Pete Dowson

Does the fact that you never bothered to send me your Key file for checking mean that you realised you were in fact using Pirated keys and so hastily withdrew? Or are you on holiday? I'd like to know, please, so I can close this case ... Pete

FSUIPC4 is for FSX, FSUIPC3 is for FS9. They are completely distinct programs and products. Does it actually say "6 months"? I thought it quoted a date in April last year. Do you think that offer should be withdrawn? It is quite normal to offer a discount to those who may have only had a few months use out of a product. Ersorry, I don't understand. Are you saying those who've had a full 3 or 4 years use of of a continually maintained, improved and supported product for one small fee up front three or four years ago deserve more of a discount than those who've only had a few months use from it? That really makes no sense to me. Can you explain? Why would you? Did Microsoft write to you and tell you to upgrade to FSX? Surely you purchase add-ons for FSX when you've got FSX. FSUIPC4 is one of them, if you want it. Many say you don't need it now that FSX has SimConnect. It's your choice, and I don't see that it's any of SimMarket's or my business to tell you. And how would we do it? Ask Microsoft to tell us of every FSX activation? I don't think that's allowed -- something to do with privacy. I really don't know where you are coming from with this! :-( I still don't understand why you think it should be terminated. Obviously neither they nor I would mind ending it as it would bring more money in, perhaps. But why on Earth would you want this to happen? Regards Pete

In FS9 or FSX or an older one? I've not noticed. The controls to do that are the same as assignable and usable in FS from the keyboard. Did you check? Ah .... you are talking about FSX. AND multiplayer? Not sure you've come to the right place. I don't think anyone knows much about the innards of FSX multiplayer, as there's no SDK for it. It doesn't look like MS will be releasing one. By a "controller" you don't mean for on-line flying with one of the virtual ATC systems do you? If so, I don't think they use MP at all in FSX -- the MP in FSX seems to be more to do with flying in the Game Zone. Quite honestly, I don't know what you are talking about. I've never been involved with MP at all. I wasn't even aware that it should be sending such things. Sorry, you are wrong. I've never ever dabbled in Multiplayer, nor do I know anything about it, or even much about what it does. I know that in FS2004 and FS2002 programs like Squawkbox interfaced to it, using a documented SDK and interface, primarily to transmit images of the aircraft to other players and theirs to yours. For most other things such programs either interfaced directly to FS, or in some cases, for some information, did so via FSUIPC. As far as I am aware, in FSX, this system is all dead. Microsoft are not publishing the Multiplayer interface, and encourage on-line programs like Squawkbox and FSInn to instead use SimConnect completely. They are supposed to create the other players aircraft images by creating and controlling AI-type objects. Nothing I'm involved with really comes anywhere near any of this. Regards Pete

Best to peruse the User guide -- you'll see from the text and pictures. Really the answer to your specific question isneither. It sees buttons and axes you move and it identifies them by the internal numbers the Windows joystick interface gives them -- 0 to 15 for joysticks, 0 to 31 for buttons on each joystick. For axes is converts the internal ids to one letter -- X Y Z R U V for the standard 6, for FSX another two, S and T, are recognised. But you never really need to know the names or numbers as they are programed by detection. FSUIPC treats Buttons separately from "axes" -- buttons include buttons and toggle switches, and also "hats" which are treated as 4 or 8 buttons (numbers 32 to 39). Axes are those inputs which provide a variable input value as they are moved - i.e. the traditional function of a joystick which had two axes, X and Y. For buttons there are a variety of assignments and options associated with them. They are dected by opetaing them. For Axes there are two distinct facilties in FSUIPC: 1. Calibrationwhich is simply taking an already-assigned axis, selected by FUNCTION, not by joystick or anything like that. The function might be Throttle, or Elevator, or Flap selection, but the assignment of what real axis does those functions is elsewhere -- either in FS's own assignments, or by using the other FSUIPC facility -- Axis Assignment. 2. Axis Assignment, which allows axes (detected by movement) to be assigned either to FS-defined functions, like FS does but with rather more choice, or directly to those functions specifically dealt with in the Calibration section. In the former case they may optionally still be FSUIPC-calibrated, in the latter case they must be, or they don't get through to FS. Regards Pete

Did you read the documentation and find the warning on the Windows setting which prevents the "stop cockpit ..." from working? It is very clear there, and it works perfectly if you do as it says. The time sync maintains the current relative difference from your computer time, just by adjusting the seconds a little when and if it drifts off. Again, it is explained in the documentation. Did you try reading it at all? If you want the time actually changed to match in hours minutes and seconds you need something like FSRealTime. The FSUIPC facility is just to correct for FS's drifting. Regards Pete

You have something very peculiar going on there, then. What does the Calibration page show in the lever region where you get reverse? Can you show me some IN and OUT values, please? Pete

Yes, you are wrong! ;-) You missed this paragraph in the User Guide section entitled Message Window Options: Yes, that is the whole point. That is what FSUIPC, as an application interface, is all about. That is why I created it in the first place -- to allow all my FS98 add-ons to work with FS2000 without having to wait for all the developers to catch up. Almost 100% compatibility has been maintained (though with growing difficulties, naturally) all the way through from FS98 -- FS2000 -- CFS1* -- FS2002 -- CFS2* -- FS2004 and now FSX. I added "*" to the CFS's because they only support a small subset, CFS1 particularly. The interface grows and grows of course, as new facilities are added to support new FS features, but the old ones have to be maintained! You should be able to use any almost any facility in FSUIPC3, whether AI or not, and have it work pretty well in FSX with FSUIPC4. There are still some omissions -- I maintain a document called "FSX Offset Status", which is an Offset list showing what is and isn't done so far -- see the FSX Downloads above. It's in the SDK addendum there. Yes. I think that is still happening a lot, and will continue until FSX is better established and runs on "everyday PCs"! ;-) Regards Pete

FS9.CFG. You'll find it in your Windows drive (C:\ usually) in Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9. Some of that may be different for a nonEnglish installation of Windows. Regards Pete

This is most likely due to other SimConnect add-ins already installed. Please see the several threads on this already in my Support Forum, below. The most common recent add-in to cause the problem is AutoThumbnail. It is a known FSX bug which will hopefully be fixed in the SP1 update. Pete

There is a reference in the offset list, at 3302 -- but it is only a read-only flag to tell you what the user has selected. As it is really a readability preference (I like red, for instance, but for some that makes the characters too fuzzy) I didn't see any point in having it programmable. Is there a good reason why it should be? Currently the option doesn't work anyway on FSX -- but if or when I can make it so, I will see if a programmable option is reasonable. Regards Pete

One always has time for one's hobbies. This really is still one of mine -- the others being trying to find time to fly my cockpit, develop my sadly neglected model railway, and travelling to distant places to travel on and video steam trains. Oh, and I try to play table tennis (been a league player for 51 years, but I'm not very good now because of my narrow vision. ;-| Regards Pete

That AutoThumbnail program seems to be a common thread on all these at present. I hope at leasst one user has told the author. I can help him modify it to fix this problem in any case. Meanwhile, I have suggested to MS this combination (AutoThumbnail and FSUIPC) as a good way for them to test any fix they may, hopefully, be preparing for us. Regards Pete

Good! Thanks for letting me know. I'll put 3.741 up in the Downloads area tomorrow. Regards Pete

It sounds like you have the throttles in non-linear time-based mode. You'd do better to follow the recommendations in my documentation, thus: Additionally, if you edited the INI file (as I suggested), so that the reverse range is impossible to get to, something like this: Throttle1=-16383,-16382,-13253,16383 Throttle2=-16383,-16382,-13253,16383 Throttle3=-16383,-16382,-13253,16383 Throttle4=-16383,-16382,-13253,16383 then it should never engage in any case. Additionally, I see that you have left no leeway at all at the MAX end of the range (16383 being the max possible), so if there is a slight variation in the values coming from the axes you may not always be able to reach MAX thrust. The whole point of using FSUIPC's more precise calibration is to get around typical FS problems like this. Try reducing that maximum input, by perhaps 256 or 512, to leave a little movement at the top. Unless your hardware is really always very precise, of course! ;-) Regards Pete

Oddly, the entire reason I moved it to the end several releases ago was to stop FSUIPC being pre-installed and loading first causing other new installs, with a Security check dialogue, to crash in exactly the same way. I think you are merely shifting the problem! ;-) Once you have approved "Peter L Dowson" as a supplier of software (via the drop-down options in the Security dialogue) you will never get another such dialogue for any of my programs in any case, unless they have been interfered with to invalidate the signature (in which case you shouldn't install them in any case). I think that would be the preferred solution, until Microsoft fix the problem (hopefully in SP1). Regards Pete Regards Pete

No I am not referring to that at all. all the indications in the log point to one or other of your Keys being invalid. If you Zip and send me the KEY file as I asked I can cross-check that. I don't find your details in my registration database, but that means nothing as you may have used a different email, and my information is incomplete in any case. Therefore I cannot check without the KEY file. Pete

I found something which might explain it. Can you please try 3.741 attached, when you have time. Thanks, Pete FSUIPC3741.zip

Something is repeatedly trying to connect to FSUIPC without success. It is doing this once per second, roughly. It looks as if either or both of your FSUIPC and WideFS keys are incorrect. Please ZIP up the FSUIPC.KEY file from the FS Modules folder, and send it to me at petedowson@btconnect.com so I can check. Pete

GoFlight software does not use FSUIPC at all. Please contact their support. !!!! Version 3.45 is now well over two years out of date and hasn't been supported since early 2005! There have been at least 12 other major releases since then. The current version, and the only supported one for FS2004, is 3.74. Regards Pete

Hmmm .... I am really very surprised you can migrate such a complex FS9 aircraft successfully to FSX. You mean you enabled them? My instructions? I assume the aircraft uses FSUIPC for its Fly-by-Wire control. Is that it? That sounds like something peculiar to that aircraft. I really know nothing about the Airbus thrust setting system. Sorry. There is a problem I believe with SimConnect and FSX which can result in spontaneous axis reversal -- the previous report (from the Mouse-As-Yoke author, a while back now) said it only happened when engaged in some of the missions. I think it is a function of how overloaded FSX becomes -- maybe the combination of a complex aircraft and FSInn/FSCopilot's activities produce the same symptoms. It was reported to Microsoft at that time, with as much evidence as could be mustered. Naturally I couldn't reproduce the problem here, so the evidence came from the one and only sufferer. Whether Microsoft could reproduce it too and therefore fix it I don't know -- and my normal MS contacts have really been far too busy working on the forthcoming SP1 update that I've not been able to ask. It is something which will have to be re-checked, by those who can, when SP1 is available. Meanwhile, in case they still need more evidence or corroboration, you should submit full details of the problem to MS at tell_fs@microsoft.com . Please also report it all to PSS and the FSInn/FSCopilot authors, as if they too can reproduce it they may be able to supply hard evidence to the FS team more directly. Be sure to install SP1 as soon as it is released and re-check this. I'd also like to know as soon as possible. Regards Pete

Not sure what you mean. If you mean what are does the WX at a WX station cover, the answer would be very little -- the weather will be interpolated with the WX at other WX stations around as soon as you leave the station's position. Also, as it is dynamic anyway (even if you put the WX dynamics slider to minum), by the time you read the WX it may have changed somewhat even at the station. If you mean how far away from the WX station can you be and still read its weather, then I really am not sure. It depends whether the stuff FS provides me is the weather loaded for that WX station (e.g. by FS's own download), or the weather actually set in the current WX matrix surrounding the user aircraft. In the former case there is no range component, the question is only whether anything has been supplied for that station, in the latter case then it will be limited to so many nautical miles -- maybe 80 or 100, I don't know. This may also be different btween FS2004 and before and FSX. Regards Pete

Ah, I see. Thanks. Pete

How are you assigning and calibrating the throttles? FS's own assignments don't normally provide reverse on the THROTTLE axes. Are you using the FSUIPC Joystick Calibrations, with 2 or more separate throttles? if so, then you need to calibrate it so that the lower of centre pair of values (which denote the dle) are pretty much the same as the left-hand minimum value, which is for max reverse. The upper of the centre values then denotes the high end of your IDLE zone. If you cannot do this close enough, then either make the IDLE zone larger and devise a way to never bring the levers right back (some sort of block), or edit the throttle entries in the [JoystickCalibration] section of the FSUIPC.INI file after you've done it in the options screen as best you can. You'll see the numbers there. Just make the first two numbers the same, or, better, reduce them to -16394. Regards Pete

It is a bug in FSX and it is NOT due to anything in FSUIPC4. It is a result of other programs, not so well-behaved as FSUIPC4. The crash actually occurs BEFORE FSUIPC4 is even loaded -- because another add-on is doing things in FSX too early! The difference between your earlier version and 4.09 is not in FSUIPC but the fact that you installed a less well-behaved program in between. You should not attempt to apportion blame and diagnose the problem when you don't know. Please only report symptoms in future, not try to answer them with no knowledge. Regards Pete

No it does not. No where! And without giving any other information to back up your unwarranted assertion how do you expect a helpful answer in any case? You do not really expect any support without providing some justification for such statements, do you? It is likely you are confusing FSUIPC crashing things with the way other add-ons are using FSX. There has never been a version which "crashes FSX". I am guessing here, but I suspect you've not bothered to do any research on other threads here. Please start by going and reading thread http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.php?t=61357 ("Security warning after installing an update crashes FSX"). Pete