FSD Cannot treat their customers like this

[Guest Buzz313th]

Sorry if I am posting in the wrong forum for this, but I'm looking for a bit of help and advice.On July 16th I purchased all three of the FSD porters for FSX for roughly 76.00. I installed them onto a 5 year old computer of mine and had a blast with them.Two weeks later I upgraded my comp to a duel core intel, a 8800gtx graphics card, 4 megs of ram and the latest version of xppro sp3 oem. Installed the porters onto the new fsx/accell pack install and flew around for a few days. Had no problems except some weird flight model problems and an engine starting problem. Contacted FSD about these problems and they responded in a very strange string of emails. Below you can read these... it will help to explain my story...My first email to them-----Original Message-----Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 1:46 AMTo: helpdesk@fsd-international.comSubject: Technical problem - Pilatus PC6 Porter Name: JeffCustomer ID No.: Version of Flight Simulator: FS XProduct: Pilatus PC6 PorterOperating System: Windows XPReference FAQ: My problem is not listed on the FAQHistory: This is a repeat inquiryPROBLEM DESCRIPTION:Thanks for getting back to me...I will try to elaborate, since I have spent the last 5 hours trying to get the 3 porters I own to work like they did before.About initialization... Yes I always start a flight from the flightwindow and cycle through all the 2d panels then the vc panels and then the spot view and back to the 2d main.Ok, the long detailed story.I bought the porters about 1 week ago, when I had a 5 year old system running a amd tbird 2200 with 1 gig of ram and a Nvidia 7600 gts. The FS install was with sp1 and sp2, then acceleration pack. The porters ran perfect. I had no problems at all.Then 2 days ago, I put together a dedicated FS computer with a intel duel core E8400, 4 gigs of ram a nvidea 8800 and xp pro with sp3. TheFS install is now: FSX, Sp1 and acceleration Pack. I installed yourporters onto this system and am now noticing these glitches:1. When using the 2d panel to start and stop the engine, after shutdown, the turbine starter is still spooling, even though I have leaned mixture to lean cutoff and the starter on the 2d panel is off. But, if I look at the VC panel or the 3d panel of the switch panel where the starterswitch is, I notice the starter is still engaged... via this panel Ican shut it off... So, it is apparent to me that the 2d panel and the3d panels are not syncing up and are conflicting after certain functions have been performed.2. When in flight, and I drop the throttle to min setting (not propreverse) but min normal setting, it is obvious that the virtual spoiler is deployed as the aircraft decelerates quickly. Upon application to full throttle, the virtual spoiler is not disengaging and requires a manual disengagement for the aircraft to go back to normal flight mode.Both of these problems did not happen before and I would like to work out a solution to solve these issues.I don't believe this has anything to do with the new hardware. I also don't believe this has anything to do with acceleration pack, as it shouldn't matter. I have double checked and triple checked throttle calibration and even tried disabling the throttle and using just the keyboard. I have tried uninstalling all the porters, but can never geta clean uninstall as the uninstall routine never works. I do believethe problem may lie in the fact that I have not been able to cleanly reinstall the porters. I also believe that the load managers may be at fault as well.I beg you, please understand that when I write to your support ppl, itis not without need. I have spent over 10 hours trying to figure thisout on my own and have not been able to fix them.A summary1. Throttle application to min throttle is applying the virtual spoiler, but application of throttle is not disengaging the spoilers. Please help me fix this.2. The multiple porter switchpanels in the 2d, and 3d vc's are not syncing up, causing conflicting switch positions to cause undesired actions. Please help me to fix this issue.Thanks for the supportJBTheir Reply............-----Original Message-----From: FSD Mail [mailto:support@fsdinternational.net] Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:39 AMTo: Subject: RE: Technical problem - Pilatus PC6 Porter Jeff,Actually, new hardware can sometimes be problematic in Direct X applications. As these are not problems others have reported we have no experience in how to address the problems you outline.We recommend you reboot your computer and then uninstall using Windows Add/Remove programs and then run the installer again. We recommend you close as many programs as practical when reinstalling.If the problem persists you may have a corruption in some of your core Windows drivers, or system registry. In order to offer any guidance here we would need to know more about your system. The best way to do this is to run the Direct X diagnostic tool on your computer:Step One: Click Start, select RunStep Two: In the Run dialog box, type: dxdiagStep Three: Click OkStep Four: Press the "Save all information" button and save theoutput On your hard driveStep Five: Send us that file as an attachment by replying to thismessage.We will do our best to assist you.SupportFSD InternationalWeb site: http://www.fsd-international.com --- NOTICE --- The information contained in this e-mail is privileged and confidential, and is intended only for the use of the individual named and others who have been specifically authorized to receive such. Any interception, review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited by law and may be subject to criminal or civil liability. My reply ..................-----Original Message-----Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:43 PMTo: support@fsdinternational.netSubject: RE: Technical problem - Pilatus PC6 PorterOk will do...But I wanna include a few things after doing another 4 hours of tests.1. The installer by default wants to install to E:Program FilesMicrosoft Games Flight Simulator X, the correct path is E:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator X. 2. Using either the add remove programs the uninstaller fails.3. The load manager crashes when I click on default and then save.4. Reinstalling FSX, SP1, acceleration pack and FSD land porter on the old machine results in the same problems. (I guess I didn't notice them with the old machine.)5. The load manager seems to do strange things. The selection of different realism setting and flight model in the load manager have no effect on the porter flight model in FSX.Attached is the info you requested for the new machine. Honestly, I don't think it is hardware related at all, since all the other 15 advanced addon aircraft from other major developers are acting as expected.I have two requests from you.1. Please load the porter into FSX, SP1, Accell pack and then do the following. A. start in a Cessna 172 or 182... B. load the porter land plane C. Initialise panels D. do a normal start E. shut down the plane as follows a. all avionics off b. Mixture to cutoff c. in the 2d switch panel, ignition off, fuel pump off,gen off. Is the starter running? If it isn't, switch off master battery. Switch it back on... is the starter running?Now... pull up the 3d switch panel and also the 2d switch panel. Start switching various switches... you will find that sooner or later the start will stay in the on position in the 3d panel, regardless of the fact that the 2d starter switch is in the down (off position). Also, on my 3d switch panel the starters on position is down where the 2d panels starters on position is up.2. Can you please tell me what triggers the virtual spoilers to trigger on and what "should" trigger them to off?JBTheir Reply.....................Jeff,The problems you outline, particularly with the Load Manager, have not been previously reported by anyone, and there are several thousand in use. Therefore, the problem is confined to your system. What you describe indicates a severe problem in your software environment.In the data on your computer we note that you have Windows installed on your E drive. This tends to indicate that you may have a multi-boot or multi-operating system setup. If this is the case, this type of unconventional setup can always lead to problems. This is really all we can determine about your setup from where we sit.We hope this helps you resolve the problem. ***To respond to this message do not use the reply button. Please return to the FSD message terminal to send your message. Thank you. FSD InternationalWeb site: http://www.fsd-international.com --- NOTICE --- The information contained in this e-mail is privileged and confidential, and is intended only for the use of the individual named and others who have been specifically authorized to receive such. Any interception, review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited by law and may be subject to criminal or civil liability. Ok... and I now wanna appologise for this lengthy email... but the story continues...after this point while biting my tongue and trying to get the porters to work. I decided that it might be a good idea to do a clean reformat and a clean install of XP Pro sp3 and just load the minumum to get FSX up.So, I reformatted, installed xp pro sp3 and all the xp updates, installed all the necessary drivers and installed FSX then accell pack. Then tried to reinstall the porter and the new navajo I purchased to see if just the porter files were acting screwy.While trying to install with the latest install files downloaded directly from FSD's site after inputting all my account info to verify that I am indeed a paying customer, I would get this error message.... INSTALLATION FAILURE LOGError at address E1FE0DC139172461993A1CBF1AContact tech supportInstallation aborted.This file was executed in: C:Documents and SettingsJeffDesktopTrying to install into: C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator X INSTALLATION FAILURE LOG....... And then the installer would terminate... So I did a little research and found this link.....http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?high=&m=304147&mpage=1#304147Now after reading this, I pulled up my network manager to view packets sent and recieved and again clicked on the install exe. Well, low and behold, I found that the installer was calling home durring the begining of the process and as soon as the packets sent and recieved stopped, I would then get that error message. So It was clear to me that either the FSD install validation servers weren't online or that FSD has disabled my installs.So I then sent them, this email.......-----Original Message-----Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 2:55 AMTo: support@fsdinternational.netSubject: RE: Technical problem - Pilatus PC6 PorterOk, I took your advice regarding, "Severe Problems in my software environment and reformatted my only hardrive and reinstalled xp pro sp3. I did all the xp updates and installed all the drivers. After doing everything by the book, I installed FSX Deluxe, loaded a default flight with the c172 and quit. Reebooted and installed accell pack, loaded the default c-172 flight then quit and rebooted. I then went to your website and downloaded the latest files for the 3 fsx porters that I purchased for 75 dollars and downloaded the latest file for the FSXNavajo that I purchased two days ago. I then moved the install filesto my desktop and clicked on the Navajo file first. The installer started and accessed the web, (probably trying to get to your validation server to check my mac address or something similar) and then I receivedthis error message. " INSTALLATION FAILURE LOGError at address E1FE0DC139172461993A1CBF1AContact tech supportInstallation aborted.This file was executed in: C:Documents and SettingsJeffDesktop Trying to install into: C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator X INSTALLATION FAILURE LOGError at address E1FE0DC139172461993A1CBF1AContact tech supportInstallation aborted.This file was executed in: C:Documents and SettingsJeffDesktop Trying to install into: C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator X"Regardless of what FSD install file I click on, I get this message, whether it's either of the 3 porters or the new Navajo I just purchased. So I did an experiment and disabled my net conection and tried again. Well, didn't get the message and it told me to goto your website toactivate in offline mode. What is this? Is this an overcomplicatedattempt to foil software pirates, well if it is, It's doing nothing but hurting your paying customers. Listen, I have paid around 100.00, to get absolutely nothing but frustration. I enjoy your aircraft because of the stable flight model and I want desperately to be able to use them, but I am unable to do so at this point. I have taken all your advice to try and fix the working installs by reinstalling my entire operating system, since you said earlier, that I am having a serious problem in my software environment, even though the previous install of xp was only 3 days old at the time. Now I have a day old install with nothing else on the computer but FSX and I cant even get into the software since it wont even install.Please do what you have to do on you end, so that I can install the software that I paid for. It appears that when the installer, "Phones Home", at the beginning of the install, that I have been locked out ofinstalling all of the software that I have paid for. May I ask why?Have I taken too much of your time trying to understand and solve my earlier problems?Please let me know what is going on.JeffTheir reply..........Jeff,The error message you have provided to us below indicates that a program was run on your computer which has damaged critical data used by the FSD license system, You can download a repair tool utility which *should* repair the damage done by this program. We say "should" because we cannot guarantee this after one of these programs has corrupted your system:http://www.fsd-international.com/Download/...0RepairTool.exeReboot your computer to free up all of your resources, and switch off as many programs running in the background as possible. Then run this utility on the same drive/partition where Microsoft Flight Simulator resides. Just enter your license data, and then follow the onscreen instructions. In cases where problems still exist after running this repair tool the only way to restore your system is a total reformat/reinstallation of Windows. SupportFSD InternationalWeb site: http://www.fsd-international.com --- NOTICE --- The information contained in this e-mail is privileged and confidential, and is intended only for the use of the individual named and others who have been specifically authorized to receive such. Any interception, review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited by law and may be subject to criminal or civil liability. Now.... I tried that rediculous software registry hack/bogus, "Im too lazy to help my paying customer file and lets just get them off my back and keep their money" file.... And it didn't work... It did nothing....So I am back at stage one..My last email to them was asking for a total refund of the products purchased or I will do everything in my power and time available to tell the simming comunity my story... we will see what they say to the refund.Please let me know, if any of you have any insight to help me...A. Get the software running againB. Hold FSD responsable to supporting their customers or refunding them the money.ThanksJB

[wrenchca 0]

Been there, done that! I've paid for FSD software that I cannot use anymore and as you, their final answer was to reformat.I will never buy anything from them again nor will I advise anyone to do business with them.

[Guest Pro-Sim]

I find FSD to be one of those developers that are SO paranoid about piracy that they aften "miss the trees for the woods" and treat loyal, proper, paying customers badly.The most extreme example of this is **dare we say their name for fear of a threatened law suit??** , those nice friendly philanthrolists over at Ariane. People like Ariane, FSD and Captain Sim will never take a pragmatic approach and just say "look, we've been talking to you about this one for a while so we know you're genuine, here are some new installers / keys" ...... will just never happen, they'd rther you just go away and forget about the issue, even though you've paid them MONEY.Developers like this really frustrate me. Yes I know piracy is a big problem, I work in the field of music production software and I have lost money through privacy but at the end of the day, it is silly when devs refuse to ACCEPT this element of poisen we have in our society and just get on with it! ..... treat your customers like customers, not the thiefs!If I were the original poster, I would contact my credit card company and log the 76.00 as a dispute. You'll get your money back. FSD won't want to deal with you again but then again, this may not worry you too much.

[Guest Buzz313th]

Ok.. I finally have the software running again.I want to thank FSD for spending a few days working with me on this problem.They helped me to get things running again and did what needed to happen to support thier paying customers...Thanks FSD.JB

[seehunt 0]

Here, here ! 

 

I too had a unresolved tech issue with the FSD Porter; Afteran initial takeoff everything works fine until I retarded the throttle and after that the aircraft would never exceed 98 knots.  On the initial flight it always goes up to 120  KIAS or more.  I tried everything I could think of, worked on it for days to no avail.....once the throttle was retarded the airplane would never get beyond 98 knots again.   If I reset the flight it would do the same thing all over again.....120 plus knots until first throttle retarding and then would never go beyond 98 knots.

 

I then encountered a 2nd issue, when flying the Porter Floatplane it will not slow down or stop on water no matter what you do....it just keeps on going and going and I can't stop it. 

 

I finally contact FSD support and explained my issue...their first response was " We've never heard of this issue ( the airspeed issue ) before therefore it's not our problem....it's your computer or flightsim that's causing it.  They had me install an analyzer and send them the results...they then told me it all checks out and it's not us it's you and your equipment that's at fault.....repeating again that I was the only one with this issue.

 

Several weeks later one of my group flying buddies asked me why I wasn't flying the Porter anymore and I explained why, he thereupon told me he was having the exact same problem !   I got back to FSD and told them about it and was told in reply:  All you want to do is argue, there is nothing wrong with our Porter and we are NOT  going to address your issue any more.   I was flabbergasted !  A flightsim retailer talking to a customer like that....wow, that was a first for me.  I then asked for a refund and was told I was not going to get one and that's the way it's going to be.

 

To bad, they lost a good customer........telling me they just don't care.

[n4gix 4,947]

Why are you resurrecting a six year old thread, and why do you think the "Editorial Staff" here at AVSIM need to know what you wrote?

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

It helps to share your grief. :rolleyes:

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Okay, this antique is now closed. Good grief.