CHIMES OF DEATH

[Guest nevinch]

Hey allPretty innocent question I suppose. I first purchased the PMDG products all at once and began flying them like they were going out of style. I am very impressed with these aircraft!!!However, seeing as how I wanted a weather system to complement the cockpit realism of PMDG, I went and bought AS2004. I've read in other posts that PMDG A/C and this weather application just don't mix...is that generally true still?The reason I ask is that twice now, when I begin my descent the winds will start shifting and I start getting rocked around pretty good. Then, I hear the FMC chime (no chance to see what it says..although I'm assuming it was overspeed disconnect) and in the blink of an eye FS9 crashes to the desktop...no warnings or anything.At this point I suppose there are many possibilities but this never happened before I installed the AS2004 program to complement PMDG. Am I right in thinking this may be an AS problem?ThxChuck

[Orlaam 306]

That would be a clear assessment. The weather system in FS is pretty poor, IMO, and I don't think AS2004 really helps the wind situation that much. Some people seem to have no problems with the two products, however, there's a general assumption that the two don't mix real well.Chris

[Guest nevinch]

Ok, thx Chris...I restarted the flight as we speak and am now running the exact same route waypoints and all. I plan to start my descent at the exact same time as the last flight when it CTD to see if AS is indeed the culprit. If so, I'll be very disappointed with the AS purchase but as long as I can keep the PMDG aircraft running smoothly then all will be right in the world!!Thx againChuck

[crvm 0]

Don't be so quick to blame AS for the CTD. There can be many reasons for FS CTDs but I have not heard of AS causing any. [h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpgAMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

[Guest nevinch]

Well, it's just a hunch...I certainly could be wrong...and quite frankly I hope I am. And if it sheds any light on it, the CTD's I'm speaking of are of the "no information" variety. Just boom, FS is gone and it never tells you why.I will find out in about 30 minutes if it has something to do with the seasonal FS CTD issue as I will be descending at the exact same spot as I did last time.So far I have to think though that AS and PMDG aren't playing nicely...we shall see.Chuck

[Guest Steven White]

Howdy,I have been using AS2004 and the PMDG series since release and haven't had any problems with CTDs. This is on two PCs (AMD then to a P4) Certainly the big wind shifts can raise havoc but it is possible to configure AS so they are smoothed out. After a fair bit of experiementing I have come up with the settings that work best for me so I have included the AS and FSUIPC settings in this post. Don't copy over my 'DefaultWeatherFolder' entry as this will probably be different to yours!So far these have been working well though they are still in testing. :-)Before restarting FS after a CTD make sure it isn't still running by checking the task list (Ctrl+Alt+Del). Sometimes FS doesn't exit entirely and will cause further instability if a second FS session is started.//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////AS2004 configuration file[General]WindowPosX = 10095WindowPosY = 10815DefaultWeatherFolder = D:Flight Simulator 9ModulesActiveSky2004SuppressionCeiling = 3000SurfaceWindLimit = 10CloudLayerLimit = 6LocalSuppressionRange = 80MinimumVisibility = 0MaximumVisibility = 50IncreasedWake = TrueDisableWindsAloft = FalseForceDestinationWeatherZone = FalsePreventIcing = FalseOnlineUpdates = TrueExtendedDestinationWindsForce = FalseGlobalWrites = FalseVoicePlayback = TrueLocalSuppression = FalseStartupSound = FalseUseProxyServer = FalseFogLayerGeneration = TrueUpdateSuppression = TrueOvercastEnhancement = TrueRouteWindSmoothing = TrueLimitSurfaceWinds = FalseLimitCloudLayers = FalseAutoGlobalWriteToggle = TrueCCWindsFix = TrueDisableUpperLayerGeneration = FalseVisibilitySmoothing = TrueDisableMessages = TrueAutoTimeZoneDetection = TrueUpdateInterval = 30VATSIMData = FalseZuluConversion = 9.5TAFProcessing = TrueEnforceVisibilityLimits = FalseWakeTurb = TrueStartPaused = FalseUseSystemTime = TrueDisableCAVOKClouds = FalseProxyAddress = NONE////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// FSUIPC ConfigGeneral]TCASid=FlightTCASrange=40TrafficScanPerFrame=10AxisCalibration=NoCentredDialogue=NoClearWeatherDynamics=YesOwnWeatherChanges=NoWeatherReadInterval=4MoveBGLvariables=YesMainMenu=&ModulesSubMenu=&FSUIPC ...WindSmoothing=NoWhiteMessages=NoThrottleSyncAll=NoGraduatedVisibility=YesLowerVisAltitude=0UpperVisAltitude=41000UpperVisibility=14000GenerateCirrus=YesWindShearSharp=NoUpperWindGusts=NoExtendMetarMaxVis=YesPatchSimApAlt=NoAutoClearWeather=YesExtendTopWind=YesWindSmoothness=5SmoothPressure=NoPressureSmoothness=5SmoothVisibility=NoVisibilitySmoothness=6MaxSurfaceWind=0WindLimitLevel=200WindDiscardLevel=400WindAjustAltitude=NoWindAjustAltitudeBy=2000MinimumVisibility=0MaximumVisibilityFewClouds=0MaximumVisibility=0MaximumVisibilityOvercast=0MaximumVisibilityRainy=0OneCloudLayer=NoThinClouds=NoThinThunderClouds=NoCloudThinness=1000ThunderCloudThinness=10000CloudTurbulence=NoCloudIcing=NoWindTurbulence=NoSuppressAllGusts=NoExternalOptionControl=YesAutoTuneADF=NoKeepFS98CloudCover=NoShowPMcontrols=NoMagicBattery=NoRudderSpikeRemoval=NoElevatorSpikeRemoval=NoAileronSpikeRemoval=NoReversedElevatorTrim=NoTrapUserInterrupt=YesNavFreq50KHz=NoClockSync=NoSmoothIAS=YesSetVisUpperAlt=NoVisUpperAltLimit=6000MaxIce=-4SuppressCloudTurbulence=NoSuppressWindTurbulence=NoSpoilerIncrement=512ShortAircraftNameOk=NoFixWindows=NoFixControlAccel=NoLogWeather=YesLogExtras=Yes[JoystickCalibration]FlapsSetControl=0ReverserControl=66292MaxThrottleForReverser=0AileronTrimControl=0RudderTrimControl=0CowlFlaps1Control=0CowlFlaps2Control=0CowlFlaps3Control=0CowlFlaps4Control=0

[Orlaam 306]

Yes, I don't think AS is a bad product or anything. It's actually a very nice add-on, and compliments FS9 quite a bit. Don't hesitate to use it with any other add-ons. I'm sure it can be said that the two add-ons really tax the computer's resources, and that your CTDs could be from that. I just know that some people have definitely had problems with running them together.Chris

[bobbyjoh 11]

Hi I too use the PMDG NG with ActiveSky and have just a few problems, but none are serious. I have set ActiveSky up with some modifications which you guys can take a look at. I fly our 737-800 with AS and it does work pretty well. Here are my settings://AS2004 configuration file[General]WindowPosX = 15WindowPosY = -180DefaultWeatherFolder = C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator 9ModulesActiveSky2004SuppressionCeiling = 29000SurfaceWindLimit = 10CloudLayerLimit = 5LocalSuppressionRange = 100MinimumVisibility = 0MaximumVisibility = 60IncreasedWake = FalseDisableWindsAloft = FalseForceDestinationWeatherZone = TruePreventIcing = TrueOnlineUpdates = TrueExtendedDestinationWindsForce = FalseGlobalWrites = FalseVoicePlayback = FalseLocalSuppression = TrueStartupSound = FalseUseProxyServer = FalseFogLayerGeneration = TrueUpdateSuppression = TrueOvercastEnhancement = TrueRouteWindSmoothing = FalseLimitSurfaceWinds = FalseLimitCloudLayers = TrueAutoGlobalWriteToggle = TrueCCWindsFix = TrueDisableUpperLayerGeneration = FalseVisibilitySmoothing = TrueDisableMessages = FalseAutoTimeZoneDetection = TrueUpdateInterval = 55VATSIMData = FalseZuluConversion = -6TAFProcessing = FalseEnforceVisibilityLimits = TrueWakeTurb = FalseStartPaused = FalseUseSystemTime = TrueDisableCAVOKClouds = FalseProxyAddress = NONEThis seems to work pretty well with our PMDG NGCheersBob

[Guest nevinch]

Cool...I'll be going out of town tomorrow but as soon as I get back I will try these settings out. For whatever it's worth I ran the same flight again and hit the same T/D spot with no crash when not running AS2004. Fluke? Possibly...only time will tell *sigh*.Thanks allChuck