First, this is really some piece of software, my hat is off to you all!!! ok, frustration. Start cold and dark. "shift a" a a few times to get to overhead. battery on. start apu, egt indicates it is running. move the apu gen switches to on, they seem to be momentary switches, but the meter says that the APU is generating power. "shift A" back to main 2d panel, mfd and pfd are off (is this correct?), I am running down the first few items in the normal procedures and expect that the mfd and pfd should be powered, see no instruction in Normal proc to turn the brightness up. shift 3 to get FMS. press FMC ... then press INIT REF to set PPOS, nothing happens. hit menu again again, Look at FS Actions. back to memu, FMC choice is now gone, missing, not there. thought to perhaps start an engine and use it's generator. opened the isol valve switch opened the apu air switch, duct pressure should increase, correct? There is APU EGT so I'm pretty sure it is running ..so without duct pressure there is no starting an engine, packs are off. Hmmm, i am saying, where Have I gone off the cliff. APU should start and provide power and air duct pressure. FMC should work, I should be able to use the basic keys, initref, etc???? I have read the introduction and set things as suggested. Have not tweaked any PMDG Setup items, they are as installed. What am I doing wrong here?? please help me with a clue. I'm not saying anything is wrong, but it sure dosen't feel right, especually the duct pressure, lack of PFD and MFD being on, and FMC choice going missing, an oh did I mention, choosing doors returns a blank page, Good Grief. Thanks for any help!! Best regards Paul BenoitKBOS

Dont forget the IRS on the overhead!

You need to wait for the EGT to rise.. then it will drop a bit.. when the APU lights come on over the 2 switches, that's when you switch them on.

I think he's got one of those panel freeze issues.

What the other fellow said. IRS must align (click switches to NAV). You'll pass the DC test and spin up period and then see the "boxes" on the POS INIT page. Until at least one IRS is aligned you will not have an FMC position (ND blank) and a lot of data will be unavailable (e.g. no attiude hence PFD blank). Remember this is a "breathing" nothing is instant. APU door needs to open, APU EGT has to go through the starting cycle etc etc etc.

Thanks Dr Vaos and others who responded . Want to close the loop on this. Before I went to bed last night I fired up the PC and slowly, methodically went through to engine start from cold and dark. All worked as it was supposed to! Very happy about this, but I swear I had those problems on three previous attempts.Off to try the tutorial ! Thanks again for the responses.Best regardsPaul Benoit

Did you set the Standby Power Switch to Auto? And it takes some time for the Displays to turn on because of the startup sequence (like the real thing) they have to start up.

I think black windows and choices disappearing from the FMC may be part of the panel freeze issue. I don't think that is supposed to happen. It has happened to me a few times. Check to see if you can change the numbers in the heading, speed and altitude windows on the 2D panel. If not, you may have this panel freeze issue.