Pete Dowson

Not much inforamation? :o Check the Announcements at the topthere's heaps of information, particularly via the links in the "Updates and other goodies" Announcement. You can also refer to the main download site, http://www.schiratti.com/dowson, where you will find a load more links to information you can download. For offset lists you want the FSUIPC SDK which contains full documentation of all offsets. You'll find a number of voltage measurements there -- I don't know which one you need. If you are monitoring the main battery voltage it is a double floating point value at offset 2834. Regards Pete

Well really you shouldn't have to "run this prog as administrator" either. Is this because someone told you it was needed to run his application program? It only arises because: a) if you let FS install into its default place, in "Program Files" or "Program Files (x86)", its folders are protected against being written to by programs without elevated admin rights, like installers. b) Some add-ons need to write to FS folders which are still not Vista / Win7 aware and cannot handle this, so have to be run "as administrator", and c) If those add-ons need to connect to FSUIPC4, which is running inside FSX, both the Add-On and FSX must be at the same privilege level, otherwise Windows stops them talking to each other! It's a mess really. FSUIPC's installer makes the modules folder read/write capable for all users so it doesn't have the problem. Hopefully one day all add-ons will be Vista or win7 aware. Meanwhile, the easiest option is never install FS into the Program Files folders. Too late for many of course. Yes, but those are the three legitimate joystick devices we know you've got. Strange that there's nothing for units 4-16 which appear to be those causing the problems. Ah, well, if the timeout feature in FSUIPC gets over the problem I suppose it doesn't matter. It will remain a puzzle though. Regards Pete

15 looks good then, because according to your [JoyNames] section: you only have joysticks 0, 1 and 2 connected, and those survived okay through the 15 mSec timeout check. There's something odd, though, with your system because all 12 other possible joystick numbers are causing Windows to take too long finding they aren't there. It is as if there is a driver processing those requests when there shouldn't be. Here, running Win7 Ultimate, I get no timeouts at all even with the value set as low as 10 mSecs. Did you click on the "Hardware" tab and see if there was anything listed which you didn't recognise? Sorry, on Win7 all of the names listed in Joyview will say "none". It's an old program, meant for Win95 I believe. but it will show a lot of details. If there are any drivers for any of the 16 devices, this will show by having entries in the "joyGetDevCaps" entry. Genuinely unused slots will have no numbers against any of the details listed for 'folder', whilst ones with a driver will have data like Mid ("manufacturer ID") and Pid ("Product ID"). With those we should be able to identify the device/driver. Weird. In the Win7 installation I have, the Properties dialogue has 6 tabs: General, Shortcut, Compatibility, Security, Details and Previous Versions. Maybe this is only with the Ultimate edition? Anyway, the compatibility options must be there, in the Properties, somewhere. Even Windows XP had a Compatibility tab in the Properties dialogue! At least with the timeout set to 15 you have everything working by the looks of it. I may make that the default. Regards Pete

Well this proves that the problem is due to a rogue joystick driver, but also that 10 mSecs is probably too tight for your genuine joystick connections to respond. The log shows what happened: Joystick #3 is favourite to be the rogue. But then every single possible joystick connection scanned by FSUIPC occasionally took longer than 10 mSecs. So that is obviously too tight a timeout. You'll have to gradually increase it. You have plenty of room as the tightest you tested before was 50. So try 25. Zero in by halves. If 25 is too tight 35. If too loose 15, etc. You should find some value which consistently cuts the bad one (or more than one?) out whilst letting the good ones work. Anyway, as this does really prove you have some rogue joystick driver installed, you really need to eliminate it. When you have the timeout set correctly (let me know and I'll change the default), the Log will show you the joystick number responsible. Did you check Windows game controllers for an unknown and unwanted joystick driver? Did you run that Joyview program as I suggested? Please check the [JoyNames] section of the FSUIPC4.INI file --show it to me, in fact, please -- this should list the Joysticks identified via DirectInput. Any others shouldn't be "real". Incidentally: With frame rates like those I'd recommend you use the FS frame rate limiter to limit it to say 30 or 35 fps. You'd get a moother ride. (This is nothing to do with the joystick scanning though). You mean you didn't set FSX to run in compatibility mode yourself? It's right-click on the shortcut, Properties-Compatibility. Make sure none of the boxes are checked. [LATER] I'm making a revised version of FSUIPC4 which only operates that timeout when you are in the FSUIPC options I suspect that 10 mSecs would be okay, but in normal FS mode the time can probably be exceeded even for a good joystick because of FS loads -- if FS is running at over 100 fps it is taking the whole processor and could slow other things down. Look out for version 4.563 later today. However, please don't let this stop you doing that timeout test -- I do still need to know what value catches the bad and not the good. ;-) Regards Pete

Yes, that is a well known bug in FSX's weather system. Actually the same bug is in FS9 as well, but in that case FSUIPC manages to overcome it. In FSX it isn't always successful, though it does try. The bug is in the way FS tries to interpolate the weather at the aircraft from what should be the three weather stations in its triangular area. What happens is that often one of the triangle vertices is a weather station many hundreds of miles away with completely different weather. There is another, extra, bug in FSX which makes it worse than FS9. When weather is set via the SimConnect interface (which is the only way known for FSX), the upper wind and temperature layers get into a right mess, getting cduplicated and triplicated, sometimes with layers only a few metres apart. This plays terrible havoc with any wind and temperature progression through the altitudes. If you are having weather set by ActiveSky or an on-line ATC program, your FSX weather mode is not relevant. As soon as they start setting the weather it changes to "Custom" mode, and they are then in charge, or at least in charge as much as they are allowed with SimConnect which doesn't offer the same degree of control as FSUIPC3 does for previous versions of FS. I currently use ASA rather than ASX, and it does manage to overcome some of the problems a little better than ASX, but they are still there. The unfortunate thing was that Microsoft knew about these problems before the FS team's demise, but apparently couldn't work out how to fix them after the young lady responsible for the weather system design had left the team. I believe they were in the process of re-writing the weather handling altogether for FSXI. One way ASA does get around the problem is by what it calls "DWC" (Direct Wind Control). This is actually a mode which sets FSX into Global Weather mode. Global weather mode was a facility added to FSX for flight training purposes. It makes the weather fixed and the same all over the world. This then prevents any problems with interpolation or layer build-up. ASA then modifies that global weather as you fly. The only problem with that is when using programs like Radar Contact to obtain ATIS weather information for destinations -- obviously, if it asks FS, it gets the same weather as at the aircraft. Same goes for ATC and AI assigned runways, though I think ASA has a facility to lock to the destination airport weather far enough out for that to be sorted. There's really no perfect answer. Over the three years and a bit of FSX's life so far it has become a pretty well known problem and folks just live with it, I guess. Regards Pete

Strange indeed, but good that you've solved it. Thanks for letting us know Pete

Ah, was I too late with the timeout facility? I would have liked to see if that worked! :-( Regards Pete

ErFSUIPC never asks for a Registration key! The installer provides the option for you to register if you want to. If you don't want to, just don't. Please do read the Installation guide supplied in the ZIP. :roll: Pete

Actually the log proves that the timeout modification I made had no effect. If the problem is due to a strange joystick action the timeouts you tried evidently weren't short enough. You might need to try the minimum, 10 mSecs, but maybe that isn't enough. I don't like this: Have you set FSX to run under win7 in compatibility mode? If so, why? I wouldn't recommend it at all. FSX suits Win7 exactly as a proper application, there's no need for any fiddles like that. Can you look at the thread "FSX Lockup on opening Buttons + Switches tab ", and try the Joyview program I attached there? If it isn't a rogue driver then something else is interacting with it somehow. could you test with no joystick devices, nothing plugged in? Also try with a different aircraft loaded first, a default one. This is just part of a process of elimination, because if it isn't a driver problem it is certainly something I've not seen before. Regards Pete

Sorry, I really don't know. You need to see if you can get hold of any documentation for it, or its driver. I am not familiar with it at all. See what you can find on their website: http://www.cockpitsonic.co.uk/ Regards Pete

I've added a new check in version 4.562, now available in the Updates Announcement. Please try it and let me know. Here's a description of the change: If this does help, perhaps you'd be kind enough to try smaller or larger values for that parameter? 100 mSecs might be too large and still cause it to clog up, or it might be too small and have the effect of eliminating good devices (though I very much doubt that). If it doesn't seem to help initially, do please try smaller values in any case. Oh, if this facility does help, I'd like to see the FSUIPC4.log file, please. It should log the responsible joystick number. Thanks, Pete

I've added this check in version 4.562, now available in the Updates Announcement. Please try it and let me know. Here's a description of the change: If this does help, perhaps you'd be kind enough to try smaller or larger values for that parameter? 100 mSecs might be too large and still cause it to clog up, or it might be too small and have the effect of eliminating good devices (though I very much doubt that). If it doesn't seem to help initially, do please try smaller values in any case. Oh, if this facility does help, I'd like to see the FSUIPC4.log file, please. It should log the responsible joystick number. Thanks, Pete

There's nothing really to know about using WideFS. That isn't where there's a problem. The problem is you don't have a link between the two PCs which it can use. The pre-requisite for any networked application is a working and usable Network. I'm afraid that isn't something I can easily advise you on from here. Whenever I've had Networking problems I've only ever solved them by trial and error. Windows is not very helpful in this regard. If it says "connection refused" it simply means it isn't allowing WideClient to get any message through to the Server. "Why?" is another matter -- firewalls and other security measures are the most obvious culprit. I don't know. It may do or it may just make matters worse. If you don't know how to allow programs through your firewalls, or how to disable them altogether, then perhaps you can get help with that, first? Seems less drastic to try and find the cause of the block, and fix that, first. If, in the Windows 7 side, you've used that new-fangled networking mechanism called "HomeGroup", then you should be aware that, as it clearly says, that only operates between Windows 7 PCs. Is this perhaps the problem? If so, then there would appear to be two ways to move forward: Either (1) disable the HomeGroup altogether and use the normal compatible networking facilities as on WinXP and Vista, or (2) Yes, use Win7 on all PCs and only use the HomeGroup system. Please note that in my house we have a Network of some 12 PCs and two Notebooks, and of these only 3 so far are using Windows 7. I avoided HomeGroup entirely, simply because it did say explicitly that it is only for connections to other Windows 7 PCs. So at present I cannot really advise on HomeGroup networking at all. I shouldn't think I'll ever get to the point where all of the PCs here will be running Win7, but you never know ... Regards Pete

This is almost certainly due to a rogue joystick driver in your system. When polled it is waiting for an event which will never arrive, only timing out after a period, and thus FSUIPC loses control for most of the time making it unusable. Please check in your Window's game controllers applet (in the control panel). You could also use the attached utility "joyview" which might show more. Let me know what you find. This problem has occurred just a few times over the 10 year+ history of FSUIPC, but perhaps I need to put a time check on the call to Windows and once a device takes more than, say, half a second, to respond, put it on a "avoid this" list. Regards Pete joyview.zip

That looks like the problem which was fixed a couple of months ago in one of the interim updates. Please see the "Updates and other goodies" Announcement. Regards Pete

If it only happens on buttons and axis assignments tabs it sounds like you have a rogue joystick driver feeding continuous signals and so not allowing the dialogue time to receive inputs. Check Windows game controllers in the control panel. Regards Pete

That shows FSUIPC is working perfectly. The INI file won't be changed if you aren't changing any FSUIPC options -- and seeing as you haven't Registered FSUIPC, you wouldn't be changing it in any case. I don't know. Is there something pointing to FSUIPC at all? Why are you suspecting it is related to the problem? Are there any details available with this "FS has a problem" message? Doesn't it say anything about it? Possibly you have a conflicting module? Have you any other add-on modules in the FS modules folder? There was a similar report recently which turned out to be due to the PMDGoptions.DLL. When that was removed everything worked. I think the user uninstalled and re-installed his PMDG aircraft to fix it. Regards Pete

Did you purchase your FSUIPC or WideFS registration in 2010? If so, haven't you received my email? I can't check because you've not used you real name here (why oh why don't folks like others to know who they are?). Please also see the Announcements above. The "Updates and other goodies" one is relevant. If none of this is relevant, please close FS and show me the FSUIPC.LOG file which you will find in the FS Modules folder. You can paste it here, it is an ordinary text file. Regards Pete

Okay, thanks. I'll amend my document on its next update. Regards Pete

The filter mechanism will result is different values being sent to FS for that axis, very slightly delayed because of the feeding through the digital frequency filter algorithm. This should still not produce the symptoms you describe unless you have another assignment. But on the other hand, there would have to be something very bad and jittery with your axes before using the filter was justified. Why won't you try it without FSUIPC assignment, and certainly without a tiller assignment, and tell me what happens then? You seem to be avoiding looking at the issue properly altogether. Why? Regards Pete

FSUIPC is a kit of tools. You use it for whatever you need to use it for. There's no general advice. Browse through the supplied manuals, maybe you will find them interesting, or boring, but select the facilities you want to use. No. I think you might be better off visiting the VRInsight forum and talking to folks there. Regards Pete

It doesn't appear to be deactivated on at least one of the PCs -- the client evidently knows the Server, and WideClient tries to connect but it is being refused. Whether it isn't being let out of the client PC or not let into the FS (server) PC I cannot tell, but it is being blocked for sure. The error is from Windows telling WideClient it isn't allowed to connect. Regards Pete

Correct. So you are using FSX? Correct. Enter it like that. And the address you enter is your EMAIL address. I won't type it here, but be sure it is correct. And the Key must be correct too. Take care to get the 1 correct (it is the number 1 not a letter I), and the O is a letter O not a number 0. You cannot go wrong if you cut-and-paste. That is why I have always reconmmended it. Pete

Do you have a receipt, anything from simMarket which tells you what you paid for? FSUIPC3 is for FS9 and before, FSUIPC4 is for FSX and ESP. If you hadn't for some reason used a false name when registering for the Forum, I could have checked for you. But there's no way I can identify you if you prefer to hide your identity here. If you cannot copy your name, address and key without making a mistake, use cut-and-paste to copy it over from your registration notification. Regards Pete

No. Leave the PFD.INI file in place, all your settings are in that one file. It was certainly correct in all of the consoles I've seen, excepting the one fitted into my 737NG cockpit. If PFC have made new models with differences in the many years since I designed the driver and wrote the documentation, then they haven't told me so I can modify that documentation. Without actually coming over to your house and trying it I wouldn't be able to tell. I think you have to try it. Regards Pete