Pete Dowson

I just tried it on the default Maule. Though the starter switch graphic has more that the two positions, the control START1 SET with 1 starts the prop spinning, whilst 0 stops the starter -- so, assign Press with Parameter 1 for the start, and assign the same but with 0 for the release. Whilst keeping pressed set mixture full rich (if not already set), and when it has started, release the button for the starter. I think that replicates reasonably what would happen in reality, especially if that switch is spring loaded. I really don't know why you got it to work with parameter 0 in P3d4.1. As i said, maybe it is something they fixed? Pete

Normally a SET event for on/off switches would have parameter 0 for off and 1 for on. But starter switches on some aircraft, for instance a Piper or Cessna, have several positions -- Off, L, R, Both, Start, where the L, R and both refer to the Magnetos. for such a switch the parameters might be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, with 4, in this case to start. I think the jet starter was always different, with the Magneto selection on a different switch. Really, i don't understand how it used to work for you with 0 as the parameter. I certainly haven't changed anything, so perhaps its a change (a correction even) in P3D since 4.1. Note that once a switch is set in a position it nomally stays there till changed. the start position I mentioned for the Piper or Cessna would be spring loaded, so you used to have "repeat whilst held" set to keep things spinning till they started. I don't really know about other types or how P3D behaves. You'd probably need to send Toggle Starter both when Pressing the button, then the same again when releasing it, and so just keep it pressed till it starts. That would be similar to the method I just mentioned. If you give me a specific example with a default aircraft I could try things here, to see what it does. Sorry that i really do not know all the functions of P3D intimately. I have to know enough in details for my own cockpit, but that uses ProSim737 for the cockpit. For everything else I simply provide an interface for folks to use. That's what FSUIPC is -- an interface. Pete

Download FSUIPC 5.132b from the Download Links subforum. Pete

Ah! I see. Why does the nose wheel turn with rudder deflection in any case, if the rudder is for handling hight airspeeds? You wouldn't want the aircraft careering off the runway during take-off or landing because you need rudder to compensate for a strong cross-wind, or, perhaps more likely, and engine problem on one side. Pete .

There's absolutely no difference in how FSUIPC handles axes. All axes are treated in the same way. How would toe brakes alone be singled out for such an odd action. No, it sounds more like your calibration is incorrect. And that clearly shows something very wrong with the calibration you have set (Ive only shown the last few axis reads: 410172 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 103 (IN=8447, OUT=510) 410188 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 59 (IN=4864, OUT=-6656) 410188 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 19 (IN=1536, OUT=-13312) 410204 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 0 (IN=-1850, OUT=-16383) 410641 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 12 (IN=1024, OUT=-14336) 410657 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 59 (IN=4864, OUT=-6656) 410672 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 109 (IN=8959, OUT=1534) 410688 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 172 (IN=14079, OUT=11774) 410688 *** TOE BRAKE AXIS, Left set = 200 (IN=16383, OUT=16384) I think you don't have the REV option set in the calibration. Almost all pedal toe brakes need reversing. You haven't shown your INI file withthe settings so I can't really comment further. Pete

Is that a universal limit, applicable to all aircraft? Because I would have thought that was a function of the add-on aircraft design, not a built-in simulator imposition. A 7 degree steering limit certainly sounds wrong for, say, a 737, which can turn on taxiways in not much more than its own length. I really wouldn't know if that is true or not. It seems unlikely, though. Have you tested that guess? Pete

It sounds like P3D is not terminating completely normally. The file is only created during the "dying" phases of the simulator. Maybe next time you could save the FSUIPC4.LOG file from the session and show it here? Pete

Just "clicking a button" does NOT open an "entire list of FSUIPC commands". Do you perhaps mean "Starter1 set" and "Starter2 set", which appear to be new in P3D4 (which is why they are not in the PDF List of FSX and P3D controls", but in the Live List TXT file actually produce by reading the ccontrols list from P3D). You seem to think these things you call "FSUIPC commands" are something to do with me! they are not. FSUIPC is merely presenting you with the list of controls (also known as "events") you can ask FSUIPC to send to the Sim when you press a button or key. I donm't keep tabs onwhat L-M do, with them. And I mosdt certainly wouldn't expect them to wor with all add-on aircraft (PMDG for instance do their own thing quite a lot). If you do mean the "...Set" controls, then, as with all "Set" type controls, you need to provide a parameter so it knows what to do with the Starter switch. That value might depend on the starter type that parameter is sending to. So what are you actually assigning to and what parameters have you chosen to test with? You said earlier that you thought FSUIPC was not sending the control to the Sim. On what basis do you say that? FSUIPC has no choice what to do with assigned controls. It sends whatever you assign. Whether anything then happens depends on the Sim and the addon. You also said so where did you assign it for those, and what parameter was associated with it? Pete

As I said before, use event.timer to call a function to read the IAS at intervals THEN test for > 10 knots and do whatever it is you want to do. Do NOT use a "loop until true" method. To make sure you do it only once and not every time the speed is >= 10 knots, have a variable defined outside of the function, say "DoneAlive = false" which you set to true when you play the sound, and test DoneAlive ("if not DoneAlive then ...") before testing for >= 10 knots. Do this as well as testing that you are on the ground. You will want this to happen on the next take off roll too, so you need to also reset "DoneAlive" back to false when you detect you are off the ground. You could make all this more efficient and simpler by having an event.offset for the ground flag offset, and setting an "OnHGround" variable in the function that calls. Then you don't need to read and test the ground offset value every time in the main tmer function, and that OnGround setting function can also reset all other things back to fase when your aircraft does leave the ground. (This is all more difficult to explain in words than to simply write the lua code, but you seem to want it in a sort of non-lua pseudo code judging by your message) Pete

Where did you see such names? FSUIPC merely lists the names as provided by the Sim, plus those added for FSUIPC additions — the latter are listed towards the end of the Advanced Guide, and the former in the List of Controls provided in your FSUIPC Documents folder. Pete

Okay, done!Added it as a Hotkey setting (i.e. set the key combo you want in the FSUIPC hotkeys tab). It'll be in the next INTERIM release, probably 5.132b, in the "Download Links" subforum. Probably tomorrow. Pete

Rob Ainsclough kindly tested mouse macros with several add-on aircraft including the PMDG 737NGX. Here's what he found: Tried FSL A320, that worked as expectedTried Carenado S340, that worked as expected... so far just PMDG seems to have the issue. So, rather annoying for PMDG users, and not the full Mouse Macro facility I was hoping for! 😞 Pete

Sorry, i don't use any PMDG aircraft at all. In fact they are not even installed. I like their fidelity, but dislike intensely the lack of facilities to implement a proper hardware cockpit around them. At least the iFly impleentation allowed the various subsystems to be distibuted to different computers. However, I have always used 737's with no cockpit panels, and all the subsystems operated externally -- Project Magenta originally (since FS2000), and ProSim737 for the last few years. Sorry, I don't know what to suggest except to assign tiller and rudder separately to the P3D controls, instead of using the FSUIPC blending method. If the aircraft handles the controls properly I assume you'd get the same end result. Don't forget that the only reason I did a tiller control based on the rudder was because there was no Steering set control offered by FS98, or even I think, in the original FSX. Incidentally, is there some siginficance for P3D4.3 and FSUIPC 5.132? Was some special change expected in this area? Pete

No way, really. The shortcut is determined by the highlit letter in the name in the Menu. It would be nice to be able to use a different one, I agree. Maybe I should provide a hotkey assignment facility to bring up the FSUIPC Options without even going into the menu. I'll take a look at that as I would find it useful too. If i implement such i'll post again here. Pete

How do you control the switch in the first place? In other words, "parameters" for what? Pete

Er, 4 BYTES not BITS. 4 bits is half a byte, capacity only 0-16. Best to run it on a timer. You don't want the code called every time there's a minute change in the IAS. Smpling every half to one second should do. So, just have a function called, say, "checkIAS", thus: function checkIAS() ias = ipc.readUD(0x02bc)/128 -- gives IAS in knots -- do what you want with the ias here end event.timer(500, "checkIAS") There are lots of examples of different ways of using Lua to do things. And the Library document shows you the syntax of the functions provided, built-in to FSUIPC. What I would like to do is to: as part of a check list, when on the runway and on the takeoff roll, trigger a voice file ( i can do that) when the airspeed comes alive (say at 10 knots) and then another one when rotation speed is reached. You can read the ground flag to check that it is on the gound, but there's no easy way to check if it is on the runway. Programs that do that use a database of airports and exact runway dimensions and positions and use the Lat/Lon coordinates to work it out. A rather ambitious task. 10 knots is going to occur during taxi as well. You'd need to work out some other way. But certainly higher speeds would be a way. Pete

It works fine here with 5.132 and P3D4.3. It's not beenchanged at all since FSUIPC 5.0, and there's not much to it, in fact. It works the same as the deletion of aircraft performed by the Traffic Limiter. t's just a control which when activated identifies the aircraft in front of you and deletes it. Maybe there's something wrong with the parameters defining how it should work? They are normally omitted and defaulted, but perhaps you added some and forgot? Try with a default INI file (i.e. temporarily rename the existing one before loading). Pete

What about the other two parts which must also be exactly the same -- name and email? You do not mention them! If it is truly an FSUIPC5 registration you purchased, then if you enter all three parts correctly it will work. Pete

Can you confirm that when you are clicking the mouse to program the button, the action you expect on that button does actually occur? Because if it doesn't then you are clicking in the wrong place so the rectanle number will be wrong. Or maybe the mouse action is wrong? Have you updated FSUIPC to the current version? It would be a good idea -- there were changes to the mouse macro actions in 5.132. And as I said, i don't support 5.131 now that 5.132 is released. I can only support the most recent full release and any interim ones following. Also, whilst i am asking L-M about this problem with their facility, I cannot exactly say that it is with 4.1, which they cannot support either. If you could see to updating FSUIPC to 5.132 and P3D4 to version 4.3 then I'd feel on firmer ground. and you never know, you might find it all then works okay! Pete

In P3D4 they should work no matter what. the P3D4 facility being used identifies the rectangle to be triggered AND the mouse action needed, and supplies that data to FSUIPC via the PDK functions. The replication of that mouse action is by P3D. Aren't some of the default aircraft using XML gauges? And the PMDG aircraft, which i don't think uses XML gauges, has a complete set of custom controls which can be used, but this gentleman is a novice and really needs more than my documentation can provide. He needs help from folks with those aircraft who have already done all this. I'm hoping to get answers from L-M about the PDK functions and why they appear not to work on add-on aircraft (so far). Maybe others who have tried using mouse macros can comment in this forum too. Pete

Strange, then, as the code which odes this has not changed at all, not since FSX version 1. Actually i've never seen a dialogue like that Time Preview one before. There's no way I can find of determining that is is amodal (i.e. allows everything else to continue) whilst all of the usual ones -- options settings, weather, map etc -- are not, they are modal. There's actually no difference i can find to detect that automatically. Can you tell me, what is the purpose of using the Time Preview window with the controls active? What are you actually doing which needs this? In interim version 5.132b which I shall release by the end of this week, i shall remove the dialogue check altogether and rely solely on the Start/Stop "state" notifications FSUIPC receives from P3D. The only reason I've not done this before is that there are periods during scenery loading where P3D (and FSX before it) sends "Start" notifications whilst "adjusting scenery objects" during scenery loading. Some of the things FSUIPC might be allowed or requested to do in such a period could be calamitous. For P3D4 I can deal with the initial loading of the Sim -- the new PDK does give proper notification that the sim has completed loading. But it isn't easy to deal with the reloading of scenery such as when loading a different Scenario. I've lodged a query / error report with L-M on this point, because if they got that right the coding would be a deal simpler. Pete

Not easy with PMDG aircraft. They are very complex, and do their own thing, with their own contorl methods. I thought you'd moved to the other thread you started, with a better title. i replied there. Why are you continuing this one? What for? Who told you that? It is very easy for almost all aircraft, needing no more than the instructions already provided in the User Guide. The PMDG does not obey the standard set of controls built into the simulator. Maybe you needed to research the aircraft you were going to spend money on, first? Really, for help with PMDG you need the PMDG forum. I don't use PMDG aircraft and, whilst I support them to the extent that i read their specific data structures and make that data available to programmers, it just is not possible to support all the switches and buttons in a normal consistent manner. They are all different and require specific attention. Pete

I've posted my question about how this is possible to Lockheed-Martin. i'll let you know what they say. Pete

1. Your FSUIPC is out of date and unsupported. Please update to the current one, 5.132. 2. Any reason you are still using P3D4.1? Whilst they should work with 4.1, I have only tested mouse Macros with 4.2 and 4.3. Ah. that is a really big shame. I hoped, from what L-M told me, that their added facilities would work with everything. I'll be asking L-M about this. I can't think how PMDG distinguish the mouse click coming from P3D4 instead of directly. I wonder what they've done, and why? PMDG do provide assignable "custom" controls for all of their switches, and the codes are documented in their SDK, but they are not easy to get to grips with by a beginner. Many other users have sorted controls out using the PMDG SDK. I've edited the title of this thread to specifically say it's for PMDG and hope someone who's done this will help here. But it would be wise also to post your questions about how to do things with PMDG aircraft on the PMDG support forum. List the specific switches you want to handle, or at least examples of them, and i'm sure someone can tell you what nubers to assign to. Pete

What aircraft? What version of FSUIPC? What version of P3D? LINDA has nothing to do with it. Not sure what the picture was for. You meed to give essential information, please, not pictures of things. Please entitle your threads with something meaningful, relating to the problem you are asking about. Then folks will be more likely to help when I'm on holiday, for example. "Novice FSUIPC user" is not at all helpful. Pete