Pete Dowson

Well, i'm not taking offence, but at present I would consider that sort of crash highly unlikely to be FSUIPC or WideFS. However, events may prove me wrongall i can do is suggest that you update to the latest versions all the time and see if there's ever a difference. If I do find any reason my software may be involved I will certainly publish it. As you see, my release notes contain plenty of "bugs fixed" type entries as well as additions of new features and so on. If you wish to walk a little on the wild side, I can send you the latest Betas I have here, still under test. These should make release by the weekend if things go well. If you want to try them write to me at petedowson@btconnect.com. Incidentally, I've just got the AS2004 b163 beta update, and I'll see if I can try that soon. If that's something you've changed recently, and the problems has got worse since then, it may be an AS problem, but it seems unlikely too. Though any program can actually crash FS by writing things to the wrong place in FS, through FSUIPC or WideFS. There's only a few things FSUIPC can guard against, like writing to a read-only location or one that isn't allocated to FS. Regards, Pete

I think 2.11 dates back to July 2003!!! There's really nothing different in AdvDisplay for 1 character or 128 characters of text, it does the same for all. and it's been working pretty solidly all this time. What's suddenly changed on your system, or have you only just started using it? Not sure how that's related to anything of mine. The only program I did which handles sound was Esound (not supported for a while). Nothing actually buffers into windows. The display of text is simply a standard Windows function, called as needed. The text (up to 127 characters, actually) is kept in memory. How are you hiding it? If you use the Menu to uncheck it, it is totally disabled, it does nothing then. Any more details? Not sure how this connects to what you say. Data/audio conversion? That's something in FS I assume? I only handle text, not sure where the audio goes. What happens if you disable or remove AdvDisplay? If you can tell me how to reproduce it I'll try, but if you've had this happening for over a year I'm not sure I would know how to tackle it. I've had no other similar reports all this time. Regards, Pete

This is explained clearly in the WideFS documentation. The clients time-out a lack of messages from the Server before the Server times out messages from clients. When the client times out, it reconnects. The server allows a lot more time before it discards connections. Hence the increase. Something is going badly wrong with the connection to one or more of the clients. The logs will show lots of reconnections. This will cause bad jerky behaviour in the client applications. From the Server log you have provided it looks like you have a general problem across all 4 of your clients, but this didn't start till well into the session: 23071313 milliseconds to be precise (6 hours and 25 minutes). What happened then? Maybe something you are running on the Server has a memory leak? I think some types of scenery files (AGNs? The AutoGen files) if placed in the Addon Scenery folder can do that. There may be other causes too. Other possibilities are overheating somewhere -- network card/switch? Or other problems at that time in FS? You'd need to observe what was going on at the time for clues. WideServer itself doesn't use much memory. The summary at the end shows the count of buffers it actually allocated and freed: Regards, Pete

I cannot tell a "reset". Flight loads would also result in an aircraft load or reload, and these are counted at 32FC, though I'm not sure whether that would catch resets. If FS does the reset from cached data in memory, and not by file accesses, then I don't think there's any way i could detect it anyway. Regards, Pete

Obtuse? Hmmm. Reproducible? Good, that helps! Tell me the exact steps I need to take to reproduce it on my PC please. You seemed to be saying it occurs irregularly, unexpectedly, but now it has become reproducible? Why are YOU so sure it is anything to do with WideFS or FSUIPC? There is nothing to indicate this. Your "event logs" have no such information. Read one again, here: Registry information, message DLLs to display messages from a remote computer? What has that to do with anything any of my programs do? That all sounds very much system level stuff to me, to do with your Windows set up. You can say the same for any software product, although some others never get fixed. For my own programs, of the changes made in each successive version, around 90% are new facilities (mostly requested by users) or improved performance, and, yes, 10% are fixes to bugs, mostly introduced by the last round of additions. This is a regular thing. FSUIPC is added to continuously and is a full time job. Show me another product with so much support and attention to detail. WideFS has been running now for over six years with relatively minor changes. Its Network handling is all bog-standard Microsoft code direct from their own examples. Of course there are bugs, no non-trivial software is ever free of bugs, but there are far more bugs in FS itself, in video drivers, in Windows, than there are in the relatively trivial parts played by my contributions. Folks always blame FSUIPC or WideFS first, on the basis of no evidence whatsoever. It's in the "middle" of things and an easy target. When there are isolated instances of CTDs these have always turned out to be something else. If you do have some evidence, or some way of narrowing things down, please let me see it so I can fix it, but at present I am 99% sure it is not in my ability or responsibility to fix these specific problems. There is nothing to note yet. Of course I will give it my attention when it seems to be justified, but so far everything points to other things. Sorry. And actually I wasn't offended until now. Sorry you feel the way you do. When and if you can isolate your problem fursther, please let me know. I can really do nothing here about it. Both FSUIPC and WideFS trap their own errors and log them. If you wish to try the very latest Beta version of FSUIPC and WideFS, just in case something about the changes helps or otherwise, please write to me at petedowson@btconnect.com and I will send them. I am hoping to get them out as new versions by the weekend. Regards, Pete

Seasonal texture problem? Video drivers? Overheating? Sorry, I really can't diagnose CTDs. Before FS9.1 there were loads of possible reasdons. Since 9.1 there are less, but I doubt they are all fixed. Please see his thread next to this one, here. I don't want to repeat the whole exchange again. No, it couldn't. Why say that? Please ask the AS support person to justify that throw away remark. He is probably just as depressed with you blaming AS as I am with folks blaming me. Scan through some other forums sometime. Folks who use none of my programs get CTDs too you know! FSUIPC or WideFS get all the stick all the time, and it is very depressing, but there are far more users without such problems than with, and certainly enough folks not using anything of mine who get identical problems to prove it is not specific to my programs. Regards, Pete

I think the term CTD is only usually applied to those sudden disappearances of FS. One moment it's there, the next you are staring at the desktop. They are the most annoying as there's never a way to find out what happened. The ones with error messages are just plain "crashes". Well, with those you can get more details by clicking for details. you can get the name of the module (often, unfortunately, just ntdll, a common library part of XP) and an offset. If that's one of FS's modules then it is useful -- G2D and G3D, for instance, will indicate either a scenery problem or, just possibly, video driver. Well, certainly the FS9.1 update was supposed to have cured a great number of those found by the FS team at Microsoft. Regards, Pete

FS already has the facility to not load upper winds. If you are using an external weather program, mostly they can disable them too I think. But surely, you have wind smoothing enabled? The Concorde can easily manage slow changes in the winds -- you can make the changes as slow as you like. If you haven't enabled wind smoothing then, yes, you are liable to sudden 180 degree shifts in the winds which will cause all aircraft severe problems, not just Concorde! Regards, Pete

I get that too, sometimes. Only at night. In my case I'm pretty certain its the Matrox Parhelia video drivers I'm using, but they are so much faster than the previous versions that I stick with it and do only day time flights. These CTDs (yes, that's the semi-official acronym! :wink: ) were much more common before the 9.1 update, and most are fixed. But one of the major causes used to be seasonal texture problems, during the changover periods of late Spring and late Autumn. Maybe vertsion 9.1 hasn't fixed them all -- try setting the FS date to mid Summer or later Winter and see if it makes any difference. Otherwise, things to check include overheating in the video card or processor, and maybe updated (or older?) video drivers. No. There's only one error there -- the Service offered by WideServer suddenly disappeared. It will have disappeared because your FS crashed. You are getting cause and effect the wrong way around! :wink: Regards Pete

No, sorry. There's no useful information in those in any case. If you are still using FS2004 original release, try updating with the FS9.1 update. It fixes a lot of possible "crash to desktop" problems. What issue with WideFS and ActiveSky? None has been notified to me. What a strange thing to say. As for "working closely", I've always supported programmers in interfacing to FSUIPC. Damian in not the only application prtogrammer to receive answers to questions and advice from time to time. Please explain yourself a little more clearly if you want proper answers, eh? :wink: Regards, Pete

I really know nothing at all (sorry) about SBRelay or HostSB, but I do know that quite a lot of people do run Squawkbox on a WideFS Client PC. DirectPlay is part of the multiplayer side of things. It isn't handled by WideFS -- that only deals with the FSUIPC interface to FS. It sounds like either you need to install a later version of DirectX on the Client, or possibly Squawkbox has to be run there first. But I don't really know. AVC is not an FSUIPC interfacing program, of course, so it isn't dependent upon any of the rest of that stuff. I hope someone who knows about Squawkbox stuff can jump in and help here, otherwise you would really be much better off asking in one of the on-line flying forums. Isn't there one for the service you want to connect to? This forum is really for technical help with FSUIPC, WideFS and so on, but most of the stuff your talking about has to do with TCP/IP links and multiplayer. I think the FSUIPC interfacing part is relatively trivial. No, don't tweak anything. If the Client is connecting, that's it. The rest is up to the programs you run. Regards, Pete

There may be an FS control in the drop-down list which does such a thing. I don't know, really, sorry. The drop-down list of controls in both Buttons and Keys pages of FSUIPC are mostly listing controls from FS -- the names are actually from the CONTROLS.DLL in FS and vary from version to version of FS. There are additional controls added by FSUIPC, but none for such a function as you describe. I certainly have never had anything in any of my FS add-ons which change things in any FS CFG file. Are you sure you are not thinking of some other add-on. FSAssist or something? Have a scan through the FS controls. Perhaps some of the names there may ring a bell. I included a PDF document listing all the FS2004 controls in the latest FSUIPC ZIP (3.411). Regards, Pete

Good! I'll make a release later in the week. I've got quite a few bits and pieces to put together for release soon. Regards, Pete

Maybe its sort sort of video driver issue. Try in windowed mode as well as full screen, and also see if looking out the side window then back brings the display back. Also, if you use the 2D panel try the VC and vice versa. Regards, Pete

Impossible to fly an aircraft just because of a DME problem? Phew! I'd scrap that aircraft and get one far more flyable if I were you! :) No, the DME value from FSUIPC is available all the time. But panels with normal DME gauges certainly won't be using FSUIPC for that. The DME distance is a standard panel value. It's been available to panel makers for as long as I remember, certainly since before FS4 even, and I know of no panels which depend upon FSUIPC for it, none at all. I think you will need to visit the PSS support forum. Regards, Pete

No, there never was any such option in FSUIPC. Only in FS itself that I recall. It's for 2D panels only I think. Regards, Pete

It isn't possible. FSNav is an FS module, not an external program, and it doesn't even use FSUIPC at all. WideFS provides a Network copy of the external program interface to FSUIPC. It works with any separate program which uses FSUIPC to interface to FS, as stated near the beginning of the WideFS documentation. It cannot possibly work with thnigs which don't even use FSUIPC, nor with anything installed into FS, like aircraft, gauges, panels, scenery, and DLLs like FSNav. Regards, Pete

Can you please try the attached test version (2.131) and let me know. I can't see any measurable difference here, but I've made a change in the code to avoid checking for a panel change within 10 seconds of my previous check. I hope this will get around the problem without any unwanted side effects. Regards, Pete AdvDisp2131test.zip

What, exactly, "talked" in this way? What was the message and when/how/where did it appear? Check the FSUIPC.LOG file (in the FS Modules folder -- show it to me if you don't understand it. You tried to register what, exactly? Did you go to SimMarket and purchase a Key? If not, where did you get the key? I always do, but I'm afraid I need quite a lot more information if you want me to help you at all. To start with, the version number of FSUIPC is important -- either read it in the FSUIPC options, ALT M F in FS, or right-click on the FSUIPC.DLL file in the FS modules folder, select Properties-Version. Regards Pete

I can take a look. Run something that replicates the problem. Close FS, then ZIP up both the FSUIPC.LOG and FSUIPC.KEY files (both from the FS modules folder) and send them to me at petedowson@btconnect.com. Regards, Pete

Thanks for the info and the offer, but really, unless there are already applications which can be used on PCs which can operate using this method, I don't see any point in me spending time on it, at leat not at present. I've too much else to do as it is, and adding Ethernet support to GPSout is not going to be trivial even if it were simple TCP/IP packets. If they are using their own packet protocol then it gets even more complicated. Regards, Pete

Lee, Since this last Forum message of yours we have exchanged several messages by email. The last such email I received from you said I must admit to not seeing anyone else here asking since your good self, but what is more puzzling is that I am still waiting for confirmation from you that version 6.418 of WideClient, sent to you on the 8th December, works okay. You seem to have sent me a message which indicates that you are no longer seeing my emails. This is made worse by the fact that I replied to your last email 31 hours ago, again attaching the Wideclient, and this time as a priority message, and still I have seen no acknowledgement. The messages are not bouncing at all. I can only think you are either ignoring them, or that they are being deleted at your end as spam, for some strange reason. I am hoping to make a release later this coming week or WideFS 6.44 and would like to be able to document how to use this new facility to enable PTT programming for Teamspeak. Do you think you could try the latest Beta for me, please, and let me know? For information, I append my message of the 8th below. Regards, Pete ====================

That's fine, but where's the PC software with such Ethernet reception capability? Regards, Pete

Ah, well, in that case it is still a puzzle, as the loading times for all the default aircraft, for example, are identical here no matter which version. I can only think that the answer lies there somehow. Pete

It certainly is. I note you said I have all the PMDG 737NG aircraft, and my system is a 3.2 GHz Pentium 4, but with WinXP Home SP1. Can you tell me exactly which cockpit you have this problem with? Better still, save a flight amd send me the FLT + WX file for it -- send to petedowson@btconnect.com. Have you got WinXP SP2 installed? I've been thinking about it but have so far resisted. Regards, Pete