Microsoft FSX Simconnect error detected, now restarting connection

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

I flew plenty of hours the last few days in the Twin Otter.  But today I'm continuing my coastal flight around the entire UK.

When I started it today, twice now, I get a green bar with yellow letters saying this, "Microsoft FSX Simconnect error detected, now restarting connection".

Why in the world would I get an FSX error when I'm running P3D?  I do have FSX installed on another drive but haven't even booted it since June.

I'm a neophyte when it comes to this so could someone much wiser than me please help?  What should I do?  If anything.

It didn't do this the last several days when I started the sim.

 

P3D version 3.2.3.16769

 

Thanks

 

Jack

 

Update:

 

I had been flying the Otter with my Saitek yoke, both throttle quads, and the pedals.  But this time I flew the A2A Cherokee and 182 WITH the Saitek TPM.  So as an experiment I rebooted and did not run the TPM and loaded the Phenom 100.  No Simconnect message.  

 

So, what do I do now, any help will be very much appreciated.  Thanks.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

You will get an FSX error regardless of what sim you are running if the addon was compiled using the FSX SimConnect library and not the one from P3D.

 

So if it really is your Twin Otter,  you either have the FSX variant of it installed, or the developer did not build a P3D specific version of the programmatic part of the addon (gauges = systems, menus or other custom logic). Or they just forgot to change the error message text for the P3D version (most likely this is a custom message from the addon itself, there is no such announcement as default in the sim).

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Thanks for getting back to me Oliver, I think you're misunderstanding my post.  I'm sorry that I didn't write it better.  

 

I can get it to duplicate only when I run Saitek's TPM.  I haven't tried it with an A2A plane without the TPM.  So I have to find the time to test that out.  It's either the Comanche without the TPM or the Comanche with the TPM.

 

They told me at P3D I might have to run some Simconnnect mdi thing in my redist folder but there's so many folders with one in each of them.  Are they all that different?

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

There is a lot of confusion about SimConnect.

 

You were asking why you are getting an error message stating an FSX SimConnect error in P3D - the reason is what I wrote, whichever addon/software/module is producing that error either was compiled with the old SimConnect libraries from FSX or the Error message itself has not been updated.

 

Here is how it works:

- SimConnect comes in two parts: the SimConnect API (or "Server") and the SimConnect "Clients".

- The "Server" part is hard coded into the simulator, there is no installing or overwriting it, it is just there

- The "Client" parts can be installed, and they are the ones doing the talking to the server if some addon wants to use SimConnect. Initially they were meant to be installed on other computers, running over the network, but someone discovered that they can be run on the same machine as your sim too. And as the protocol between SimConnect Client and Server has still maintained compatibility, even through P3D V3.3, we can now use those clients to brigde the gap between an addon that was made for FSX and the P3D SimConnect server.

 

Long story short: if you want to run an addon or module that is based on SimConnect, then you have to find out which SimConnect version was used to compile it, and then install the approriate SimConnect client for it. As most people do not know how to find that out, they just install all of the clients ever made (Those for the older FSX incarnations are available as SimConnect.MSI files in "\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3\redist\Interface" folder You will probably need the FSX-SP2-XPACK).

 

Should LM decide one day that the SimConnect server part should no longer be compatible, then no amount of installing older clients will make it work again.

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Wow!  Thanks Lorby, I learned quite a bit today.  I'll run all the simconnect's I can find then in that redist folder.

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Well, I ran all of them and I got an error message when I tried running the one in the FSX-SP1 folder. Then I did a test with just the A2A Cherokee and I still get that message. :(

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

Sorry, I should have been more precise. Installing all of them is not a good idea und unnecessary. Install only the one that you need, which for A2A stuff will be the XPACK one. Remove the other SimConnect Clients (uninstall with Control Panel) except the one from P3D itself, and reinstall the XPACK SimConnect.

 

But I don't think that the SimConnect client is your only problem actually. Make sure that you read through the threads on the A2A forums that describe the exact same issue. I just did, and one suggestion was that you first have to load a default aircraft and then switch to the A2A. The general feeling seems to be, that as long as SimConnect really does reconnect, the message is the only annoyance that you have. If it would fail entirely, that is when the real trouble starts.

 

There are numerous things that can go wrong on the SimConnect "pipline", it can be flooded, the app may not play by the rules (SimConnect coding has changed with P3D V3. It still works the same way, but developers now have to do some things that formerly were not necessary, otherwise leading to errors)

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Darnit, I guess I made a huge mistake.

I'll have to do that then as you described.

Uninstall all of them except P3D then reinstall only XPACK.

 

I was told by Richard when I installed this P3D in late May that I should run all of them. Unless I remember incorrectly, but I'm rpetty sure that's what he said.

[Guest]

I am also frequently getting that message since installing AS16 and when flying the A2A Cherokee. The next time I will start P3D without AS16 to see if that one causes the problem. But it isn't a real problem because it's only a notification stating the connection has been restarted and hence is working fine.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

Yes, that advice is usually given. I can't really understand why, unless you have an addon that was really coded for the older ones.

 

But on the A2A forums they say XPACK, so that is the one I would use.

 

It shouldn't be too much of a problem though. Sounds more like A2A did not recompile their addons with the P3D SimConnect for their P3D compatible offerings. I know from experience that doing it "right" is a huge amount of work. I have to maintain 5 different versions of the same addons currently...

 

J van E: what you write is an indication of SimConnect flooding (too many requests clogging the pipeline) or an incorrectly coded addon running against P3D (to be precise: in P3D V3 you have to cancel all data requests explicitly, even for objects that don't exist anymore! In FSX that wasn't necessary, but in P3D if you omit this as the developer, your addon will collect a massive amount of SimConnect Exceptions). Maybe that tech is slowly reaching the end of it's capabilities too.

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

I looked in Control Panel\Add Remove and found like six of them, some for FSX and some for P3D, well, they're all for FSX I guess but I do have FSX installed on another drive but haven't used it since I installed 3.2.

 

So which ones should I remove?  I'm not having any problems, you mentioned there could be problems, what kind of problems?  I'm not good at this stuff, I'd rather just fly.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

If that error message from A2A is your only problem, just leave them be.

 

To be on the safe side, just reinstall the XPACK client. If the message persists, try the aircraft loading trick (first load a default plane, then switch to A2A). Posting on the A2A forums could help too, maybe they figured out what is causing it.

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Ok, thanks Oliver, when I ran them all I ran the XPACK one so I'm good I guess.  Made a flight and after that message goes away after saying it reconnected I have no problems.  But I too notice it seems to have started either after AS16 or after AS16's latest update.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

These things can always happen when multiple addons developed by different groups come together on the same platform.

 

For example, if developers are not careful, they might reuse a name for a shared data area or some ID that another addon uses as well. There is no way of finding out, except through these erratic error messages.

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Well, I just did a test, I ran the sim without AS16 and loaded the Cherkokee and got the message, then I loaded the default helicopter, no message, then loaded the Cherokee again and no message.