Pete Dowson

I think that there must be something amiss with the F16 gauge you are using. I downloaded an F16 panel from Eric's site just to get the F16.GAU file, and have now tested it with unregistered FSUIPC installations on both Windows 98SE and Windows XP. With that "F16.gau= ..." line in place in the [Programs] section of the FSUIPC.KEY file I had no problems at all using it in FS2004 on either operating system. The log you sent is nothing like the sort of data I get, which always shows F16.gau on one of the analysed stack trace entries. Just in case your F16.gau is different, try the one attached, which was obtained from the F16 panel on Eric's home site yesterday. Regards, Pete F16gau.zip

Whatever the supported NMEA sentences support. Altitude figures in at least one of them. Attitude information doesn't figure in any as far as I know, but there is an unpublished mode specifically intended for a proprietary program which does include such data (but not rates I think) -- nothing to do with GPSs and standard NMEA sentences though. I suggest you check out the NMEA specs. I think there's a site which lists the more common ones, at least all those GPSout supports. Search on "NMEA 0183". If you do find a sentence type you need for a specific GPS or PC application which accepts them, let me know and I'll see if I can add it. But if you are thinking more in terms of writing your own applications and need information from FS, I would refer you to the FSUIPC SDK and advise using that interface instead. Regards, Pete

You are Dave, yes? No, sorry, I never got such an email that I can actually identify as being from you. But I would really only forward it to SimMarket in any case. Published codes get blocked in each new release and the original users get blacklisted at SimFlight, who will probably also take additional action. That counts as straight theft. The other violation is counterfeit codes, generated by illegal means. Those can give rise to all sorts of problems in FSUIPC and as a result I have already built up a list of about thirty suspected or confirmed dishonest users. I think it is just because it's there. :wink: And it's a cycle of diminishing returns -- the more effort put into protection, the more effort will be made to crack it. It's almost inevitable these days. I don't really blame the guys that do it so much -- they're just insecure lonely youngsters who want to prove how clever they are. It's the ordinary users who succomb to the temptation to save a few bob (read Dollars, Euros, whatever) and steal, maybe for the first time in their life, or maybe it is now a habit. Then things go wrong, and they expect support .... go figure! :) Regards, Pete

"Thanks anyway", what? Why? :? :shock: Are you implying you are entering the correct program name and key? The key you just showed me was certainly not correct. Can we talk straight on this at all? If you don't know what you are typing, just show me the FSUIPC.KEY file -- the details are saved there in simple text format. Regards, Pete

Well, you need to tell me what you enter into the program name field too. It should be just pmSounds. Anyway, the key you are entering is wrong. If you cannot distinguish between 1s and l's or 0's and 0's then you should cut and paste instead. The correct key for pmSounds is as listed in the FreeWare keys list above. i.e. The third character is a 1 (one) not a letter i, and the 10th is a 0 (zero) not a letter o. Two errors in 12 characters is pretty good going for error density isn't it? :wink: Regards, Pete

Yes. :wink: Please yourself, but why the "Jeeeeeeeeeez"? There's no easy reference downloads in Forums. The main download site for ALL my software has always been kindly supplied by Enrico Schiratti at http://www.schiratti.com/dowson (for at least for 6 years, maybe longer), and that is published in my documentation, and in the appropriate Announcement (List of current supported versions) at the top of this forum! How could you miss all the references? Jeeeeeeeeeeez. :( Regards, Pete

Version 3.45 of FSUIPC has been available since early Sunday morning. Try that first. Regards, Pete

Yes, that's pretty much exactly the sort of thing I would expect if the registration key was wrong in some way -- e.g. counterfeit or stolen. If you believe you have a genuine properly purchased key, please run it again, close FS, ZIP up both the FSUIPC.LOG and FSUIPC.KEY files (you'll find them in the FS Modules folder), and send them to me at petedowson@btconnect.com for investigation. I'll add you to my list of folks whose similar files I am still waiting for. Thanks, Regards, Pete

I don't use it with Active Sky and don't have a problem. Is this what AS says to do? Seems a bit extreme! ActiveSky does override most of them in any case I think. Actually, the "minimum weather defaults" was always MEANT to be much more extreme that the simply "defaults" option. The "normal defaults" actually keep some weather facilities active, because they are active by default. The "minimum weather" version is actually a "set defaults AND minimum weather" option -- i.e. it was doing MORE that the original button. The way you suggest, for them to be complementary rather than alternatives, is a good idea. But it is rather odd that it's never cropped up before. It has been the way it is now for years! :wink: I can certainly change it, but I shall change the button label too just to emphasize that is now doesn't set any defaults whatsoever. How about "Minimise weather settings", or simply "Weather settings off"? This won't be till the next version, at least a month off, as 3.45 was just released this past weekend. Regards, Pete

Hmmm. There's a load of parameters in the CFG file that I haven't the foggiest idea about -- those concerning the graphics especially. Maybe some setting amongst those affected specifically the drawing in the types of gauges you were having problems with. Regards, Pete

Thanks for the Log. I'm investigating now, but at initilal glance it does seem to be doing the right thing. I don't understand why the Key isn't being used from the KEY file. The correct entry is the one: F16.gau=DSVTJE5S6DUO Can you delete the other two for F16 in that file, just in case that's confusing the issue. Also, can you tell me please what version of Windows you are running? Thanks, Pete

With older versions it is hit and miss. To save time (before I worked out a better way), the accreditation was done on a sampling basis, much like customs searching for instance. But it's been more thorough for some time now. I can see what is going on more precisely if you turn on some more logging. You'll have to edit the FSUIPC.INI file and add the lines Debug=Please LogWrites=Yes LogReads=Yes LogExtras=2048 to the [General] section. Replace those lines if they are there already. Keep the run short or the Log will get too big -- just run it to verify the gauge isn't working. Close FS, ZIP up the log, and send it to me at petedowson@btconnect.com. I probably won't be able to fix it, but I can probably say exactly what is happening. In the end, for old pre-FS2004 gauges which are written in this way, I suspect the ultimate answer is going to be user registration of FSUIPC, or find alternative gauges. The TCAS gauges by Lee Hetherington (ILH) work well, for example. Regards, Pete

Nothing has changed in any of the weather handling in FSUIPC for a long time. Most folks' complaints about FS2004 (is it FS2004, you don't even say?) are that you can still see the ground when above so-called overcast cloud layers. If you have no clouds it is probably the visibility layer below and the thin film of stratus FS puts over the top so that as you climb you don't suddenly come out of mist and see sharp ground below. There is a minimum visdibility setting in FSUIPC. You could try setting that to something over 10 miles, though then you may never get mist or fog again. Also check whatever weather it is you are using. Pete

Well, there doesn't appear to be any correct attempt by the gauge to access FSUIPC in the way that a gauge should. It seems Eric has programmed it incorrectly, using the external access method for an internal program. That has been incorrect now since FS2002. It may work most of the time with a fully user registered FSUIPC, but it can easily go wrong if other internal modules do the same thing, as their memory mapped files will be cross-referred. I'm afraid you will need to either get help from the author, or register FSUIPC. Sorry. I cannot cope with incorrect access. With FSUIPC 3.45? The problems would be the same on FS2002. Regards, Pete

As clearly documented (!), they are not "5 numbers" but an ASCII character string, ready for display. e.g "18.9" for 18.9 nm. If you want them in binary you'll need to convert them from character form to binary using something like sscanf or whatever the equivalent is in the language you are using. Regards, Pete

Yes, exactly as per the user guide. Nothing complicated at all. Regards, Pete

It's secret and not to be used by anyone who wants support! :wink: That's the trouble with doing special unique favours for folks. Even though I gave dire warnings about possible consequences, this sort of thing still happens. In fact I'm surprised really, this is the first time it's cropped up for many months. Regards, Pete

Are you by any chance the author of "Tree Planter"? If so I just got mightily confused by your user who referred to you by a different name and mentioned emails which I don't have. However, if it is you, you will know by now that the user's problem is probably because he's used an unofficial fiddle to make FS2004 look like FS2002. It's there as plain as day in his log file. Regards, Pete

As the User Guide says (when you get it), you just need to copy the DLL into the FS modules folder. Similarly, if you don't want it, just remove it from the FS modules folder. It really is that simple. Regards, Pete

I tend to doubt whether FSUIPC is related to such things. But how did you get FSUIPC 3.129? If you did not consciously install it, something you installed certainly did, and the documentation for that something should have explained this. It should also have supplied you with documentation for FSUIPC, through which even a casual read would have answered your questions. Just go to http://www.schiratti.com/dowson and download the current verison (3.44, though to be replaced any time now by 3.45). You'll get a file called FSUIPC.ZIP. Check the User Guide inside. Also, take a look at some of the announcements and stickies at the top of this forum. there's a lot of help there already. Regards, Pete

Sorry, the current version of FSUIPC is 3.44. I cannot support 3.40 so long after its release (4 months ago now). The log is not useful at all. You said you were using the "latest" version, but it is actually four versions out of date!! Try with 3.44, then show me the log, or wait for 3.45 which I am releasing probably tomorrow. Please always check the list of supported versions near the top of this forum before submitting queries. In general folks should ALWAYS state version numbers. Evidently saying "latest version" is meaningless. :( Regards, Pete

Okay. Either way, WideFS 6.447 will be better than 6.442 in any case, and I am just finishing the documentation changes for WideFS 6.45, so that should be available from the usual place within a day or two. Regards, Pete

Well, these errors are pretty bad. You should rarely see any problems with Sends from the server needing retries. It looks like the Client is going through a very unrespinsive period, and the network sends to it are getting blocked: These are all on the same Client -- the one called "PFD". That also shows problems trying to send, but probably only because the Server is resetting the connection when its own sends fail. Have you tried the later Test version I put up in the Announcement in the Forum (6.447) a few days ago? I don't know if it will help or not, but you should really try it first. I don't have a lot of hope, though, it looks like something is interfering with the Network reception at the client end. Maybe the graphics driver (the PM PFD is a heavy OpenGL user), or possibly some sort of IRQ clash between the video and network on that PC. Also check cables and hub connections. Regards Pete

4800 is the NMEA-specified speed for the protocol used, and some programs and devices presumably do not provide alternatives. I run FliteMap at some much higher speeds. Regards, Pete

It sounds even more as if he's using an improper user key then. Of all similar cases that have come to my attention, when asked to supply such files for my attention all except three have never responded (suspicious, eh?) and two of the three that did were using pirated illegal user keys. The only exception was a misunderstanding of what error was being reported. There are problems with unregistered FSUIPC program registrations on Win98/Me, which I have fixed in 3.45, imminent. Details of these problems, and a work-around are provided in the Announcement Windows 98/Me users with unregistered FSUIPC, read this Regards, Pete