Make Runways - Missing Runways

[Aussie123]

Hello Peter,

Like many others I'm contantly adding programs to my ProSim737 / FS9 / SIOC / FSUIPC cockpit.

I have recently added the Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) that communicates through FSUIPC.

I downloaded MakeRwys, parked in the FS9 root directory, and it ran as advertised. It made all the files. I then copied the r4.csv into the RASS V2 directory.

On running it, and FS9/FSUIPC, I found that I couldn't get it to do anything. On looking into the r4.csv their seemed to be thousands of runways but only about 4 from Australa.

I then checked the Secenery.cfg file. All of my add in scenery is in there (VOZ etc) in their correct sub directories.

Any idea why Make Runways is not picking up the add in scenery?.

[Pete Dowson]

Any idea why Make Runways is not picking up the add in scenery?

You need to state the version number of the Makerunways program you are using. And you can check for yourself exactly what is it doing by looking in Runways.txt which is a comprehensive log of all of the airport data files it examined and the results it got.

Check that you are looking at the correct Scenery.CFG file. If it gets no add-ons whatseover it sounds like the default copy.

Pete

[Aussie123]

Hello Pete,

I got time to check your suggestions down the shed last night: I'm using Make Runways V4.614

I went into the root of FS9 and removed a couple of older Scenery_old.cfg files so that there was only one file in the directory. There are 45 Layer/Areas in the file. About half of the first 37 stock sceneries are not active (Active=False) with "Remote=" scenery files from Area/Layer 38 to 45

I ran the program again and the same result: Total Airports=2080 Runways=4837 Same size file.

Looking at the Runways.txt file, the process sems to only go down to Layer 37. No mention of Layer 38 to 45?

An example of the remote entry in the Screnery.cfg is "Remote= C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery\Voz AF2" REQUIRED=FALSE, ACTIVE=TRUE

Aussie123

[Pete Dowson]

"Remote=" scenery files from Area/Layer 38 to 45

"Remote"? Is that ever used? I've never seen any use for it. I have my sceneries placed on several separate drives to FS and they are all identified by the Local parameter. Even the ones withing the FS folder itself have full path names so I can use the same SCENERY.CFG file with both FSX and P3D. Did you deliberately add them in as "remote" by editing the file or were they generated like that in some other way?

This is new to me. What is it supposed to mean? i thought it might mean "elsewhere, not on the system, maybe on the Internet"? If all it means is "another place just like Local, treat the same" then I don't understand why it's there. And what if both Local and Remote have paths in? What would that mean?

If you understand all this, as a user of this option, perhaps you'd explain it and I'll see what I can do to make MakeRunways cope with it properly. It is most odd that it has never cropped up in the 12 years or more that MakeRunways has been in use!

I'm afraid I'm away now till next Monday, 11th March, but i'll certainly sort it out then, so please see if you can come up with a definitive explanation. I might catch it in the morning before I depart, but not solve it till next week.

Regards

Pete

[Aussie123]

Thanks Pete,

I'll do a bit more research before writing back.

All of the Australian scenery and various addin Australian city airport scenery was installed by VOZ installer a year or so back. I guess I had to activate each of them by pointing down to the appropriate Add In scenery sub folder. Can't remember. I have never had to look in the Scenery.cfg file before. It just worked.

The actual scenery is located in the FS9 tree and not on another PC.

I'll get back to you. I might snip out part of the .cfg next time.

Have a good time while you are away.

Aussie123

[Pete Dowson]

I'll do a bit more research before writing back.

Okay, thanks. Really it will be an easy change to make the program use the Remote line instead of the Local if the latter is blank. It just never occurred before. The only thing I need to know is which it takes if both are given. But I can experiment here on that -- Monday.

All of the Australian scenery and various addin Australian city airport scenery was installed by VOZ installer a year or so back. I guess I had to activate each of them by pointing down to the appropriate Add In scenery sub folder.

I don't remember seeing a way of selecting 'remote' there, so I'd guess the entries were made automatically by the Installer.

The actual scenery is located in the FS9 tree and not on another PC.

Weirder, if it is truly local to the FS9 folder.

But if it is simply an alternative way of doing the same thing, I can fix MakeRunways to handle it easy enough. But Monday, as I said.

Regards

Pete

[aua668]

Hi,

Out of the ESP SDK for the scenery.cfg:

remote

A remote path to the scenery files. When using a remote path the scenery is copied from the path shown to a uniquely named folder created by the simulator. The scenery files are then read from the new folder, a sub-folder of the Cache folder. Remote paths are very useful when reading scenery files from a location that cannot be accessed as quickly as the local hard drive, for example, from CD drives or a remote server.

The format of the path can be one of the three defined for local paths.

Only one of remote or local should be used.

local

The local path to the scenery files. When using a local path the scenery is read directly from the path shown. Various formats for designating the path to the scenery can be used:

1. Drive:\path

For example: C:\MyScenery

2. [Volume]\path

For example, [MySceneryCD]\MyScenery

3 \\Machine\share\path

For example, \\MyServer\MyScenery

Only one of remote or local should be used

http://msdn.microsof...y/cc526966.aspx

Rgds

Reinhard

[Pete Dowson]

Out of the ESP SDK for the scenery.cfg:

When using a remote path the scenery is copied from the path shown to a uniquely named folder created by the simulator. The scenery files are then read from the new folder, a sub-folder of the Cache folder. Remote paths are very useful when reading scenery files from a location that cannot be accessed as quickly as the local hard drive, for example, from CD drives or a remote server.

Ugh! Must not only slow loading down, doing all that copying, but also cause all that scenery to take up loads more disk space.

Is Aussie123's VOZ scenery being used on CD or a separate PC, I wonder?

Anyway, the important thing for MakeRunways is this:

Only one of remote or local should be used

So I'll only look ar "Remote=" if the "Local=" is blank. Note that before running MakeRunways you'll need to make sure the CD or Networked PC is online.

Thanks & Regards

Pete

[Pete Dowson]

So I'll only look ar "Remote=" if the "Local=" is blank.

Okay. Done. Please get MakeRunways 4.62 now available in the Download Links subforum.

Pete

[aua668]

Ugh! Must not only slow loading down, doing all that copying, but also cause all that scenery to take up loads more disk space.

Hi,

I never have tried it. But with a parameter in the scenery.cfg you might control, if this is done once or at every start:

clean_on_exit

Set to True to delete all files from the Cache folder upon exiting, otherwise all files in the Cache folder are left where they are upon exiting.

I think, this can be useful in multi-PC setups to synchronize scenery from a server across several PCs to get a consistent installation. Just an idea but in no way proved.

Rgds

Reinhard

[Aussie123]

Hello Pete,

I know you are away but I thought I had better update you after testing the new MakeRunways 4.62 on the weekend. It worked great: Found all of the runways and created the files with all the Aussie runways correctly positioned.

Very odd as to why the file locations are listed in the "Remote" field. I was thinking, maybe it had something to do with caching? I have all of the scenery I use ticked as "cache". Following this line of thinking, I was trying to see where else in the Scenery.cfg how it knew that it had to use the cache and not reload it each time. Maybe by moving and parking the address into "remote" it could recover the address if you then un-ticked "cache" at a later date?

Just a thought.

Anyhow, the Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) is now working on the Main PC when I run it.

(I now have to chase up with the author why it will not play the voices when it is run on a separate PC, using WideFS. It shows it is connected to FS using FSUIPC, updates runways and sends back an onscreen text landing report, to the Main PC at the end of the flight, but will not play the call outs during taxi etc?)

Thanks again. Aussie123

[Pete Dowson]

Very odd as to why the file locations are listed in the "Remote" field. I was thinking, maybe it had something to do with caching? I have all of the scenery I use ticked as "cache"

Yes, that would make sense. I assume it allows you to have the scenery loaded initially from a removeable or slower media, like a USB stick, but with FS copying it into a faster hard disk location when FS is loaded. However, I would have thought this would make start up slower -- though isn't there an option not to clear caches on exit?

I now have to chase up with the author why it will not play the voices when it is run on a separate PC, using WideFS. It shows it is connected to FS using FSUIPC, updates runways and sends back an onscreen text landing report, to the Main PC at the end of the flight, but will not play the call outs during taxi etc?)

Where would you expect the sound to emanate? Maybe you have no sound device of the separate PC?

Regards

Pete

[Aussie123]

Hello Pete,

Welcome back. I can see you are busy answering many questions.

I use ProSim737 (and highly recomend it), FS9, five PCs with various PFD/ND/ENG displays, hardware (SIOC, IOcards, WideClient), instructor station etc. I use one of the PC's sound output (on the ENG/SYS computer) for ProSim Audio (warnings/traffic) through two speakers above the pilots heads. This works great. But - If I run the RAAS on the same separate computer (having copied the output of MakeRunways r4.csv to it [and with Wideclient running]) RAAS does not make any sound but ProSim audio continues nicely. I have tried disabling Prosim Audio first and re-running but RASS remains silent throughout any flight. However, RAAS does report back to FS9 from the second computer with a text report at the end of the flight?

I'll keep trying to contact the RAAS author.

Cheers,

Aussie123