Hi Maarten,

 

i lately installed the Majestic Dash 8Q400 into the standard P3D airplanes folder.

In SLX i did a rebuild of the a/c database. If i switch to the a/c tab and select e.g. a C-130 in the standard a/c folder everything is fine, if i select one of the 8Q400, SLX crashes to desktop.

And here are some lines from the SLX-log:

 

20160328111229 Active pane: xAircraftPane

20160328111254 Aircraft variation changed to: CS C130Extra1 6

20160328111254 Validating flight plan KNYG to KMVY

20160328111254 Flight plan KNYG to KMVY has errors

20160328111343 Aircraft variation changed to: MJC8Q400_BER

20160328111343 Validating flight plan KNYG to KMVY

20160328111343 Flight plan KNYG to KMVY has errors

20160328111343 Fatal error "System.ArgumentException: The path is not of a legal form.

   at System.IO.Path.NormalizePath(String path, Boolean fullCheck, Int32 maxPathLength, Boolean expandShortPaths)

   at System.IO.Path.GetFullPathInternal(String path)

   at System.IO.FileInfo.Init(String fileName, Boolean checkHost)

   at System.IO.FileInfo..ctor(String fileName)

   at MaartenBoelens.Utilities.StringExtensions.IsFileLocked(String file)

   at MaartenBoelens.SimLauncherX.ViewModel.AircraftVariationsViewModel.<get_Open3dModelCommand>b__72_2()"

 

Cheers, Walter.

Hi Walter,

 

I will release a fix shortly.

 

Apparently SLX could not find the .mdl file for the Dash-8 Q400. I look for the [aircraft folder containing aircraft.cfg]\Model[."model" value if specified in the aircraft.cfg file]\model.cfg file. Inside this model.cfg file, I look for the normal= setting to locate the .mdl file. Can you please check the folder structure of the Dash-8? I would like to know why the .mdl file could not be found. The .mdl file contains the data for the 3D model feature that I have added to the latest version.

 

thanks, Maarten

Hi Maarten

i checked the model.cfg and saw the difference to other model.cfg's:

 

At the entry "normal" they wrote the full filename with extension "mjc_q400_ext.mdl", i changed it to "mjc_q400_ext" and SLX don't crash anymore.

 

Cheers, Walter.

Hi Walter,

 

Thanks for looking into it! I have changed the .mdl file detection now to allow for the .mdl extension in the normal= setting in the model.cfg file. I just need to check a couple of other things before I release the fix.

 

Maarten

Hi Maarten,

that's OK now, no crash anymore.

 

Now i can select the Dash. If i then click on the Show VC button i get an alert: "Textures could not be found"

 

In the log-file i see the following:

 

20160329091530 Aircraft variation changed to: MJC8Q400_BER

20160329091530 Validating flight plan KNYG to KMVY

20160329091530 Flight plan KNYG to KMVY has errors

20160329091543 Loading VC model for  MJC-8 Q400, Air Berlin

20160329091544 Error loading textures "System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path 'D:\FluSi\P3Dv3\simobjects\airplanes\mjc8q400\texture'.

   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)

   at System.IO.FileSystemEnumerableIterator`1.CommonInit()

   at System.IO.FileSystemEnumerableIterator`1..ctor(String path, String originalUserPath, String searchPattern, SearchOption searchOption, SearchResultHandler`1 resultHandler, Boolean checkHost)

   at System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(String path, String searchPattern, SearchOption searchOption)

   at MaartenBoelens.SimLauncherX.Model.BitmapDictionary.<>c__DisplayClass10_0.<LoadTextures>b__1(String x)

   at MoreLinq.MoreEnumerable.ForEach[T](IEnumerable`1 source, Action`1 action)

   at MaartenBoelens.SimLauncherX.Model.BitmapDictionary.LoadTextures(List`1 textures, List`1 folders)"

20160329091545 3D model for MJC-8 Q400, Air Berlin loaded

 

The texture line for that plane in aircraft.cfg is:

texture=BER

 

The texture-folder is named: Texture.BER

 

The same problem exists with the exterior model.

 

================================================================================================================

 

Another one: I switch to a CS C-130, both 3D buttons are greyed.

 

In that model folder is no .mdl file, they are saved elsewhere:

 

model.cfg:

 

[models]

normal=..\model\c130-5

interior=..\model\c130-5_interior

 

Cheers, Walter.

Hi Walter,

 

I will look into it this evening.

 

Thanks, Maarten

Hi Walter,

 

Both issues should be fixed now. Please check the latest version.

 

thanks, Maarten

Hi Maarten,

yes, they are fixed now.

The SLX-log shows the next issue:

 

20160330091006 Loading exterior 3D model for  C-130T, US NAVY 'Blue Angels'

20160330091008 Unable to load texture with name: C130_GLASS_T.DDS

20160330091008 Unable to load texture with name: C130_GLASS_T_SPEC.DDS

20160330091009 3D model for C-130T, US NAVY 'Blue Angels' loaded

 

That is, because the texture files are stored in the "fallback" folders.

 

texture.cfg:

 

[fltsim]

 

fallback.1=..\..\CS_C130\texture

fallback.2=..\..\CS_C130\texture.spec3

fallback.3=..\..\..\..\Scenery\Global\texture

fallback.4=..\..\..\..\..\..\Scenery\Global\texture

 

Cheers, Walter.

 

PS. Could you do me a favour? I often make small changes to the flight (e.g. just changing time) and then want to rebuild the database. That is not possible, because flight has unsaved changes. I have to click OK, as i don't want to save the changes, i must select another flight to select "don't save" and then i'm able to rebuild. In my opinion there are too many clicks. The most times i know what i'm doing and when i should save a flight. It would be nice to rebuild the datebase without a confirmation (or fewer ones).

Hi Walter,

 

Thanks again for your help! I already planned to process the texture.cfg file, but I did not have enough time yesterday. I'm going to the theater this evening, so most probably it will have to wait until tomorrow evening. I will also have a look at the confirmation dialog when starting a rebuild of the database.

 

Btw: why do you want to rebuild the database that often? It's really only needed when you add new scenery or new aircraft.

 

Thanks, Maarten

Hi Maarten,

thanks for your quick response and have pleasure at the theater tonight.

 

I just made a fresh install of P3D on my new computer and now i'm building my world with several sceneries. So i install something and make tests, so i have to rebuild the db from time to time.

 

Cheers, Walter.

Hi Walter,

 

I had a good laugh with Eric van Sauers, a Dutch comedian!

When I got home, I quickly added the texture.cfg processing and replaced the alert dialog with a confirmation dialog when you start a rebuild of the database and the selected flight/flight plan is dirty.

 

Hopefully all your issues are solved now, but if not, please let me know.

 

thanks, Maarten

Hi Maarten,

the texture processing with the fallbacks is OK and the new dialog is helpful.

 

But: Processing the path was the easy part, now it becomes a little bit more complicated.

 

20160331082826 Loading VC model for  MJC-8 Q400, Air Berlin

20160331082829 Unable to load texture with name: VC1Q400

 

20160331083000 Loading VC model for  737-200, Alaska Airlines

20160331083003 Unable to load texture with name: $B737_VC_OVHD_1

 

20160331083054 Loading VC model for  Howard 500 - 105, Civilian

20160331083057 Unable to load texture with name: VC03

 

Most of the interior models uses textures that are hidden in the gauges.

 

 

Cheers, Walter.

Hi Walter,

 

Can you confirm that there's no more errors messages in the latest version related to the gauges? I can only display gauges properly when they are either full 3D objects or when the panel.cfg file has a 'file =' key in the [Vcockpit..] sections.

 

thanks, Maarten

Hi Maarten,

now i get an alert "Textures could not be found", which seems to be the wrong message. The logfile shows there is missing a "FreeImage" DLL:

 

20160405084152 Loading exterior 3D model for MJC-8 Q400, Air Berlin

20160405084153 Error loading texture file: D:\FluSi\P3Dv3\simobjects\airplanes\mjc8q400\texture.BER\q400ext1_night.bmp "System.DllNotFoundException: Unable to load DLL 'FreeImage': Das angegebene Modul wurde nicht gefunden. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E)

   at FreeImageAPI.FreeImage.GetFileType(String filename, Int32 size)

   at FreeImageAPI.FreeImage.LoadEx(String filename, FREE_IMAGE_LOAD_FLAGS flags, FREE_IMAGE_FORMAT& format)

   at FreeImageAPI.FreeImage.LoadBitmap(String filename, FREE_IMAGE_LOAD_FLAGS flags, FREE_IMAGE_FORMAT& format)

   at MaartenBoelens.SimLauncherX.Model.BitmapDictionary.<>c__DisplayClass10_0.<LoadTextures>b__0(String x)"

 

Cheers, Walter.

Hi Walter,

 

Ok, that's a different issue. I made some mistake when creating the installer. I will fix it this evening.

 

thanks, Maarten