FDS/Jetmax 737 MCP

[DesG]

Hi Folks. I'm probably reaching a bit here but does anyone know if (I purchase a full FSUIPC7 key) that it has any chance of 'talking' to a JetMax MCP made by Flight Deck Solutions? I just want to try and capture in a few rotary encoders and momentary switches from it, not full functionality as obviously we don't yet have a MSFS-2020 737. I know a full working MCP set up in FSX/P3D needed some of its own FDS controllers to run and I'm not sure if FSUIPC was involved.

[John Dowson]

16 minutes ago, DesG said:

I'm probably reaching a bit here but does anyone know if (I purchase a full FSUIPC7 key) that it has any chance of 'talking' to a JetMax MCP made by Flight Deck Solutions?

As with all other FSUIPC versions, FSUIPC7 will recognise your device if it is a HID joystick type device.  If its a non-joystick HID device, it won't be assignable directly, but should be assignable via Lua.

I can provide a time-limited license for FSUIPC7 if you would like to try it.

John

 

Later: attached is the currently available time-limited license, but this expires on 01/02/2020. I can extend if needed:

FSUIPC7.key

Edited January 30, 2021 by John Dowson
key file added

[DesG]

Thanks John for the quick response!

I'm no expert but the MCP, when plugged into a USB slot, adds 2 'USB input devices' lines to the 'Human Interfaces Devices' list in Device Manager. So i think it's non-Joystick? The second device may be the hardwired attached EFIS panel. However, I'm happy to try FSUIPC and/or Lua, though if it doesn't work it's no big deal😀

 

[John Dowson]

8 minutes ago, DesG said:

So i think it's non-Joystick?

It probably is.... Just download and install  FSUIPC7. add that key file to your FSUIPC7 installation folder and then run FSUIPC7 (no need to run MSFS) and check you log to see if recognised, then open the button assignments panel and see if the buttons/rotaries are recognised when you activate them.

John

[Pete Dowson]

45 minutes ago, DesG said:

I'm probably reaching a bit here but does anyone know if (I purchase a full FSUIPC7 key) that it has any chance of 'talking' to a JetMax MCP made by Flight Deck Solutions?

Pardon me for barging in, but I am pretty sure it needs a driver supplied by FDS. I know there are drivers available to make it work with SimAvionics and also for ProSim, but I doubt that there's any generic driver for just any old aircraft. If you are using ProSim on MSFS then check in their forum that it is still supported in ProSim V3 (which you'd need to use for MSFS in any case along with the MSFS version of the ProSim B737).

Though it's a USB HID device it will be using its own protocol for sending and receiving data. You could write your own driver but you'd need to get the protocol definition from FDS.  Best really to ask FDS themselves about what they can do. i note from their website that they had drivers planned for the PMDG 737, but that seems to have been back in 2015 and that note hasn't been updated yet in their documentation.

Pete

 

[DesG]

Thanks both!

And.. Thanks for the Key John, FSUIPC looks a very powerful program for control options. Impressive. As a check, it does see my joystick presses from my Hotas but it does not see any encoders turning or switch presses from the MCP.

Pete, yes I agree, I think this will be far more involved but It was worth a go to see if I could pick up those encoders/switches inside FSUIPC. When I previously used the MCP with full function (FSX/P3D), it did need FDS specific aircraft drivers/controllers. I may take this to FDS but it's an older piece of hardware and as you say they may have drivers in the future. They do have alot of projects on the go.

Was worth a try! Many thanks Pete and John.

 

 

 

[Pete Dowson]

15 hours ago, DesG said:

When I previously used the MCP with full function (FSX/P3D), it did need FDS specific aircraft drivers/controllers. I may take this to FDS but it's an older piece of hardware and as you say they may have drivers in the future.

Do you know whether the drivers use FSUIPC? If so there's a chance they will still work, though if they are aircraft-dependent, that does sound unlikely.

The other thing you could try, just for the inputs (switches and encoders) is the HidDemo.lua plug-in. You need to edit it to make it specific to the device (VID and PID, Vendor and Product IDs, shown either in FSUIPC's log, or certainly in  HidScanner.

HidDemo is in the Example Lua plugins ZIP in your Documents\FSUIPC7 folder.
 

Pete

 

[DesG]

Hi Pete.

New to this, sorry. I had a look in my \Documents\FSUIPC7 help pdf's but I can't see the way to arrange to start my modified HiDemo.lua, (assign a key?) other than place it in the install folder. Could you point me in the right doc/direction?

Apologies for the basics needed here, Many thanks!

 

[John Dowson]

2 minutes ago, DesG said:

I can't see the way to arrange to start my modified HiDemo.lua

See section Automatic running of Macros or Lua plugins in the Advanced User Guide.

John

[Pete Dowson]

4 minutes ago, DesG said:

New to this, sorry. I had a look in my \Documents\FSUIPC7 help pdf's but I can't see the way to arrange to start my modified HiDemo.lua, (assign a key?) other than place it in the install folder. Could you point me in the right doc/direction?

As well as the section in the FSUIPC document John pointed you to, you should also find the FSUIPC Lua Plugin.pdf useful.

Pete

 

 

[DesG]

Cheers John, will take a look.👍

[DesG]

Wasn't looking hard enough chaps! Thanks found it. At the first look of my FSUIPC7.ini I found this final line, before I edited anything:

[LuaFiles]
1=HidDemo

I guess this should be?-

[Auto]
1=HidDemo

Des

 

[Pete Dowson]

22 minutes ago, DesG said:

Wasn't looking hard enough chaps! Thanks found it. At the first look of my FSUIPC7.ini I found this final line, before I edited anything:

[LuaFiles]
1=HidDemo

That is an automatic entry which is made when FSUIPC detects your Lua files. It is related to being able to assign buttons or keypresses to it. Please refer to that Lua document I mentioned.

22 minutes ago, DesG said:

I guess this should be?-

[Auto]
1=HidDemo

No! The [LuaFiles] section is not for you to edit. The [Auto] section is a list of commands, not a list of Lua files. You need to read the section John pointed you to more carefully.  See the Example there, reproduced here:

            [Auto.737]
               1=Lua SetMyOffsets
               2=737 OHD:Air Allbleeds

Whilst that is specifically for a Profile called 737,  the lines it contains shows how to start a Lua plug-in and execute a Macro file.

Not that when testing plug-ins it is best to assign a keypress to start them, so that you can restart them after any changes.

Pete

 

[DesG]

Pete. Thanks, got success with running HidDemo.lua.

Here is a copy of the subsequent HidDemo.log. FS2020 is running in this instance as is FSUIPC7. FSUIPC as yet does not see any switch changes or encoder turns yet in 'assignments' but hopefully this log will let you see If we have any chance here.

 

HidDemo.log

[Pete Dowson]

15 hours ago, DesG said:

got success with running HidDemo.lua.

Okay, but that seems to conflict with:

15 hours ago, DesG said:

FSUIPC as yet does not see any switch changes or encoder turns yet in 'assignments'

So no success really?

15 hours ago, DesG said:

Here is a copy of the subsequent HidDemo.log.

That appears to show that no data is received from the device. Did you actually use the switches during that session?

Didn't you say there were 2 HID devices added by that device? Here:

On 1/30/2021 at 5:13 PM, DesG said:

I'm no expert but the MCP, when plugged into a USB slot, adds 2 'USB input devices' lines to the 'Human Interfaces Devices' list in Device Manager.

Perhaps one is output only, possibly to update its firmware. Try setting the VID and PID to the other connection.

Also, instead of using the Lua trace facilty in the FSUIPC Logging options, try changing line 19 in the HidDemo.lua file from Logging = false to Logging = true. That way you'll get a concise report about what is received rather that a line-by-line blow. The FSUIPC trace is used to debug the code rather than to check device data.

Pete

 

[DesG]

50 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

"got success with running HidDemo.lua. "

Okay, but that seems to conflict with:

So no success really?

I meant that I had success with the editing and starting of the HidDemo.lua script. As I said I'm new to Lua. Unfortunately no success with our goal of seeing anything picked up by FSUIPC7 from the hardware.

50 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

That appears to show that no data is received from the device. Did you actually use the switches during that session?

Yes I tried the MCP switches and encoders during that session.

 

50 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

Didn't you say there were 2 HID devices added by that device? Here:

My bad. I should have updated you to let you know the second 'EFIS' device had been physically disconnected before that log file was generated. For the purpose of that session, I was working with only the MCP connected. Prior to the session (again the EFIS was not connected/involved) the VID and PID of the MCP were checked and confirmed in HidScanner.

50 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

Also, instead of using the Lua trace facilty in the FSUIPC Logging options, try changing line 19 in the HidDemo.lua file from Logging = false to Logging = true. That way you'll get a concise report about what is received rather that a line-by-line blow. The FSUIPC trace is used to debug the code rather than to check device data.

Ok Pete thanks, that gives me a couple of things to work on. Appreciate the support, I will get back to you if anything looks promising.

Des

[Pete Dowson]

3 hours ago, DesG said:

I should have updated you to let you know the second 'EFIS' device had been physically disconnected before that log file was generated. For the purpose of that session, I was working with only the MCP connected.

Ah, well, it doesn't look likely that the Lua facilities can work with the device.  I won't pass judgement yet, pending a test result with the "Logging = true" change. But if truly no input is seen then the device definitely needs a specific driver.

Pete

 

 

[DesG]

Pete, I could see no change in the console/assignments with "Logging = True". Do you want to look at anything in the logs?

Though, I agree yes the FDS Drivers must be very specific to this device. We tried!

[Pete Dowson]

1 hour ago, DesG said:

I could see no change in the console/assignments with "Logging = True". Do you want to look at anything in the logs?

Well, it wouldn't hurt, but it definitely seems no data is being seen with the normal method of reading HID devices employed by the lua facilities. i think you will be reliant on support from FDS. I'd push them on this if I were you. They should be interested in the expanding market created by MSFS.

Pete

 

[daveflyer]

i guys desperate to get my mcp working, i cannot finnish my cockpit build because i cannot get the jetmax mcp working, i have sim avionics  it finds it but no connect do i need to purchase the server, or some one to go online to set this mcp up please contact me on my email dh.55haynes@gmail.com

[John Dowson]

1 hour ago, daveflyer said:

i have sim avionics  it finds it but no connect do i need to purchase the server

I can't really help you with this, but according to @Pete Dowson's comment above:

On 1/30/2021 at 6:39 PM, Pete Dowson said:

I know there are drivers available to make it work with SimAvionics

so maybe check with either SimAvionics or FDS for the appropriate driver? Or try SimAvionics support.

John