Help with SHIFT function

[Ed Gilbert 2]

Hi Masterius

I have switched back to the CIV and set page Unshifted/A and page 1/B to GLOBAL SHIFT and page 2/C set for SHIFT CYCLE in all 3 locations. The results are the same, only the AP rotary in the VC reacts and the page view does not change. Should the page change?

Here are the 3 screen shots showing the pages and a shot of the config-hid.lua section for the lower Saitek panel.

Thank you

Ed

 

 

 

 

[Masterius 15]

1 hour ago, Ed Gilbert said:

Based on my testing do you see anything that may be causing LINDA to accept the election in the screen but not connect to the sim/VC? 

I'm not sure where you are finding some of your commands. For instance, the magnetos. My A2A Military P-51 does not have, or use, magneto commands of  "magneto off", "magneto right", etc. I do know that trying to use the default FSX commands of "ENG1 magneto" did not work, but the ones for "magneto" did. So my first question would be if the magnetos ever worked before using that rotary switch?

Also, the way that LINDA interfaces with the Saitek panels is very specific. If you have not read this post before, this might help a bit: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/522836-linda-support-for-saitek-panels/

I know I got this working using the Carenado as a test bed (mostly because I didn't want to risk screwing my P-51 LINDA assignments up). But if the above doesn't work I'll dig deeper.

And no, the page view does not change unless you select it.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Masterius

[Ed Gilbert 2]

 

For most of the the commands I use a LINDA module for each plane.  I do use the Default FSX Engine start, in the last ignition position, if I cannot get the plane to start using my pit controls. It is rare that I have to use the engine start, usually I have goofed and flooded the engine.

 

If a command is not listed I use FSX Default or Set FSX Control.

You asked if the mags worked on the lower panel and no, they don't.  If I set the first page to the AP or the mags, the AP in the VC moves, never the mags.  I use these same mag and engine commands on the upper Saitek panel for the MIL and they have always worked.  That's what is confusing me.

I've read the LINDA interface page. I have tried select LINDA Setup and untick Saitek Panels and then select Joystick Setup and ensure all the Saitek Panels are enabled (ticked). The press CTRL_ALT_R to reload LINDA. The results were the same, only the AP moved in the pit regardless of the position of SHIFT rocker.

Thanks

Ed

 

[Masterius 15]

6 hours ago, Ed Gilbert said:

You asked if the mags worked on the lower panel and no, they don't.  If I set the first page to the AP or the mags, the AP in the VC moves, never the mags.  I use these same mag and engine commands on the upper Saitek panel for the MIL and they have always worked.  That's what is confusing me.

That's confusing me as well. I don't think there is much point fiddling with getting shift modes working if the mag command(s) to begin with do not work. Out of curiosity, what happens if those positions are left blank on the lower panel? I'm going to wager that the AP in the VC still moves, whether that is programmed in LINDA or not.

[Ed Gilbert 2]

Hi Masterius

Confused is the word of the day, or maybe the week.  Yes, yesterday with no AP settings in LINDA the AP knob in the VC did move. What was working before will not work now.

I did the following this morning. 

With LINDA seeing the lower panel and the sim not, I ran the P3D sim-connect files then disconnected the panel USB then after a minute reconnected then started the sim.

I always start P3D with the default Cub then select the A2A CIV.  I then started LINDA and flipped a switch to make sure the panel was seen by LINDA, it was. The CIV module was automatically started and I made sure LINDA was synced with P3D.  I turned the ignition knob with LINDA showing it set for the AP and there was no reaction in the VC.

I set #3 rocker, using the CIV module, to activate the oil dilute switch and it did not work. I deleted the selection, started SPAD.next and set #3 rocker to activate the oil dilute switch which worked. I have hard that SPAD.next may conflict with LINDA so I have tried settings in LINDA with SPAD.next running and not running and saw no difference.

I setup the AP knob in SPAD.next and it works in the VC. Since the lower panel covers my MIL ignition I have set an unused rotary switch on the IFF panel for the CIV ignition.

So for now I'm going to use the lower panel with SPAD.next only. I really want to get the lower panel working with LINDA SHIFT but I'm going to step away and enjoy flying for a while.

Masterius, I REALLY appreciate the time you have put into getting my shift function working. I have saved your notes in a document and will refer to them when I solve the second panel connection issue.

Thank you and Have a Merry Christmas!

Ed

 

[Ed Gilbert 2]

Just a quick update, the second panel works just fine with the A2A C-172. The issue with the CIV is probably caused by the way I created a new LINDA CIV module from the MIL module.

Ed

[Ed Gilbert 2]

A little summary.  I fly the A2A MIL, CIV, T-6, C-172 and P-40.  I have 2 Saitek Switch panels I'll call the upper and lower.  I use the upper for all 5 planes with the lower removed but still connected. The lower is used for the C-172 and CIV and is placed on top of the center switch box in my pit. I want to use the LINDA SHIFT function with the CIV for the lower rotary, unshifted for AP and SHIFTED for ignition.

Here is the SHIFT function setup Masterius posted above which works:

Page ID	On Press	On Repeat	On release
Unshifted	GLOBAL SHIFT
1	GLOBAL SHIFT
2	SHIFT CYCLE	SHIFT CYCLE	SHIFT CYCLE

Doing a little more testing this morning I tested the SHIFT function on both panels with a few planes. 

MIL              SHIFT worked on the upper but not the lower.

CIV              Would let me set regular commands in LINDA for both panels but NOTHING worked in the sim.

C-172          SHIFT could be set and worked on both the upper and lower panels.

There appears to be an issue with the lower panel in the MIL (which I don't need but tested) and both panels in the CIV.

[Ed Gilbert 2]

I spent several hours this morning doing more testing to see I could get the SHIFT function working. I was still thinking that if I can get the SHIFT working in the MIL module I would copy that folder and rename it CIV. I kept an eye on the “sync with sim” status to make sure that was working throughout the testing. The following is only a small part of the testing.

Started P3D to default Cub, selected A2A MIL then started LINDA and clicked a button on each panel to activate. On the lower panel (which would not normally be in place for the MIL) I setup the shift like above and set one unshifted rocker to turn the fuel pump on/off and when shifted to turn the oil dilute on/off.  I saved and clicked on Reload lua from the settings page. The SHIFT function worked for both items!

I selected the CIV and setup the same test on the lower panel with the fuel and oil dilute and that worked! I then setup the unshifted for the 5 AP positions and the shifted for the 5 magneto positions, saved and reloaded. P3D immediately crashed. I closed LINDA, restarted P3D with the same plane selections and started LINDA. The SHIFT setup was still in place so I turned the knob and the AP or IGN would not turn.

I removed the AP and all other settings on the unshifted page but left the ignition on the shift page and the ignition worked. Hmmm.

I really want the AP/IGN on LINDA using the SHIFT function but that was not working.  With SPAD.neXt not having a SHIFT function I looked for a compromise. So I started SPAD.neXt and set the AP controls on the lower panel leaving the ignition on LINDA SHIFTED. With LINDA unshifted when I turn the knob the AP turns in the VC.  With LINDA SHIFTED turning the knob activates both the AP (SPAD.neXt) and ignition (LINDA) in the VC.  To operate the CIV I will use the SHIFT to access the ignition during starting and shutdown then unshift for AP control.

Not as smooth as I would like but unless I can get the AP/IGN SHIFT working at least I can fly the CIV.

Take care

Ed

[Masterius 15]

Out of curiosity, have you tried these experiments whilst running LINDA in its tracer mode? Perhaps there is a conflict and/or multiple assignment that we're both missing, but you'll see in the console window when doing the tests.

 

~Masterius

[Ed Gilbert 2]

No, I have not tried this in tracer mode. I'll run it in the morning.

On another point I see 2 listings for the same USB controller in LINDA. There is only one in my pit.  I have deleted it from the config-hid.lua but it returns on next start.  This just started a few days ago.

Thank you for continuing your help!

Take care

Ed

[Ed Gilbert 2]

I have read the manual on tracer mode and have to admit I don't know what I'm looking for.

Here are the Lvars that are supplied in the MIL/CIV module for the AP knob.

 

When I ran the tracer mode I turned the knob in the VC these were listed. It looks like the 5 positions of the knob are noted by the positions of 0,25,50,75,100.

I'm assuming that the person that developed the MIL/CIV module inserted these 5 positions into their code and named them for the list in the first pic above.

Here is the section of the actions.lua file from my linda-cfg/aircrafts/A2A P-51D CIV folder

With SPAD.neXt off I inserted the 5 AP settings on the unshifted page again and there is no movement in the VC.  When SHIFTED the ignition turns.

Thank you

Ed

 

 

[Masterius 15]

Hey Ed,

This may sound a bit complicated, but I'll try and explain.

Quite frequently something that looks simple--for instance, switching the fuel tank--is quite involved. Regarding the fuel tank example, for the P-51 this is what I wrote to have the tanks switch using LINDA:

function P51D_Fuel_Fuselage ()
ipc.writeLvar ("L:Eng1_FuelSelector", "1")
ipc.writeLvar ("L:FSelP51State", "0")
ipc.writeLvar ("L:FSelP51", "0")
end

As you can see, there are three LVars involved just to have the switch position move and the actual tank change over. Now I'm looking at what you sent me and this is what I'm seeing:

1) In the listed functions in the actions.lua: LVar ApLgsKnobPos
2) In the listed function in the tracer log: LVar ApLgsKnob

The thing is, the actions.lua file does not show anything that will change the knob itself. So I'm wondering if this is similar to what I ran into with the fuel tank selector: simply changing the knob position value would not move the knob. I had to also change the selector states as well. So let's try this:

First, make a backup copy of the actions.lua file, then open the original and change from:

function ApLgsKnobPos_nav ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 0)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_omni ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 1)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_hdg ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 2)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_loc ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 3)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_rev ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 4)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

to:

function ApLgsKnobPos_nav ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 0)
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnob", 0)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_omni ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 1)
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnob", 25)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_hdg ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 2)
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnob", 50)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_loc ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 3)
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnob", 75)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

function ApLgsKnobPos_rev ()
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnobPos", 4)
ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnob", 100)
ApLgsKnob_show ()
end

Hopefully this will fix it!

~Masterius

[Masterius 15]

4 hours ago, Masterius said:

Regarding the fuel tank example, for the P-51 this is what I wrote to have the tanks switch using LINDA:

Just wanted to clarify that this was just showing a small part of the code for the fuel tank switching, specifically the one selecting the fuselage tank.

Also, in the above "fix" adding the ipc.writeLvar ("ApLgsKnob", x), I made the assumption that the switch positions generating the codes during the tracer directly corresponded with the actions.lua positions: that the VC knob turn positions were "nav, omni, heading, loc, rev", where nav=0, omni=25, heading=50, loc=75, and rev=100.

[Ed Gilbert 2]

I believe I understand the logic regarding the data I had not changing the knob in the VC.

I made a backup, removed my text and copied your text into the file and restarted LINDA. SPAD.neXt is not running.

I added the AP knob functions from the module, saved the file and turned my panel knob in the unshifted mode.  The AP did not move in the VC.  I hit the shift button and the ignition in the VC moved. I closed LINDA and P3D and started fresh with the same result.

I combined the old and new sections is a file so you could see them together

Thank you for your help!

Ed

[Ed Gilbert 2]

Hello

This morning I tested LINDA with all 5 planes using both panels. LINDA saw any button push and let me assign a new command.  I saved then tried the button.  The button was seen in LINDA but not in the VC. Any previous setup command worked on both panels but no new commands could be added. 

Then I assigned an action to a button not on the two Saitek panels. Again LINDA saw any button push and let me assign a new command but not in the VC.

I reinstalled LINDA by copying the Linda and Linda-cfg files into my Module folder overwriting current files and the results are the same.  LINDA will NOT accept new commands.

Any suggestions on how to proceed with this are greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Ed