Help with Simconnect Please

[Malcolm Wright 2]

Recently I have been having problems relating to the connection between the physical part of my setup, ie yoke, pedals, throttles etc, and I think it is related to a problem with Simconnect.

The problem is shown by sometimes I get a message from Ezydok saying that it cannot find the FSX exe. Sometimes FSX crashes and says that there is a problem with Simconnect and to reconfigure it.

I use EZYDOK, also known as EZCA to set up the views in many different aircraft and each tied to a button on the Yoke and throttles. Am I right in assuming that the system uses Simconnect to pass information from the hardware to the appropriate software. If so does anyone know which of the versions of Simconnect below is the correct one.

I have looked in the install lists and find that I have the following versions of Simconnect:

1. V10.0.60905.0 which was installed on 2/9/2017 and could be connected to the installation of the Cessna 162 Skycatcher.

2. V10.0.61242.0 installed on 17/5/18 and could be connected to the installation of some Saitek hardware/software.

3. V10.0.61259.0 installed on 14/3/2017  and could be connected to another Saitek installation.

4. V10.0.62613.0 installed on 16/10/2018 and I am pretty sure is part of EZYDOK.

I have three questions to ask:

1. Which, if any do I need to have installed of the above Simconnects and what do they do?

2. How can I get hold of the Simconnect configure application. I have come across one but I have no idea how to install and run it as it doesn't seem to have anything as simple as an .exe! Is there an idiots version of the configure application that I can get my hands on and run to ensure that the Simconnect used in FSX runs ok?

3. Does FSX use Simconnect to connect between hardware, yokes etc, and the internal's of FSX?

Thanks in anticipation as at the moment FSX is the only relaxation I have, and at the moment I am spending more time fault finding than flying!

All the best

Malcolm Wright

Computer:

Computer: ACPI x64-based PC

Comprising:

Intel(R) Core(T) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.2GHz (8 Cores)

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070

Samsung SSD SCSI Disk Device 500gb Drive 😄 Only used for OS and FSX and related items.

ST1000DM 010-2EP102 SCSI Disk Device Drive 😧 Everything else!

Memory 16MB

Saitek Yoke and throttle quadrant + 1 extra throttle quadrant, Saitek autopilot + Flaps and Pitch Trim,Saitek Radio , Saitek switch panel + Gear lever.

Running Windows 7 64 bit.

 

[Jim Young 2,356]

SimConnect is very complicated for many and they may be as confused as you are so I hope you get the answers you want to your questions.  AVSIM has a forum for throttles, yokes, and Saitek stuff in the Hardware Forum. You might ask your questions about the throttle connections there.  I moved your topic in the FSX Forum to this forum, the Simconnect Forum as you might find answers to your questions by looking at some of the topics and posts here. 

Most developers have their own modified simconnect that is installed when you install the application.  It does it all automatically without you configuring anything.  An application or hardware will find the appropriate simconnect to run their product.  So, if you are have a problem with your software or hardware connecting to FSX, you should reinstall that hardware or software addon and make sure you are using Admin Privileges.

I'm trying to figure out what version of FSX you have installed (i.e., FSX-SE, FSX Boxed with Acceleration, FSX Boxed with SP2?).  I found the following guide on Logitech and it shows the various versions required depending on the version you have installed - https://support.logitech.com/en_us/article/FSX-driver-and-plugin-setup-guide

[Malcolm Wright 2]

Jim,

Thanks for your comments and moving this to the correct forum.

The version of FSX installed is  the "FSX DeLuxeEdition" on CD.

I don't know is this is important!

I certainly have SP1 and SP2 installed but I am not sure about acceleration as I can't actually put my hands on the CD at the moment.

I can sort the problem, to a large extent, by rebooting the computer before starting FSX. Sometimes if fails the first time but works the second time!

All the best

Malcolm Wright

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hello Malcolm,

first of all, SimConnect has nothing at all to do with your hardware. SimConnect is the simulator's API, the application programming interface, that a programmer writing an addon application can use to access the internals of the simulator. Nothing more, nothing less. There is nothing to "configure", it is pure code, it creates the "bridge" between an external program (like EZDOK) and the simulator itself. This bridge can span over a network too, so developers are able to write programs that access the sim running on a different computer.

This bridge has different versions because there have been different versions of the simulator. Naturally, with a new version of the sim, the API changes too, to offer new features or just to stay compatible with the current sim version. The purpose of an API is continuity, so a programmer can rely on his product to work with future version of the simulator - but - he may have to recompile his code with a new version of the API library. And this is where the confusion starts. Microsoft made it so, that you have these SimConnect clients - which is what you have installed. Those are not "versions of SimConnect" - they are different client libraries that talk to the SimConnect API (which is an integral, non-removable part of the sim itself, it doesn't get installed, and it usually can't break). Many developer just didn't update their client software with a new version of the SimConnect library, instead they are requiring or even shipping the version that they made their addon with. 

In your case, having these many SimConnect clients installed in parallel is probably not a good thing. But if you uninstall them, one or more of your addons may stop working.

• V10.0.61259.0 is the FSX Acceleration version. That could indeed be a problem if you don't have the actual FSX Acceleration product installed. 
• V10.0.62613.0 should not be there. This is the SimConnect client version for the FSX Steam Edition, and it cannot work with any other FSX flavor. You should definitely remove it.
• The other two are SimConnect client versions that were created before Acceleration. They shouldn't be a threat, but if you remove them, older addons (made before 2008) may stop working.

From the outside this looks like you may have installed an addon (EZDOK? Saitek?) using the FSX:SE (Steam Edition) version of that addon. That would indeed cause trouble because you don't have the SE, but an older FSX version instead.

Best regards

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by Lorby_SI

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Hey Oliver,

As you know, different versions of ESP based flight sim have used different versions of SimConnect, and for backwards compatibility I've run all versions for many, many years with any issues (and I run a LOT of controllers and addon software during my flights). I guess I just don't understand the logic for their being a conflict or other problem when having multiple versions of SimConnect installed.  Can you educate me my friend?

 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

7 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

I guess I just don't understand the logic for their being a conflict or other problem when having multiple versions of SimConnect installed.  Can you educate me my friend?

Hello Dave,

I don't think that the different versions are a problem - but that he has a SimConnect client installed for a simulator that he doesn't have (SE).

As long as your version numbers stay below your actual sim version you are usually fine. But a client using a more advanced SimConnect version can't really work.

Best regards

Edited October 17, 2018 by Lorby_SI

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

1 minute ago, Lorby_SI said:

Hello Dave,

I don't think that the different versions are a problem - but that he has a SimConnect client installed for a simulator that he doesn't have (SE).

As long as your version numbers stay below your actual sim version you are usually fine. But a client using a more advanced SimConnect version can't really work.

Best regards

Ah!  Okay, thanks my friend.  I apologize for misunderstanding.

Hope you are well Oliver!

 

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

For the OP... given what you described, I'd lean towards you having some type of USB or controller related issue, especially if you're using a USB 2.0 controller on a USB 3.0 port (it's supposed to be backwards compatible at version 3.0, but it's long been proven otherwise).  The other issue (even more likely) is that your power saving settings for your USB ports is turned on.  We've seen this problem time and time and time again, and we recommend that people always turn the USB power saving functions off.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Best wishes!

[Malcolm Wright 2]

Thanks to all who have responded. I will try removing the version V10.0.62613.0 ,  the FSX-SE version. I did use Steam some time ago on another machine, so I am not quite sure how it got onto this, a new machine built specially for me.

I'll also look at the power aspect of USB.

Once again thanks a lot for your help.

Malcolm Wright

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

1 minute ago, Malcolm Wright said:

I will try removing the version V10.0.62613.0 ,  the FSX-SE version. I did use Steam some time ago on another machine, so I am not quite sure how it got onto this, a new machine built specially for me.

Hi,

that alone will probably not help. The fact that it is there points to an addon that is using it. So I assumed that you installed that addon incorrectly = for the wrong simulator version.

Best regards

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

I’m installing a fresh Windows 10 pro and P3D 4.4.

I was told that I need to run three sim connects.  Can someone please tell me what ones and where they’re located?

Many thanks in advance.

Jack

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

31 minutes ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

I’m installing a fresh Windows 10 pro and P3D 4.4.

I was told that I need to run three sim connects.  Can someone please tell me what ones and where they’re located?

Many thanks in advance.

Jack

They are located in the Redist folder in your main P3D directory.

 

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

12 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

They are located in the Redist folder in your main P3D directory.

 

Thanks Dave, but which ones specifically for P3D 4.4?

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

3 hours ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

Thanks Dave, but which ones specifically for P3D 4.4?

All but the JPN (Japan) and RUS (Russian), unless you need those for the langauge.

Now, you asked which are for P3DV4.4.  Actually, that is already installed.  The others are previous versions that you should install for backwards compatibility for various addons.

Here is a little file I created to help explain SimConnect to people unfamiliar with SimConnect... I haven't had time to polish it though.  LINK  There is even better information at FSDeveloper.com.

Edited December 6, 2018 by DaveCT2003

[Jack_Sawyer 4,600]

Much obliged Dave.

 Thanks!