fsx-ms Clouds In The Way

[BDL 3]

Back in action. I looked at jandjfrench's approach. Went through Just Flight's advice on upgrading the 300CBi, inc uninstalling all the 300CBi software and then reinstalling from the original DVD. Downloaded their upgrade and saved it. Tried to reinstall the DVD 300CBi but the process dindn't complete and I never got the Finish option. After looking for signs of the reinstalled 300CBi there were none in FSX, Wndows File Explorer or in Windows 10 Start-All Apps. So I've lost the 300CBi.

 

I've put all this into Just Flight's support and I'm hoping for the best. In the meantime and just in case, does anyone in the forum have any ideas?

 

Brian

[BDL 3]

Still no solution but decided to follow your advice and sent Just Flight the following

 

"... Some problems on FSX flying the 300CBi:

MAP never goes higher than 21"

RPM always at top end of green sector

When playing a FS Recorder saved recording, from Spot View, clouds in the distance appear between me and recorded 300CBi's rotors instead of beyond the 300CBi.

Hoping to solve things I have installed FSX SP2 and Just Flight's 300CBi update, having first uninstalled and then reinstalled the 300CBi from the DVD that I bought.

At this stage I found that the 300CBi software had not being reinstalled from the DVD and I can't find any reference to the 300CBi on FSX, Windows File Explorer or Windows|All Applications. I do not seem able to reinstall the DVD version of the (lovely) 300CBi."

 

They very quickly replied as follows ...

 

" ... Microsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided to block certain types of DRM in Windows 10

 

This has caused a large number of older games to stop working and blocked the use of certain types of protected disks

 

None of our disk product will install in Windows 10

 

Many people who upgraded for free have already rolled back to their previous Windows because of this and other problems. Those who have a new machine with Windows 10 already installed don't have this option

 

You should complain to Microsoft. If enough people do then maybe they will change their mind about this issue.

 

You should also note that some people are finding FSX itself has strange problems in Windows 10. it seems it may not be fully compatible on some systems.

 

There is a possible workaround that will allow safedisc disks to work on some Windows 10 systems.

For it to work you must have a system that doesn't have SecureBoot enabled or that will let you disable the SecureBoot feature in the BIOS

 

The zip below contains tools and instructions for setting up your system temporarily to allow Safedisc discs to be successfully validated. Although it describes the actions for a particular product (VFR Photoscenery) the same method applies to any safedisc disk

 

Download

 

This is definitely "at your own risk" and should only be tried if you are comfortable working with the commandline interface on your system."

[BDL 3]

I took your advice and contacted the supplier, Just Flight, with this

 

" ... Title: Flying Club Schweizer 300CBi

 

System specs:

Operating System: Windows 10 Home

Flight Sim: Flight Simulator X (SP2)

Format: Boxed (Purchased from JF)

 

Comments:

Some problems on FSX flying the 300CBi:

MAP never goes higher than 21"

RPM always at top end of green sector

When playing a FS Recorder saved recording, from Spot View, clouds in the distance appear between me and recorded 300CBi's rotors instead of beyond the 300CBi.

Hoping to solve things I have installed FSX SP2 and Just Flight's 300CBi update, having first uninstalled and then reinstalled the 300CBi from the DVD that I bought.

At this stage I found that the 300CBi software had not been reinstalled from the DVD and I can't find any reference to the 300CBi on FSX, Windows File Explorer or Windows|All Applications. I do not seem able to reinstall the DVD version of the (lovely) 300CBi."

 

Very quickly they replied as follows

 

" ... Microsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided to block certain types of DRM in Windows 10

 

This has caused a large number of older games to stop working and blocked the use of certain types of protected disks

 

None of our disk product will install in Windows 10

 

Many people who upgraded for free have already rolled back to their previous Windows because of this and other problems. Those who have a new machine with Windows 10 already installed don't have this option

 

You should complain to Microsoft. If enough people do then maybe they will change their mind about this issue.

 

You should also note that some people are finding FSX itself has strange problems in Windows 10. it seems it may not be fully compatible on some systems.

 

There is a possible workaround that will allow safedisc disks to work on some Windows 10 systems.

For it to work you must have a system that doesn't have SecureBoot enabled or that will let you disable the SecureBoot feature in the BIOS

 

The zip below contains tools and instructions for setting up your system temporarily to allow Safedisc discs to be successfully validated. Although it describes the actions for a particular product (VFR Photoscenery) the same method applies to any safedisc disk

 

Download

 

This is definitely "at your own risk" and should only be tried if you are comfortable working with the commandline interface on your system."

 

I thought I'd let you know before I try anything else. Just to say at this point I'm not devastated. I've got FSX and the 300CBi on the PC that I fly on and was just trying things out on the (very capable) notebook. So I can still practise real flights before going to the airfield. But it would nice to sort out the problems.

 

I'll see if Microsoft can help and let you know what happens. If you have any ideas please tell me.

 

Brian

[jandjfrench 3]

Hi Brian,

It occurred to me that the 300CBi is included in the Just Flight Flying Club Collection which I have.  I recently re-installed FSX but not the Collection.  I installed it and checked for problems with the 300CBi but all looks well.  Upon beginning the install I saw a reference to "Macrovision" which most likely indicates some type of copy protection but I could try to zip up the aircraft and send it to you.

I'm not 100% sure that just viewing the heli in spot view and seeing problems with the clouds was the problem you were having so if not let me know and I'll try to duplicate what you were seeing.

Jim F.

[BDL 3]

Hi JimF,

 

Thanks for your response. The "clouds" issue was the subject of my original post. I thought there might be an obvious, simple solution that I was missing but that's clearly not so. And I'm quite happy to live with things as they are - I can still fly the 300CBi on my PC and rehearse flights when required before going to Beccles to fly the real thing.

 

As I said in my last post I contacted Just Flight in case they know the answer. Along with my question to them were some other (more) important issues. To summarise:

 

MAP never goes higher than 21"

RPM always at top end of green sector

When playing a FS Recorder saved recording, from Spot View, clouds in the distance appear between me and recorded 300CBi's rotors instead of beyond the 300CBi.

 

Also I pointed out to Just Flight that having taken their advice to unininstall and reinstall the JF 300CBi before running their service pack I am now unable to reinstall the 300CBi on my Windows 10 notebook. Just Flight's response, which I posted, explains why I can't reinstall from their DVD but it doesn't address tha MAP or RPM issues.

 

Thank heavens the 300CBi still works on the Windows 10 PC. I use it most days. At the moment I'm touring all the WW2 airfields in East Angla, even those not included in FSX's airfields.

 

Brian

[jandjfrench 3]

Hi Brian,

I try to stay on track as it seems many threads aren't exactly hijacked but seem to go off on tangents.  As I know very little about helicopters or how closely they're emulated in FSX I'm afraid I can't be of much help with that.  I did check a bit and noticed that there seems to be some governor affecting the rpm.  By changing what is normally my prop pitch I could get the rpm in the middle of the green.  The manifold pressure was far from stable and jumped around what seemed to be an excessive amount.  I don't have my fps displayed but this aircraft seems to take a real hit on a smooth display.  I strongly suspect that there is a correlation between the visual performance hit and the gauge operation.  I switched to the default Robinson and made no other system changes and everything was very smooth.

I did refer to the Flying Club X Members Handbook which contains a tutorial for the 300 that seems to address some control issues.  A magnifying glass will  be helpful but it seems to reference some issues with the performance impact and the rpm control.

Jim

[BDL 3]

Thanks Jim I'll have a look there and report back anything of intetest.

Brian