SimConnect drops out sometimes

[Guest kolaf]

Hi, I originally posted this in the FSX forum, but as I got no answers, and it happens using Hifi products, I'll try it here as well.I'm running ASX and XpaX on a second computer through Simconnect. Usually this works flawlessly, but sometimes ASX and XpaX are unable to connect to FSX on the first computer. Both systems have static IPs, and the firewall on the FSX computer is turned off. The only solution I have found thus far is to reboot the FSX computer, simply restarting FSX does not help.Has anyone experienced anything similar, and more importantly, does anyone know how to solve this?

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,It could be a virus, network card drivers, you network card going out, a bad network cable, or you antivirus software stopping the communication.Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[Guest kolaf]

Well, both computers still maintain connectivity to the rest of the world, so that rules out cables and drivers. Also, I do not believe it to be an antivirus or firewall issue.I just tried the AI traffic app from the samples folder of the simconnect SDK on the computer running ASX and XpaX, while FSX was running on the other computer. It opened a window which said "Connected to flight simulator". However, Xpax responds "failed to connect", and FSX never says "ASX connectedd" when starting ASX.It therefore appears to be some other problem. I will try to enable deguging on the fsx computer presently, and report back.

[Guest kolaf]

Turning on the debug console did not really reveal anything more, apparently nothing is written there when an external app is connected. Anyway, I noticed that the AI traffic app reported "received: 2" when running on the local FSX pc, but not the remote when ASX or XpaX is unable to connect (It responds "received: 2" when ASX can connect)...

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,If, when you run the AI application from the client, you do not get a connection, that means to me that something is blocking communications on your network.Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[Guest kolaf]

Well, it says that it is connected to FSX, as per your instructions. Perhaps this is insufficient to say that the connection is up?Either way, if you're sure that it's not a problem with simconnect, I'll have to do some more debugging at my end. Thanks for your time.

[Damian Clark 948]

Hi,Actually it does look like a simconnect configuration issue. The simconnect debug console should in fact be showing connection as well as ongoing requests/status messages with the AI traffic app or any other app. Make sure level=verbose. Here's a sample simconnect.ini:[simConnect]level=verboseconsole=1Please try again with the AI traffic sample after confirming verbose logging, and ensure FSX gets into "flight" mode so there are actual communications going on. If you're not getting any activity then there is a configuration or firewall issue here.In that case, please look at your simconnect.xml file and verify your IP or computer name is correct and you have the appropriate comm sections. Here's mine with a local IP of 192.168.1.102:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>SimConnectSimConnect.xmlFalseFalseIPv4global

192.168.1.102

645004096FalseFalseAutolocalNotice in this example the port is set to 500. Make sure your firewall software is setup to allow traffic in/out over port 500. You of course can use any port you want (that's not currently used for something else i.e. port 80 for http), just make sure its enabled within your security software and the configuration here in simconnect.xml matches.Please let us know if this helps?Best,