PMDG - How to Service Hydraulics

[c402_cvs 0]

You really could stop with the accusatory tone... I need to talk to the person who programmed this to find out for sure and I just haven't been able to in the last few days because he's been extremely busy with other things in his life. I will let you know as soon as I talk to him.

I apologize if you perceive it as such but when my tickets gets closed saying it works I must assume PMDG do not regard it as a bug! That and your silence here on the forum all points to this.

[briansommers 74]

not to mention that you are a PAYING customer!

[Guest dlrk]

You really could stop with the accusatory tone... I need to talk to the person who programmed this to find out for sure and I just haven't been able to in the last few days because he's been extremely busy with other things in his life. I will let you know as soon as I talk to him.

Ryan, I don't think you/PMDG are quite seeing where your customers are coming from on this issue, with all due respect. I am someone with a great deal of activities beyond flight simming. I play bass guitar, skateboard, create graphic art etc. I'm saying this to pre-empt the usual 'go outside, find something else to do comments'.The NGX was extremely hyped. It was implied that it would be released in a relatively bug free state, and that support concerns would be addressed easily. These expectations may quite possibly have been unreasonable, but they were built up by PMDG. So, when someone purchases the NGX, encounters an irritating bug and is met with either a condescending explanation alleging it is not a bug(with perhaps a small admission at the end that the panel states might be getting values jumbled) or by having their forum posts ignored and tickets closed, frustration is really quite understandable.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

not to mention that you are a PAYING customer!

Wow, golly. Did they ever say they refused to fix it?(PS, signing your posts will likely help you get the fixes you apparently need)

The NGX was extremely hyped. It was implied that it would be released in a relatively bug free state, and that support concerns would be addressed easily. These expectations may quite possibly have been unreasonable, but they were built up by PMDG. So, when someone purchases the NGX, encounters an irritating bug and is met with either a condescending explanation alleging it is not a bug(with perhaps a small admission at the end that the panel states might be getting values jumbled) or by having their forum posts ignored and tickets closed, frustration is really quite understandable.

I don't think you/not-PMDG are quite seeing where they are coming from on the "issues," with all due respect. I don't mean to be condescending, but you have to take notice of the posts here and here by the development team about the "bugs" people are reporting. It seems most of the "bugs" are actually user issues (which, as you recall, was also commentary in the pre-release "hype"). Beyond that, you also have to understand that with all of the hundreds of thousands of possible software and hardware implementations, it's nearly impossible to program something to be "bug free." For the breakthoughs of this simulation, I have to say I'm pretty impressed this aircraft had as few actual bugs as this. It's not bug free. We've seen that, but to say it's buggy and didn't live up to the hype is a bit childish and overstated. That being said, what most people don't seem to understand here, is that the development teams' "lack of caring" probably has a lot to do with the fact that they're working their tails off trying to investigate "bugs," bugs, and other support items (meanwhile also trying to stave off the other group that will soon be saying "where's the -600/700??!?"). When busy, people often skirt the involved, compassionate conversation, and resort to quick and emotionless.

[Guest dlrk]

Kyle, I do understand that it's not possible to program a bug free product. The problem is that PMDG implied it would be relatively bug free, creating impossible expectations.I'm also not convinced that all the user issues are actually user issues. The overheating hydraulics? Apparently the panel state sometimes shoots up the fuel temp. The yaw damper doesn't always work in identical configs.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

I have a feeling that the configs aren't entirely identical if in one case it works, and in another, it doesn't. Computers aren't exactly sentient beings. They don't wake up and say "you know what...I think I'm going to not work today." Something happened, some button was pressed. Some hardware was set up improperly. Some software was not installed correctly, or set up correctly, or saved correctly. The overheating hydraulics seems to be the fact that people are running the wing tanks too low, which are the reservoirs for cooling. Again, an error of the operator's variety. I don't mean to show my true PMDG ###### colors, but I also teach computer classes, network classes, and do some lowly programming stuff on my own, so the cynicism comes from experience in the field. The difference between me and everyone else is that I understand computers enough to say "how did I mess this up?" and not "how did they mess this up?" The best place to look for an error is internally first, then go external. Too many people here jump right on their little soapbox and rant about everyone else's supposed cause.

[Guest dlrk]

I do agree with you there. When I encountered a problem, I checked the manual, QRH, FCOMs, etc. I only concluded it was a bug when there was no other explanation. It's possible that computer user errors are occurring, as opposed to aviation errors.

[crosswind 825]

Well said Kyle!!! This unfortunately will be an on going issue amongst simmers who "may" or "may not" have problems. So what if PMDG "hyped" the crowd, there was something to "hyped" about - an in-depth systems with logic simulation of the 737. Ok ..... that being said, how is this any different that a product (be it software or hardware) that gets people hyped, then when released has flaws. We seem to forget, as previously mentioned in several other posts (I am sure), they are human beings just like us with families and jobs. Granted they work for/with PMDG providing quality products time and time again. They are working under pressure now to find & eliminate problems that were not seen or experienced by the "entire team" during testing, This "CAN and DOES" happen. I would like someone to name a complex aircraft add-on that was bug-free. If you have created a ticket, I am sure it will get a response as soon as a possible solution is found or it is added to a list of items for further research, its that simple. Now for those who are completely grounded, I can understand your frustration, but even the grounded aircraft eventually get to fly.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

Thanks Simeon. SBY? I flew over that direction a couple weeks ago JYO-OXB. There's another guy on here from HEF. I'm pretty sure Robert's avatar photo has IAD in the background from when he was with ACA. Cool to see so many locals and local references.

[crosswind 825]

Yep, SBY - Salisbury Wicomico-Ocean City Regional Airport. That is home base for Piedmont Airlines...which just happens to be the office as well. I posted in the FSX forums a few weeks ago for folk within and around the Eastern Shore area. Maybe we can get together on a week-end have a few drinks and share some ideas

[HiFly 16]

Seems as if there is a lot of emotional immaturity being expressed in many of these strings. Let's get over the hurt feelings, egos, and blame game crap and get on with the issue. Business is business and the OP - a paying customer - asked a simple question: "What is the procedure to refill fluids?" PMDG, if there is a procedure please give it to us. If not then it MUST BE a software design issue. State the fact and explain whether or not it is being addressed. That's all the OP asked!

[neas1982 42]

+1 to that

[Foghorn 4]

Has anybody tried reducing the hours of the engine by amending the file?

[Foghorn 4]

There's a file in C:\users\appdata\roaming\microsoft\fsx\simobjects\"aircraft_type"\state.cfg which has the total hours each engine has operated. Reducing this may solve the servicing problem?

[Tabs 2,790]

Daroll, Please show me where we ever said the NGX going to be bug free? I'm quite sure we didn't. In fact I specifically recall saying that it absolutely would have bugs found but that we would not *KNOWINGLY* release it with unfixed bugs. That is exactly what we did - virtually none of the stuff that's been reported were things we knew about at release, especially not the really major issues with freezing and activation. Our bug tracking system did not have open/unfixed items in it when we released. If the hydraulic fluid isn't being refilled with the service button, that's literally a 2 second fix in the code - something's either commented out or getting lost logic wise. What we're not going to do is release a million tiny patches for every issue like this - if something's wrong it'll get fixed in SP1. It will be next week before I know for sure on this issue as I cannot talk to the person responsible until then. The idea that this plane is extremely buggy functionality wise is just flat out not true. All of the super complicated systems work fine - something like this hydraulics thing is extremely minor in the grand scheme of our programming. If LNAV and VNAV weren't working or the custom engine coding was constantly failing, you'd have a point. What I'm sick of are people promoting the ideas that 1. We knowingly released with bugs like this (why would we release with a bug that takes 2 seconds to fix if we knew about it? What possible reason do you think we have to do that? and 2. That we won't fix bugs that are found. You probably aren't even aware of 90% of the things that have already been fixed for SP1...