External FCDU, P3D4 and Network Issue

[Hawk]

Hi,

I have been using FSCaptain without issue in a network environment with FSX and P3D2 but I recently upgraded to P3D4 and after trying FSCaptain with P3D4 I'm having an issue with the shortcut to FCDU.exe. The following is a description of my issue and my suspicions about resolving the issue...just point me in the right direction.

When I click on the shortcut on my remote PC (which is linked to FCDU.exe on the server PC) it pops up asking what version I'm running (it doesn't do this when I click FCDU.exe on the server PC directly?). That may or may not be a problem (you can enlighten me) but the issue lies in answering the questions that appear. There is a severe delay after clicking each of the answers such as, NO for FSX (Boxed)...delay, then NO for FSX (Steam Edition)...delay, then NO again for P3D (Version 2)...delay, then NO for P3D (Version 3)...delay and eventually YES for P3D (Version 4)...delay. When I click YES for P3D4...delay, it opens a navigation window asking me to point to the Prepar3D.exe file...delay. When I find it (after working through further delays) and click on the file the FCDU opens on the remote PC along with another window telling me it can not detect the simulator even though P3D4 is running on the server PC and the aircraft cockpit is displayed. It then shuts down the FCDU. The delays remind me of something being searched for and eventually it times out moving on (well it did tell me it could not detect the files)? So...

Must I reconfigure anything for P3D4 after removing P3D2 and then installing P3D4? I suspect I have deleted a required share or deleted a required configuration file. It should be noted that I do NOT find Simconnect.xml or Simconnect.ini in the respective folders for P3D4 like is present in FSX. Must SimConnect reside in the respective P3D4 folders to operate correctly (for example... Simconnect.xml is present in the Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX path)? Must a Simconnect.xml also be present in the similar P3D4 folder? Would the same be true for the Simconnect.ini file in the My Documents folder? If required what is the proper method to reinstall the two Simconnect files into the new P3D4 folders?

The only other thing I had suspicions about were proper sharing of paths across the network. When I uninstalled P3D2 I know certain shared paths were deleted related to P3D2. When I installed P3D4 I shared the entire P3D4 folder. Specifically I have each simulator folder (FSX and P3D4 shared) along with the FSCaptain folder in each. I presume sharing the FSCaptain folder in FSX and P3D4 is overkill (concerning the shortcut to FCDU.exe) since the parent folder for FSX and P3D4 is already shared (presuming subfolders are shared automatically)? You can advise me of the paths required for P3D4 and I'll verify each just to make sure.

Again as a footnote, if I load FSX on the same server PC and then use the shortcut for it on the same remote PC all is instantaneous, no errors, simulator found (Simconnect is obviously working in that context).

Thanks for any help.

[peter]

Hello Hawk,

when you installed P3D v4, which version of it have you installed? I don't think FSCaptain has been tested in P3D 4.3 yet. Also, did you install the P3D v4 SDK? It is not installed automatically and is a (relatively small) separate download on the P3D web page. If you did install the SDK, can you send us (see blue link below) a zip file with your FSCaptain\Data\Log folder? Please send the email to all of us and copy the address of this thread into your message so that everyone on the FSCaptain team knows what the logs are for.

Cheers,
Peter

[Hawk]

Hi Peter,

My P3D is version 4.2.21.24048, Simconnect version 4.2.0.0.

No, I don't believe I installed the P3D SDK but I can. Is it required? Does installing the SDK install Simconnect? If I install it do you want the current Log folder as is?

Regards,
Hawk

[Hawk]

I'll send what logs I have regardless. Logs are in the mail

[Hawk]

Hi Peter,

When you asked if I had installed the SDK it got me thinking. Correct me if I'm wrong anywhere here as I summarize this for the benefit of other users.

Simconnect would not typically need to be configured if you use addons run from the "server" PC (in other words if your not networking anything) BUT if you do network addons then Simconnect configuration files must be present in the proper folders on the server PC and properly configured to achieve communications with any clients installed on remote PCs (that is what it does right). Simconnect itself would also need to be installed on any remote PC being used to run client apps. If you are running multiple simulators (like FSX and P3D4) on the same server PC then there MUST be a separate set of Simconnect configuration files present for each simulator if you network addons such as FSCaptain. This being the reason for my problem, I had deleted my original Simconnect configuration files (used with P3D2) when I installed P3D4.

So to correct my issue I presumed the configuration files for Simconnect would probably be no different for network purposes than those I had already configured for FSX so I simply copied the same Simconnect configuration files into the appropriate folders for P3D4 and the magic started to happen, every thing worked. I didn't even need to install the SDK because Simconnect was already installed on my remote PC.

So one question remains...it still makes me answer the questions about which version I have and I have to navigate to the Prepar3D.exe file. Is there a way to configure the remote link for the FCDU so it will know which version I have and allow me to avoid answering all those questions and navigate to the .exe file every time I use the FCDU on the remote PC? For example, could it be possible to add a remark such as P3D4 at the end of the target path provided in the remote FCDU properties window to indicate which simulator the FCDU is being used with?

Regards,
Hawk

[peter]

Hello Hawk,

I was always under the impression that Simconnect would only be installed when the SDK is installed, but maybe that's only the library of Simconnect functions used by developers. In any way, it maight be a good idea to try this, it doesn't occupy a lot of space. Simconnect is not only used for networking, but for all communications between the simulator and external programs, whether they are on the same PC or a different one.

Cheers,
Peter

[Hawk]

Hi Peter,

Yes you are correct concerning Simconnect being required for all communications with external programs, in my previous statement I was referencing something I read in the documentation contained in the SDK where it mentioned no "special" configuration was required for Simconnect to work with external programs on the server PC after installation, in other words it works "as installed", but when you need to use it across a network then the user will be required to manually set it up. There are excellent details about that in another post in these forums when I had first time issues networking a DEMO version of FSCaptain. After properly configuring Simconnect for P3D4 I was able to uninstall the SDK and so far it has had no ill affects on sim operations. The only thing I had to do to fix this issue was to reinsert the Simconnect.xml and Simconnect.ini into the proper P3D4 folders, thanks for jogging my memory.

You did not mention anything about my last question. When I access the shortcut for the external FCDU on my remote PC it still makes me answer which version of simulator I'm using. My question was...is there any way to tell FSCaptain which version simulator I'm running so I do not have to navigate through the questions and point it to the executable every time I start FSCaptain from the remote PC. Might there be a way to include a designation at the end of the "target path" in the properties of the remote icon such as FSX, or P3D2, or P3D3, or (in my case) P3D4 to indicate the version of simulator the remote icon is trying to work with? The remote icon I have setup for FSX does not make me go through all that?

Thanks again,
Hawk

[airbumps]

Hi Hawk,

Did you get a resolution to this? My new installation over network is now asking the same question "Which similator..." every time I start the FDCU

[peter]

Hello Airbumps,

is that with P3D 4.x or P3D 5.0?

Cheers,
Peter

[airbumps]

Hi Peter,

V5.

Cheers,