22Jul14 - Sp1 Monitoring Items Updated

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Captains-

 

I am initiating this thread in order to provide a bit more information on our efforts to squash some items that appear to be affecting some users.  Please note that this is not intended to be an "all inclusive" thread, and as such you should refrain from responding to this thread with "have you looked at" or, worse, orders that I should examine some other item because it is not addressed here.  Generally speaking we are vacuuming up reports from all over the forum and support.

 

Okay- with that being said:

 

We are currently focused primarily on issues of "display/cockpit/airplane freezes" and "FSX whole-sim pauses."

 

PAUSING BEHAVIOR OF FSX:

We are still investigating this behavior with the help of the many reports we have collected from users here and via technical support.  As of this moment, we suspect that the pausing problem is not in the 777, but is caused by some defect in FSX but is aggravated by the 777.  One of the challenges we have had in resolving this issue is that none of our Tech or Beta team sees the problem- nor do any of our developers.  We have reached out to a couple of users who have the problem in a severe form- and we securing access to their machines in order to conduct further research.

 

I am confident that we will ultimately identify the problem- and even if we cannot fix it we can certainly begin the process of developing strategies to mitigate it.  Depending upon what the core of the problem turns out to be- we might be able to make changes to the 777 that reduce the product's tendency to aggravate the underlying condition...

 

Work continues and we will give you occasional progress updates in this regard.

 

(NOTE:  We are calling this a PAUSE intentionally- because in almost all cases, users report that the sim eventually un-pauses and continues on as if nothing had happened.  It would be most helpful if you guys would adopt the same terminology- because it will help us to know that you are talking about THIS issue...)

 

 

COCKPIT DISPLAY FREEZE CONDITION 1: 

We are still researching a situation that some users induce by having multiple external view windows overlaid on top of their virtual cockpit while flying.  This can occasionally cause the VC displays to cease updating- and it appears as if they have died when in fact clicking on the displays will show you that the pop-ups are updating normally even if the VC displays are not.  We have learned that you can "un-freeze" the VC displays by clicking on any switch on the overhead panel (the lights or fuel pumps for example) and then life continues on normally.

 

This is a nuisance in that it can be easily resolved by closing the external views or clicking on the overhead panel as described, (and it is related to a know problem in FSX) but we think there may be some ways to prevent it and we are researching those methods.

 

 

COCKPIT DISPLAY FREEZE CONDITION 2:

We received a number of reports from users that during flight the displays would cease updating, the cockpit would cease to respond to clicks, and the flight controls would freeze, rendering the airplane uncontrollable.

 

This issue has been resolved and will be corrected by an update to SP1 shortly.  We collected a significant number of reports of this behavior, and after some back and forth with reporting customers, we found and fixed this issue.  The issue relates to a condition in which the user would establish a set of flight conditions that would allow the FMS to effectively progress beyond the end of the useful navigation information.  This could be done by not entering a flight plan, entering a flight plan that was extremely short, leaving a disconnect between the route and the arrival and then flying through the disconnect, flying past the end of the planned route without an arrival selected, doing the same with an arrival not connected to an approach, etc.  (There are probably 200 other ways you could do this...)  When the FMS would progress beyond it's last useful navigation segment, we wound up with an unprotected mathematical equation and the airplane could cease responding....  This has been resolved and is in testing currently.

 

In the mean time- make certain you have a flight plan and path all the way to the ground and you won't run into THIS problem.  (You don't have to program your arrival and approach and runway until later in the flight, just don't fly beyond the end of the route you do have planned...  Simple, right?)

 

It is sort of amusing that this went unnoticed- but our beta team is doing a very good job of flying the airplane as it was intended- and some of you are doing a good job of flying the airplane as... it wasn't intended to be flown.  :ph34r:

 

THANK YOU to those who were involved in exchanging information with us on this on... 

 

AIRPLANE BANKS AGGRESSIVELY IN 8x or 16x:

This issue has been identified and we are currently examining ways to resolve it.  The issue comes up when a user places a long navigation segment into the FMS and then asks the airplane to fly that segment in accelerated time.  At 2x or 4x the airplane manages the mathematics without too much problem, but at 8x and greater speeds the airplane is unable to crunch through all of the great circle mathematics with enough precision to prevent it from effectively "cracking the whip" on the very long navigation segment.

 

While we work on a fix for this- we recommend avoiding the programming of very long leg segments into your route of flight.  Generally speaking, using a flight planning program that works realistically, such as PFPX, will keep you clear of trouble.  (Many, but not all of the users we interviewed when tracking this issue were reporting the behavior on legs in excess of 400nm...  the average leg length was around 1200nm and one fellow even had a 6000nm leg programmed..  The CEP (circle error probable) on a leg of that length becomes rather excessive and while the airplane can handle it at normal time- getting into higher acceleration rates makes it almost impossible to compute solutions fast enough and with enough accuracy to prevent the wing wagging....

 

We are working on a long term solution for this and we will keep you posted.

 

SHIP'S CLOCK AND FMS CLOCK OUT OF SYNC:

We exchanged some information with a few users reporting this item and we found that this problem can be caused by using a panel state file that was created with the RTM v1.00 of the 777.  We were unable to maintain compatibility with the older versions so we encourage users to delete all of their old panel state files and create new ones using the SP1 version of the 777.  We feel confident that doings so will prevent this problem from occurring.

 

AND SOME ITEMS I FORGOT:

I am certain that once Ryan reads this he will remind me that I forgot to tell you about something else- so I am putting this slot here so that I can come back and list those items below this line. B)

 

 

 

UPDATE TIMELINE:

We are currently planning to issue an interim SP1 update (SP1b) before the coming weekend.  This update will not be mandatory- but we recommend it for any users who are experiencing problems that we have resolved by the time it is built.

 

This update will install right over the top of any existing 777 installation, for ease of use on your end.

 

 

Okay- back to chasing down pauses...  Thanks for your support of the 777- you guys have really done a great job feeding us information to help nail down these obscure items- and the cooperation is very much appreciated!

 

 

 

 

[pinlifter 502]

I'm experiencing no issues here, but hopefully this update helps those that are still seeing a problem or two.  Thanks a bunch Robert and team!!

[Aamir 2,907]

Excellent! Thanks for the super quick response time, you fellas are doing a great job!

[oskiatl 27]

Thanks RSR, I am having the pausing issue and CTD, but I'm confident you and your group will find the solution, that's why rather not bother because you have enough complaints about it, so why add another. For now I'll just jet around the Ole U.S.A, till a fix or solution is found. B)

[Werner747 107]

Just a quick thought - if any of the pauses inside the cockpit happen, has anyone tried the F9 key to refresh the VC?   I sometimes get this, not in the 777 specifically but in most other VC's.    It is something inside FSX I think rather than anything else.   When I hit the F9 key, everything works right again.

 

Like I said, just a thought...

 

Kind regards

[Samkman 1]

Im off to fly now I know what is causing VC freezing condition #2!!! Thanks Robert and team!!!!

[Nuno Pinto 1,394]

PAUSING BEHAVIOR OF FSX:

 

I used to have this issue, suspected of everything, tried reinstalls, etc. Ultimately (in my case), it had to do with CORE0 being used by the simulator. I never had experienced this before i purchased my GTX780, so something in the BUS changed and somehow FSX didn't like it. As soon as i added an AffinityMask to my config releasing CORE0 for whatever duties it had to do, the freezes were gone.

 

My freezes were totally random and usually lasted ~4 minutes. After the freeze, FSX would resume normal operation. These could happen in a short flight, long flight or never at all - Totally random.

 

Hope this helps nail it down.

[Trinco 0]

Great Job!

[worker@CGN 24]

Thanks for fast fix  :excl:

Do you have a look at the oversteering autopilot bug too? http://forum.avsim.net/topic/447160-pmdg-777-autopilot-a-bit-oversteering-in-turns/

it's not a drama, but the NGX does its job better  ^_^  

[Guest]

Well, I do not need to put a long segment route in the FMS. It also occurs when I want to hold the heading or maintaining it for a long time (it happens 10-20 seconds later once I activate 8x or 16x time rate). But happy to hear that it will be fixed.  :rolleyes:

[Heffron 29]

Great work again, PMDG. 

 

I the cockpit freeze in condition 2, indeed after continuing beyond the planned route with no STAR selected. 

[g_precentralis 191]

What about live load of panel state bug?

[nam1394 10]

I am glad that you guys are working on an update. Thank you for that.

 

I am having the 8x compression issue and it happens even with short legs as short as 30nm and I am using PFPX for my flight plans.

[NovemberUniform 156]

It is sort of amusing that this went unnoticed- but our beta team is doing a very good job of flying the airplane as it was intended- and some of you are doing a good job of flying the airplane as... it wasn't intended to be flown. :ph34r:

Guilty as charged!

 

I am so relieved to read that you found the cause for "FREEZE #2". Your description matches exactly the scenario I was having the freeze in. Very short testflight route with only one waypoint with the same DEP and DEST airport. If I remember correctly, the freeze happened at the moment I was passing the only waypoint. Of cause I hadn't programmed the approach yet, as I wanted to try out the new behaviour of manual flight and trimming at/around this waypoint.

 

I really hope you can track the other issues down, so that all users get to fly the bird properly. This freeze was the first time in many years I was unable to finish a flight and land the plane safely in FSX. It felt bad... I feel with the users who are struggeling since the RTM version. Keep it up PMDG!

[WotanUK 289]

 

 

PAUSING BEHAVIOR OF FSX:

 

Not to throw a spanner in the works, or derail this thread, but i have had this in the Majestic Q400, stops for about 7 seconds, looks like a crash and then resumes happy as a clown, not the usual OOM, hard crash (requires reset) or the spinning cursor of death.

 

Never had it in any other plane including the NGX...could it relate to weather radar?