Hi,
I've also been having trouble getting Plan-G to work with my FSX Gold (Deluxe + Accel Pack). Having now worked it all out, unfortunately I believe that the problems come from a combination of bugs in Plan-G, the Plan-G documentation, application mouse over help and changes to the default behaviour of the SimConnect server with the Acceleration Pack installed . Apart from all that, it's very groovy indeed and I'm loving it! The following details my findings and I hope it helps someone. I'm running XP Pro with all service packs up to date.
A) I'm running my FSX and Plan-G on the same computer.
1) I'll assume you have already installed FSX Deluxe and the Acceleration Pack and that it's working. Having done this the SimConnect server will also be running in it's default configuration with FSX running. Run FSX.
2) Run Plan-G and open the configuration options (see section 6, specifically 6.4 in the documentation)
3) Select the FS Connection Tab
4) Set Connect to: Auto or SimConnect; Network Mode: IPv4; FSX Computer: Delete whatever is in this field and leave it blank; Server Port/Pipe: 0. Finally click OK.
5) Click the Plan-G Flight Simulator connect button and your yellow location plane should appear on the map.
Notes:
a) The above settings are outlined in the forum FAQ but not in the manual, which is incorrect. Only the above will work without additional configuration of the FSX SimConnect server, see B for that.
b) Section 9 of the manual, and the application mouse over help says to use either 'localhost' or '127.0.0.0' as the 'FSX Computer' setting, and that the port setting 'is ignored with a direct connection'. This isn't true if you have either 'localhost', '127.0.0.0' or correctly '127.0.0.1' set in the FSX Computer field. Actually 'localhost' and '127.0.0.0' never works. The correct local host IP address is '127.0.0.1' however, this will also not work with the default port of 4504 without additional configuration of the SimConnect Server, see B below how to do this if you want to.
c) SimConnect creates three default local servers in the default config with the Acceleration Pack installed. These are an IPv4 server on 127.0.0.1 using a random port, and IPv6 server (which won't start if you are not also running IPv6), and a named Pipe server called 'Microsoft Flight Simulator\SimConnect'. This is why using IPv4, 127.0.0.1:4504 won't work in Plan-G locally by default as the port is probably wrong and changes each time you start FSX. For it to work, you need to create a server with a specific port with the SimConnect Config tool, see below, (or use the named pipe server, which does also work but isn't covered in this post).
B) I'm running my FSX and Plan-G on separate computers across a network connection.
1) I'll assume you have already installed FSX Deluxe and the Acceleration Pack and that part is working. You also already know the IP address of your FSX computer; you will need it so go find it out if you don't know it already. Having done this the SimConnect server will also be running in it's default configuration with FSX running. Don't run FSX just yet though.
2) Download and install the SimConnect Config tool (http://www.codeplex.com/simconnectconfigtool) on your FSX computer and run it from your computer Start menu.
3) Select 'Create Custom SimConnect settings'; Click Add button.
4) At the dialog box set: Presets: Custom Configuration; Tick Configuration enabled; Protocol IPv4; Scope: Global; Max Clients: 64 is fine; Port: 4504 (but see note below); Address: 0.0.0.0; click OK, and OK again to close the tool and also save your settings.
5) Run FSX.
6) Run Plan-G on the other computer and open the configuration options (see section 6 of the documentation, specifically 6.4)
7) Select the FS Connection Tab
8 ) Set Connect with: Auto or SimConnect; Network Mode: IPv4; FSX Computer: <the IP address of the FSX machine that you found out at B(1)>; Server Port/Pipe: 4504 (or whatever you set for the port at step B(4)). Finally click OK.
9) Click the Plan-G Flight Simulator connect button and your yellow location plane should appear on the map.
Notes:
a) The SimConnect config tool creates your SimConnect.xml file for you (Detailed in section 10.2.2 of the manual) so you don't need to do it manually. Please note, it only saves the changes you make after you exit the tool.
b) A Global server assigned to the 0.0.0.0 IP address will accept a connection on any network interface on your FSX computer, including the localhost (127.0.0.1) if you then want to run Plan-G on the same machine as you are running FSX at some point. There is no need to also create a second local server as detailed in the manual at 10.2.2.
c) If you want to know what SimConnect servers and ports are configured, or are still having difficulty, take the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Core Utilities Kit\SimConnect SDK\config\simconnect.ini file and copy it to your My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files (C:\Documents and Settings\<my user>\My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files) folder before starting FSX. This will then also start a SimConnect Diagnostic console and show you which SimConnect servers and ports/names you have running, as well and run all sorts of coms stuff up the console when Plan-G is connected. Delete the file when you no longer need it to do this.
As an aside, I notice that the airspace restrictions shown in Plan G are at least 5 years out of date at least for at least the UK. I'm familiar with http://notaminfo.com (as I'm also a real PPG pilot) which allows registered users to download a KML for use in Google Earth of all up to date airspace and NOTAM restrictions. Is there a way to update the airspace shown in FSX/Plan-G with this up to date information?
Good Luck!
Rich.
I've also been having trouble getting Plan-G to work with my FSX Gold (Deluxe + Accel Pack). Having now worked it all out, unfortunately I believe that the problems come from a combination of bugs in Plan-G, the Plan-G documentation, application mouse over help and changes to the default behaviour of the SimConnect server with the Acceleration Pack installed . Apart from all that, it's very groovy indeed and I'm loving it! The following details my findings and I hope it helps someone. I'm running XP Pro with all service packs up to date.
A) I'm running my FSX and Plan-G on the same computer.
1) I'll assume you have already installed FSX Deluxe and the Acceleration Pack and that it's working. Having done this the SimConnect server will also be running in it's default configuration with FSX running. Run FSX.
2) Run Plan-G and open the configuration options (see section 6, specifically 6.4 in the documentation)
3) Select the FS Connection Tab
4) Set Connect to: Auto or SimConnect; Network Mode: IPv4; FSX Computer: Delete whatever is in this field and leave it blank; Server Port/Pipe: 0. Finally click OK.
5) Click the Plan-G Flight Simulator connect button and your yellow location plane should appear on the map.
Notes:
a) The above settings are outlined in the forum FAQ but not in the manual, which is incorrect. Only the above will work without additional configuration of the FSX SimConnect server, see B for that.
b) Section 9 of the manual, and the application mouse over help says to use either 'localhost' or '127.0.0.0' as the 'FSX Computer' setting, and that the port setting 'is ignored with a direct connection'. This isn't true if you have either 'localhost', '127.0.0.0' or correctly '127.0.0.1' set in the FSX Computer field. Actually 'localhost' and '127.0.0.0' never works. The correct local host IP address is '127.0.0.1' however, this will also not work with the default port of 4504 without additional configuration of the SimConnect Server, see B below how to do this if you want to.
c) SimConnect creates three default local servers in the default config with the Acceleration Pack installed. These are an IPv4 server on 127.0.0.1 using a random port, and IPv6 server (which won't start if you are not also running IPv6), and a named Pipe server called 'Microsoft Flight Simulator\SimConnect'. This is why using IPv4, 127.0.0.1:4504 won't work in Plan-G locally by default as the port is probably wrong and changes each time you start FSX. For it to work, you need to create a server with a specific port with the SimConnect Config tool, see below, (or use the named pipe server, which does also work but isn't covered in this post).
B) I'm running my FSX and Plan-G on separate computers across a network connection.
1) I'll assume you have already installed FSX Deluxe and the Acceleration Pack and that part is working. You also already know the IP address of your FSX computer; you will need it so go find it out if you don't know it already. Having done this the SimConnect server will also be running in it's default configuration with FSX running. Don't run FSX just yet though.
2) Download and install the SimConnect Config tool (http://www.codeplex.com/simconnectconfigtool) on your FSX computer and run it from your computer Start menu.
3) Select 'Create Custom SimConnect settings'; Click Add button.
4) At the dialog box set: Presets: Custom Configuration; Tick Configuration enabled; Protocol IPv4; Scope: Global; Max Clients: 64 is fine; Port: 4504 (but see note below); Address: 0.0.0.0; click OK, and OK again to close the tool and also save your settings.
5) Run FSX.
6) Run Plan-G on the other computer and open the configuration options (see section 6 of the documentation, specifically 6.4)
7) Select the FS Connection Tab
8 ) Set Connect with: Auto or SimConnect; Network Mode: IPv4; FSX Computer: <the IP address of the FSX machine that you found out at B(1)>; Server Port/Pipe: 4504 (or whatever you set for the port at step B(4)). Finally click OK.
9) Click the Plan-G Flight Simulator connect button and your yellow location plane should appear on the map.
Notes:
a) The SimConnect config tool creates your SimConnect.xml file for you (Detailed in section 10.2.2 of the manual) so you don't need to do it manually. Please note, it only saves the changes you make after you exit the tool.
b) A Global server assigned to the 0.0.0.0 IP address will accept a connection on any network interface on your FSX computer, including the localhost (127.0.0.1) if you then want to run Plan-G on the same machine as you are running FSX at some point. There is no need to also create a second local server as detailed in the manual at 10.2.2.
c) If you want to know what SimConnect servers and ports are configured, or are still having difficulty, take the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Core Utilities Kit\SimConnect SDK\config\simconnect.ini file and copy it to your My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files (C:\Documents and Settings\<my user>\My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files) folder before starting FSX. This will then also start a SimConnect Diagnostic console and show you which SimConnect servers and ports/names you have running, as well and run all sorts of coms stuff up the console when Plan-G is connected. Delete the file when you no longer need it to do this.
As an aside, I notice that the airspace restrictions shown in Plan G are at least 5 years out of date at least for at least the UK. I'm familiar with http://notaminfo.com (as I'm also a real PPG pilot) which allows registered users to download a KML for use in Google Earth of all up to date airspace and NOTAM restrictions. Is there a way to update the airspace shown in FSX/Plan-G with this up to date information?
Good Luck!
Rich.