Does anyone have a magic bullet or something to assist in bringing my FS2004 aircraft to FSX? I have both payware and freeware aircraft, and to date I've only been able to bring (1) aircraft to the FSX platform. NOTE: Most FS2004 payware aircraft won't let you install them to FSX!:( The payware aircraft companies do have some aircraft that they have modified to FSX, but they want you to pay for them again to get the FSX version. Whatever happened to FREE upgrades for existing customers???:(Converting the (1) aircraft that did eventually work in FSX did involve quite a lot of tinkering and tweaking to even get it to work in FSX. I had to do the following in order to get this aircraft to work:1. Find ALL corresponding gauge files involved with the aircraft and copy them to the panel folder.2. Find images of the aircraft on the internet that I was importing and adjust the file size in Photoshop down to a max of 400 pixels in height, then saving the image and title it "thumbnail.jpg".3. Copy the file named "texture.cfg" from the c172 texture folder and each "thumbnail.jpg" file to the aircraft's texture* folder (this allows an image of the aircraft to show up in the FSX aircraft selection menu).When Starting FSX and loading the new aircraft, I was then inondated with several questions on activation of each gauge file used with the particular aircraft. WARNING: if ANY gauge file was originally written for FS98, IT WILL NOT WORK IN FSX!!!I spent countless hours performing this task on several aircraft, only to have the infamous "This gauge was originally written for FS98 and cannot be used in FSX" message preventing me from using the aircraft in FSX. Also I was getting garbled images after switching from the cockpit view to outside view and back to cockpit view.Trying and tinkering, I even compared the FSX aircafts' panel.cfg and aircraft.cfg files to see any changes between these files and the ones for FS2004 aircraft. There have been some changes, and after making the modifications to the FS2004 aircraft's files that were the norm in the FSX files, the results were the same. The aircraft DIDN'T WORK IN FSX!!! On occasion, when trying an aircraft that DID show up ready to roll after starting a flight, I got a crash to a blue screen stating "bad_pool_header". This crash has since been fixed by opening msconfig and disabling "Indexing Services". And I even encountered another crash stating "The information at 0x20c6907e referenced memory at 0x076162bc. The memory could not be "read"". I have noticed that most gauges used in FSX are now in *.dll format and cannot be utilized using FS Panel Studio.It seems like there is a lot of trial and error trying to find FS2004 gauges and aircraft that will work with FSX; with mostly ERROR being the case! I was under the impression that FSX would be backwards compatible with FS2004. Well, so far with aircraft, this ISN'T THE CASE!Has anyone had similar instances of what I'm going through? And has anyone found any solutions so that I can import my fleet of over 500 aircraft to FSX?Please HELP!!!System: Dell XPS400Processor: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)Memory: 2GB PC4200 533Mhz DDR-2Page File: 359MB used, 3578MB availableDirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2System Information------------------Time of this report: 10/21/2006, 11:18:59 Machine name: MAIN Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)System Manufacturer: Dell Inc. System Model: Dell DXP051 BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A05 Processor: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs) Memory: 2046MB RAM Page File: 359MB used, 3578MB available Windows Dir: C:WINDOWS DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)DX Setup Parameters: Not found DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit UnicodeVideo Card Information:------------------Card name: Radeon X1600 Series Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc. Chip type: Radeon X1600 Series (0x71C2) DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz) Display Memory: 512.0 MB Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (75Hz) Monitor: Envision EN9250 Monitor Max Res: 1280,1024 Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6635 (English) DDI Version: 9 (or higher)Driver Attributes: Final Retail Driver Date/Size: 8/22/2006 18:53:30, 260096 bytes

FS2004 Aircraft are compatible, but you can't expect FS98 Gauges to work.I just copied my Gauges folder contents into FSX Gauge folder and all the Compatible gauges worked fine. You don't have to copy each one to the Panel folder, even though that does keep it neat.And in regards to your #1, 2, and 3 above:#1 answered above#2 is not required to have the aircraft function in FSX#3 same as #2So in short, a true FS2004 aircraft is completely compatible with FSX.

sorry, i'm running out of bullets here :-( i spent hours porting the old crates and so far only the carenado cessnas survived the port with flying colours: nothing missing, looking better than ever, same great dynamicseverything else in my old stable seems to be a write-off. not a biggie as the default planes are superb and will feed my habit for many long nights :-)ps. only one regret: can't get realair scout to show the cockpit textures. pity, i liked this birdie

Whatever happened to FREE upgrades for existing customers???:( Gee, I'm still trying to get my free upgrade to FSX. I guess yours was free? Craig

Any .cab type (aka XML) gauges, or FS2k4 default gauges ought to work in FSX. (Though I have one FS2k2 XML gauge that doesn't work in FS9, so it probably won't work right in FSX.)If you right click a .gau file, choose Properties, and then go to the Version tab, the info there should tell you if it is an FS98 style gauge. Though there may be some where the info is wrong or just not there. (That info can be set by the gauge designer.) FSX seems to support FS2k and newer style gauges. (FS2k gauges being multiple gauges in one .gau file, where a specific gauge is accessed using gaugename!gaugefilename. FS98 style was 1 file per gauge, often with an airplane name seperated from the gauge name with a period. For example: cessna_182_rg.controls.gau is an FS98 style gauge.) Even relatively new aircraft for FS9 may come with FS98 style gauges. (Said gauges may not have actually been made for FS98, but they were designed in the FS98 style.)As far as actual conversion issues, some planes may have issues (minor and major) but not all will. Aside from gauges issues, the FSDSv2 Amphib Beaver for FS2k2 works fine in FSX Demo 1. And using the default Beaver's 2D panel (with a couple aircraft.cfg tweaks) might fix the issues and give it a panel upgrade in the process.On the other hand, Steve Grant's DHC-3 Otter wheeled version has some issues in FSX Demo 1. (Most of the windows aren't transparent and show up black.) No idea about the retail version."Let me help you out. You're cleared to taxi any way you can to any runway you see."