SimConnect Questions - Timeout

[Bman.]

Question 1)   Is there a way to "restart" the simconnect process?  I have noticed that sometimes my connection will not work (both FSMap and PlanG) - both give me similar errors about SimConnect not configured properly / can not connect to FSX.

  I don't change anything in the SimConnect.xml and it typically works.  I can't figure out what intermittently is kicking the SimConnect out of service or at least making the systems not think FS is running.   IPs are static and access to both computers over the network are fine. 

  I thought is maybe I could restart the SimConnect process that I would retry the connections without rebooting both systems.  If I reboot both systems...connection works great.

Question 2) I have the loopback IP adapter also in the .xml 127.0.0.1 in addition to the PlanG and FSMap access - is it needed?

Question 3) Should I just use "Global" to allow all of my simconnect apps to use the same port?

Question 4) I have found that if I just go and change me .xml to a different port - say 4510, it will work when 4506 doesnt.  Is there any way to tell which ports are being used?  I find it hard to believe that all of a sudden 4506 becomes occupied when nothing has changed.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="SimConnect" version="1,0">
   <Descr>SimConnect</Descr>
   <Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename>
   <Disabled>False</Disabled>
   <SimConnect.Comm>
      <Disabled>True</Disabled>
      <Protocol>Auto</Protocol>
      <Scope>global</Scope>
      <Address>192.168.1.50</Address>
      <MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
      <Port>4510</Port>
      <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize>
      <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle>
   </SimConnect.Comm>

   <SimConnect.Comm>
             <Disabled>False</Disabled>
            <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol>
           <Scope>global</Scope>
             <Address>192.168.1.50</Address>
             <Port>4510</Port>
            <MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
      <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize>
      <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle>
          </SimConnect.Comm>

   <SimConnect.Comm>
             <Disabled>False</Disabled>
            <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol>
           <Scope>global</Scope>
             <Address>192.168.1.50</Address>
             <Port>500</Port>
            <MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
      <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize>
      <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle>
          </SimConnect.Comm>

   <SimConnect.Comm>
             <Disabled>True</Disabled>
            <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol>
           <Scope>local</Scope>
      <MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
             <Address>127.0.0.1</Address>
             <Port>500</Port>
       </SimConnect.Comm>

</SimBase.Document>

Thanks and sorry for the bombardment of questions.

Benjamin.

[tim arnot]

1. If FSX crashes, that will often leave the port 'stuck' and it becomes unavailable in the next session, which means other apps won't connect/reconnect. I haven't tried this, but if you define a numper of 'spare' ports that you don't normally use (4507, 4508 etc), you might still be able to connect to them.

2. No. You don't need it. FSX will open a loopback adapter to port number 0, whether you define it or not. The original SDK xml just provides it as an example local connection.

3. I don't think there's been any research on whether it's better to have separate ports for each app, or run everything through a single port. So take your pick.

4. Could be related to item 1...

[Bman.]

Got it - Thanks for your input.  I like the idea of just listing a bank of ports to use if one won't work.

  I think you are correct.  If I don't shut down TrackIR prior to exiting FSX I will sometimes get the "Microsoft Flight Simulator has not shutdown correctly... "  I bet that is leaving the ports open.  A reboot typically does the trick but I will give the multiple port options a go.  That will work great I think...  since I can't fully figure out why FSX doesn't shut down correctly every so often.

  Is there any way to check what ports are open and closed on a PC from the local side (versus the net side tests which show everything closed outside of 80 etc. )

Thanks again-

Benjamin.