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Chuck Steinmetz

Am I Suffering In Silence? Or is it me....

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I've been flightsimming for several years.  I've watched the progress of P3D and many addons.  But I'm wondering if I'm the only one who seems to run into issues w/ the software.  It's very possible that it's set/up operator error....

I'm not questioning performance - I'm lucky enough to have purchased my computer(s) from Jetline Systems and they are solid machines.  I run a FDS Jetmax single seat 737 Sim w/ Simavionics software.  I also network Pilot2ATC on a third computer.

It took some learning to get everything set up  - but all seems to work well.  Once in a while I run into a glitch w/ P2ATC, but no ATC software is perfect.  The Simavionic software is rock solid.  Where I seem to run into issues is w/P3D (V4.4) and addons.

And where I get really frustrated is after spending the time setting up sim, the weather, the flight plan, the route, etc, etc...inevitably I run into an issue w/ something not working correctly....an airport, addon, FSUPIC/Throttles may disconnect, the jetways are sitting up in the sky, the plane is 5 feet into the ground or in the airport, a chunk of something is missing, etc....and there is no consistency to what the issues are so tracking them down becomes difficult.

I have learned to reboot my computer(s), make sure the are talking to each other, keeping my software up to date, make sure I've run the elevation config in Vector w/ any additional software as a part of my 'preflight' almost every time.  And yet just as you are ready to fly or start in earnest something comes up.

So am I nuts?  Is it just me?  And while I have no real desire to switch over to X-Plane (again, this has nothing to do w/ performance) are there fewer issues in this area w/ that software?  I know they have made many improvements in other areas.

So that's it - I felt I had to vent after an unsuccessful attempt this AM.  If this doesn't sound familiar to anyone else than it's definitely operator error and I'll keep reading forums like this and other for ways to improve my reliability.

Thanks!

Chuck

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You are not alone, as such.  It seems that there is always something not working quite right. Part of this is inherent in the complexity of the systems we setup.  If you only ran a stock install, only one airplane and a simple joystick then I suspect things would be more reliable.  I believe one must approach this hobby expecting that part of the hobby is maintaining and troubleshooting our setup.  You can either be frustrated or accept it as a challenge to overcome with joy (that's not quite the right word, but some sot of non-frustration).  I go both ways.  I have been frustrated many times.  I'm going down to my sim soon and full expect to spend some times updating software before I am able to practice some maneuvers.  A long as I can practice what I need to practice, I'm calling it a success.

To me the trials and tribulations of flight sim mirror real world flying.  I fly both jets and G/A.  The anomalies that show up in the flight simulation of jets show up and need to be dealt with in the real world.  On the G/A side something is always breaking.  In the last 2 month I have had to have a fan on G1000 pfd replaced.  A new stall warning horn and minor damage repair to wheel pants due to a hard landing.  When I feel myself getting upset, I remind myself I like I like airplanes and this comes with liking airplanes.

I would be great if everything always worked but alas, I think it never will.

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Yes, I have come to accept that troubleshooting is part of the hobby. I long ago concluded that the idea of technology working the way it is intended all the time and always improving is a myth! This said, it certainly makes those flights where everything worked well much more satisfying!


Dan Scott

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You’re not wrong. The one great thing about a 64-bit sim is that at least we’re not looking over our shoulders for OOMs anymore, however.

That said, it’s a very low bar and I too wish P3D (especially when laden with addons) was more consistent and trouble free.

James

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To quote a great philosopher, "One of us is nuts and it's not you." Yes, it does seem like something is always breaking. In my case, I can't stop adding new airports and aircraft. Each has its own idea of how things should be configured and what your configuration files should contain. Recently, I added an aircraft that replaced my FSUIPC dll with an old version (thanks, man). I tried running a weather add-on that previously worked just fine, but now causes a strange loss of control responsiveness. The number of add-ons you have seems to only multiply the chance of problems. No surprise there.

Like Scott said, if you only run the basics and don't use add-ons, you'd not have many issues.

The problem is how much time is required to sort out whatever new issue has appeared. This is what has led to me taking long breaks when it all becomes too much.

Thank goodness for the forums here. If you can't find a solution to a problem, at least you can vent and find a sympathetic ear.

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Richard Chafey

 

i7-8700K @4.8GHz - 32Gb @3200  - ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero - EVGA RTX3090 - 3840x2160 Res - KBSim Gunfighter - Thrustmaster Warthog dual throttles - Crosswind V3 pedals

MSFS 2020, DCS

 

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4 minutes ago, honanhal said:

You’re not wrong. The one great thing about a 64-bit sim is that at least we’re not looking over our shoulders for OOMs anymore, however.

That said, it’s a very low bar and I too wish P3D (especially when laden with addons) was more consistent and trouble free.

James

Thank you all - I feel better already - I realize this is a P3D forum, but do we know if Xplane has similar issues?

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Was having the very same whinge only today.  I finally have everything working perfectly after so many frustrating flights ending in some issue (or so i thought). 

Planned, Setup and flew SFO to LAS last night. After a beautiful approach around from 27L to 19R, i noticed a strange graphics anomaly on finals and ended up sinking through the scenery. Yep, forgot to run Vector setup to exclude elevation correction at KLAS. 

What will tomorrows issue be I wonder?

Edited by Jetset408

Rob Bates
Simming since the age of 10 with MSFS 5.0

P3D v5.0 | 10700K (@stock) | EVGA GTX1080Ti SC2 | Z490-E ROG STRIX | 32GB 3600MHz | 970 EVO Plus M.2 & EVO 850 SSDs | H115i cooling | NZXT H440 Case | Samsung 32" CJG 1440p Curved Monitor | Virtual-Fly Ruddo & TQ3+ | Thrustmaster FCS Sidestick | Skalarki MCDU

Ask me about (my most flown): FSLabs A320-X series | MaddogX
In the hangar: Majestic Q400 Pro | PMDG 747 | A2A C182, Cherokee, Comanche & Spitfire

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15 minutes ago, Chuck Steinmetz said:

Thank you all - I feel better already - I realize this is a P3D forum, but do we know if Xplane has similar issues?

I use both of them. X-Plane doesn't typically have the same issues - but different ones. It's as mentioned above. I use a networked configuration based on SPAD.neXt, a few of the Saitek FIPs like to spike under XP, then I change the cabling to the host machine, you can be sure one of the numerous USB devices isn't properly plugged in. I use Ultra Weather, the waves look "strange" , I have to switch them back and forth once, then they are fine. While XP dosn't have autogen loading in patches or black buildings, it sports shimmering over London in the (generally very beautiful) ORBX GB South, and yes, my recently installed Aerosoft EGLL causes a few patches void of buildings East of the airport... and so on.

Most of it can be sorted, but I would say, it's similar for both systems. And probably for any sim advanced and stuffed with addons like them. Experience (I've been into simming for 30 years now) helps a lot, though.

Kind regards, Michael

Edited by pmb

MSFS, Beta tester of Simdocks, SPAD.neXt, and FS-FlightControl

Intel i7-13700K / AsRock Z790 / Crucial 32 GB DDR 5 / ASUS RTX 4080OC 16GB / BeQuiet ATX 1000W / WD m.2 NVMe 2TB (System) / WD m.2 NVMe 4 TB (MSFS) / WD HDD 10 TB / XTOP+Saitek hardware panel /  LG 34UM95 3440 x 1440  / HP Reverb 1 (2160x2160 per eye) / Win 11

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20 minutes ago, Chuck Steinmetz said:

I realize this is a P3D forum, but do we know if Xplane has similar issues?

using XP and P3D 50/50, you will find similar and different situations in either sim. I find one no better than the other. Both good, both bad. choose your poison. 🙂

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17 minutes ago, Adrian123 said:

using XP and P3D 50/50, you will find similar and different situations in either sim. I find one no better than the other. Both good, both bad. choose your poison. 🙂

That was my guess, but it's good to know - thank you all!

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Maybe I’m just lucky because I’m enjoying P3D v4.4 with the PMDG737, plenty of 3rd party airports, Orbx FTX Global, GSX, EFB 2, Ultimate Terrain Europe and USA and Active Sky. Can’t remember when I last had a crash.

There are minor problems to sort out. SODE jetways not working at some airports but I hope to have those fixed with downloads. Keeping firm control of layering in scenery.cfg is always good.

When you’re having problems it’s best to disable as much 3rd party scenery as you can and run with default aircraft. Keeping things as close as possible to the default sim is a good start then add things back slowly until a problem is found then concentrate on fixing that.

With so many attractive addons it’s tempting to add lots of them but it’s not without risk.

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Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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1 minute ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Maybe I’m just lucky because I’m enjoying P3D v4.4 with the PMDG737, plenty of 3rd party airports, Orbx FTX Global, GSX, EFB 2, Ultimate Terrain Europe and USA and Active Sky. Can’t remember when I last had a crash.

There are minor problems to sort out. SODE jetways not working at some airports but I hope to have those fixed with downloads. Keeping firm control of layering in scenery.cfg is always good.

When you’re having problems it’s best to disable as much 3rd party scenery as you can and run with default aircraft. Keeping things as close as possible to the default sim is a good start then add things back slowly until a problem is found then concentrate on fixing that.

With so many attractive addons it’s tempting to add lots of them but it’s not without risk.

Thanks - Does turning scenery 'off' in the Addonorganizer that isn't being used help?  For example - just like another use above in this thread I really do enjoy addon airports.  So if I am fling from X to Y does shutting the other airports help?  I note that you can set up regions (which I haven't done yet) - maybe one answer is to set up the country in different sections and turn on/off those that aren't being used (if that would help)....again, thank you.

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1 hour ago, Chuck Steinmetz said:

I'm lucky enough to have purchased my computer(s) from Jetline Systems and they are solid machines.

Not only are Jetline PC's most excellent, their customer service and knowledge is too. If you have a chunk of time, give them a call, and they will take the time to get you up and running consistently or at least discover what/where the conflict(s) is/are. 

 

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14 minutes ago, Chuck Steinmetz said:

Thanks - Does turning scenery 'off' in the Addonorganizer that isn't being used help?  For example - just like another use above in this thread I really do enjoy addon airports.  So if I am fling from X to Y does shutting the other airports help?  I note that you can set up regions (which I haven't done yet) - maybe one answer is to set up the country in different sections and turn on/off those that aren't being used (if that would help)....again, thank you.

Not really Chuck. All your saving is a bit of loading time. What caught my eye in your post were problems with FSUIPC5 and throttles disconnecting. Is that something that happens occasionally or more often? Make sure you have the latest version of FSUIPC5 as earlier versions are not supported.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to sort out the hardware side. List what you have and the problems. Ideally you should raise it in the FSUIPC forum. Paid version or free one?


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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1 hour ago, honanhal said:

That said, it’s a very low bar and I too wish P3D (especially when laden with addons) was more consistent and trouble free.

It is - it's when people start adding all sorts of random add-on combinations that things can go sideways. There's a reason why in aviation there are lots of restrictions before you can combine equipment combos and make changes.

Cheers!

 

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Luke Kolin

I make simFDR, the most advanced flight data recorder for FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane.

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