As this seems to be a lost cause I have another suggestion: Would it be possible to implement a "--debug" switch that makes mce.exe log all relevant actions (incl. errors) in a log file? 

1 hour ago, djxmdjxm said:

As this seems to be a lost cause I have another suggestion: Would it be possible to implement a "--debug" switch that makes mce.exe log all relevant actions (incl. errors) in a log file? 

There is already such thing for years. Mostly to troubleshoot startup issues.

In "General" tab of the UI, click <More Options> button.

In "Advanced options" panel, click <View config>

mce.ini will open in Notepad. Look at the [OPtions] section and set "Debug=1"

Restart MCE and it should generate a "startup;log" in C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\Multi Crew Experience\ folder.

 

Great, thanks! Have tried.

1. Enabled debug=1 in ini --> success
2. started flight in msfs --> success
3. generated new fp in simbrief --> success
4. loaded fp in fbw efb --> success
5. started fiddler to monitor http(s)-calls --> success
6. clicked on "get flight plan"
7. confirmed in fiddler that mce received the current fp from simbrief --> success
   --> mce ui states "No Data Available!", though
8. shut down mce --> success
9. Log-File has been created (3kb). --> success
   --> however, only startup activity being logged
   --> MCE does not log activity regarding simbrief integration and file management. 

Can you add logging to the relevant places?

Edited January 19, 20233 yr by djxmdjxm

On 1/19/2023 at 9:06 AM, djxmdjxm said:

Great, thanks! Have tried.

1. Enabled debug=1 in ini --> success
2. started flight in msfs --> success
3. generated new fp in simbrief --> success
4. loaded fp in fbw efb --> success
5. started fiddler to monitor http(s)-calls --> success
6. clicked on "get flight plan"
7. confirmed in fiddler that mce received the current fp from simbrief --> success
   --> mce ui states "No Data Available!", though
8. shut down mce --> success
9. Log-File has been created (3kb). --> success
   --> however, only startup activity being logged
   --> MCE does not log activity regarding simbrief integration and file management. 

Can you add logging to the relevant places?

Get this patch and manually replace files in \Multi Crew Experience\ installation folder.

http://www.multicrewxp.com/Latest-Beta.zip

Should get som logging related to Simbrief

Thanks! Will try tomorrow! 

17 hours ago, djxmdjxm said:

Thanks! Will try tomorrow! 

Make sure you replace all files. Especially "dcErrors.dll" and "mce.exe" (V3.0.2.4)

12:10:7:923 -Initialized global variables
12:10:7:986 -Loaded application settings from ini file
12:10:8:10 -COM initialization Successful
12:10:8:54 -Application cleared to start
12:10:8:61 -Loaded language resources
12:10:11:169 -Successfully created application window
12:10:12:17 -Voice created successfully
12:10:12:52 -Assigned voice
12:10:12:75 -Assigned voice
12:10:12:104 -Assigned voice
12:10:12:124 -Assigned voice
12:10:13:750 -Assigned voice
12:10:14:246 -Successfuly created Recognizer
12:10:14:261 -Successfully created user interface objects
12:10:24:334 -Detected Running Flight Simulator!
12:10:24:348 -Retrieved all aircraft config files
12:10:24:362 -Checked current aircraft position and status.
12:10:24:450 -About to start app main loop
12:10:28:391 -Looking for aircraft related paths
12:10:42:557 -Setting OPS data for current airport!
12:10:42:776 -Finished setting OPS data for current airport
12:10:42:791 -Getting data from reference file!
12:10:42:869 -Finished getting data from reference file
12:10:42:886 -Adjusted settings to current aircraft
12:10:44:916 -Initializing Relevant FO
12:10:44:936 -Looking for FO name
12:10:44:949 -Found FO name
12:10:44:963 -Initialized First Officer!
12:10:44:979 -Thread waiting for speech engine to update
12:10:59:996 -Thread finished waiting for SR update
12:11:11:507 -Disabled ATC speech context
12:11:11:523 -Disabled Sim control speech context
12:11:11:539 -Disabled Checklist speech context
12:11:11:554 -Disabled Commands speech context
12:11:11:569 -Disabled Main speech context
12:11:14:23 -Enabled Checklist speech context
12:11:14:145 -Enabled Commands speech context
12:11:14:169 -Enabled Sim control speech context
12:11:14:174 -Enabled Monitoring feature
12:11:14:191 -Enabled ATC speech context
12:11:14:320 -Enabled Main speech context
12:11:14:332 -Updated speech engine settings
12:11:20:631 -Failed to generate Simbrief File
12:12:11:753 -Failed to generate Simbrief File
 

1 hour ago, djxmdjxm said:

12:11:20:631 -Failed to generate Simbrief File
12:12:11:753 -Failed to generate Simbrief File
 

If you have an old "Simbrief_fpln.dat" in \My Documents\Multi Crew Experience\ folder. Delete it and re-run the test

Assuming you used V3.0.2.4, and replaced "dcErrors.dll" (which outputs more debugging text) what I can tell you so far, the simbrief ID isn't the issue, and the FPLN is being downloaded to a memory buffer.

It's when MCE tries to generate a "Simbrief_fpln.dat" file, writing the amassed buffer to it that the Windows system call fails.

Before it does that, it deletes any file with that "simbrief_fpl.dat" name.

There could be an issue if Windows denies the "remove" operation (that's why I'm asking you to delete it).

Initially C language "fopen" calll was used to generate the file.

Since you prompted a rethink, now using Windows native system call "CreateFile".

For me and the majority, both methods work.

It's hard no to think about the possibility of modified folder's access rights causing this. Like Windows won't write to that location programmatically because somewhow it doesn't have the right permissions. Normally, on \My documents\ standard folder settings, ANY app can write to that folder, without even needing to run as admin.

If you have a spare PC, and assuming you didn't fiddle with folders access rights, try running the Demo on it.

Not saying for sure that's what you did, but see this thread to understand why it's never a good idea to modify access rights to \My documents\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\. Strange things start to happen here and there.

 

 

Edited February 4, 20233 yr by FS++

Thanks for your input. To clarify:

1. "simbrief_fpl.dat" has not yet once been created on my system. So, it's not there 

2. I always run mce.exe WITH admin rights 

3. I have never fiddled with access rights of the my documents folder 

4. However, I have moved the my documents folder to a different drive - e:) using standard windows functionality 

5. I can confirm that the Wizard program is able to create the folder itself and write files in there. 

Is there an access right I can grant to ensure that MCE is allowed to write files there? 

 

 

Edited February 5, 20233 yr by djxmdjxm

1 hour ago, djxmdjxm said:

5. I can confirm that the Wizard program is able to create the folder itself and write files in there. 

 

The wizard creates folders and files using a process of programmatically "copy and paste" from \Multi Crew Experience\Support\.... to \My Documents\.....

Your system appears more friendly with those operations, but not with the "CreateFile" system call that actually creates a file from the downloaded data.

One thing you could try if you are able to run your flight sim from another account on your system.

Create a new user account, with admin rights, of the type that isn't linked to a hotmail account. A proper local account

Un-install MCE via Windows Control Panel.

Login to your new user account and don't change anything related to system security. Keep UAC at default settings and just install MCE to C;\Program Files (x86)\

The wizard will kick in first time.

Should work as expected.

 

Old thread, but I'm encountering this very problem on Windows 11 and it looks like the issue has to do with MCE using the wrong paths for things. There are going to be two "Documents" folders for anyone using One Drive and syncing (as I am). One will be under \Users\<user name>\Documents and the other will be under \Users\<user name>\One Drive\Documents. In my case, the Multi Crew Experience folder is getting created under Users\One Drive\Documents, but Process Monitor shows that the Simbrief integration code in mce.exe is expecting it under \Users\<user name>\Documents. When it tries to create the .dat files, that fails because the path doesn't exist. If I manually create the Multi Crew Experience folder there, I get a bit farther--the .dat files get created, but then I'm stuck with "Waiting for Simbrief data". The dat files are being read, but for whatever reason, the flight plan isn't actually loaded. I suspect that there is a problem in the way MCE is obtaining paths to the Documents folder since the Simbrief integration is generating the local path, but the rest of the MCE code seems to use the One Drive path (which is probably a redirect).

Edited January 4, 20242 yr by geoffda

On 1/4/2024 at 8:19 PM, geoffda said:

Old thread, but I'm encountering this very problem on Windows 11 and it looks like the issue has to do with MCE using the wrong paths for things. There are going to be two "Documents" folders for anyone using One Drive and syncing (as I am). One will be under \Users\<user name>\Documents and the other will be under \Users\<user name>\One Drive\Documents. In my case, the Multi Crew Experience folder is getting created under Users\One Drive\Documents, but Process Monitor shows that the Simbrief integration code in mce.exe is expecting it under \Users\<user name>\Documents. When it tries to create the .dat files, that fails because the path doesn't exist. If I manually create the Multi Crew Experience folder there, I get a bit farther--the .dat files get created, but then I'm stuck with "Waiting for Simbrief data". The dat files are being read, but for whatever reason, the flight plan isn't actually loaded. I suspect that there is a problem in the way MCE is obtaining paths to the Documents folder since the Simbrief integration is generating the local path, but the rest of the MCE code seems to use the One Drive path (which is probably a redirect).

Thanks for reporting.

It's a separate issue from the one that initiated this thread and fixed since. The Simbrief feature should otherwise work fine now when "One drive" isn't involved. This will be looked at.