Some more nose-diving issues with A319-320-321 & FSUIPC

[baw716 0]

OK...test number three:I offloaded the 777, setup the A320 and flew it on the same loop. This time, no autopilot failures; however, there was a problem with the VNAV setup. I had inserted 250 for climb, 250 for cruise and 190 for descent (from 5000 feet cruise alt). The a/t did not pick up these changes and accelerated to 298kts (standard setting).I need to do one more complete round of tests; e.g. reload the 777, refly the 777 and the A320 and see if I can repeat the error. If this happens, then we can define this as more fact than theory (which at this state it still is: a theory which fits the facts). What I don't know is if there is a file in the download that affects the A320 autopilot. I need to rule this out before fully concluding that the 777 download is the culprit.I will report later tonight or tomorrow the results of my testing as well as communicate with PSS to get their thoughts on this. For now, please don't take any action based on my comments until I have confirmed the issue and can provide a suggestion regarding the solution.ThanksDave Lambbaw716

[Guest vrandar]

On the speed, were you in managed speed? If so you need to make sure that the speed constraint 250/FL100 is set up in the MCDU or it will go to 298 as you found. So click on the LSK to the right of a fix/waypoint below FL100 to take you into the Vert REv page and enter that constraint at LSK2L CLB SPD LIM.Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual airbus@speedbirdonline.co.ukhttp://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

[baw716 0]

Rob,I had set up the MCDU for 250 climb, 250 crz, 250 descent and 250/10000 speed restriction. I didn't set it up on the legs page, since the flight altitude was set in the INIT page. Its my understanding that if the crz alt is set up in the INIT page, and the climb/crz/des speeds are set up with the proper constraints, it isn't necessary to set up the speed on the legs page (unless, of course, there is a crossing altitude restriction).In any case, I have isolated the problem for the A320 series aircraft and have a fix that does work (at least on my machine).1) This fix works only for cases in which the new 777 has been downloaded and installed on FS.2) It is my belief that there a file that is in the download for the 777 affects the autopilots of other PSS aircraft. This is validated in my tests both with the A320 and A330/A340 aircraft in which FS was offloaded, the Airbuses reinstalled, flown without problems. Then the 777 was loaded and neither aircraft's autopilot/autothrottle worked properly.Therefore, for this fix to work, it is important to do the following:a) offload FS, run a registry cleaner and defrag your machine before you reload FS.:( reload FS, followed by the PSS AirbusPro, followed by the Airbus A330/A340.c) do not load the 777. If you do, it will corrupt the autopilots of the Airbuses.For those of you who have problems with the Airbuses and have the 777, go ahead and attempt this fix; however, save all your executables for your addon files, since you will need to reload them one by one after you have removed FS and restored the Airbuses.I would also recommend testing the Airbuses before you load any other software to assure they are working correctly.To PSS: Question: In the 777 download, are there gauge files that are common to all PSS aircraft that are modified when the 777 is installed to FS? If there are, I would suggest having a look at those files to see what changes occur to other PSS aircraft. After almost 24 hours of testing, I have been able to determine that a) after removing FS and reinstalling it, the current FSUIPC and the Airbus, the Airbus worked flawlessly. :( I then installed the 777; immediately afterward, there were serious problems with the stability of the autopilot (nose diving) and no speed intervention control. c) When the 777 was removed, the problem was not eliminated. Only by uninstalling the 777, then uninstalling and reinstaling FS and FSUIPC did the Airbuses fly correctly. Therefore, by process of elimination, the cause of the Airbus flight problem seems to lie in the download of the 777. It is important to note that I have not proved to an absolute certainty that the 777 is the cause of the Airbus problems. With that said, the degree of testing that I have done and documented certainly leaves me with the conclusion, after all else has been eliminated, that it is more likely than not that a bug in the 777 install exists that affects the other aircraft.I now currently have all the PSS Airbuses loaded on to my FS and they work excellent; no anomolies at all, with the current version of FSUIPC up and running (v3.53). I have elected to not reload the 777 files until it is possible to isolate the problem. It is hopeful that the patch that is developed for that aircraft will solve the problems of the 777; however, some attention should be paid to the files which are modified that affect the other PSS aircraft when the 777 is installed to FS..and if those files are modified as a result of the patch, then that would be great news. IMPORTANT NOTE: To other pilots who have problems with the A320 autoflight system: Do you have the 777 also installed on your computer? If you do not, please report this immediately, as this would then possibly lead us away from the conclusion drawn above. It is important here that we be fair to PSS.In the interim, I will continue to load my other add-ons and keep testing the Airbuses to make certain they are still flying correctly, so that other programs can be eliminated (or included) as possible causes for the autoflight failures. If I have anything new to report, I will do so.Thanks to Rob Elliott, as always, for your diligent work and continued support.My machine:AMD2.2ghz (64mb), nvidia motherboard (GeForce), 3gb DDR 3200 RAM (dual channel), HD1: 250gb-90%free space HD2: 150gb-92% free space. Graphics: 256mb nvidia FX5200. On LAN with three other computers (two wireless)..this machine hardwired into router; high speed broadband internet connection.Kind regards,Dave Lamb

[Guest vrandar]

Dave, this is interesting. I have never installed the PSS777 and haven't had the sort of problems you have described. Maybe you have hit on the cause of some things going wrong. Being a mere Airbus support drone in the basement of PSS Towers we have reached limit of what I can tell you here. Sadly the executives on the top floor don't give me access to the guts of the gauge files or any knowledge of what regression testing was carried out on any 777/Airbus shared gauge files. Norman will have to step in here.Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual airbus@speedbirdonline.co.ukhttp://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

[baw716 0]

Rob,I'd appreciate anything you can do to push this ahead. If there are gauge files common to the Airbus and the 777 (which I believe there are based on the testing), it is possible that the reverse problem is happening: If a PSS Airbus is loaded on the same computer as the 777, the problems with the 777 are made worse. Please pass this onto Norman; I'd be happy to walk him through what I did to fix the A320; if they can isolate the common gauge files, it might be part of the 777 problem and a key component to a fix for that aircraft as well.Many thanks again for your kind assistance, Kind regards,Dave Lamb (BAW716)Captain A320/B767British Airways Virtual

[FOD 23]

Tried my Airbus for the first time since the 777 came out and

[Guest FLEX]

we should have a updated patch of the a320 and its panel! but wait! the b777 patch hasnt come out yet. i guess there no hope for the a320 a330 and a340. PSS developers! give us the patch! be fair with us! pls! we paid for it! make a patch or new version!!!

[Guest vrandar]

If you do a search you will see that we have said many times that there will not be an update or a patch for the A320 family. We have to hope that a brand new Airbus is released but I have no indication yet of what is planned for future releases after the 757.We are very fair with everyone who posts problems on these forums. And never forget that you might have one problem but someone else doesn't (I have had very few of the problems posted on this forum for example. Just lucky I guess). What I have learnt over the years is that even if we issued a patch it might only help some people and not others and might not solve your particular problem. With the range of individual PC setups, other aircraft loaded on your PC - these can cause conflicts, the way you load flights and the complexity and lack of open code of FS itself we can never gurantee that what works for one will always work the same way for someone else.Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual airbus@speedbirdonline.co.ukhttp://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

[FOD 23]

Following my previous post, I have installed the 777 in 8 separate stages - copying the files from a separate storage folder from the original download. At each stage, I re-checked the Airbus A320 series AP performance on take off.At each stage, the Airbus performed as advertised and I now have a fully operational PSS Airbus and PSS 777 on this particular installation - I have just flown EGLL-EGNX in the 777 using a full FMC route into auto-ILS and autoland with no issues other than those we know about. After that I loaded an Airbus A319, took off and engaged the AP with no problem!Also, the 777 file structure is simpler than I thought - the odd file I found in the FS9.cfg folder is nothing to do with PSS.Now need to look at my main installation which has many other add-ons to see what else might be causing the Airbus problem! For others who have this problem - how about a list of add-ons to compare with each other - might be a quick way to identify the culprit.John Rooum

[FOD 23]

Now carefully checked my main installation - including manually deleting and re-installing all Airbus files - and the systems now work as advertised. I can force a pitch down after take off - but only by using the AP on a manual take off without resetting the FD. Otherwise it now seems to work perfectly in all normal modes - both A320 and A330/340!Perhaps there is some add-on or an installation tool itself common to those of us seeing this issue which corrupts the Airbus gau file.

[baw716 0]

John,If you have the 777 and the Airbus, there seems to be a file in the 777 installation that affects the Airbus autoflight system. I have made numerous posts on this topic suggesting the solution is to offload the 777 and reinstall the Airbus separately.This process did fix the Airbuses; although I did the draconian method and offloaded FS and cleaned my drive then reinstalled it (which I really don't recommend and is not necessary to fix the problem).I am curious about your installation of the 777. I really want to put that aircraft back on FS, but I have done too much work to get the Airbuses working that I am fearful to reinstall the 777. Can you put down the steps you took to reinstall the 777? I'd like to try it and see if I get the same results you did.thanksDave Lamb (baw716)

[FOD 23]

Dave,As I am sure that you did, I found this bug very odd and my first thought was also 777 involvement. I also understand your concern at putting the 777 back as I initially found that, on my main system, even running a copy of FS9 without the 777 and with a new FS9.cfg, I still had the Airbus problem. I started to think I had a problem with Win XP itself. So I decided to start from scratch.Firstly, I loaded a clean FS9 on a separate system, I then loaded the Airbus series

[FOD 23]

Dave,Since my last post I have not done much flying. This am, I tried to use the 777 load edit and, of course, because of all the installing and re-installing two days ago, I got the old License Key error message. So I went for a full re-install with a new base installer

[Guest vrandar]

I really doubt the lack of the load edit program is a major loss if everything else is now working oK.Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual airbus@speedbirdonline.co.ukhttp://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

[FOD 23]

Rob,Yes - but its very odd all the same - and I don't like not knowing the Why.John R