Possible FSUIPC Problem

[Capt_Static]

I am having trouble that I suspect might be caused by FSUIPC or WideFS... here is a summary of the problems:

First, I cannot get the VS mode on my PM MCP to engage with an EPIC button. The button on our physical MCP for VS is working properly and is seen by FSUIPC. I assign it to the PM MCP VS button assignment in FSUIPC but when I push the physical button, there is no reaction in the PM MCP (the corresponding button in the software does not engage). I have double checked the FSUIPC assignment and confirmed that the button is working and seen by FSUIPC. the PM MCP is running on a seperate PC but many other functions work properly leading me away from thinking WideFS is the problem. Any Ideas?

Second, just like the VS button, the IAS/MACH button on my PM MCP is giving me a similar problem. However, when I press the physical IAS/MACH button to toggle the speed mode (again, assigned via FSUIPC) the IAS display window in the PM MCP software goes from displaying the current speed to displaying MACH for less than one second and then displays "000". Pressing the button again does nothing and I have to click on the corresponding IAS/MACH button in the PM software with a mouse to get back into IAS or MACH mode.

Third, when selecting a toggle switch on my EFIS panel (VORL or ADFL for example), while the toggle is in the on position, the PM MCP/GC VORL or ADFL flutters on and off as though it was a repeating input. I doublechecked the EPL code and it is being output strictly as a standard joystick button. I have other toggle buttons on the MCP which are wired and programmed in the same method and they are not having this problem.

PM's Support advised that they cannot help because they are EPIC related, Ralph Robinson (EPIC) related that the coding is correct for a simple joystick button output for FSUIPC to assign, so this is my last hope for help on these.

Any suggestions?

Chris

[Pete Dowson]

I assign it to the PM MCP VS button assignment in FSUIPC but when I push the physical button, there is no reaction in the PM MCP (the corresponding button in the software does not engage). I have double checked the FSUIPC assignment and confirmed that the button is working and seen by FSUIPC. the PM MCP is running on a seperate PC but many other functions work properly leading me away from thinking WideFS is the problem. Any Ideas?

Well, first, please ALWAYS declare the versions you are using. Current FSUIPC is 3.45, WideFS is 6.45.

Then, it appears, that this is probably more a question for PM support. All the PM controls in FSUIPC do is operate assorted bits in the offsets declared by Enrico Schiratti in the PM Offsets documentation, available on the PM site. the VS button appears to be bit 31 in offset 5410, which is toggled (i.e. simply changed -- from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1).

You should check that first in the FSUIPC Monitor -- see Logging page. Monitor 5410 as a U32 in hex, see if the top bit changes.

Second, just like the VS button, the IAS/MACH button on my PM MCP is giving me a similar problem.

Again, please check the PM offsets documentation.

There is really very little to go wrong in FSUIPC for any of these PM controls. All it does is change bits in declared offsets. You can check those easily yourself. If the bits change, as I believe they do, and PM does not respond, then I really cannot do anything more -- you need PM support to look at it for you.

I do know that some of these things have stopped working, started again, and stopped yet again, with different builds Enrico produces. I really cannot re-test them all every time he posts new builds. I think these days he prefers folks to use the "pass through" facilities -- offsets 4F4 (for GC) and 4F2 (for MCP). The relevant FSUIPC controls for these are "PM GC Controls" and "PM MCP Kcodes", which need parameters to pass to PM. There are some listed in the FSUIPC Advanced User's guide, but the main reference really is the PM offsets document from the PM site.

Third, when selecting a toggle switch on my EFIS panel (VORL or ADFL for example), while the toggle is in the on position, the PM MCP/GC VORL or ADFL flutters on and off as though it was a repeating input. I doublechecked the EPL code and it is being output strictly as a standard joystick button.

Yes, but how is it programmed in FSUIPC?

PM's Support advised that they cannot help because they are EPIC related, Ralph Robinson (EPIC) related that the coding is correct for a simple joystick button output for FSUIPC to assign, so this is my last hope for help on these.

Check that the correct bits are being changed. If they are, as I believe you will find, then it is most certainly a matter for PM support. Please try to eliminate other things when you are trying to diagnose problems. Here, for instance, for test purposes, you could esily simply program a couple of keyboard combinations to the same PM controls in FSUIPC. If they don't work then you know it is PM.

Regards,

Pete

[Capt_Static]

Thanks for the quick reply Pete. I am using the latest version of your software, but I will remember to post that in the future :wink:

The VS is set in FSUIPC via the drop-down selection for the button assignmentsI think it was pm_mcp_vs_mode or something like that.

I will go back and RTFM for the Advanced Users because I am a little confused by how to enter some of that stuff by hand, thus why I used the drop-down menu options for button assignments. I will let you know if I have any questions on that. I will also test the software as you suggested and post an update to this thread upon completion.

Cheers,

Chris

[Pete Dowson]

Thanks for the quick reply Pete. I am using the latest version of your software, but I will remember to post that in the future :wink:

[\quote]

Actually, even that, saying "latest", isn't enough. Folks have said that before, and I've believed them, until, later when I get stuck into piles of logs and things they've sent, I find they are using a months-old version. When quizzed they say, "oh, that's the latest one they downloaded", or "the latest on on XYZ website", etc etc.

In other words, I ALWAYS need version numbers, please.

The VS is set in FSUIPC via the drop-down selection for the button assignmentsI think it was pm_mcp_vs_mode or something like that.

Yes, and all that does is toggle that bit in that offset. What then happens is up to PM software.

I will go back and RTFM for the Advanced Users because I am a little confused by how to enter some of that stuff by hand, thus why I used the drop-down menu options for button assignments.

Why are you thinking about entering anything by hand? I don't understand where you are going now. All of the PM stuff is accessible in the drop-down. I only referred you to the Advanced guide because it contains a list of some of the parameters for a couple of the PM offsets -- the MCP Kcodes and the GC options. But the controls for these are in the drop-down, you just need the parameter values to enter into the box marked "parameter"!

The PM offsets list on the PM website gives a full and more up-to-date list.

Regards,

Pete

[Capt_Static]

Pete:

I finally got a chance to play with the software last night and here is what happened:

FSUIPS Version 3.45

WideFS Version 6.45

I was not able to get the PM MCP VS mode button to work. I tried triggering it with a keystroke assignment and that did not work either. Next I attempted using the PM MCPKcode setting and set the parameter to "31" per documentation. That did not work. The next step I tried was to make sure I was setting FSUIPC up properly by setting the MCPKcode for something that is working (i.e. PM MCP FLCH). Well... after using the MCPKcode to assign the FLCH button, that didn't work. When I returned that button to the standard method of assignment (the drop-down assignment selection) it worked again.

The logs do not indicate any errors, so I am stumped.

I would like to try to enter the button assignment by hand in the INI, but I am not too sure how it is suppose to be formatted.

1=P8,6, , ?

PM documents indicate the offset is 0x5410, 4 bytes (double word), and the VS is bit 31. The bit needs to be toggled as you indicated.

I tried entering: 1=P8,6,x0F005410,x80000000 but that did not work. Is that entry correct?

I see that x04F2 is a "throughpass". Does that mean that I have to use that offset to gain access to x5410? As you can tell I am a bit confused about how this works. :wink:

Since I am not able to get any of the buttons to work via the MCP Kcode, I am sure I am missing something here in my method.

Any suggestions?

Chris