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WebMaximus

Possible SimConnect issue...?

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I'm currently troubleshooting two issues I've seen recently

 

- my TrackIR software crashes and before doing this I've noticed the head movement being jerky

- severe stuttering after I've been flying for 30-60 minutes

 

I'm suspecting the culprit might be SimConnect is being flooded since I'm using multiple addons that all use SimConnect. From what I know these are the addons I use that use SimConnect but might be even more of them.

 

- ASN

- TrackIR

- vPilot

- FSDT Couatl

- VAInterface

- Aivlasoft EFB

- Orbx ObjectFlow

 

Since I didn't see this until recently I've been trying to figure out what changed and looking at my P3D settings one of the few things I can think of is I enabled road and sea traffic which I never used before. However I have all sliders set to 15% which I consider a very modest setting but maybe that was enough to push SimConnect over the edge if road and sea traffic in P3D also is generating SimConnect traffic.

 

Does anyone know if that is the case?

 

Found out how I can enable SimConnect logging so will do more testing now with the logging enabled and might also try disabling all traffic as well as exclude one of the addons mentioned above one at a time to see if that solves the issue.

 

One last thing, found a setting in SimConnect.xml and SimConnect.cfg called MaxRecvSize in SimConnect.xml and MaxReceiveSize in SimConnect.cfg and this was set to 4096 in both files but after doing a Google search I found some info indicating the default value would be 8192 so I just tried increasing that value now too see if that will make any difference.

 

Any other tips or input highly welcomed!

Edited by WebMaximus

Richard Åsberg

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Not even a single view in a couple of hours...boy I must have picked an interesting topic :wink:

 

Anyway here's a couple of clips showing the stuttering issue. The first one during my approach into Bergen, the second one after I landed and the last one showing how the stuttering also affects the airport vehicles.

 

Unfortunately the SimConnect logging resulted in a 9 GB txt file ?! so couldn't even open it using any normal applications. Maybe the size of the log file in itself indicates a severe SimConnect issue, not sure how big this kind of log file would normally be after a 2 hours P3D session...?

 

Stuttering in the air

 

Stuttering on the ground

 

Stuttering airport vehicles


Richard Åsberg

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Unfortunately the SimConnect logging resulted in a 9 GB txt file ?! so couldn't even open it using any normal applications. Maybe the size of the log file in itself indicates a severe SimConnect issue, not sure how big this kind of log file would normally be after a 2 hours P3D session...?

 

With major Simconnect addons -- FSUIPC being a really major one -- it can easily be really huge, especially if you use the "verbose" setting.

 

Don't forget, every single time any variable in FS which is being used or made available in any SimConnect client changes, even by a small fraction, there'll be a message. Every request made to SimConnect by those clients will result in a message.

 

I always keep SimConnect logging sessions very short. If you can't reproduce whatever it is you are looking for within a few minutes of starting FS, then it will be very difficult.

 

I'm not sure what other logging options SimConnect provides. Best to take a look in the SDK to see if you can narrow it down.

 

Pete


Win10: 22H2 19045.2728
CPU: 9900KS at 5.5GHz
Memory: 32Gb at 3800 MHz.
GPU:  RTX 24Gb Titan
2 x 2160p projectors at 25Hz onto 200 FOV curved screen

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Hi,

 

one of the reasons ASN may strain the simulator during weather updates, is due to the way the clouds need to fade out and redraw themselves. This is the downside of getting completely seamless cloud changes that resemble how conditions change in reality with no cloud shifts. Forcing cloud shifts is always "cheaper" for the graphics system and it's possible to be enabled with ASN. Add this line in ASN.cfg (in [ASN Settings] section):

 

- SmoothThemeLoad=0

 

Of course before going there, there are other things you may want to try first, for example enabling the option: "Suppress local weather changes". In addition, try playing with SGSS, CloudDrawDistance, maximum cloud layers etc until you find the correct balance for your setup.

 

Having said all that, in Richard's case I am not 100% convinced that ASN is his issue... 


Kostas Terzides

 

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Me too thinks ASN might be the culprit but since I'm not 100% sure (mainly because I've been able to fly without any stuttering and with ASN in the past) I decided to perform a clean reinstallation of P3D since I've messed around quite a bit with my current P3D installation by now.

 

My plan is to then reinstall my addons very carefully watching closely for when/if the stuttering issue will reappear helping me figure out the real culprit.


Richard Åsberg

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Guest

 

 


- ASN
- TrackIR
- vPilot
- FSDT Couatl
- VAInterface
- Aivlasoft EFB
- Orbx ObjectFlow

 

I use all of those except EFB and vPilot ... but I do have a couple of other items using SimConnect that you don't list.

 

I'd check to see how many SimConnect clients you have installed.

 

Check your IP assignments also (IPCONFIG via CMD).  Check that your router reserves that IP for your PC (so it will not change).

 

These are the settings I'm using:

SimConnect.cfg

[simConnect]
Protocol=IPv4
Address=192.168.1.130
Port=4506
MaxReceiveSize=4096
DisableNagle=Yes
 
Your Address will most likely be different (see IPCONFIG) ... check that nothing else is using port 4506 (or whatever port you have set).
 
SimConnect.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="SimConnect" version="1,0">
  <Descr>SimConnect Server Configuration</Descr>
  <Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename>
  <Disabled>False</Disabled>
  <SimConnect.Comm>
    <Disabled>False</Disabled>
    <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol>
    <Scope>global</Scope>
    <MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
    <Address>192.168.1.130</Address>
    <Port>4506</Port>
    <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize>
    <DisableNagle>True</DisableNagle>
  </SimConnect.Comm>
  <SimConnect.Comm>
   <Disabled>False</Disabled>
   <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol>
   <Scope>local</Scope>
   <MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
   <Address>127.0.0.1</Address>
   <Port>4507</Port>
   <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize>
   <DisableNagle>True</DisableNagle>
  </SimConnect.Comm>
</SimBase.Document>
 
For logging SimConnect output (toggle the ; pending on if you do or don't want output)
SimConnect.ini
[simConnect]
level=none
;level=verbose
console=0
;RedirectStdOutToConsole=1
;OutputDebugString=1
file=D:\simconnect%03u.log
;file_next_index=0
;file_max_index=9
 

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Thanks for your input Rob!

 

Reading through your post I can put a check on everything you say such as using reserved IPs rather than DHCP and so on. The only thing I can't put a checkmark next to is only using a single version/installation of SimConnect. Now my PC is 100% clean from anything related to flight simming including SimConnect but will start to re-install everything as mentioned above.

 

To make sure I end up with a 100% correct SimConnect installation what version of SimConnect should I check for in the list once I'm done?

 

Also I'm wondering what could be the reason I had multiple installations/versions of SimConnect prior to cleaning out all flightsim stuff? Could it be addons installing SimConnect as part of the installation of that specific addon or maybe leftovers from when I was running FSX rather than P3D? IIRC though I do think I cleaned out all SimConnect stuff before switching to P3D from FSX...hmm...


Richard Åsberg

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To make sure I end up with a 100% correct SimConnect installation what version of SimConnect should I check for in the list once I'm done?

 

In theory you should be able to use any and all of them.  But in my case having too many has caused issues.

 

Personally I think the best use of SimConnect comes from the managed SimConnect (deployed with one's product) that way end users don't need to worry about installing multiple specific versions based on whatever product they're using.

 

What you need will depend on the 3rd party products you use.  So far I've been able to get away with just using using SimConnect Client v10.0.61259.0.  

 

SimConnect.cfg is only needed if you're doing any remote communications (i.e. another PC taking to SimConnect).

 

SimConnect.ini is just for debugging purposes.

 

SimConnect.xml is the "server" settings, again for remote communications and only needed if that's your situation

 

So unless you are doing remote comms you really don't need any of these 3 files.   However you still do need to have the appropriate SimConnect client installed.

 

If you don't have other PC's communicating with your main PC via SimConnect then you can move these files elsewhere (or delete).  But if you have something like ASN on a remote PC then you'll need these files.

 

If you suspect a port sharing problem then you can download/install this tool that will identify port usage (scanned, it's virus/malware free): http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html#DownloadLinks -- this tool will show you by process what ports are being used including IPs.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a quote from the P3D SDK:

 

 

 

Versioning

Only one version of Prepar3D can be running on one computer at a time, so a client installed on a local machine will only be communicating with one server. However it is possible to have one client communicate with multiple copies of Prepar3D, running on a network.

 

The SimConnect client library used by Prepar3D will be located in the WinSxS (side-by-side) folder. As new versions of the client library are released, they too will be placed in this folder, alongside and not replacing previous versions. This means that add-ons written for older versions of SimConnect will still run as newer versions are released. If a developer wishes to ensure that their client code will run against an earlier version of SimConnect, they should develop using the header and library provided in the SimConnect SDK/LegacyInterfaces folder. Internal version tagging of each API call ensures that a function call will be routed correctly when multiple options exist.

 

Add-ons, FSX left overs, P3D ... any and all of them could install various SimConnect clients.  I uninstalled the ESP Client that P3D installs because nothing I have requires it ... they all seem to work well with SimConnect client 10.0.61259.0.

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So yesterday I finished the reinstall of P3D and I verified I now only have SimConnect Client v10.0.61259.0 installed on both my main P3D computer as well as on my second laptop computer I use for Aivlasoft's EFB map.

 

After the fresh install of P3D I noticed how it installed the ESP SimConnect client you mention and so far I haven't touched it so that one is also installed on my P3D computer. I then installed vPilot (the pilot client for connecting to VATSIM) and that one didn't start complaining about a missing SimConnect version and suggested to install SimConnect Client v10.0.61259.0 and after doing that vPilot started up just fine.

 

One thing I'm wondering about the ESP SimConnect client that is installed as part of the P3D installation, if it's not required why is it installed in the first place? And if I decide to uninstall it can I reinstall it later on should I need to without reinstalling the complete P3D?

 

Then another thing that puzzles me. As mentioned I'm running Aivlasoft's EFB in a networked config running the EFB Display Unit on a second PC and what I noticed now that I reinstalled everything is EFB is working just fine even without the SimConnect configuration files containing IP address etc. I thought these files were required to make SimConnect work in a networked config?

 

As for the stuttering issue that was my main reason I decided to do a clean reinstall I only did one short flight yesterday from Stockholm to Oslo and the stuttering issue was almost gone but not completely. Might be me though being too sensitive for stuttering now that I'm looking for it all the time. So maybe the very minor stuttering I noticed on yesterday's flight is stuttering that has always been there without me noticing it.

 

Will do more testing tonight but I read people are complaining about stuttering blaming both Aivlasoft's EFB and ASN and since I'm using both of them I guess I'm on deep waters when my main goal is to have zero stuttering because that to me is one of those things that really spoils quite a bit of the sensation when flying.


Richard Åsberg

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One thing I'm wondering about the ESP SimConnect client that is installed as part of the P3D installation, if it's not required why is it installed in the first place?

 

I think L-M did that because though their original intention was to have NO "side-by-side" SimConnect DLLs installed, requiring each add-on to build in its own SimConnect library routines, they realised that wasn't going to allow so many add-ons to work without major changes.

 

In the case of FSUIPC I did the built-it-in stuff, but as a separate DLL which I install in the Modules folder -- SimConnectP3D.DLL for P3Dv1, SimConnectP3D2.DLL  for P3Dv2.

 

Then another thing that puzzles me. As mentioned I'm running Aivlasoft's EFB in a networked config running the EFB Display Unit on a second PC and what I noticed now that I reinstalled everything is EFB is working just fine even without the SimConnect configuration files containing IP address etc. I thought these files were required to make SimConnect work in a networked config?
 
Aivlasoft's EFB doesn't use SimConnect networking. Its DisplayUnit module talks to its Data Provider, not to Simconnect -- only the Data Provider needs to talk to FS via Simconnect.
 
Will do more testing tonight but I read people are complaining about stuttering blaming both Aivlasoft's EFB and ASN and since I'm using both of them I guess I'm on deep waters when my main goal is to have zero stuttering because that to me is one of those things that really spoils quite a bit of the sensation when flying.
 
I use Aivlasoft EFB, and I don't see any stuttering with FSX-SE. I'm not sure what might cause that in P3D. But I've never been impressed with P3D's performance on my system.  It's on a par with FSX-MS, but not so good looking (on my system), and definitely more stuttery. And it is nowhere near as fast or smooth as FSX-SE. So for now I'm running FSX-SE and just keeping a watching brief on P3D.
 
Have you looked into what processes are running in the background? Try to eliminate everything you don't really need.
 
Pete

Win10: 22H2 19045.2728
CPU: 9900KS at 5.5GHz
Memory: 32Gb at 3800 MHz.
GPU:  RTX 24Gb Titan
2 x 2160p projectors at 25Hz onto 200 FOV curved screen

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Guest Mik75

Do you use EFB on all of these flights?

Try shutting it (Data Provider) down, and see if the stuttering disappears.

For me, that did the trick.

I tried anything, looked into simconnect, did flights with nothing but EFB running (mainly in the NGX, which uses simconnect as well), and I can clearly say that EFB is the culript on my system. Which is a shame, because it's a very handy piece of software and I've been running it with FSX for years now, without any issue.

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if it's not required why is it installed in the first place? And if I decide to uninstall it can I reinstall it later on should I need to without reinstalling the complete P3D?

 

I can't answer the 1st part of your question, but so far I don't have a single product that seems to need the ESP client.  I've asked about getting a stand alone ESP Client installer ... one does exists as I've seen 3rd party install it (thinking Majestic Q400 but not sure) but I've NOT successfully found a stand alone ESP client installer and I haven't been able to extract it out of P3D installer ... maybe someone else can chime in on how to get a stand alone ESP client installer?

 

I have EFB but don't really use it anymore ... didn't like how it forces you into stages of flight.  I'm using FS Commander 9.6 (which supports Navigraph and/or NavDataPro so has all the SIDs, STARs, Transitions, etc. etc.) on my remote PC with Pete's wonderful WideFS client.

 

Cheers, Rob.

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I have EFB but don't really use it anymore ... didn't like how it forces you into stages of flight. 

 

Odd, how is it doing that? I use EFB, but it is just a moving map plus chart provider, with the very useful facility to see your aircraft position on taxiways for navigating airports, identifying AI traffic around you en route, and showing your position on the approach charts in both lateral and profile views

 

I've never been aware of it forcing me into doing anything? Are you just referring to the different chart views -- ground with taxiways, enroute with the normal moving map + AI positions, and arrival and approach charts, each with their relevant data?

 

It does switch between them automatically or you can simply select which you want to view at any particular moment.

 

Pete


Win10: 22H2 19045.2728
CPU: 9900KS at 5.5GHz
Memory: 32Gb at 3800 MHz.
GPU:  RTX 24Gb Titan
2 x 2160p projectors at 25Hz onto 200 FOV curved screen

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Guest

 

 


Are you just referring to the different chart views -- ground with taxiways, enroute with the normal moving map + AI positions, and arrival and approach charts, each with their relevant data?

 

Yes.  I didn't like staged view concept, didn't really seem necessary or add any value - personal preference.  I didn't see any option to do away with the view construct ... perhaps I missed something?

 

Cheers, Rob.

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