Pete Dowson

There's the problem -- your program is called "AFCAD2", which has not got a Key. It should be called AFCAD. Did you rename it? It is certainly now issued as AFCAD. Rename it and you'll be okay. Regards, Pete

Okay. This "connection refused" error is a message from Windows. All the Windows documentation says about this is: "No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it." I really don't know enough about Networks to know what could do this, but my first guess would be some sort of firewall, either, for example, the one built into Windows XP, or maybe some add-on protection you have running, like Zonealarm. Hopefully someone else here may have an answer, or you could try Katy Pluta over in the FS2004 Forum. She's helped me on innumerable occasions in the Network area. Regards, Pete

Since the maintenance of the world surrounding the aircraft and the graphics updates this entails is the major part of the work FS is doing, you really have that the wrong way round. FS and its forward views should be on your main, fastest PC. It's the panel parts, and so on, which can be best run on other PCs. See Project Magenta, for instance. They do a nice Airbus setup. Not cheap, but top quality. For multiple FS views on mutliple PCs there's really only WidevieW, by Luciano Napolitano, and that's not available for FS2004 (yet?). For that you'd need a full FS installation on every PC, so they all need to be pretty good. Regards, Pete

If it accepts normal keystrokes and will detect them even when it doesn't have focus, you can do of course do that with both FSUIPC and WideClient already. If neither, then you can't. Roger Wilco couldn't, it isn't the same -- I use direct commands via the message system for PTT in Roger Wilco. That's mch more efficient and really what is needed. Regards, Pete

AhI doubt if the Throttle module has any provision for that extra axis. if it has, I don't know about it and it isn't in the 'spec. But, again, aquestion for PFC. Sorry. You might improve that with better calibration, but, yes, no two pots are the same. But take a look at where the thrust levers are in a real aircraft some time. Unless it's fly-by-wire, they are rarely exactly lined up for the same thrust. You want ease of use, or realism? . I have provided Throttle Sync in the most recent version, in case it is really important, but then you only need to use one lever . Regards, Pete

There is no difference in WideServer between FS9 and FS2002, provided you have registered WideFS. The differences are in FSUIPC. Have you copied your FSUIPC.KEY file from one to the other, or re-registered WideFS in FS2002's copy of FSUIPC? Are you even using a compatible version of FSUIPC in FS2002? Please check all your version numbers (see the list of supported versions near the top of this Forum). If they all all okay, check you are registered (see first option page in FSUIPC). If all that looks good, then, as usual, I need to see WideServer Log and Ini files, and WideClient Log and Ini files. Regards, Pete

There is nothing in FSUIPC which will do this. It sounds like a potential problem which subtle timing differences have avoided so far. Without many more details I really have no chance to even start investigating. Pete

If you are happy with it as it was, through the Game Port, then why not leave it be? I don't really see any advantage in making it USB unless you have a PC with no Game Port -- even then you can get game port adapters for USB. The re-wiring for the Throttle Quadrant system was not that hard for me, even with the pedestal-based Jetliner yoke -- the wires had to be fed through the whole stem and resoldered. I would think it not a hard job with your yoke. But why not take advice from PFC themselves? Check their site, send them an email. I think their support is good. Explain your level of competence, electrics and wiring-wise, and see what they advise. I think they would need to send you a new bit of circuit in any case. If it is connected through the game port, then it is assigned in FS's assignments. Just go into FS options-controls-assignments, select the joystick axes, and re-assign it there. It is quite easy. Regards, Pete

Are you in flight mode, with the menu starting "Flights ..."? FSUIPC cannot start until you get past the opening selections. If so, and there is still no "modules" folder, either you haaven't installed FSUIPC to the correct FS Modules folder, or you are running some windows' interfering program like Windows Blinds. Regards, Pete

Okay. There are 29 crashes reported in that file, only the last few seem to be relevant. Ah, but using 3.11 unregistered, you would have been using zero of the "settings". The fact that you use 3.125 registered, compared to 3.11 unregistered is significant. Since with an unregistered FSUIPC none of the user options would have done anything, whilst in the rtegistered version they all operate (albeit in default settings), is the main point. I'll look at the dumps you sent tomorrow, but none are actually in FSUIPC, nor at first glance or caused directly by FSUIPC. I'll know more tomorrow some time. Meanwhile, please set "minimum weather defaults" in the first FSUIPC options page and let me know. It looks like a graphics problem and the attempts by FSUIPC to enhance the weather slightly may be exacerbating the problem. What external FSUIPC applications are you using? I don't recognise any of the names listed in the DrWatson, and you have a HUGE list of aplication programs running: *----> Task List <----* 0 Idle.exe 8 System.exe 228 smss.exe 252 csrss.exe 272 winlogon.exe 300 services.exe 312 lsass.exe 496 svchost.exe 528 spoolsv.exe 556 ccEvtMgr.exe 640 Ati2evxx.exe 668 svchost.exe 684 GEARSec.exe 716 navapsvc.exe 736 NPROTECT.exe 796 regsvc.exe 824 r_server.exe 904 MSTask.exe 932 stisvc.exe 1004 ntstart.exe 1028 trayman.exe 1048 PQV2iSvc.exe 1072 vfdrv32.exe 1084 WinMgmt.exe 1096 WinVNC.exe 424 svchost.exe 1280 Explorer.exe 1440 TotRecSched.exe 1396 LVCOMS.exe 1424 CTHELPER.exe 1452 ccApp.exe 840 WinPatrol.exe 1492 atiptaxx.exe 1504 realsched.exe 1512 SETI@home.exe 852 SECCOPY.exe 1524 TextAloudMP3.ex.exe 1532 SpellMagic.exe 1556 acrotray.exe 1548 appbar.exe 1568 Icondesk.exe 1576 fs20.exe 1592 KeyText.exe 1680 rnathchk.exe 1552 SYSTRA~1.exe 696 ntvdm.exe 1376 WISPTIS.exe 1728 FS9.exe 1852 drwtsn32.exe Which of these is using FSUIPC? Can't you reduce the number of background processes a bit? FS9 is notoriously precarious in such overcrowded PCs! Try the freeware "EndItAll". Thanks, Pete

Ah, I never saw the one with the throttle before. It does say, just below the picture: "If used in conjunction with a PFC flight console: These yokes can be specially wired to work with our hardware controller found only in our Flight Consoles and Throttle Quadrant Console." Has yours been so re-wired? I had a Jetliner yoke which I had to rewire for this. I think you need to talk to PFC about it. Regards, Pete

"Cabinet Digital"? Is this a PFC product? As far as I know, all current PFC digital gear, connected via COM port, is usable AND programmable through my PFC.DLL. Maybe some earlier stuff is only supported through their own drivers, I do not know. PFC.DLL supports all the switches and buttons that are supported by the current digital control boards inside PFC systems. Furthermore, they are made visible to FSUIPC too, for even more flexibility. I don't know what equipment you are using, but if it is PFC and current, then everything should work as far as I know. If not you need to contact PFC to see what is going on. You have a throttle built into the Yoke? This is not a piece of equipment I am familiar with then, sorry. You need to get support from the makers. Regards, Pete

Just coincidence. TrafficLook has nothing to do with it, it writes nothing to FS at all. It is only reading information which is being maintained by FS in any case. Pete

Yes, I think you are lucky, just as I am. I think also it helps keeping the flights short. The global weather (on which the FSUIPC wind smoothing does operate okay) stays relevant for a while after being set, it just gradually becomes "locaslised" and then beyond FSUIPC's reach. You can get the weather program to then restore it all, and carry on, but it's annoying to have to do that. I have it on good authority that the next version of ActiveWeather (version 2 I think), which uses local weather like the current FSMeteo, will smooth the wind data in advance, via an option which I think is called "Route-Based Wind Smoothing". Regards, Pete

Well, that's indeed most unusual because most find it fine, most of the time. It probably depends where you fly and the reliability of the weather station reports nearby. I think the extreme variability comes from nearby weather stations filing reports at different times. Why not check with the author about progress with the new version? I don't know how he's dealing with this, but I have suggested that some smoothing might be applied before the data is sent to FS. You mean you never get any winds with your Jeppesen downloads? Have you left the option for upper winds turned off? If so, then certainly you will not get any winds at cruise levels. Not realistic at all. Whenever I've used FS downloaded weather (and with the upper winds obtained as well), it is okay in sparse areas, but fly somewhere where there are multiple weather stations, like Chicago area, and the wind shear (180 degree reversals even) can be quite frequent. I think this is a problem partly of the data and partly of FS's poor internal smoothing. I expect it varies a great deal from download to download, just as it must with ActiveSky or, indeed, FSMeteo. With what weather sources? The facilities in FSUIPC just do not operate with localised weather at all. I have no way of getting to it. And, unfortuately, all global weather becomes localised after a time, as discussed in the references I gave you. Regards, Pete

As it says in the FSUIPC documentation, its wind smoothing only works for global weather. Please see the "Important" announcement at the top of the forum, or the similar section about FS2004 global weather problems near the end of the FSUIPC documentation. I have actually come to the conclusion than the smoothing options in FSUIPC are really of no practical application in FS2004, except the visibility one. Only the visibility works well, because I found ways to by-pass FS's processing for visibility control. I've not actually removed the facilities (yet!) in the hope that I can make them work better in the future, but it isn't looking promising I'm afraid. Meanwhile, both FSMeteo and ActiveSky authors are hard at work trying to solve the problems with more control over the way the original data is processed before being sent to FS. I think the newer releases, as they appear, will be superior, even if they may not quite fully solve wind shear problems. Just as an aside, you should know that severe wind reversal problems can and do occur quite often just using native FS2004 weather downloading facilities as well. It isn't by any means a fault of the weather programs or of FSUIPC. There is something wrong in the FS2004 weather interpolation algorithms, I'm afraid. Regards, Pete

2500 meters? FSmeteo certainly should not be setting unlimited in that case. What does the author say? 9999 metres (Europe) or 10SM (America) are auto-visibility values which just mean "more than" the stated vis. In that case it is best to use FSUIPCs "extend METAR max", which will give you a random value above that. FSMeteo just sends data to FSUIPC. FSUIPC sends it to FS. Either or both. Sorry, all the options are for personal choices. In the UK I tend to keep the maximima quite low, for realism. Elsewhere the preferences would be different. Sorry, this is a question for FSMeteo. I suspect it's an early version of the program you are using, and it is being improved all the time. Regards, Pete

Thanks for letting us know. I hope you manage to sort the problem out! Pete

Okay, that's good! But I will change the coding in GPSout so this shouldn't be necessary in future. I have it on my list. I have a lot of other things too, but I should be able to fit it in before Christmas. Thanks! I'll take a look. Regards, Pete

Hey, that's great. Thanks! I will check for these in FS2004. Is the 'remaining time' in seconds or milliseconds? As a 32-bit integer? I will add these to the programmer's guide. Thanks for finding them! Regards, Pete

Aaaarrrggghhh! Ouch! No, it isn't a typo. It is actually implemented like that! Oh, how horrible! I don't dare fix than now, it will muck up 'button to keypress' assignments or keypress programming. The Hotkey definitions and the Button keypress conversion use 4=ALT, 16=TAB, whilst the Key press programming (the 'input' as you say) uses these bits the other way around. I really must have had a bad hair day when I programmed one of those! Sorry. It'll just have to stay like that now. Stupid. :oops: :oops: :oops: Thank you very much! I surely won't need to make many changes, as your English is pretty good already. :D Regards, Pete

The details are: Write (in one FSUIPC write, or else at least with the AI ID last and in the same Process call): offset 0x2900 --DWORD, the ID of the aircraft (from the TCAS table) offset 0x2904 --DWORD, The FS control (see list of FS2004 controls on http://www.schiratti.com/dowson) offset 0x2908 --32-bit integer, the parameter for the control, if it uses one Not all the controls will do anything. In fact, by experiments to date, not many will do anything. Hopefully none will actually crash anything, but I wouldn't swear to it. I have tried ENGINE AUTO SHUTDOWN and ENGINE AUTO START, and these seem to work. Aircraft deletion can be achieved, and this uses the same mechanism, but set the FS control to 0xFFFF (i.e. 65535). That works and so far I've seen no ill effects (apart from aircraft being zapped of course). You can send several controls one after the other, in the same FSUIPC Process if you like, for the same or different aircraft. FSUIPC takes action when it sees the ID being written, so make sure the other bits are either written at the same time (same FSUIPC Write), or beforehand. Let me know how you get on, please. Regards, Pete

Ah, right. Still, try the revised PFC driver. Maybe you'll find the PFC throttle sync useful, or try the FSUIPC one initially but then switch it off, and save a Flight there and then! Pete

It's an additional control you can assign. there;s no checkbox for it. You'd only be able to use it if you re-programmed a button or switch for it. You mean the FS prop sync I assume. That doesn't mean it isn't enabled. It only means you have no way to see if it is, nor switch it on or off by mouse. The switch is still there, in FS, and may or may not be "on" when you load your Flight. You can check. It'll be the "PropSync" parameter in the [systems.0] section of the .FLT file. I'll send the interim PFC driver (it'll be 1.73, the last stable one I've got -- i.e. one without half-baked new code in it -- but I'm working through a list of things I need to do, and it'll probably get to 1.80 for Release). Regards, Pete

What was the last version you used before 3.125? An EXE file? It should surely just be a ZIP. I would be most reluctant to run an EXE if I received one. Where did you send it? Can you tell me any more about when and how it is crashing? I have no details at all. The data you listed for your PC is all very good, but it tells me nothing about FSUIPC. Regards, Pete