VRInsight FCU Combo and LINDA

[Eschell 0]

Good morning Andrew,

I did the two test and sent it to you.

Thank you

Erwin

[ScotFlieger 280]

Hi Erwin

Thank you for doing the latest tests. I must conclude that your MCP panel is faulty. It is not responding to the connection request (CMDCON) sent 5 times from FSUIPC4 and therefore fails to initialise. As a result LINDA can not control the panel for normal operation.

The relevant lines in the logs are:

Your Test

      500 SimConnect_Open succeeded: waiting to check version okay
      500 Trying to use SimConnect Acc/SP2 Oct07
      500 Opened separate AI Traffic client okay
      516 VRI port 1 "com3" opened
      532 VRI com3 <--- CMDRST [from FSUIPC init]
     1610 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=N, In Dlg=N
     2438 VRI com3 <--- CMDCON [from FSUIPC init]
     2516 Running in "Microsoft Flight Simulator X", Version: 10.0.61637.0 (SimConnect: 10.0.61259.0)
     2516 Initialising SimConnect data requests now
     2516 FSUIPC Menu entry added
     2547 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=Y
     2547 C:\Users\Erwin\Documents\Flight Simulator X-Dateien\standard.FLT
     2547 C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\SimObjects\Airplanes\C172\Cessna172SP.AIR
     2547 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=N
     2563 Memory in use: 612Mb, Avail=3484Mb, MaxFreeBlock=2043Mb
     3703 VRI com3 <--- CMDCON [from FSUIPC init]
     3844 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=Y
     4969 VRI com3 <--- CMDCON [from FSUIPC init]
     6203 VRI com3 <--- CMDCON [from FSUIPC init]
     7422 VRI com3 <--- CMDCON [from FSUIPC init]
    62641 Memory in use: 1122Mb, Avail=2974Mb, MaxFreeBlock=2043Mb
    91172 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=N, In Dlg=N
    91203 Aircraft loaded: running normally now ...
    91203 User Aircraft ID 1 supplied, now being used
    91594 System time = 20/12/2017 08:04:15, Simulator time = 08:02:45 (07:02Z)
    91594 Aircraft="Cessna Skyhawk 172SP Paint1"
    94532 Starting everything now ...

My Test (using MCP2 Boeing Panel)

      187 SimConnect_Open succeeded: waiting to check version okay
      187 Trying to use SimConnect Steam
      187 Opened separate AI Traffic client okay
      218 VRI port 1 "com4" opened
      234 VRI com4 <--- CMDRST [from FSUIPC init]
     1265 Running in "Microsoft Flight Simulator X", Version: 10.0.62615.0 (SimConnect: 10.0.62615.0)
     1265 Initialising SimConnect data requests now
     1265 FSUIPC Menu entry added
     1281 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=Y
     1281 C:\Users\andre\Documents\Flight Simulator X Files\C172 EGPH.FLT
     1281 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes\C172\Cessna172SP.air
     1281 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=N
     1375 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=Y
     1453 VRI com4 <--- CMDCON [from FSUIPC init]
     1500 COMread:   8 bytes: 43 4D 44 43 4F 4E 00 42 
     1515 VRI com4 <--- CMDFUN [from FSUIPC init]
     1687 Memory in use: 727Mb, Avail=3369Mb, MaxFreeBlock=2043Mb
     1906 COMread:   8 bytes: 43 4D 44 4D 43 50 32 42 
     1921 VRI com4 <--- CMDVER [from FSUIPC init]
     1921 VRI MCP2B ("MCP2 Boeing") detected on port com4
     1968 COMread:   8 bytes: 43 4D 44 31 2E 31 30 30 
     1984 VRI com4 <--- CMDFR [from FSUIPC init]
     4250 Weather Mode now = Theme
    10781 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=N, In Dlg=Y
    10781 Aircraft loaded: running normally now ...

I suggest you contact SimMarket to get a replacement FCU Airbus panel.

 

 

[Eschell 0]

Hi Andrew,

very bad News!

I will contact simmarket, and I hope they will change the device, but unfortunately I think they will not do it.

Just in case, simmarket won't Change the device, I am looking for another solution and therefore I have a last question.

Based on the tests, do you think it is possible to run the MCP via VRSim Software and create key macros and run the other (SAITEK) Panels via LINDA? But I remember, you told me, that I have to run VRSIM OR LINDA and not both together.

Is it possible to assign Airbus functions via FSUIPC and  key presses?

 

Anyway, thank you very very much for your abundance of Patience and help.

I wish you and your familiy a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Erwin

[ScotFlieger 280]

Hi Erwin 

sorry to have been the bearer of bad news. In the UK we have the right to a refund or replacement under distance purchasing rules. 

I don’t the VRI options well enough to offer advice. I have never used them - I have only used LINDA. 

[Eschell 0]

Hi Andrew,

Really, I don't want to disturb you during Christmas time. This post is only to report you a very very strange thing.

As I didn't receive any answer from the vendor (Christmas time) regarding changing the device, I decided  to disable the FCU in the Setup MCP combo, that means, I unticked the box "enabled".

And then: The MCP Compo starts working, I have all the displays that I should have (SPD, HDG, ALT...) and the displays on the MCP Combo show the same settings like in the aircraft. If I change settings in the aircraft i. e. ALT, the display on the MCP Combo changes too and shows the same settings like in the aircraft.

But it works not on the other way. If I push or rotate a knob on the MCP compo, nothing happens, neither on the MCP compo display itself nor on the aircraft displays.

I think, this is really strange. Do you have any idea about this thing?

Anyway, Merry Christmas, maybe after the Holidays you have time for an answer.

Erwin

[ScotFlieger 280]

Hi Erwin

You are not disturbing me. If you have disabled LINDA MCP checkbox then some other software is outputting to your panel. This can only be VRISIM.EXE or SERIALFP2.EXE obviously on some form of auto-boot. Open Task Manager and check if these tasks appear. If you find they are them this will be what is stopping FSUIPC and LINDA working correctly. 

[Eschell 0]

Hi Andrew,

no, I removed VRSim and SERIALFP form the Computer via the System control - Progams - unistall. So they are not running. But I changed sone Thing in Hardware configuration:

Devices and Printers - FCU Compo properties - Hardware - properties - Connection Settings - advanced - the values to  read or to send Bytes from 4096 to 2240.

But now I changed These Settings back, as the reaction of the compo seems a Little bit slow. So, now it works in only one direction. As I said, If I push a knob or rotate a knob, on the Panel itself and on the Displays in the aircraft nothing happens.

Erwin

[Eschell 0]

Hi Andrew,

sorry, I don't want to annoy you regarding my problem with the MCP Combo but I have some questions.

I contacted the vendor regarding the "faulty"panel and in the meanwhile the conversation between me an the vendor is, let me say "difficult".

So, I contacted VRInsight, the solution from these guys was very "simple": "It is not necessary to use LINDA, the panel is working with VRInsight Software". So far, so bad. But I followed the advice from VRInsight.

The result: If I disable the MCP combo in LINDA Setup and use the VRInsight Software, the panel is working (based on predefined modules - the left part of the panel is working as it should, the buttons on the right side are predefined as well but I am not satisfied with the predefined functions). So I believe, it is not a mechanical fault of the panel.

If I enable the MCP Combo in LINDA Setup an I close the VRInsight Software, the panel is not working...

My question: Is it possible, that my config-mcp2a.lua file or other configuration flies are wrong?

 

Erwin

[ScotFlieger 280]

Hi Erwin

The VRi software is perfectly adequate with the correct configuration file although it does lack the flexibility and added functionality that LINDA offers. 

The config-mcp.lua file you previously sent me was correctly formatted. It is unlikely the cause of your problems. The key cause is that FSUIPC does not see the panel  

I am completely baffled as to why the VRi software is communicating and FSUIPC/LINDA is not. I have asked the FSUIPC developer if the fixed connection speed of 115200 bps can be varied to see if your panel has a particular speed issue. I will report back when I here anything. 

[guenseli 1,591]

Hello Andrew, Hello Erwin,

 

I have read the entire thread here and my personal conclusion is, that there is a problem with COM ports and the communication.

What OS do you use, Erwin? Win10 or Win7/8?

 

Many, many years ago when I got my first MCP Combo I remember that I have had also big troubles with the COM port story. However, of course, I can't say what was the solution.

 

If you both stuck here in the end and do not have any solution, I would highly recommend to consider a complete re-installation of the OS! (But do not hit me if it isn't working also afterwards, we talk about computers here  )

That will probably solve the COM port mess. 

Can't promise it will work in the end, but that will be my personal next logical step.

 

Good luck!

 

[Eschell 0]

Hello Guenseli, Hello Andrew

Thank's to you· Guenseli, for your post and your proposal and of course thank's to you, Andrew,  for your help and support.

As I am not an IT specialist, I have no idea whether the COM port ist working correctly or not. Is there any possibility to check it out? Some commands in the device manager (I use WIN 7)?

In my FSX I have a huge amount of add-ons, do I have it to reinstall after the re-installation of the OS?

 

Erwin

[guenseli 1,591]

5 hours ago, Eschell said:

In my FSX I have a huge amount of add-ons, do I have it to reinstall after the re-installation of the OS?

 

Unfortunately yes. You will start from scratch.

As I said, think good about it as it is a big task. But maybe it is the last solution.

From my side I have no other idea (but I'm no specialist also)

[Eschell 0]

On ‎16‎.‎01‎.‎2018 at 11:17 PM, ScotFlieger said:

Hi Erwin

The VRi software is perfectly adequate with the correct configuration file although it does lack the flexibility and added functionality that LINDA offers. 

The config-mcp.lua file you previously sent me was correctly formatted. It is unlikely the cause of your problems. The key cause is that FSUIPC does not see the panel  

I am completely baffled as to why the VRi software is communicating and FSUIPC/LINDA is not. I have asked the FSUIPC developer if the fixed connection speed of 115200 bps can be varied to see if your panel has a particular speed issue. I will report back when I here anything. 

Hi Andrew,

I don't want to stress you, but have you heard anything from FSUIPC developer regarding the connection speed?

I run the FCU Combo with VRinsight software, but as you said, it does not has the flexibility and functionality like LINDA. In addition the way to reprogram the buttons with the key mapping software is not working, as FSUIPC is not communicating with the FCU.

By the way, have you ever heard something about Airbus X Extented SDK? As far as I know means SDK Self Development Kit.

Till I let the VRinsight software running, I receive always the message: "VRinsight IPC interface module based on Aerosoft Airbus X Extended SDK loading success"

Erwin

[Eschell 0]

On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 7:16 AM, guenseli said:

If you both stuck here in the end and do not have any solution, I would highly recommend to consider a complete re-installation of the OS! (But do not hit me if it isn't working also afterwards, we talk about computers here  )

That will probably solve the COM port mess. 

Can't promise it will work in the end, but that will be my personal next logical step.

 

Good luck!

 

Hi Guenseli,

I did what you recommended, I made a completely new installation of the OS (Windows 7), the FSX and all the Addons.

But not really successful!

The FCU Combo is initializing:  "Linda configures....." and after the FCU Combo shows the values "SPD", "HDG" and so on. At the first view it seems working, but...

If I rotate a knob or push one, no response in the Flightsim/cockpit and the values on the FCU Combo do not change as well!!

Otherwise, if i rotate the SPD knob in the "Cockpit", the value on the FCU Combo changes as well, so there is only one way communication from the Computer/FSX to the FCU Combo, but not in the other way.

Only to let you know, that the reinstallation does not solve the Problem, but.. now I have a clean Installation:))

Erwin

 

 

[bullo82 0]

I'm having the exact same issues, however I don't see any retry connecting to the COM3 of the FCU Airbus Combo.

Unfortunately this issue seems to be isolated for LINDA. The COM (serial) are pretty straightforward, they work or they don't. If this is the case where VRiSim works fine connecting and handling the device and LINDA doesn't it has to do about how linda handles the COM devices.

I've just got this new Airbus FCU expecting I would be able to use LINDA, but now I'm stuck using the default VRiSIM which doesn't work with Airbus Professional, so more good news.

I can provide any logs as you were talking, I had the similar events here:

    5156 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=N, In Dlg=N
     5500 VRI MCP2A ("MCP2 Airbus") detected on port com3
     6593 Running in "Lockheed Martin® Prepar3D® v4", Version: 4.3.29.25520 (SimConnect: 4.3.0.0)
 6593 Initialising SimConnect data requests now
     6593 FSUIPC Menu entry added
     6609 ... Using Prepar3D with Professional Plus License
     6625 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=Y, In Dlg=Y
     6625 C:\Users\Daniel\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\Prepar3D_Default.fxml
     6625 D:\Games\P3DV4\SimObjects\Airplanes\IRIS Raptor Driver\Raptor.air
    20906 Weather Mode now = Theme
    23297 C:\Users\Daniel\Documents\Aerosoft\Aerosoft A318-A319 Professional\SimObjects\Airplanes\Aerosoft A319 IAE Professional\A319IAE.air
    23297 C:\Users\Daniel\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Files\A320 EGLL BA 518.fxml
    68937 Loading Complete ...
    69640 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=N, In Menu=N, In Dlg=N
    69640 Aircraft loaded: running normally now ...
    69703 User Aircraft ID 4 supplied, now being used
    69843 System time = 31/08/2018 23:14:27, Simulator time = 14:00:46 (13:00Z)
    69843 Aircraft="Airbus A319 British Airways G-DBCF (Aerosoft A319 IAE Professional)"
    70468 Deactivated for PID=11760, "EZCA.exe"
    70468 Lost focus to PID=11760, "EZCA.exe"
    76015 -------------------- Starting everything now ----------------------
    76062 Ready Flags: Ready-To-Fly=Y, In Menu=N, In Dlg=N
    76093 ASN active function link set
    76093 Ready for ActiveSky WX radar with additional data
    76109 Exception 25 "ILLEGAL_OPERATION", Ref 1517, Index param -1 on MapClientEventToSimEvent for "AP_MACH_VAR_DEC", id=65917 [0x1017D]

Then after that I have few hundred of line stating the same about MapClientEvnettoSimEvent for many commands, after that:

 

The main behavior I see compared with others using the device in youtube videos, when you load an airplane LINDA triggers a lot of events in the console. For me that never happens, and the FCU is stuck as well as Type 1.100 Dream Supplier!

 

Is there any way we could help to solve this issue?