clever author.

Hi Pete, I just checked RTSS against Task Manager / Performance and for a single display it's spot on. But for rich people with more than one it sounds ideal. 😁 I've found the culprit for stutters at Bilbao. I was testing using a 3rd party Learjet with nice cockpit lighting. It takes a real toll on DL. 10% extra with flight deck flood lighting on but the real killer is taxi and landing lights both required for take-off and landing because of the switch configuration. GPU usage goes from 64% (C&D) to 80% with instrument lighting on. Turn on taxi lights and it goes to 99% and fps drops below 30 with lots of stuttering. Add landing lights and it goes even worse with fps down to 21. With them both on plus instrument lighting it pushes GPU to 100% which is where the stuttering starts. In comparison the PMDG737 with all lights on does max out at LEBB too but without changing anything switching to LEMD - a far bigger airport - has the GPU at just 65%. I'll write to the developer and ask if anything can be done to improve it.

Hi Pete, Most of the time especially during daylight flights having it off is not a problem. But during dusk and when flying some aircraft the enhanced effects it gives makes it desirable. And there are some ORBX airports like LEBB where even in daylight the DL option kills performance in UHD. It was for that airport where a toggle option would have been helpful instead of going into the menu. Since I posted I've been doing some research and testing. The MSAA settings does have an appreciable effect on performance so I've switched it off as I never really saw any benefit running at 3840*2160 anyway. SSAA is even worse and I never used that. AA is also off for obvious reasons. Some flight deck lighting on certain aircraft has a big impact on the GPU so I'm avoiding using those. All this has been possible by using Riva Tuner RTSS which is great for monitoring performance.

Hi Pete / John, Dynamic Lighting at some airports imposes a significant hit on my frame rate. To get around the problem I have to bring up the menu and switch it off. I wondered if there was a command in P3D to do it but there isn't. Neither does a Toggle Dynamic Lighting appear in FSUIPC commands. Is it possible to control this outside of the P3D menu? Having a button to toggle it on/off would be helpful. This is with P3D v4.5 but the same would apply to v5 too I imagine.

Sorry for resurrecting this topic but I had the same problem after installing my new Fulcrum One yoke and have found a solution. In ChasePlane - Control Assignments - there are view commands that you can associate with keys. These include Tilt Up, Tilt Down, Pan Left and Pan Right. I associated those to CTRL+UpArrow, CTRL+DownArrow, CTRL+LeftArrow and CTRL+RightArrow. If you then associate those key commands with the relevant hat switch in FSUIPC you then get full panning and tilting in the VC. Assign them in Buttons & Switches tab. The external views and panning / tilting remain the same.

Thanks Pete, will do. I definitely saw those entries in the Events drop-down for exits. Hopefully we’ll get a solution.

Pete, It's probably best if you read the dialogue between me and Steve regarding this problem. I'm just passing on what he said. https://www.pollypotsoftware.org.uk/vanillaforums/discussion/1230/exit-lights-wont-illuminate#latest

Thanks John and Pete. The reason for the access into FSUIPC is to read 3367 for the status of exits. Apparently SimConnect reads them once and not again so they’re not available via the usual means in GIT. Hence the access to FSUIPC5. I’ll install the pack tomorrow and hopefully it will fix the problem. Thanks!

Hi John, GIT is to allow communication between GoFlight hardware and P3D but also accessing FSUIPC. I have narrowed the problem down to a port number that is trying to be accessed but being denied. I am talking to the GIT author but wondered if you had any ideas about this error in the fsuipc log:- 50703 LUA.1: beginning "D:\P3Dv4\Modules\gitlua.lua" 50703 *** LUA Error: D:\P3Dv4\Modules\gitlua.lua:5: module 'socket' not found: no field package.preload['socket']socket no file 'D:\P3Dv4\modules\socket.lua' no file 'D:\P3Dv4\modules\socket\init.lua' no file 'D:\P3Dv4\modules\lua\socket.lua' no file 'D:\P3Dv4\modules\lua\socket\init.lua' no file 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\lua\socket.luac' no file 'D:\P3Dv4\modules\lua\socket.dll' no file 'D:\P3Dv4\modules\lua\loadall.dll' It can't find the socket. Any suggestions?

An update. That IP address relates to 'local host'. I've now changed it to the IP address of the PC. But access still fails because of a port number in FSUIPC5 not being accessible. Is 8385 the correct one?

Hi chaps. Frustrating problem trying to get GoFlight Interface Tool (GIT) to read an offset in FSUIPC5 for the status of the exits so when I flick a switch to open an exit the LED for the T8 comes on. It’s the only way of getting the led to work apparently. The GIT log records all actions but it’s this one that has me beat... 14:20:49 FSUIPC: Connection Failed: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. 127.0.0.1:8385 I’ve disabled the firewall but still no joy. All this is one the same PC. There was no entry for GIT in the list of approved programs in the firewall so I added it with private access. Still no joy. One program is trying to read another all on the same machine but the firewall is blocking access. Any ideas how to fix it?

Thanks John. That one worked and the macro is visible. Thanks very much! 👍

Thanks John. It's a pity they used such long names. Daft really. No hurry. I have plenty of other things to do.

Hi John, After installing that dll I loaded P3D and brought up FSUIPC. Selected the Profile Specific option and moved the switch. When I clicked on the dropdown box it was initially blank and then a second later P3D crashed. This is the report... Faulting application name: Prepar3D.exe, version: 4.5.12.30293, time stamp: 0x5cd47aad Faulting module name: FSUIPC5.dll, version: 5.1.5.2, time stamp: 0x5d77e0cb Exception code: 0xc0000409 Fault offset: 0x00000000000e41b4 Faulting process ID: 0x439c Faulting application start time: 0x01d568846fd5556d Faulting application path: D:\P3Dv4\Prepar3D.exe Faulting module path: D:\P3Dv4\Modules\FSUIPC5.dll Report ID: 29bc8d44-65d0-446d-a3a0-df73b6cb208f Faulting package full name: Faulting package-relative application ID:

Many thanks John. I’ll try it tomorrow and report back.

HI John, I cannot get a macro to be displayed in the button drop-down list in FSUIPC5. This relates to Xtreme Prototypes Learjet 25 where they use their own Yaw Damper code and not the default. I want to assign the macro to a GoFlight T8 switch for convenience. There are two buttons on the aircraft’s centre pedestal – Yaw Damper On and Yaw Damper Off. Pressing one also changes the other. The company uses LVar variables which should be accessible to the user for manipulation in FSUIPC. From that I searched for Yaw and there are 6 entries. I suspect that I need to use L:PedestalAutopilotYawDamperOnButtonPosition and L:PedestalAutopilotYawDamperOffButtonPosition. I can’t see anything wrong with my macro but it isn’t listed in the dropdown for Buttons & Switches under “Control sent when button pressed”. Any ideas?

Hans, it will be once the other changes in this release have been formalised.

It’s 5151d you need Hans. Scroll to the last page.

Hans, There is another command for zapping you might want to check. It might have a wider kill area. Check the documentation. Regarding P3D crashing when running Radar Contact that has been identified as a long-standing bug in FSUIPC5. Scroll to the end of this topic and download a new FSUIPC5 which will fix the problem. Rename the txt extension to dll. Hope you're still enjoying RC4 and thanks for your voice set! 👍

Hans, the Ai you wish to zap has to be right in front of you. For example an Ai approaching you head-on on a taxiway can be zapped and also one on the runway as you come into land. But an Ai more than 20 degrees from a straight-on view won't be. That is by design.

Thanks John. Does that version include Ai counts on ground and airborne?

Ah so it’s dormant until called upon by another app. Gotcha. 👍

Well done Pete. 👍 I suppose it took the huge number of Ai injected into P3D to create the conditions for the crash. Funny that it only happened for me with RC running. I suppose different things happen when it is.

Hi John, Two test departures from EGLL 27L. One in a default aircraft, the other in the PMDG737. Both fine with no crashes using 5.5.1.c. Logs available if required. Ai count was around 255 at EGLL. I flew to FL150 and 25nm from Heathrow towards Schiphol before terminating the flight. I will try a full flight to Schiphol in the next few days.

Thanks John. I shall try my EGLL 27L departure using RC4 probably tomorrow now and report back. Hope you’re feeling better. 👍