Networked Installation

[Lude2Envy 11]

What is everyone's opinion on running Active Sky and Radar Contact from a client PC over a network? Is it worth it or will there only be a minimal performance gain from it? Thanks. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,925]

Hi Ian,

 

The fewer applications you run on the FSX PC the better the performance you will get both with FSX and those applications.

 

I run ASN, RC4, Project Magenta Boeing cockpit and EFB on a networked E8400, 2Gb RAM and 8800GTX and they all run very well.

 

I've never run RC4 on a FS PC and I'm sure it benefits with smoother voice delivery. I certainly haven't heard 'robotic' voices - even my own! :biggrin:   If you have a spare PC utilise it.

[Lude2Envy 11]

Hi Ian,

 

The fewer applications you run on the FSX PC the better the performance you will get both with FSX and those applications.

 

I run ASN, RC4, Project Magenta Boeing cockpit and EFB on a networked E8400, 2Gb RAM and 8800GTX and they all run very well.

 

I've never run RC4 on a FS PC and I'm sure it benefits with smoother voice delivery. I certainly haven't heard 'robotic' voices - even my own! :biggrin:   If you have a spare PC utilise it.

 

Thank you for the feedback Ray. So how hard is this to do? I know RC uses WideFS and ASN uses SimConnect. I've also seen the tutorial for configuring SimConnect for client-server use....it looks lengthy but simple enough to follow. Would I still keep AS2012 on my FSX PC to inject the weather graphics prior to loading ASN? I've considered purchasing the EFB. If you run the EFB over the network you can use it as a moving map display and viewing approaches correct? Thanks again for the help. 

[ronzie 21]

If you go the networked route check out the settings in this pinned topic:

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/272752-fsuipc-widefs-showtext-settings-for-rc-43/

[Lude2Envy 11]

If you go the networked route check out the settings in this pinned topic:

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/272752-fsuipc-widefs-showtext-settings-for-rc-43/

 

That's only for the text display. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,925]

Ian,

 

Have you got any network experience at all? And what spec is the PC you're considering for running these applications?

 

My knowledge is limited and accumulated over several years. I don't consider myself an expert by any means but setting things up isn't too bad. SimConnect was probably the worst but that was my lack of understanding of all the software required.

 

Yes, you can keep AS2012 on your FSX PC and EFB does have a moving map which is very useful.

[Lude2Envy 11]

Ian,

 

Have you got any network experience at all? And what spec is the PC you're considering for running these applications?

 

My knowledge is limited and accumulated over several years. I don't consider myself an expert by any means but setting things up isn't too bad. SimConnect was probably the worst but that was my lack of understanding of all the software required.

 

Yes, you can keep AS2012 on your FSX PC and EFB does have a moving map which is very useful.

 

My FSX PC is the one with the specs listed in my signature. The PC I'm considering using as the client has a AMD Phenom II X4 955BE, ASUS 790FX Mobo, 8GB G.Skill DDR3 RAM, GTX 670. It's a pretty solid computer.....capable of running all of these apps. I do know how to share/map/set R/W permissions, etc.. My lack of knowledge is with SimConnect and WideFS. I found HiFi detailed tutorial for configuring SimConnect and like I mentioned earlier, it's lengthy but I think I can follow it. Just trying to make sure I have all angles covered so I don't run into any major issues. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,925]

Hi Ian,

 

That's a good PC for supporting FSX software. SimConnect worked okay for me once I'd installed the relevant files from Microsoft. And once it works it just keeps working.

 

WideFS is pretty easy. All it requires is the IP address of other PCs and then it too just works. The logs will help if you can't get it working but there's not much to it really.

 

Once I added Electronic Flight Bag to my system I needed a second screen for it. Here's a screenshot of everything running on it. FSX would really struggle with all this on one machine.

 

 

[Lude2Envy 11]

Hi Ian,

 

That's a good PC for supporting FSX software. SimConnect worked okay for me once I'd installed the relevant files from Microsoft. And once it works it just keeps working.

 

WideFS is pretty easy. All it requires is the IP address of other PCs and then it too just works. The logs will help if you can't get it working but there's not much to it really.

 

Once I added Electronic Flight Bag to my system I needed a second screen for it. Here's a screenshot of everything running on it. FSX would really struggle with all this on one machine.

 

That looks great. Exactly what I'm going for. What program is the CDU from? Do you know if you can run XGuage from ASN on the client as well......instead of having it as a pop-up in FSX? 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,925]

That looks great. Exactly what I'm going for. What program is the CDU from? Do you know if you can run XGuage from ASN on the client as well......instead of having it as a pop-up in FSX? 

 

The CDU and glass cockpit is by Project Magenta. Expensive but it allows me to dispense with a panel in FSX so I get a full-forward view. PM stuff is designed to run over a network mainly for those with a full cockpit but it can also be used without one.

 

As XGauge is just that it needs to run on the FSX PC. Sadly there's no alternative to that.

[Lude2Envy 11]

The CDU and glass cockpit is by Project Magenta. Expensive but it allows me to dispense with a panel in FSX so I get a full-forward view. PM stuff is designed to run over a network mainly for those with a full cockpit but it can also be used without one.

 

As XGauge is just that it needs to run on the FSX PC. Sadly there's no alternative to that.

 

I thought PM was only for hardware interfacing..... I didn't know you could get those displays too. Anyway, I think I have enough info to go ahead and try this out. Thanks again for all the help. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,925]

I thought PM was only for hardware interfacing..... I didn't know you could get those displays too. Anyway, I think I have enough info to go ahead and try this out. Thanks again for all the help. 

 

Ideally yes, they would be controlled by hardware. I have found a decent compromise. I have the GoFlight MCP-Pro for the a/p but use the mouse to operate the CDU. I did consider the Engravity CDU some years ago but the high £ / Euro exchange rate made it too expensive.

 

Good luck with the plan.

[Lude2Envy 11]

Ideally yes, they would be controlled by hardware. I have found a decent compromise. I have the GoFlight MCP-Pro for the a/p but use the mouse to operate the CDU. I did consider the Engravity CDU some years ago but the high £ / Euro exchange rate made it too expensive.

 

Good luck with the plan.

 

Hey Ray. I'm just getting around to installing RC on a client PC. I did the combination install for FS9 and FSX. I have FS9 on the client PC and FSX on the  server PC. Anyway, the install just finished but the installer is saying FSX not found and is asking me to locate it. Do I have to share the FSX folder on the main PC so I can locate FSX.exe or is there something else to do? I looked in the RC manual and searched the forum but was unable to find anything. I also noticed the sound for RC comes from the client PC. Is there anyway to make the sound come through the server? Thanks again for all the help. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,925]

Hi Ian,

 

Just so I'm clear on this you have installed RC4 to the client PC for FS9 but to the server PC for FSX? Any reason you did that? I would have installed them both to the client obviously with different folder names.

 

You could just copy the FSX version over to the client PC. There are no registry entries to worry about.

 

Yes, you need to share the main fsx folder so RC can locate it. My share is named \\flying\fsx.

 

Others have asked about sourcing the sound on a different PC to where RC is installed. I'm not aware of anything that allows that. Personally, I prefer the RC sounds to be separated from the engine noise. The only way to do it is to run RC from the server but that negates what you're trying to achieve.

[Lude2Envy 11]

Hi Ian,

 

Just so I'm clear on this you have installed RC4 to the client PC for FS9 but to the server PC for FSX? Any reason you did that? I would have installed them both to the client obviously with different folder names.

 

You could just copy the FSX version over to the client PC. There are no registry entries to worry about.

 

Yes, you need to share the main fsx folder so RC can locate it. My share is named \\flying\fsx.

 

Others have asked about sourcing the sound on a different PC to where RC is installed. I'm not aware of anything that allows that. Personally, I prefer the RC sounds to be separated from the engine noise. The only way to do it is to run RC from the server but that negates what you're trying to achieve.

 

Hey Ray. Just wanted to give you an update. I currently have RC 4.3, ASN, PFPX, TOPCAT, ACARS, and EFB all running on my client PC. So far everything is running pretty well. FSX has crashed a few times but I think UT2 is causing it. I'm usually able to pick up from where ACARS last saved, but RC is the only program that can't recover when it happens. Overall I'm very pleased with the setup. Thanks again for all of your help.