Pete Dowson

I've reversed your message -- seems odd starting a postiing with a file. Best to put the question first, please? Actually, it appears that you've yet properly calibrated any of the axes at all. The -16380,-512,512,16380 are default values -- ones FSUIPC assumed if you do nothing! Surely they can't be exactly right? It never happens in my experience! You need to go through the process properly, establishing small null zones at either extreme, and a nice centre. And you have enabled the Filtering option on the three main axes, too. Why? That's only needed if you have bad jitter -- usually caused by poor power supplies. It was added for a user in the jungles of South East Asia! The disadvantage of filters is that the slwo response down. The brakes won't work with 0,0 calibration, either: And what have you done here: Only in the case of the aileron have you used the first line assignment. The others seem to be randomly distributed over the 2nd, 3rd or 4th assignments, intended for use when you have more than one control to assign. Why haven't you used the first one each time? It should still work, but it is a bit worrying as the facility is not at all designed to be used like that. I don't understand, when you have a list of things, why you'd leave the top few empty and use one in the middle or bottom? I'd recommend re-doing those, making a ll your first assignments the first assigned. Then go to the calibration screen and actually calibrate each axis properly -- please follow the numbered steps for this in the User Guide. You'll find things work MUCH better when calibrated! That's what you are using FSUIPC for in the first place, probably, so its a waste having it do worse than FS would alone! Oh, and un-check those Filters! Also, I see you have a steering tiller assigned, but apparently not enabled in the calibration -- so that won't work. I see no Throttles assigned. Do you use the keyboard for throttle control? If you have a throttle axis and it is operating through FS, not through FSUIPC, it implies that you have a joystick enabled in FS as well as in FSUIPC. if you mix thing like this, do take care that you don't have the same axes assigned in both places. The symptoms you complain of could most certainly arise from such a mixture! You should really either do everything in FS or everything in FSUIPC, else it is easy to get it really messy. Regards Pete

The transponder in your aircraft should be the one Squawkbox is reading and using. There's surely no separate transponder it is creating, totally ignoring the one in the cockpit/panel? If you are merely referring to the Transponder mode (mainly standby/on) setting and the Ident function, which are needed, then those Squawkbox functions are available via FSUIPC offsets for FS9 and Squawkbox 3. They are documented along with other useful offsets on SB3's own website. For FSX, with Squawkbox 4, there are no such facilities at present. I am ready and wishing to put access facilities into FSUIPC4, not least for use of SB4 in my own cockpit (I use FSX exclusively), and I have written to the authors requesting this and suggesting a method we could use. They said they'd look into it. That was a couple of months or so ago. I send a reminder. Maybe it'll happen next year. Regards Pete

Are you writing a program to provide this interface? How is it connected? Really? That's a multi-way rotary selector switch then? most rotary switches these days are "encoders" which have a common and 2 or 3 other connections, with the signals on those merely indicating the direction in which the rotary is turned, and pulsing as it is turned. I'm certain it must be possible for you to write a program to do such things. I'm afraid I've no idea what an "FDT Simboard" is, nor exactly what your switches look like. I think you might be better off posting hardware interfacing questions to a cockpit builders Forum. There's one near here which might help. If you then have any FSUIPC programming questions, do come back. Regards Pete

There are only two different FSUIPC licenses -- one for FSUIPC3 and one for FSUIPC4. It covers all versions 3.xxx or 4.xxx respectively. In fact you are expected to update regularly, to take advantage not only of new facilities, bug fixes, performance improvements and so on, but also to obtain any support - only the latest released versions are supported. Before you download and install 4.409, which is only an interim update to 4.40, you should visit the normal download site (the schiratti.com one) and download and install 4.40 itself. Otherwise the documentation and other ancillary files you may need will not get updated. 4.409 is only the bare DLL, published here for evaluation, testing, and for those who need the specific new facilities it includes. Regards Pete

Wow! It's a good job you did! Just using the Key logging option in FSUIPC showed what was happening! It's a real bad bug! It isn't just the Ctrl+Shift sometimes missing -- in fact the first time, they're usually not. The real bad problem is that most of the time none of the KEYUPs are being sent! It was sending the KEYDOWNs, and leaving them that way. Makes a right mess of the real keyboard operations when the Control and Shift keys are held down! The error was, as so often in these cases, and editing error. A line had got deleted. no idea how. The same code in the FSX version had the line in. So, many apologies. Please try version 3.856, already posted in the Downloads announcement. Thanks & Regards Pete

I thought they were user configurable? Strange. I'll check it here, with the current interim version (3.855). Pete

In that case I suspect something else in your system is corrupted, possibly in the security part of Windows. This might be indicated by this: Actually, there was a bug in the original edition of SimConnect where the trust mechanism it uses in Windows caused a serious crash, but this only occurred when other SimConnect users where trying to operate at the same time -- and according to Microsoft, the bug was fixed by SP1. I'm pretty sure they would not have re-introduced the same bug in "Gold" (which includes SP1 and SP2/Acceleration doesn't it?). Do you have other SimConnect-using add-ons. All I saw in your list was I don't know about the aircraft, and in any case they probably don't link to SimConnect until loaded. Maybe the original bug in SimConnect is being triggered if one of the aircraft is a SimConnect user and you have it loading by default, instead of one of the default aircraft? Once I, as its publisher, am listed in Internet Explorer as trusted, as I should be now, the same glitch in SimConnect shouldn't occur in any case. The original problem was down to something calling SimConnect whilst it was waiting for the reply to the dialogue. When the dialogue does not appear, the problem, if it is truly the same one, doesn't apply. Possibly the problem whereby FSX wouldn't load again after the original crash was due to a corrupt logbook.bin file. If you get such a problem gain, try deleting it. It'll probably be in your documents\Flight Simulator X Files folder, or maybe in the Applications Data part of Document and Settings, alongside the FSX.CFG file. What is so odd is that this was a known FSX bug some two years ago, affecting a log of add-on Simconnect applications, but which has not been reported ever since it was supposed to be fixed. I've not had any reports from an FSX Gold user before, though, so maybe FSX Gold is not really the same as FSX + Acceleration after all? Regards Pete

I am not a "Sir", just Pete will do. In that case it is nothing to do with FSUIPC, as without FSUIPC4.DLL loading there is no other change occurring. It is completely self-contained. You are evidently missing something -- it cannot possibly be down to FSUIPC4, as you still had the problem without it. You need to think what else you have done which could have caused your problem. There is nothing in anything I've ever done in FSUIPC4 which has ever caused such symptoms in any case, even when it is allowed to run. In fact FSUIPC doesn't get loaded by SimConnect for some seconds AFTER the splash screen, so anything which causes a hang so early is likely to be related to one of FSX's own files. By reports I've seen a common culprit is the Logbook file, which is now in some binary format, and if it does get corrupted can cause FSX to hang very early in its initialisation. You'll need to work out what else you changed. Regards Pete

Sorry, but I've no information on that new (?) module. The way GoFlight provide support is different for each device. I can possibly add support if interfacing information has been published by GoFlight. Is there an update to their SDK? ... [LATER] I just checked their website and the SDK version there is still dated 2002! Maybe you should inquire at GoFlight, as a user? (I don't actually use any GoFlight equipment these days). I also checked through their inventory whilst I was there. It appears that these new items have been added since the last SDK I saw: - GF RC Rudder Controls - GF-TPM Throttle/Pitch/Mixture Module - GF-SECM Single Engine Control Module So none of those will be supported unless they are using the same interface protocol as some of the earlier ones (e.g. MCP Pro like the MCP). Regards Pete

What, exactly, "in flight sim says com port ok"? Are you possibly trying to use my PFC digital controller driver on a PFC joystick device which just connects as a standard joystick/yoke? My drivers are for PFC's digital control systems only. For normal joystick devices you use normal joystick drivers and assign in FS (or optionally in FSUIPC) just as for any other joystick device. The digital controller board is built into the Throttle Control System, the Cirrus range of consoles, the Jetliner console, the 737NG cockpit, and some of PFC's other cockpits. But PFC also make ordinary devices not using that system, and "V-Max" sounds like a badged version of those? Didn't your PFC devices come with any instructions at all? Perhaps you'd better seek support from whoever you bought them from? I believe GoFlight have their own Support Forum, don't they? Regards Pete

Of course! In fact you are on your own without support if you don't! If you want the very latest interim versions, look in the Downloads announcements above. Pete

Okay. Thanks. I'll mark it so. ... Hmmm. I wouldn't be surprised, at least with FSX original and SP1, since the SimConnect action uses TCP/IP communications. Very ponderous, even with in-process operations. Do you get the same with SP2/Acceleration applied? That is using named pipes which, whilst not the bee's knees, should be an order more efficient. I think it is just what it looks lie, queuing problems, exactly the same as on overloaded motorways/freeways or trying to force too much water through a small pipe. Regards Pete

It never helps or means anything useful to say "latest version". Folks have said that when in fact they were using a year old one. They just mean "the latest one I have noticed"! Please ALWAYS provide version numbers -- that is what they are for! Oh dear. Please refer to the FSUIPC4 User Guide, a copy of which is installed in your FSX Modules folder as well as supplied in the main Zip file. Look at the last item in the Contents list. Pete

You can set that point wherever you like, within the useful travel of the lever. That point is around where you should calibrate the "idle" zone -- the central two numbers in the calibration screen. Evidently you've not been following the numbered steps in the FSUIPC User Guide? I think, from what others have said, that the Saitek throttles are fitted with a button forward of the indent, and that you don't actually get any variation in the values sent by the lever there, so there's no way to calibrate a reverser in that zone. I think folks simply program the button there to send either the key F2 or, better, the control "Throttle Dec", repeating, which will engage reverse just like the keyboard would. They are NOT the same, then, are they?! if one is + and the other -, they are opposites, completely different numbers, and as far apart as they can get! The largest negative value will need calibrating to the full reverse, the left-most figure, and the maximum positive value to max forward thrust, the right-most position. The idle zone is wherever you calibrate it to be via the central two values. It most certainly doesn't have to be in the middle of the lever movement! The FSUIPC user guide, if you simply followed the numbered steps for calibration, would establish this for you. It doesn't need to explicitly state "reverse" -- the calibration of the centre area (idle in this case) is identical for ALL centering axes -- aileron, elevator, rudder, throttles 1-4, prop pitch 1-4, and mixture/conditioning 1-4. Just follow the steps, if your throttles allow. If they don't, just program them as Saitek apparently intended, using the button for reverse. In that case you'll probably want to check the option on the 4 throttles page to have no reverse zone (a facility added to the current latest versions of FSUIPC, available from the Downloads announcements above). Regards Pete

The Server is not seeing the Client at all. A firewall block is the most likely suspect, exactly as Jim suggests. Regards Pete

Okay. Found it. It is related to the motorised trimming mods I did a LONG time ago! Many of the interim versions I've been posting would have had this problem too -- yet no one came back to me. Shows that not many folks bother to look in the Downloads announcements for updates other than FSUIPC ... Anyway, until I fix it properly you can still use PFCFSX 4.330 by adding the following line to the [General] section of the PFCFSX.INI file: MotorTrim=No (If currently defaults to "Yes", but should be then suppressed by the Console option). Apologies for any inconvenience, Regards, Pete

Okay. I've now managed to figure out that by "4.330" you mean the PFC driver, and of course by "4.409" you mean the version of FSUIPC. So the rest then sort-of falls into place. You are actually saying that the current PFCFSX driver doesn't respond to the trim assignment, in that driver. I'll check that at soon as I can set up my system to work that way (my PFC 737NG cockpit has a different trim arrangement on the yoke, operating motors which turn the trim wheels). Now i also see what you mean here. This was changed for FSX because the old up/down controls don't work in both 2D and VC cockpit modes. Those new FSX ones do. They only replace the previous pan up/down defaults. Okay, that should be the same now. I'll get back to you when I've done some testing. Regards Pete

Are you mixing up FSUIPC with my PFCFSX driver? How is your PFC yoke connected, and how have you assigned the trim? What is this "delay" you have "cut to 10", and what is it that is "set to 64"? Sorry, I'm not following this. WHERE, exactly, have I got a "pan up down view always"? This is very confusing. I really don't know what you are talking about. Can you clarify, please? So you are okay now after all? What drivers did you get from the PFC website? Do you mean my PFCFSX? If so you'll normally find more recent versions on the FSUIPC download page (www.schiratti.com/dowson), and even more recent in the Announcements above. Sorry, I really cannot help without some words of explanation about what you are talking about, and if there are now "no problems" as you say at the end, what exactly is the purpose of your posting? Regards Pete

I'm not surprised, since all FS angular measures in fixed point fields are designed to achieve maximum resolution in the space available. To do this in a 32-bit value means the maximum value in 32 bits is used to provide 359.999999... degrees. You are multiplying a very large value by 360, so getting overflow. Even if you did not get overflow, dividing a 32 bit integer by 65536 * 65536 is similar to shifting it downwards by 16 + 16 = 32 bits -- guaranteeing to leave you with nothing at all for your efforts! All this is surely simple arithmetic, can you see? Copy the value you read into a floating point variable, like a "double" first, THEN do your conversions! This applies to nearly all the fixed point values -- unless you want simple approximations (which you could get above by doing the arithmetic in a different order, e.g. int heading = ((head/65536)*360)/65536; That rounds down to the integer below. Of course it would be a better approximation if you rounded to the nearest integer instead, thus: int heading = (((head/65536)*360) + 32768)/65536; Regards, Pete

Actually, since I changed the "Delta" for POV axes in the Axis assignments to 0 (so that it doesn't discard any values even repeats of those before), assigning a POV in FSUIPC4's axis assignments to the PAN VIEW control (the same one that FSX uses) works fine. Some say it is as good as it is in FSX, others say it is a little bit jerkier. I may be able to smooth it further by by-passing SimConnect for it, as I do for normal "axes". I'll re-check. But here it is smooth in any case. This change appeared between versions 4.30 and 4.40, so perhaps you'd not yet noticed? This is the entry from the History document: Regards Pete

Ah. If you purchased your FSUIPC or WideFS keys after that date, then they wouldn't be valid! Regards Pete

something's changed then, obviously. Is your network okay for all other things? As always, the first place to look is in the Logs. most of my programs produce logs of what they are doing, and for good reason. It's so there's some clues when they don't. WideServer.Log in the FS Modules folder, Wideclient.Log in each of the widecient folders. Make sure everything is closed down first as the summary information at the end of the Logs can be informative too. Pete

What does "2068" mean? But after installing it. I started FSX. And i think that i in the first Security Message click RUN. And then FSX was running i couldn't see Add-Ons up in the menu bar. Why on Earth didn't you try installing it BEFORE buying it? Show me the Install Log and, if there is one, the FSUIPC4 log -- both from the FSX Modules folder. Tell me if there is no FSUIPC4.LOG file, as that means FSUIPC4 isn't being run, pointing to a corrupt SimConnect installation of FSX. Really? I think Simconnect problems are the most common for FSX -- you evidently didn't looks too far? I always need to see the Log files in any case. That is what they are for. They contain all the information I need to start with. And please explain what that cryptic number "2068" is supposed to mean. Oh. If you are not installing version 4.40, the current main user release, please try that first. Regards Pete

No, only in the last sentence (all caps == shouting, by convention). And a sentence I don't even understand? As far as FSUIPC is concerned, if you have a good setup in FS9 you can simply copy over the relevant sections from FSUIPC.INI to FSUIPC4.INI -- just the JoystickCalibration section(s) I think, because you say you are not assigning any axes in FSUIPC in any case. (Assignments might be slightly different in terms of Axis names because FSUIPC4 uses DirectInput for axes, whilst FSUIPC3 and before used the old joy interface, as they all do for the buttons). The same numbers for the same joysticks work the same in both FS9 and FSX (and, in fact, also in FS98, FS2000, Fs2002, FS2004, CFS1 and CFS2). There might be differences in the aircraft models, of course, but the way the flight controls and reversers work is the same throughout. As you are assigning in FS, though, you must be sure that the sensitivity sliders are maxed and the null zone sliders are zeroed -- but that applies equally to FSX and FS9 in any case. If you don't you will be wasting some of the axis range and not achieving proper calibration no matter what you do in FSUIPC. (With assignment in FSUIPC, all that is bypassed so it becomes irrelevant). You still haven't said whether you want a reverser zone on the throttle levers, or you want separate reversing levers. There's absolutely nothing taken out of the manual -- unfortunately it just grows and grows -- but I assure you NOTHING is removed! There's no separate section on reversers. Mostly folks use a zone on the throttles, back from idle, and this method is clearly mentioned in several of the steps in the calibration section -- as well as being shown on screen with the actual word "reverse". I don't understand how you could miss it on screen -- it is really relatively intuitive and you shouldn't even need to do more than glance at the User guide in any case. So, I repeat: If you are wanting a reverse zone on separate throttles then you follow the numbered steps in the Calibration section on the Options Tab page with the 4 throttles. They are clearly showing reverse, idel and max thrust. If you want to set up separate axes for reversers, then they are just other axes on separate tabs, as I've already pointed out. There is NOT a separate chapter telling you how to calibrate each type of axis -- elevator, aileron, brakes, etc -- because the method is the same on each. most axes fall into one of two types - ones with simply a minimum and maximum value, and ones with a centre or idle or "normal" value. The main exception is flaps which can have a number of detentes, optionally individually calibrated. That is why there is a section on flaps, but no separate section on reversers which are EITHER part of a throttle axis or a simple min/max axis on their own. I really don't understand how you managed to do anything at all on FS9 -- FSUIPC's User Manual is almost identical between the two. In fact for joystick calibration I think it is! Pete

I'm not sure who "they" are to say such things, but for certain you have to disable the axes in FS is you are ASSIGNING them in FSUIPC. You must not have the same axes assigned in both places. But you are obviously NOT assigning them in FSUIPC, so you must not disable them in FS. This is logical, as you will see if you think about it. You can calibrate in FSUIPC whether or not your axes are assigned in FSUIPC -- they are separate facilities, on separate tabs, and described separately. You seem to have mixed yourself up. Sounds like you've not calibrated them anything like correctly. Try folowing the numbered steps. You need a defined idle zone. In the FSUIPC calibration display there must be 4 different numbers, one under "Reverse", two under "Idle" and one under "Max", increasing left to right. If it happens which CH#s own software too it sounds like they are faulty. you should get in touch with CH support. What is why you sat on what for a year? Sorry, I don't understand (nor do I appreciate shouting)! Regards Pete