Pete Dowson

Sounds like you need an update from Richard, as you are correct, it has been issued with an access key. Have you gone to the source with this query? This isn't really the correct Support Forum for application programs. I have so much to do supporting my own programs already! :) If there is any problem I would expect to resolve it with the author. He and I are on good terms. Regards, Pete

FSUIPC is the interface module for Flight Simulator which programs like your EFIS uses. It needs installing first. You can get it from http://www.schiratti.com/dowson. Please look at the User Guide inside the ZIP> FSUIPC is most certainly compatible with XP Pro, and also XP Home, Win2000, and Win98 (and, yes, even the ill-fated WinMe). It is not compatible with Windows NT, that's all. EFIS is an application program which should be completely operating system independent as far as I can see. I really doubt whether it uses any techniques liable to render it sensitive to O/S changes, but since it is several years old there's no guarantees I'm afraid. Regards, Pete

Why such an old version? Before FSUIPC 3 was released the only supported version for about 5 months was 2.975. 1. Users who register their copy of FSUIPC 3 can use your program in any version of FS. If they don't register then your program won't work without an access Key. Please see the announcements at the head of this Forum. 2. I have tried very hard to make sure that the interface provided for FS2004 is a superset of that provided for FS2002, just as I did for FS2002 before and FS2000 before that. However, I cannot test everything and there could be some differences depending on what your program uses. If there are differences I try to eradicate them as soon as I know, but I am dependent upon people like you telling me. There are just too many variables, many of which I don't even necessarily understand, for me to undertake full testing of every possibility myself. Therefore it is you who must test your program and tell me if you find anything amiss. Regards, Pete

There is no support for APL-encoded adventures in FS2004. Microsoft started this withdrawal in FS2000, continued it in FS2002 -- but FSUIPC "patched" up the tables in the interpreter to keep some FS98 compatibility. However, there is not even an interpreter in FS2004. This at least accounts for "Real ATC". I don't know "BSATC" but presumably that also is based on APL adventures? Regards, Pete

This was reported some time ago. It's something very odd about the way PSS programmed the reverse. I think I got around it in the in the PFC driver by actually sending the same control as F2 when reverse is engaged. This was done back in version 1.50, as noted in the History part of the PFC documentation: The current PFC.DLL version is 1.55. Try that. If you are using that but it still doesn't work then I'm afraid it's over to PSS. Sorry. Regards, Pete

Version 3.04 is the only current and supported version of FSUIPC for FS2000, FS2002 and FS2004 -- even FS98, CFS1 and CFS2, if anyone uses it in those for anything. It is enough work maintaining one version without several separate parallel versions! I'm releasing Version 3.05 soon. Then it will be the only version :lol: Regards, Pete

This is basically Chris Brett's EFIS98 program, as released for FS98 originally, with some updated data I think. It is probably compatible with FS98 through FS6IPC and FS2000 through FS6IPC as well. In order to make it run with FS2000, FS2002 or FS2004 through FSUIPC you have to install it as if it it running on FS98. I don't remember the details now, sorry -- I haven't actually used it for about three or four years. Interestingly it was the program which got me to write WideFS, so I could place its ND screen on a separate PC. Chris sometimes looks in here and should be able to help, although I think the version you purchased may have been one on which he was in dispute with the publishers. Other erstwhile users may be able to chip in too, but I don't think you'll get any guarantees. It was several years old when Papa Tango re-packaged it. Regards, Pete

Yes, and no, in that order. Originally I planned to release FSUIPC 3 on the 25th July, and the SDK one week later. Of course, incomplete, only containing what I knew about FS2004 up till then. Events have thwarted me. I've not even started on it yet. I've been, if anything, busier since releasing FSUIPC 3 than in the desparate few weeks between getting FS2004 gold and making things more or less work. So, sorry, no date. Everytime I quoted a date I've missed it. If there's anything not obvious is the current SDK, ask me. Regards, Pete

Okay, that's a relief then. I'm wondering if there's some sort of odd timing conflict going on during loading. Do you run FS with the initial selection menu coming up first, or have you set the "Show opening screen" parameter to 0 in your FS9 CFG file? If you haven't, would you like to try that for me? The FS9.CFG file is in C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9 You can edit it with Notepad or any editor. In the [sTARTUP] section, find SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=1 and change it to 0. See if that helps. Let me know. Another thing you can do is to change the delay in FSUIPC's start-up. Add a line: InitDelay= 10 to the [General] section of FSUIPC.INI, before running FS. The default is 3 seconds, 10 would be 10 seconds. You can delay its startup by up to 30 seconds, so experiment with that. Finally, when you do get the window coming up saying FS has crashed, can you click wherever it says to look at more details. The module name and address might be useful. It isn't actually crashing in FSUIPC, otherwise this would be trapped and recorded in the FSUIPC LOG file -- this is a precaution I've been taking for a while now. Regards, Pete

The "slight" stutter may be unavoidable. I don't see any here, but then I never run FSMeteo on-line - I like short hops, no flights more than 1-2 hours -- so a pre-download is all I need. The weather you get is usually a few hours old in any case. However, folks using the FS on-line weather update facilities say they get noticeable stutters and jerks when it updates too. I don't know if they are comparable, but it sounds likely. To be honest, until a couple of weeks before FS2004 was released I was actually on the point of ditching all weather control features for FS2004 altogether, because any slight change to any weather aspect was causing 1-2 seconds pauses in FS, not your nice "slight stutters", so I was very pleased when, by trial and error, I managed to almost eliminate them. If you have any of those horrid 2D clouds the problem is exacerbated -- see the "Important Notes" at the end of the FSUIPC User Guide. Try with 100% 3D clouds only. I also think Marc's working on improvements to FSMeteo at present, so there could be solutions that way too. In version 3.05 of FSUIPC, forthcoming, I provide facilites for weather programs to set weather for a number of stations in a sort of "pending" mode, then activate them. This should at least give you only one stutter instead of a load of small ones. Regards, Pete

Ugh. Of course you could disabled them and instal a PCI card. But that's annoying. I don't know much, but I do know that until I got an arrangement whereby the Network card had its own separate IRQ I had loads of weird problems. Sharing an IRQ with the video card seems to be the worst possible scenario. Is the video on-board too? If you cannot change things and the only symptom is a crash on termination I'd be inclined to leave it be, quite honestly. It's a nightmare world sorting those sorts of conflicts out. Regards, Pete

No. That's it. As I say, until it is registered it does almost nothing. It certainly doesn't do anything for a while anyway. Does it get as far as making an FSUIPC.INI and FSUIPC.LOG file at all? If so, can I see them please? Pete

It isn't my website, as is made clear there, it is Enrico Schiratti's. Anyway, I was not sayting it was corrupted on the site, only that possibly your copy might be corrupted somehow and you should try again. Regards, Pete

What frame rates are there? Are you limiting the FS frame rate enough? Maybe the network is set up for half duplux operation not full duplex? There should be no reason at all why lots of data going one way should stop anything going the other. It should be symmetric, even if the loading isn't. Unless you've set "TCPcoalesce=Yes" in the INI files there should be no coalescing. Yes, if "TCPcoalesce=No", which it is by default. Now you're out of my depth again, sorry. Regards, Pete

It will be deriving it from other indications. I don't know what. All my aircraft books say is that this indicator means "a system annunciator has come on". So presumably you need to check these "annunciators" (other indicators), and if any are on, set the Master Caution too. On the real 737 there's 6 annunciator lights for each of Captain and 1st Officer, classifying problems as "FLT CONT", "ELEC", "IRS", "APU", "FUEL" and "OVHT/DET" for Captain, and "ANTI ICE", "ENG", "HYD", "OVERHEAD", "DOORS" and "AIR COND" for the 1st Officer. In the books each of those breaks down into a list of possible conditions. If you are programming this for a specific aircraft then you need to choose your specific panel and see what's being simulated and what is not, and derive all this stuff appropriately. For well programmed panels you'll no doubt need the aircraft operating manual to get it right. Regards, Pete

What simulates this "master caution"? I think you will need to work out that yourself. Presumably it is a result of analysing lots of different things. FSUIPC is not a simulator, it only provides access to things that are simulated. If "master caution" is not simulated, and it doesn't appear to be, you will have to derive it yourself. Regards, Pete

330A has always been read-only. The FSUIPC Library writes it's version number there deliberately just so I get a log entry to see which library version it is. 03EC is 1004, version 1.004. Check the same logging on FS2002 and FS2004, it is no different, even FS2000. Regards, Pete

I'm not sure I can do that. It is much easier for them to fix the voltage themselves. Why should PMDG aircraft be special, what about those with the default 737, 777? What about all the other aircraft? I really do not want to erode the difference between a full user copy of FSUIPC and the plain interface facility which is all any application should need. I provide the tools, the SDK, and good technical support to all accredited application developers, and still I am asked to give facilities away to get their program to work for them? There's really something there that doesn't add up. Sorry. Regards, Pete

Sorry, I haven't got SB and don't know VATSIM. If the key published already for SB doesn't work, then you must be using a different version of SB because nothing else has changed. I am perfectly willing to issue free keys to all freeware, but I cannot do that without knowing anything about them. Really, someone in authority in either SB or VATSIM should apply for the Key, supplying all the needed details, and publish it for all VATSIM and/or SB users. Have you looked? Perhaps they have done this already, in fact? Otherwise, why not use the version of SB for which folks have already obtained a key? Regards, Pete

Sorry, that only means there's something else wrong which doesn't show up until the loading of FSUIPC changes the memory layout, or possibly some other action. The only other possibility is that your copy of FSUIPC is corrupted, so you could try getting another copy. Maybe it's some other application which interferes with applications like FS. Known culprits are RoboForm and WindowBlinds, but there are probably others. I've not known them to actually crash FS, but it is certainly possible. Try closing down every other process or add-on before running FS. None of them do its performance any good in any way. I recommend "EndItAll", a little freeware program which helps get rid of things. There are thousands of users with FSUIPC installed already, and never once in the 4 year history of FSUIPC has there been one single error which has the effect you describe. What else can I say? The module doesn't even do anything if you've not registered it and haven't got any applications or other add-ins which use it. If it is crashing so early, with nothing going on, then it probably can't even add its Menu entry, which could certainly point to something like WindowBlinds. Regards, Pete

Sorry, I don't know. That is certainly nothing to do with FSUIPC. If it won't fix by updating video drivers, then report it to MS. Regards, Pete

Ernothing returns a DECIMAL number as such. Everything is in binary in any case. All you needed to do was test for each bit in turn. The bits are simple "flags". So, if the value of 0D0C is in an integer variable called nLights you can test for Strobes, say, by seeing if nLights AND 16 is non-zero (replace "AND" by whatever is used in your programming language for logical AND). The value 16 arises from the value of bit 4 (2 to the power 4 = 16). Here are the values to save you calculating them: 0 value 1 Navgation 1 value 2 Beacon 2 value 4 Landing 3 value 8 Taxi 4 value 16 Strobes 5 value 32 Instruments 6 value 64 Recognition 7 value 128 Wing 8 value 256 Logo 9 value 512 Cabin The last one is new in FS2004. Pete

Sorry to hear about your woes. Would you now recommend Athlon's as the more likely power house for FS then? What you've said has made me very nervous about getting Intel for my next big upgrade, which I was hoping to do in September. Can you clarify which chipset your mobo uses? Do you know if the problem is specifically processor -- could it be different with different chipsets (i.e. motherboards)? Regards, Pete

It's a well known problem with DX9 and some video drivers. It is not caused by FSUIPC or any other add-in, but it is exacerbated by other processes running in the background, particularly Windows add-ons such as RoboForm (sp ?) and WindowBlinds, apparently. First try closing down all non-essential processes before running FS. But I think you may find the only answer is going to be in different video drivers. The black screen problems were know throughout FS2004 testing, always occurring when swtiching between full screen and windowed, or between minimised and windowed, and were solved almost every time by video driver updates. They've never been specifically connected with any add-in, let alone FSUIPC, but obviously you are more likely to be switching back and forth when running IPC application programs. I think I'm going to have to add this to my list of potential lies about FSUIPC :? There are other threads here with the same questions and answers, already. Also see the FS2004 forum. Regards, Pete

For any panel which "does its own thing" in terms of autopilot, or any other functions really, you could only deal with it through FSUIPC if the authors have provided an interface through FSUIPC offsets. They are perfectly entitled to do this -- I can allocate offsets on request. Many panels do in fact use some FSUIPC offsets, but generally for their own internal communications. To get details of any such interfaces you would need to apply to the panel makers. In the case of Project Magenta, for example, the full FSUIPC-usable interface for all aspects of PM interaction and control is published in a downloadable document on the PM site. You need to check for such with other panel makers. Regards, Pete