Q to veterans: Key assignment loss / conflicts

[TheFiddler 5]

Hello,a question to the veterans... :( After a long time (years!), I have finally re-activated my PMDG 737s (in FS2004!) again, and was quite surprised and impressed how sophisticated they are; had forgotten all about it.However, I ran into a (minor) nuisance concerning key assignments. During my flight session, I had to re-assign the doors keys (I used ctrl-shift-1 and ctrl-shift-2) at least three times. They did work*, but every time they had gone after a while. (I fiddled around with the doors while still on the ground, so I noticed.)Then, at one point I was alerted to the front door suddenly having opened magically at cruise level... :-)And again, the key assignments for the dooors had been lost in the meantime.

* This is

not

yet another one "How to open the doors" question! :(

I seem to remember vaguely that key assignment conflicts between various add-ons were a much discussed issue earlier. If memory serves, especially after the PMDG 744 came out (which I also have, both PAX and 744F variant), there were some sort of "priority" issues between 737 and 744 keys. I also suspect that AES (which came of course much later) might have to do something with it.But I can't remember any of the solutions which were suggested at the time.Before I have to trawl through dozens of forums and messages from years ago* -- can someone perhaps point me to some concise info how this issue could be handled?

* I did of course try a search on this forum first, but to no avail so far.

Was there some file where these PMDG-specific key assignments are stored (possibly the same one both for 737 and 744?), and which could therefore perhaps be used for fixing these problems?Or even better, for preventing the loss in the first place?Thanks in advance for any tips!Cheers,Martin Erdelen

[downscc 1,327]

If you are loosing the keycommands that you set up in the pmdg options menu it could be due to your OS. If you have Vista or W7 the nanny protections are preventing the options from being saved to file. Make sure the pmdg folder and subfolders are all assign admin rights.There could be conflicts between MSFS default key assignments and the keycommands from the pmdg sim; therefore, I have deleted all the default assignments in FS9 except the ones I use. This allows me to make a more logical assignment such as Shift+D for the door. Doh. I have a standard key assignment list that I use for all the pmdg aircraft (that have keycommands).Hope this helps.

[TheFiddler 5]

Thank you for the reply, Dan.(sorry for the delay, I got accidentally cut off the Internet for a while).I am running XP and have admin rights everywhere.The files in question are probably 737Kbd.ini and 747400Kbd.ini ?Only if they are separate files, I don't see how they could interfere with each other (although I seem to remember this was an issue earlier). Or perhaps the problem was that the same dialog from the PMDG menu is used for both the 737 and the 744 assignments (depending on which aircraft is just loaded?). Anyhow, I will keep an eye on these files. May be just making backups and activating the "right" one before the FS9 session will solve the issue already."Overlap" with direct FS9 assignments is of course also a possibility, so I will have to look into that, too.Thanks again for your help.Cheers,Martin

[downscc 1,327]

I guess I misunderstood the question. I noticed a change in my 737 assignments after I installed the 747. It shouldn't happen. I reset the 737 assignments and all has been well since. I use the same basic assignment list for all my pmdg aircraft. Of course they have differences in the list but for example my F key always brings up the CDU/MCDU (FMS).

[fencer 16]

I guess I misunderstood the question. .../...but for example my F key always brings up the CDU/MCDU (FMS).

Hey Dan,So with a good voice recognition package you could just ask " give me an F..."? :( BrunoPS : Just downloaded your KDFWRNAV file (for FS9). Thanks

[downscc 1,327]

Wow, that file is pretty old. I was doing those before I discovered PMDG. Once you start using an aircraft with it's own navdata you don't need to worry about updating fix definitions in terminal areas. Try my US SIDSTAR Collection in the AVSIM library: cycle_1002_sidstars.zip where I have not only all the RNAV procedures for KDFW (and 65 other locations) but also have customized the non-RNAV departure and arrivals by connecting the procedure to the runway for departures or approach for arrivals.

[fencer 16]

Wow, that file is pretty old. I was doing those before I discovered PMDG. Once you start using an aircraft with it's own navdata you don't need to worry about updating fix definitions in terminal areas. Try my US SIDSTAR Collection in the AVSIM library: cycle_1002_sidstars.zip where I have not only all the RNAV procedures for KDFW (and 65 other locations) but also have customized the non-RNAV departure and arrivals by connecting the procedure to the runway for departures or approach for arrivals.

Thanks Dan. I will.Bruno