302: Commands Assigned to FIP Not Working

What a coincidence of receiving a few emails in the past two weeks asking why the commands (such as the barometric settings — KOHLSMAN_DEC and KOHLSMAN_INC) assigned to the rotation knobs and buttons on the FIPs are not working any more.   After checking their SaiFlightSimX.xml files, I found another coincidence that the <X52Pro> section in the beginning of their files was somehow removed.

Yeah.  I do remember as they reported that the SaiFlightSimX.xml file worked properly without the <X52Pro> section before.  

301: Mouse Not Responding after Hot Unplugged

So far, the only problem I have with Windows 10 is: the mouse will stop responding to mouse clicks if any of the Saitek game controllers (yoke, rudder pedals, trim wheel, etc) is hot unplugged from the computer after use.

There are many similar reports on the Internet, and it is generally agreed that the issue is caused by the Saitek driver.   So far, no solution has been found.

The quickest way to put the mouse back to normal is to press the Reset button on the computer.   The soft reset switch via Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn’t work.

Edit:
Some friends, like Philip M, suggest to open the Devices and Printers in Control Panel and right-click to “Remove” the Saitek devices in question prior to unplugging them.  That’s another easiest cure of the problem as well.

 

300: Windows 10 FSX Crash-to-Desktop Fix

With Windows 8.1 two years ago, I experienced recurring crash-to-desktop errors on FSX platform after Orbx’s FTX Global Base was added to it (see my Post 228: FSX with Windows 8.1).

Now with Windows 10, thank goodness, the same combination (FSX + FTX Global Base) doesn’t crash to desktop any more.   But, my goodness, the excitement only lasts for two days until I added another Orbx’s regional product to the platform.

I really don’t know if it is FSX itself or Orbx’s addon the true culprit causing this notorious CTD problem.

Anyway, the tweaks I suggested in the earlier Post 228 are still valid. 

299: The FTX Central 2 — I Never Like It

I never like the new FTX Central 2 because it combines the previous FSX and P3D versions into one single package.   If you have both FSX and P3D installed like I do, you then have to choose for the simulator you want to modify every time it is started.  That’s inconvenient and an overkill.

In addition, it compels you to read the company’s product advertisements on the program banner which you might not be interested at all.   It’s distracting and irritating.

And the worst of it all, the new FTX Central 2 forces you

298: Cautious to the New Saitek Drivers

Perhaps some of you have noticed that Saitek has released two new drivers.  The “ProFlight_FSX_Plugin_7_0_40_9_x64_Software” is an integrated driver for all its Pro Flight products except the Flight Instrument Panel (FIP) which requires another new driver “Saitek_Pro_Flight_Instrument_Panel_7_0_40_9_x64_Full_pfw” to support it.

The up-sides of the two new drivers are:  they simplify installation, and the load-up order of the FIPs can now be configured.   The latter feature, in particular, has been a long-time request by almost all FIP users.

However, the down-sides are:

297: A Summary of Prepar3D v25 Changes

The confusions many Prepar3D users encountered after upgrading to version 2.5 are the result of a mixed subtle to major changes happened to the program’s long-held file structures that was inherited from Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Although many of these issues have been addressed by third-party manufacturers, it’s still useful to know what are the differences.   Following is a list summarizing the changes (but not limited to) made to the new version compared to earlier versions:

Under Prepar3D Program Directory

• Folders REMOVED
  

  Addon Scenery

  categories

  dialogs

  flights

296: Installing FSX from HDD

Even though you are probably not one of us who tend to rebuild FSX for this and that reasons from time to time, putting FSX installation contents onto a hard drive and running from there not only improves convenience but also significantly reduces processing time required.

The conversion is simple.   Just copy everything from the installation discs to any folder (e.g. FSX Deluxe Edition and FSX Acceleration) on your specified hard drive.

But do remember to copy the discs in their installation order, and answer [NO] when prompt to overwrite files already copied to the hard drive earlier.

In addition,

295: Windows 10 is Here

Sort of having a break in the last two weeks without touching anything related to the flight simulation.   Besides it’s summer, I just wanna to wait for the new Windows 10 and reinstall everything from scratch after it.

But oh my dear, it took me two days to do the upgrade due to various hardware issues I had no idea what they’re all about.   After numerous attempts, the upgrade was eventually successful, but onto a new SSD as my last resort yesterday.    Phew.