Logging Time in FSX

[hermanross]

I'm flying my Do in professional mode and should be logging flight time. I did see an entry for one hour (along with the certificate) two flights ago, but when I reopened FSX to go flying the next day, the previous entry was lost. Of course, when you click on "certificate," all you see is a black rectangle. The Do flights show up in the regular FSX logbook. Al the settings in the FSX configuration utility seem right.

I'm running FSX on a non-overclocked E8400 w/ 4 Gb 800 Mhz RM, nvidea 8800GTX and a fast SATA drive. OS is Vista64 Ultimate. Everything else in the Do seems to work fine.

Any ideas on how to fix this, anyone?

Herman Ross
Seattle, WA

[yankeegolf]

hi,
Actually I never fly the DO27 in FSX because my computer cannot handle it (blurries generator). I tried yesterday and checked the logging time: zero. So I have the same problem as you. No idea how to fix it. It surprises me that nobody has noticed this anomaly before.

How things are going in Seattle? I used to go there for business and really enjoyed the place and the pacific northwest which is such a beautiful region. I miss the good old times.
Cheers

[hermanross]

Thanks for checking this out. I too am surprised that this hasn't come up before. My FS9 version works perfectly.

I have a Saitek ProFlight switch panel that only runs under FSX, and makes routine things like mag checks, cowl flaps, carb heat and switching the circuit breakers on and off a breeze. Keeps my head out of the cockpit. It caused me to prefer the FSX version until last night, when my FSx Do started getting cranky and doing the CTD act. If it keeps it up, I may have to revert to the FS9 version. I'll try a re-install and see what happens.

Seattle is, as always, the emerald city and as beautiful as ever, even with all the snow we received this winter. Glad to hear you had some good times here.

Cheers!

Herman

[yankeegolf]

hi Hermann,
I have the saitek panel too. You know, it works with FS9 too as long as you install a special patch that you can find here.
http://www.krosa.it/ssp/
This guy is a genius, being able to do what saitek failed to do. The soft works great.
With the do 27 in fs 9, there is what thing that doesn't work, it is the oil dipstick.
I modified the do 27 in fs 9 by eliminating those ugly windshield cracks and making the propeller less visible.

Seattle is still in my heart. I went there about 20 times over a 6 year time span and enjoyed each one so much. I always found the time for a good round of golf there. Boy, I miss it!
Cheers.

[hermanross]

I tried a re-install and mods to various config files and nothing seems to keep the internal logging of flight time in the FSX version of the Do-27. The FSX internal logbook works fine, and a long enough flight in the Do will result in the right flight hours on the Do log page at the end of the flight (I flew from Dusseldorf to St. Gallen in Switzerland, following the Rhine for 3.3 hours and did a screen shot of the logbook for insurance). However, as soon as you exit FSX and then return to the Do, the time is gone.

I was able to solve another issue; running Vista64, the configuration module won't initialize. I was able to reset the instrument resolution to 700x700 and eliminate the 2D panel with edits to the individual aircraft .cfg files and the master file in the generic Do-27 folder. If anyone needs help with it, send a me private post and I'll be glad to share what I learned.

Herman Ross
Seattle, USA

[yankeegolf]

hi,
In fact, the first time I flew in pro mode, with fsx, I flew 30 minutes only. The logging time displays whole numbers only. When I flew a second time more than 30 minutes it did show 1 hour. So I don't have the same problem as you Herman.
I don't use the saitek panel because I found that it is not fully compatible with the DO. It may be a stupid idea but could the saitek panel interfers with a correct logging time?

[hermanross]

Thanks for sharing your experience, YG. Could you please check the log page on the kneeboard and see if the time is still there? It does sound like your time is working correctly.

Also, what operating system are you using? I'm using Vista64 Ultimate.

The exact problem I'm having is that my time does not accumulate and does not stay in the logbook.

I will give it a try without the Saitek switch panel this weekend and see if that makes a difference.

Herman Ross
Seattle, USA

[yankeegolf]

hi Herman,
I checked and the logging time is still there....
I use windows XP. Maybe the culprit is vista, in this case you can still use a paper log book an a pencil, it is bug and error free

[Helmut_AUT]

Hi Guys

I don't own the Do-27 yet (ordered today, that's why I'm reading the threads here), and only have FS9.

But as a IT-Administrator, it sounds to me as if your Vista installation somehow blocks the file that holds the data from being changed.

With the DA Katana and Piper Cheyenne, they both use files non-native to FS2009 and FSX to store certain configurations. If they are (likely) using the same system on Do-27X, then it's possible that Vista (which can be very annoying for "security reasons") simple does not give FSX the right to change this file.

I wonder if your damage is persistant, or also resets everytime you open FSX. Sadly no idea which files hold these data.

[hermanross]

You could be on to something, Helmut. As you say, though, there's no way of knowing which files to watch.

Running FSX with administrator rights has no effect on the problem.

Herman

[Helmut_AUT]

Remember that in Vista, running as User with Administrator Rights is not quite the same as running as Administrator.

I looked trough the files, and it seems to me that the details should be in the "Aircraft\Digital Aviation Do-27" Folder, mainly in the "Data" and "Certificates" Subfolders. At least that's the file structure in my FS9 install. Note that in "Data" the file panelstate.cfg has a lot of entrys that seem related to damage on the systems and time flown, while "Certificates" has a "pilot.cfg" that says something about logging.

You might want to try and see if these files can be edited by you (as always, make copies first), and under what account FSX is actually running (you can see that in the Task Manager).

Also, have you tested yet if system damage (for example getting the flaps stuck) is persistent after FSX-Restart? You can also try to run the engine at high for a few minutes or simplest maybe, reduce some oil in the OUTSIDE CHECK window and see if it stays low next time you load up the sim.

[hermanross]

I've played with this some more and found a work-around. The issue seems to be linked to User Account Conrol in Vista. Turning UAC "Off" (with the resulting reboot) allows FSX to update the appropriate Do-27 files. After you're done with flying the Do, you can return to using UAC and the changes to the Do files "stick."

Everything else I tried, such as running with administrator rights, running as administrator, and changing the attributes (from "Read only") of what I thought might be the relevant folders and files had no effect.

If anyone else wants to work at this, or check out the work-around for themselves, a painless way of checking to see if changes to your Do "stick" or not is to simply change something quick like the oil level or better yet, the rudder trim. You'll quickly be able to see it the changes stay in place.

Herman Ross