FSX Gauge does not load

[eric_marciano]

Hello experts,

I have developed a version of EasyFMC for Mobile, which can be used on smartphones, tablets or any other device that can run a web browser.
This product uses a gauge called "Data Collector Gauge" that must be defined in the panel.cfg, an invisible gauge that reads the sim internal navigation database and sends it to EasyFMC Mobile through a socket. It is not so complex, it works perfect... except for one of my customers. He did everything right, he has the Data Collector Gauge defined in the panel.cfg of his aircraft, but the gauge does NOT load !?!

The first time he used the aircraft after installing the product, the famous warning message that appears in FSX each time a gauge is loaded for the first time didn't appear. I checked his [Trusted] section in fsx.cfg, the gauge is not referenced. Even if it is defined in the panel.cfg, the gauge does not load when the aircraft is selected in FSX. Isn't it strange? How can FSX skip this gauge and load all the others?

I can provide the fsx.cfg or the panel.cfg if useful. It is a nightmare, I just can't find an explanation...

Thanks for any help,
Eric

 

[ddawson]

Do you know what version of Windows he is using? If it is particularly old (say... Vista,) is it possible that the gauge is using Windows API functions that aren't supported?
You might have him search his registry to make sure that Windows, or possibly a 3rd party anti-virus program, hasn't blacklisted the thing.
Any possibility it's a run time library issue?

 

[WarpD]

I would check for the IngoreFreeLibrary issue in the user's registry.

 

[eric_marciano]

Do you know what version of Windows he is using? If it is particularly old (say... Vista,) is it possible that the gauge is using Windows API functions that aren't supported?
You might have him search his registry to make sure that Windows, or possibly a 3rd party anti-virus program, hasn't blacklisted the thing.
Any possibility it's a run time library issue?

I didn't think about the possibility of a false positive virus detection, he didn't tell me about any warning from the anti-virus software.
Regarding the run time library issue, what do you mean? Are you talking about the /MT compilation flag?
I will check this but the story became even stranger as I just had news from this guy. He initially tested my software with the FSX B737-800 and the gauge didn't load as I explained here. Now he's just told me that he made another try with the SGA MD-90 by Erick Cantu and... it worked !! Coming back to the B738 after this didn't work any better...
If it worked with this aircraft, I suppose there is no anti-virus problem nor run time library issue, but I can't explain why it doesn't work with the B738. For information, I tried on my system, installed the software from the public installer, added the gauge to the B738 (my panel file was then exactly the same as his) and everything worked fine.

Thanks for your help,
Eric

 

[eric_marciano]

I would check for the IngoreFreeLibrary issue in the user's registry.

I don't think this is the issue because if you read the reply I have just posted, it worked with 1 aircraft (the SGA MD-90) but not with others. Nevertheless, I will ask him to check this.

Eric

 

[ddawson]

There has got to be an issue with the panel.cfg file.
Panel window number duplication
Gauge sequence number duplication
Spelling mistake in the gauge name (easier to miss than you would think...)

 

[eric_marciano]

There has got to be an issue with the panel.cfg file.
Panel window number duplication
Gauge sequence number duplication
Spelling mistake in the gauge name (easier to miss than you would think...)

I will check all this, but again the probability is low because the panel.cfg file is automatically updated by my Panel Updater utility, there is no chance of misspelling. In addition, the panel.cfg I had after installing the product on my system was exactly the same as his (I used a file comparison software to be sure) and it works perfect on my system.
This is really a mystery I can't explain...

 

[WarpD]

If all the above is not it... then it's a dependency issue.

 

[eric_marciano]

If all the above is not it... then it's a dependency issue.

That's a possibility I didn't think about. I may be wrong here but I don't understand how there can be any dependency between 2 different products developed by 2 different developers. Do you mean the MD-90 gauges may include run time libraries that are useful for my gauge and found in the MD-90 but not in the B738?

 

[ddawson]

OK, so this is a little bit "way out there" but I'll toss it out anyway.
Your user hasn't deleted the VC from the 738 has he? I presume you're installing the gauge in the VC so that you can be assured that it is being loaded.
If the aircraft doesn't have a VC model, the gauge may not be getting loaded...

 

[eric_marciano]

You are right Doug, I provide a "Panel Updater" with my product, which automatically adds the gauge in the panel.cfg (no need of manual edition) and the gauge is added both in the 2D cockpit main window and in the VC, if the aircraft has a VC. This ensures that the gauge loads at aircraft startup whether FSX start in 2D or 3D cockpit mode. On my system, I have tested all the scenarios and it works perfect.
Now if the aircraft has no VC, the gauge is added in the main cockpit window (usually [Window00]) and that's it. BTW, my customer tested my EasyFMC product with different aircraft and it only works with the MD-90. He sent me the panel.cfg and it appears this aircraft has no VC. So for him at this time, it works only for aircraft without VC. Because this is very strange, I asked him to delete all the [VCockpit] section in the B738 panel.cfg, to make it like if it had no VC. He tells me it still doesn't work.

It is so strange that I asked him to remotely take control of his PC and see by myself. I think he is doing something wrong somewhere...

Eric

 

[eric_marciano]

Hello Guys,
I just wanted to let you know about this problem. I think none of us had a chance to find an explanation, it is so strange...
I took control of my customer PC remotely. I checked the fsx.cfg and saw reference to EasyFMC Mobile in the [Trusted] section, removed them all. Then I checked the B738 panel.cfg, he had correctly removed the VC section as I asked him but the EasyFMC Mobile gauge was there. I checked the "Gauges" folder, the DLL was there.
I launched FSX and selected the B738 and guess what??
1) There was no warning message asking me to trust (or not) EasyFMC Mobile gauge
2) Worse: the CV was there, all the gauges in the VC were there, fully operational, whereas they were NOT listed in the panel.cfg anymore !?!

The story is not finished...
I was so amazed that I decided to change the aircraft.cfg after backup. I changed the manufacturer to "Eric" and change the description to "Eric modification" to be sure that the aircraft I was modifying was the one FSX was using. Guess what??
Any modification in the aircraft.cfg was IGNORED !?! I couldn't find "Eric" in the manufacturer list and I couldn't find any trace of my modification in the description.
Worse, I removed 4 variations of the B738 to keep only the first one, in the [fltsim.0] section. Even with that change, I could still see 5 variations in FSX...

I finally thought FSX was finding the aircraft somewhere else. I checked fsx.cfg and found those lines in the [MAIN] section:
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles
SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats
SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals
SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc

Exactly the same as mine, all normal, but in order to be sure, I searched the string "Boeing737-800" in the whole SimObjects folder, it was found only in the B738 aircraft.cfg and some checklist files. I was turning crazy, so I decided to MOVE the whole B737_800 aircraft folder to the desktop. This time, the FSX behavior was normal, the B738 was not in the aircraft list anymore, normal.

In other words, what I did showed that FSX was using the B738 at the right place, that is SimObjects\Airplanes, but any change in any of the aircraft files was just ignored. Isn't this amazing?

I advised my customer to fully re-install FSX, hoping this will help solving this strange problem. If you have any other idea, please let me know, I am really helpless here... So helpless that I had to share this story with you Guys

Eric

 

[WarpD]

User Access Control

 

[eric_marciano]

User Access Control

I don't think so. I could edit and save the files without any problem. No right violation warning or anything...
And when I re-opened a modified file, it appeared with the modifications, the files themselves were effectively modified, but this had no effect for FSX.
It was as if it had stored all the files locally in memory and keep them locally until restarted.

 

[ddawson]

You've got at least two installs of FSX. Most likely, this is FSX and FSX-SE.
How are you launching FSX? If it is a desktop shortcut, check the properties for the shortcut and find the actual executable.

 

[DragonflightDesign]

Beat me to it...

 

[rcbarend]

Eric,

Are you sure that the aircraft tree structure in which you are making the changes, is actually loaded ??
I.e. : are all the TITLE= definitions in ALL aircraft.cfg files that FSX can find in the SImObject paths, are unique ??

Eg. if you make a copy of an entire aircraft folder structure in the SimObjects\Airplanes\ folder (meaning that the TITLE= defs in found aircraft.cfg files is not unique), FSX just loads the aircraft in the first folder tree it finds.
So the aircraft tree structure that you are making file edits in (in aircraft.cfg other then TITLE= defs, panel.cfg, etc) may not be used at all.

Rob

PS:
Same with reloading a saved flight.
To locate aircraft files, FSX tries to find an aircraft.cfg with the same TITLE= as defined in the .FLT file.
If it finds one, it uses that aircraft.cfg and all files in the aircraft folder structure of that aircraft.cfg.
So if there is another aircraft.cfg with the same TITLE= definition (in the aircraft tree structure you make edits in) this other tree structure is never used.

 

[rcbarend]

It was as if it had stored all the files locally in memory and keep them locally until restarted.

And in addition to my previous reply:
The list of all possible aircraft variants as defined in all found Flightsim.* sections in all found aircraft.cfg files, is generated when FSX loads.
And isn't updated untill you exit and restart FSX.
And, as said, this list only contains unique TITLE= definitions (i.e. subsequent found Flightsim.* definitions with duplicate TITLE= defs are ignored)

Rob

PS:
I have read the entire thread again.
From what I read, what most likely happened is that your user has made a COPY of the entire …/SImObjects/Airplanes/B737_800/ folderstructure into the ../SimObjects/Airplanes/ folder (or any folder in which FSX locates aircraft.cfg files) prior to installing your gauge.
And that FSX uses this COPY folderstructure instead of the …/SimObjects/Airplanes/B737_800/ folder in which he/you are making the changes in the panel.cfg in that subtree.
So his (and your) changes in the panel.cfg are not used. because FSX finds the TITLE= defs in the aircraft.cfg in the COPY folder structure first.

 

[rcbarend]

Follow up ……..
I just tried this potential "TITLE= duplicate" problem in FSX_Accell myself.
I know that in FS9 this problem existed (I had it myself once) , but when I try this in FSX-Accell (not sure about other FSX versions) FS warns me about dupliclate definitions upon FS load.
So this may not be the problem after all ….

Rob

 

[eric_marciano]

You've got at least two installs of FSX. Most likely, this is FSX and FSX-SE.
How are you launching FSX? If it is a desktop shortcut, check the properties for the shortcut and find the actual executable.

That could be a possibility because I launched FSX through a taskbar shortcut on which I didn't check the properties, but... if ti was the case, the B738 wouldn't have disappeared when I removed the aircraft folder from SimObjects\Airplanes folder. I made this test to make sure the aircraft I was editing was the one used by FSX, and my test was positive. I mean when I removed the B737_800 folder, the Boeing 737-800 was not appearing in the aircraft list, so it was OK.