Pete Dowson

I don't have a site, only this Forum. Do you mean Enrico Schiratti's page containing my software? Someone would need to write to him and point out a mistake if there is one. Can you be more specific about where you are reading what, please? I keep the lists of versions in this Forum up to date, and this would be the main definitive point of reference. See announcements near the top. Are you using a properly registered install of FSUIPC? If not, check the FSUIPC Log file -- I expect it will show that it's not an accredited program. That probably explains it then. Didn't you get a Message Box from FSUIPC too? Unregistered programs can only get certain information like version numbers. But the fact that they are not accredited will be logged, and the first such one used in an FS session should give rise to a Message Box telling you so (and a beep). If you are in full screen mode that message may be hiding behind it. It's per user. I don't like systems which restrict installation to one PC. Regards, Pete

I doubt that you have a spare axis to assign this, and really there is no point -- a rocker switch is as good and more realistic. The rocker control will simply be operating the normal trim up and trim down controls in FS. These won't be any point at all in attempting to use FSUIPC's elevator trim axis calibration in that case, none at all -- as you found out. There's no adjustment available in FS for the trim up and down controls, so no way really possible for a mere update to an FSUIPC version to change that. Try using the "home" and "end" keys on the keyboard and checking the trim action those provide. If that's comparable to the rocker on your yoke then that's correct. The only other possibility I can think of is that you've programmed the trim buttons in FSUIPC's buttons page as well as in the FS Options-Controls-Assignments dialogue, and so have a double action, which would certainly make it operate faster. You should only assign functions to switches and buttons in one place or the other, not both. Regards, Pete

If you have not assigned a trim axis in FS then there's no point in trying to use FSUIPC to calibrate it! What are you using for trim? If it's a button or lever you are using then the trim is an ordinary increment/decrement system in FS, the same as pressing the "Home" and "End" keys on the keyboard. They accelerate automatically if held. What instructions? There is no sensitivity adjustment in FSUIPC. If you have axes assigned in FS you can reduce sensitivity there. But it sounds like you aren't even using a trim axis. Regards, Pete

You omitted what is probably the most important part of the Log -- the few lines at the start. In particular the information about the Version number of FSUIPC. Please check the Recent Release Changes announcement at the top of the forum, and in particular change #20 in FSUIPC 3.47, which seems to cover this case exactly. Regards, Pete

It sounds like FDC is just wanting to grab so many slots from the start of the table then, instead of doing as documented and scanning down for the vacant entries. :( Regards, Pete

Check offset 3365 in the programmer's guide document. Pete

You don't get anything reading it. It's for writing, not reading. Regards Pete

Well, I've no expertise in that area, but it looks to me like it has got to be either a faulty device, or (possibly more likely) a bad driver! I've had trouble with FTDI drivers before -- they emulate a serial port on a USB link -- and they were fixed by downloading a more up to date version. The sympton was a dying device as well, it would work for so long then stop. I think the drivers supplied were Win98/Me really -- the same ones were fine on a machine running Win98SE. For WinXP I had to find newer drivers. Try http://www.ftdichip.com. Regards, Pete

I don't know ShowADV. Is that like the ShowText utility packaged with AdvDisplay? Is it running on the same PC as all those others? What has "not enough hot key slots" got to do with the sequence? there should certainly be enough slots for both Radar Contact and FDC! What "add-ons" other than those you list above? Sorry, you lost me there. Check the WideClient.Log and WideServer.Log files. See if there any errors reported. Have you made any changes to the WideFS INI files? I don't know all of those programs you mention, but you may need to change the ApplicationDelay -- it should be defaulting to 0, but this may enable one of your programs to monopolise the interface. Also, I think both Radar Contact and FDC need good use of the sound card. Don't they clash somewhat on the same PC? Regards, Pete

It's available in the Avsim library (http://www.avsim.com). Author is Joshua Robertson. The latest version is there now, filename realtime_159172.zip. Regards, Pete

There is an option in FS which says to use System time or Flight time. Check the Options menu. Mind you, some have said that doesn't work for them. It's been an option in FS for many versions now, but I must admit I use "FSRealTime" to control the FS time. Regards, Pete

What program is giving this "error code 43"? What do the makers say? Regards, Pete

That is doubtful given our past history. Pete

I would assume so also, but you should research your needs first before making any assumptions. Everything there is for developers is included in the FSUIPC SDK, see http://www.schiratti.com/dowson. There is only one "FSUIPC", not a commercial one and a free one. Programs need an access key to interface to it. This is all described in the Access Registration document inside the SDK. There is no fixed price -- see that document. Regards Pete

Orders from whom? Sorry, I'm not sure what you are talking about here. If you are trying to control AI aircraft with FS commands through the FSUIPC facility, you should be aware that most do nothing and many others are only of limited use. For experimental purposes you might find it much easier to use the Traffic Toolbox from MS for this, sending selected aircraft controls via the dialogues it provides. Are you saying that you can still see them on screen, or in the MS Traffic Toolbox, but not in FSUIPC's tables? FSUIPC only lists what it reads from FS. If FS erases aircraft -- as it will if they are "stuck" for longer than a certain time -- it will erase them. Without interference from outside this mostly hapens on taxiways when two meet head-on. One or both will be erased if no way out is found. I think the time allowed for a resolution was reduced from 10 or 15 minutes in FS2002 to around 5 minutes in FS2004, after general complaints about blocked taxiways. Regards Pete

First, please update to 3.47. Version 3.45 is no longer supported. It was replaced yesterday. :wink: They are all in the list. Have you not even looked through? I think they are all named "Toggle xxxx lights" or similar. Anyway, I provided the List in document form in the ZIP so you could use Search. The names aren't always obvious -- I don't choose the names, they are the FS names from CONTROLS.DLL. Search for 'Light' in the document and you'll find those and more. Pete

For things that FS9 provides controls for you have no need to get into such complexities, you just use the controls. The first place to check is FS itself. Go to Options-Controls-Assignments. That's where all the more common FS controls are, provided there by MS themselves for you to assign to buttons or keys. If what you want isn't there, check the drop-sown list in the Buttons or Keys pages of FSUIPC options. They list all of the FS controls actually defined in FS's own CONTROLS.DLL, so the list varies automatically between FS2000 to FS2004. Not all of those controls work, though. MS seem to have left them listed in CONTROLS.DLL even when they've broken them or taken the code out. But it's worth a try. For obvious ones like light switches they should all by either in the FS assignments list, or in the full Controls list. The FSUIPC controls list also includes a lot of additional controls implemented in FSUIPC instead. A list of those appears in the Advanced User's document. There's a lot for Project Magenta, but many others besides. The FSUIPC User document does mention most of them too. The offset control facilities are just a subset of those added FSUIPC controls. Those come in useful when there's nothing else which will do what you want. Particular applications for those include interfacing to add-on panels and applications which use FSUIPC offsets for control (pmSystems is one such), and doing clever programming tricks with more advanced button or key assignments in FSUIPC -- examples of this are packaged with my GFdisplay program. Hmmm. You have a very old version of FSUIPC then? For quite a few releases of FSUIPC now, the FSUIPC.ZIP has contained the full list of FS2004 controls. Didn't you notice it? Well, yes, but that's exactly what FS itself does for you in any case when you use its Options-Controls-Assignments dialogues. Have you looked at those? Since FS2002, I think many, if not all, of the controls not assignable in the FS Assignments dialogue have also not worked when you put them into the FS CFG file directly -- FS removes them for you! This wasn't the case for versions before FS2002, and in fact some of my documentation about editing the CFG file is rather limited when it comes to recent versions of FS. However, you can assign any of the listed controls, and more, as I've just said, in FSUIPC. So, why the talk about "offsets"? :? Anyway, I think you will find it a lot easier to use the facilities FS and FSUIPC provide, especially if you try using controls which FS subsequently removes from the CFG file. :wink: Yes, of course. And more, all of the added FSUIPC ones. And of course that 'downloadable list' is included in the FSUIPC.ZIP in any case. :o Regards, Pete

In that case it is most certainly NOT the latest version you have installed! No versions of FSUIPC since 3.40 will give that message because it simply isn't in them. Please re-check what you have done. It sounds like you've not copied the latest FSUIPC.DLL into the FS Modules folder. Regards, Pete

Yes, because I cannot support any others. No. If you simply copy the DLLs in you have no problem as they will replace the previous ones with the same name. Windows does not allow more than one file with the same name in the same folder. What you must never do is just rename the files and leave them in the Modules folder, and you must never put them in the main FS folder. If you want to keep old versions, put them in a separate folder of your own making. You only ever need to replace the DLLs and EXEs when updating. I keep saying this. You can keep your INI file settings, though for WideFS I do recommend you allow the assorted performance parameters to default. Please read the documents, and see the lists of changes in the History section at the end of the WideFS document, and the History document for FSUIPC. I think the problems you had are due to something else you have running in Windows, as they are not things that FSUIPC or WideServer can do. I did suggest some things for you to check and to try, but you never told me what happened. :cry: Regards, Pete

Yes, exactly. Oh dear. Hex works as hex no matter whether you are talking about offsets or not. It is a number system. It is not specific to FSUIPC or offsets or anything!! "Hex" is short for "hexadecimal". Hexadecimal numbering is a system where each digit represents values from 0 to 15, unlike decimal numbers which run from 0 to 9. In a decimal number, each digit represents 10 times the next one, so 123 = 1 x 100 + 2 x 10 + 3 x 1 In hexadecimal, 123 means something entirely different: x123 = 1 x 256 + 2 x 16 + 3 x 1, which in decimal is 291. Because digits in hexadecimal need to go right up to 15, the letters A -F are used. So numbers go: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F with A = 10, F = 15. When you add 4 to 3388 you therefore get 338C, not 3392. You were adding in DECIMAL, not HEXADECIMAL! 8 + 4 = C (see list above). It's all simple arithmetic, just in a different base system. That's as much as I can explain, really. Please refer to a guide to computers for more about binary, octal and hexadecimal number systems. Regards, Pete

I was puzzling for a while about what you were talking about, and it took me a while to realise that your question was split between the title and the text. :? The FS controls which take parameters have their own idea of how to interpret those, so, in general, no, you cannot assume anything of the kind. Best to experiment by assigning the FS controls in FSUIPC's Buttons or Keys page with different parameters. They vary -- I'd normally have to find out by experiment what was needed, which is what you'll need to do. But if you have any specific controls in mind, ask. Maybe I'll know. Also, check the original version of my FS controls document (the one for FS2000 or FS98, whatever) as I did try to explain a few way back then. Regards, Pete

Unfortunately it wouldn't fit in at all with the current FSUIPC control mechanism. It would have to be a complete new and separate facility. And, I'm sorry, but it is now too late for new facilities for at least two months -- much longer if Microsoft are planning a new version of FS this year. Regards, Pete

It has ALWAYS done that if the file is re-written, as any editing in the Buttons page would do. I can't do anything about that. Best to put the comments on the active lines. The best I could do, maybe, in a future version, is to allow active (numbered) lines containing only comments (n=;...). The main change in organisation now has been the retention of your line numbering -- in all previous versions not only would your comments be moved but also your lines would all be renumbered in seqience if not already. The file is a Windows "profile", just like FS's own CFG files -- they will do the same thing when re-written. Regards, Pete

You have some errors: The zero terminator is being written to 3392, which is 10 bytes later than 3388, not 4. You seem to have reverted to counting in decimal, not hexadecimal. 8 + 4 in hex is C. Hex digits go 0-9 then A B C D E F. No idea why that should be. If the 0,10 and 0,11 programming is similar they should be the same. Are you sure the button 0,10 isn't doing something in addition or different which is responsible for the delay? Regards, Pete

In that case it would be best to get support from your suppliers or from Elite. Sorry, but I know nothing about Elite, USB or hubs. It is nothing to do with FS or FSUIPC. Maybe you have windows power management operating and shutting off the USB power to conserve power? Pete