Pete Dowson

In your "My Documents\Flight simulator X Files" folder (suitably translated for non-English versions). A saved flight is made up of three files, types FLT, WX and FSSAVE. Regards Pete

Same error as what? Sorry, but your message seems to come out of the blue, with nothing related to it. And what is "ver 10"? Do you mean 4.10. What do you think is different between 4.10 and 4.12? No. Pete

Well, yes, that looks better, but 65867 is "AXIS_SLEW_AHEAD_SET", which may only get through in SLEW mode. Try it anyway -- in may possibly work. Otherwise choose a non-Slew mode axis. The only line you are manually entering is surely the "ThrottleB=..." line. The others should be made by using the axis assignment and calibration screens in FSUIPC options. I'm not going to check those. Sorry, I've never heard of it. Does it emulate a standard DirectInput joysick, or come with its own driver for FS? If the latter I cannot possibly support it, you have to use its own driver. Sounds like their driver isn't a proper modern Windows driver and only provides the old Windows API. I upgraded FSUIPC4 to DirectInput because all modern devices support DirectInput and it provides more axes and POVs. Regards Pete In the fsx with the fsuipc4 recognize only the CH YOKE. Regards Lambis

Yes, it is all wrong. Well, to start with there is no facility for multiple spoilers, only the 6 controls which are actually listed. They ARE listed by name, so I don't know where you got "SpoilersB" from. Secondly, all of the axes have to be assigned to FS controls, NOT directly to FSUIPC. You can do this in FS assignments, or in FSUIPC Axis assignments, it does not matter. You must assign the extra (B, C, D) axes to axis controls you dso not use for anything else, it doesn't matter what. Third, you must provide parameters in the INI file giving the "control number" of the FS control you assigned. Control numbers are listed in the control numbers lists provided. Please try to read it again. I'm afraid you have understood nothing, and I really don't know any other way of explaining it. Regards Pete

Don't you need the SendInput method set? Have you tried it? Obviously the API exists, else it couldn't be linked to or called and WideClient wouldn't even load because of this. Without delving deeper (which I will when I get time, soon hopefully), my only guess is that it needs some special privileges now, or only works on a target program which has something specifically enabled. Regards Pete

Okay. This does actually show that the Menu entry for FSUIPC (and hence "Add-Ons" is added okay). This is only reported if SimConnect is working and has responded correctly. I have no idea about add-on planes, I'm afraid, but I cannot understand at all why you cannot see the Add-Ons menuunless possibly one of the Add-Ons (planes or otherwise) is attempting to add a menu entry and somehow screwing it up, losing the whole Add-Ons menu in the process. Maybe the same screw-up is preventing the planes being listed too? There are two ways to proceed. First, get a SimConnect log. Instructions for this are in the FSX Help announcement above. It'll be large, so ZIP it up and send it to me at petedowson@btconnect.com. Second, try uninstalling your add-on planes one at a time and see if one of them is the culprit. Regards Pete

You need to repair SimConnect, as the base version needed is somehow missing from your system. I don't know how you managed that, but to get the FSX repair facility to re-install SimConnect you first need to delete a folder -- otherwise it thinks it is okay even though it is not. Please refer to the FSX Help announcement above which explains this. Regards Pete

You should find everything you need in the FSUIPC SDK, available from http://www.schiratti.com/dowson Regards Pete

Strange. Looks like a Vista incompatibility problem. Can you show me the [user] section of the WideClient.INI file. I don't know if there will be a way around this, if Microsoft have removed facilities needed. Possibly it needs even greater privileges than "run as administrator". Pete

Are you using a registered version of FSUIPC? If so, do you, by any chance have the Reverser axis calibrated in FSUIPC? It defaults to using the mixture axis. Pete

Did you read the installation instructions, in the User Guide? Why? There is no need, it accomplishes nothing at all. Ah .. you run FSX from the Icon or EXE by right-clicking and selecting Run As Administrator? That has worked 100% so far. Not sure what any of that means. Sorry. Could you show me the Install FSUIPC log file, please. So far there have been NO Vista install problems which have not been solved by running FSX "as administrator" when wanting to Register. There was a problem with one user where the option to "Run As Administrator" option was not on the right-click menu for the Icon (shortcut), but that was solved by right-clicking on the FSX.EXE in Explorer, where the option did appear. I fear Vista is to be avoided by serious users at present. I do hope they come out with a fix for all the problems in Vista soon. I have two Vista installations (one Home Premium, one Ultimate) but will not risk using them for anything serious at present. Regards Pete

Oh, yes. That's feasible using conditionals. You'd need to edit the INI file. Refer to the Advanced User's guide -- come back with questions if you get stuck. Two problems there. One is that there's no window ident read-outs you can use, and the other is that the window ident is not a useful reference because FS supports multiple Windows -- which Window should the ident refer to? You can not only change the functions of the current window but open another and another andwell, you get the picture. Regards Pete

Oh. So the adapter not only provides a Game Port, it installs joystick drivers too? That's unexpected. I assumed it would just emulate the Game Port and allow you to select whatever driver you wanted. This is what happens with serial port adapters. Maybe that one is too sophisticated for its own good? Regards Pete

Strange. The full Game Port can only provide 4 axes and 4 buttons (using all 15 wires), but the CH method (used by PFC) of decoding the 4 button lines gives up to 15 (combinations of those lines) -- with the restriction that it won't recognise more than one button pressed together. What, through the adapter, or direct to the Game Port too? Maybe it needs new potentiometers, or maybe a clean. Yes, the CH driver decodes the 4 button lines to give you more buttons -- up to 15 are possible. Won't the CH driver see the Game Port via the USB adapter? It should do. If you are reasonably adept at unsoldering and re-soldering, and good at following instructions, it may be worth your while contacting PFC support in Sacramento (speak to Eric) and getting him to send you whatever is needed and instructions. It would be far cheaper than sending the kit back. Regards Pete

Of course. Wimbledon. ;-) Yes, of course. Is this for when it rains at Wimbledon, or can you bear to miss some? ;-) Give me a ring. Best Pete

Good. They talk to each other? Odd. Don't you mean they both happily talk to FSX? ;-) No. From the last logs you posted, these are the salient bits: From the Installer (which worked fine, but was done on 16th June, presumably before this mess?): Checking compatibility with installed SimConnect: ... Okay, Probe Manifest matches installed SimConnect 60905 (Original) Found later build SimConnect 61242 (SP1 May07) also, interestingly, it did have to correct your Simconnect.xml file: Now checking for a SimConnect.XML file ... ... There is a SimConnect.XML, checking for "local" section. No previous "local" entry found, so adding it now ... ... "local" section of SimConnect.XML written okay From the FSUIPC4 log: Running inside FSX (SimConnect SP1 May07) and 14859 Running in "Microsoft Flight Simulator X", Version: 10.0.61355.0 (SimConnect: 10.0.61242.0) Regards Pete

That's a definite bug then. Hopefully they'll fix it. Another bug? Hmmm. Update coming shortly, then? ;-) Regards Pete

More importantly, did it change the altitude reading? Maybe you are looking at the First Officer's altimeter, or the standby analogue one? The built-in FS facilities only deal with the Captain's altimeter. Have you checked for possible added keyboard shortcuts provided in the package. Many of these advanced cockpit add-ons do provide other means of control than mouse. Regards Pete

Well, I don't have a Game Port one at present, but I use the Serial ones always in preference to a real serial port and the USB hardware part of the PC is much faster and the USB handling in Windows is far better than the serial port handling. In my experience the adapters (at least the ones I use) are far better. I would have thought that the Game Port adapters would be even better still, as the way potentiometer settings are measured is by going around a tight loop measuring the discharge rate of a capacitor. A horrible little non-interruptible loop. Throwing that out to a little dongle on a wire seems good to me. Look for a full implementation then. Maybe that very cheap one I found at Amazon isn't good enough. Check this one (in the US, but you should be able to find one locally): http://www.usb-port.com/rm203.html That seems to cope with every possible mode. Sorry, can you re-phrase that? I don't understand the question. Yes. The USB adapter does not change the device to a USB device as far as the PC software is concerned. It still looks like a serial port device. The adapter will get a COMx port number. Regards Pete

DirectInput supports buttons 0-63, but the Windows joystick API which FSUIPC uses only supports 0-31. I don't know why your 5 and 7 aren't seen, though. Surely they wouldn't put them up into the DirectInput 32-63 range? There are quite a few other threads here about the X52 (try a Search), mainly about one of the axes not being supported. But in all those I've not seen anything about any missing buttons. I did notice someone pointing out that the Saitek numbering is from 1 whilst FSUIPC uses the underlying Windows numbering starting from 0, which would make your 5 and 7 look like 4 and 6. Anyway, please check it with the attached little "JoyView" program. It too uses the standard Windows joystick API. The buttons won't be numbered, but all shown as one decimal number with a bit for each, so 4 and 6 together would be 16+64 = 80 (0r 0x00000050 in hex mode). Regards Pete joyview.zip

It's not complicated to ordinary users who never need to know what is going on in the background. The most complex parts for add-on installation is getting those XML files correct, and really installer programs should do all that. This is why FSUIPC has, for the first time, got an installer. I've never made an installer for any of my add-ons before! I suspect the remote use of ASX has got slightly less attention in this respect as it would be seen as a minority interest, and the publishers hoped that the written instructions would suffice. Having looked at them I must say they seem clear enough. Maybe yours was a case of leaping in too quickly and not reading enough first? Also I suspect many add-on publishers are feeling their way here a bit, as it is all new for us all. I would expect installers and such to improve with time and feedback, such as your own. Because the two are different. Microsoft invented the Side-by-Side installation system so that their updates (to Windows, FS, or any system including add-ons) don't cause application compatibility problems as facilities change and evolve. The old method for ensuring compatibility was to always support all the old things whilst adding new ones. This grows into a right Royal mess as changes occur, and this is good for nobody, being inefficient, confusing, and very costly to maintain. With the Side-by-Side library system, old programs will still work as they use the older library, whilst newer ones, or later versions, will use the new one, and so on. FSUIPC4 actively checks the SimConnect versions available, and uses the latest one it recognises (SP1 at present). But it will still work when SP2 comes out, even without me changing anything, as it will still use the SP1 version. However, to actually get itself loaded -- and thus in a position where it can check versions -- it needs the Base version to also be there, as this is the only one always guaranteed. I hope this is clear. In summary, the side-by-side system is good as is provides ongoing compatibility in a most efficient manner without restricting changes for the better in future updates and versions. It's a way of having your cake and eating it. ;-) Regards Pete

But I am sure you can get little USB to GamePort adapters very cheaply, just as you can get USB to Serial Port adapters, and just about any other sort of adapter. Furthermore, I think you will find that, even if your current computer has a Game Port, using a USB one will be more efficient and give better results (it is certainly so for Serial Port adapters for USB). Google for "USB Game Port". Here's one in the UK from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gembird-GameporB000K4QPYG Regards Pete

Please show me the FSUIPC4.LOG and Install FSUIPC4.LOG files. You will find them in the FSX Modules folder. There are two likely reasons and I need more information to help. No, there should be nothing in common between SimConnect loading FSUIPC and operating the Add-Ons menu, and the default provision of an aircraft list. If you have no aircraft installed you have something wrong with the FSX installation. I would try doing a repair from the original DVDs. Regards Pete

Has it? If it has then it is a bug. The old 180 degree shifts in FS2004 was a known bug and I seem to remember MS said they'd fixed it. Have you any way of reproducing the problems as I have never seen them? If I can reproduce them I can try to get it fixed for the update expected later this year (the one known as the "DX10 update"). There's no facility (yet) to allow direct control of wind, pressure or visibility effects at the aircraft. In FS2004 and before these smoothing options acted on the end results of the weather being imposed, not on the weather itself. I have had such facilities listed in the requirements for SimConnect, but they did not make it into the "final cut", presumably because MS thought they were of lesser priority with a better working weather system. I am still pressing, of course, because there are other uses for these things apart from bug workarounds. I will continue pressure on MS for all the facilities currently missing in SimConnect, and if, indeed, there are still bugs in the weather system that you describe I will raise the priority of this particular items. SimConnect is supposed to be a continually evolving interface and I do not want to subvert that effort by hacking directly into FS code in the way I used to with previous releases. The change in the attitude to such intimate manipulations in FS from the MS programmers is good to see and I want to encourage more of it, not less, as it bodes well for the future. The best bet at present would be to construct a reproducible problem in the winds -- a saved flight with a weather setup which will, when flown a short time, show unwanted abrupt wind changes. Please makes sure these are not intentional -- directional changes (Wind Variability) can be part of the reported METARs, as of course can Gusts (speed changes). If you enable the AutoSave facility (in FSUIPC4), then the one saved just before your observed problems should suffice. Set Autosave to save a little more often than you'd otherwise need. Regards Pete

Yes, that is where the original base edition of SimConnect.DLL is stored, and it is that which should be repaired by using the repair from the original DVDs. The "FSX Help" announcement above, which you insist on calling my "locked post" (most Announcements are locked) is exactly about this. Without that the base version of SimConnect FSUIPC will not load either. The FSUIPC log will show what version of SimConnect it is actually using. It is quite specific, actually identifying the SP1 version as SP1 May07. Ouch! You have the SP1 DLL installed in the folder for the base SimConnect (60905)? The SP1 DLL (61242) will be in its own folder if SP1 is installed correctly, namely: C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.FlightSimulator.SimConnect_67c7c14424d61b5b_10.0.61242.0_x-ww_35e8ee9a You should have both folders, each with their own SimConnect inside. But you should never have to create them manually. Repairing from the DVD will not only create the missing folder and contents but also tie it correctly into the Side-by-Side system (SxS). For the SP1 version you'd need to run the SimConnect.msi from the SDK. From what you are saying you have got the SimConnect system into a bit of a mess. May I ask how you got into this state in the first place? If FSUIPC and other SimConnect programs were running okay, SimConnect was obviously fine. Why mess it about so much? The trouble with a reinstall is that it still doesn't fix the SimConnect issues unless you also delete the relevant WinSxS folders, same as for a repair. On Vista it is actually not easy (read "almost impossible") to ever uninstall anything installed as SxS. No, you wouldn't. The EXE.XML most certainly is not needed at all for ASX -- all that does is get SimConnect to automatically load EXE programs, just to save you doing it (you could equally well use FSUIPC's facilities for running programs). I have ASX running and do not use any EXE.XML so I am rather surprised it mentions it. It sounds like that is only for loading the GoFlight EXE. The SimConnect.xml file is needed for running a remote SimConnect connection, but equally it can thereby stop the local connection -- that is the usual problem. Folks change "local" to "global" and this actually loses the local connection (stopping FSUIPC and GoFlight). Reinstalling FSUIPC4 normally fixes that as the installer I provide actually checks for this and tries to fix the SimConnect.XML file. But it should do. The newer version of SimConnect.dll goes into its own, newer, folder. None of that stuff is designed for human messing. It should be done by installers or repairers. I really don't know what the longer-term consequences of the mess yours in now in will be, I'm afraid. There is NO topic on my Forum which tells you to do that on its own, it is the first step in a repair process. Why would you take one step of a procedure and ignore the rest -- both are essential! And in any case there were no indications that the SimConnect system was in a mess. All you needed to do was find out how to enable to remote connection, and the ASX instructions should certainly have told you this. But that should have messed all local SimConnect programs up as well, including FSUIPC4. The only thing which would have stopped GF loading whilst still allowing FSUIPC to work is the missing or incorrect EXE.XML file. Well, I wish you well, but this is most certainly not a good example to post as a fix for anything, as you now appear to have 61242 SimConnect (from SP1) masquerading as 60905 SimConnect (the base version), even though both are supposed to be installed and usable side-by-side. I really think this will cause problems if any further FSX updates appear that you want, and it may cause problems with other add-ons. It may even be that FSUIPC, amongst others, is currently running with the original base restrictions, not the improvements offered by SP1. A look at the FSUIPC4.LOG will tell you one way or the other. In other words, I would seriously recommend that you fix the SimConnect installation. not by taking only the first step, but following up with the repair -- i.e. deleting any WinSxS folder mentioning SimConnect (one or two), running repair from the DVD (or the SimConnect.msi from it, if you can get to it), and then running the SimConnect.msi from the SP1 SDK. That should get you two correct folders, correctly tied up, and each with their own, correct version of SimConnect installed. Best Regards Pete