Simwings EDDH V1.0.2 Marketplace version

[WernerAir 8]

Hi there,
I have installed the latest VDGS driver version (including support for EDDH), and today I have also updated my Simwings EDDH installation to V1.0.2 through the Content Manager.

I can see that the EDDH XML file is present in the VDGS driver folder, but somehow I cannot access any VDGS functionality for EDDH.

 

Am I missing something?

 

I also have EDDK in the Marketplace version, and VDGS works fine there.

[WernerAir 8]

I have performed a test to produce a log file that may help find the problem. Here is what I did:

1.) Start MSFS

2.) Spawn at EDDH, Gate 6

3.) Open the VDGS menu using Shift+V (this is when the log file adds the message "Airport 'EDDH' COULD NOT be verified, reason: 'PACKAGE_NAME_UNVERIFIED'") --> no gate selections are possible, the menu shows no airports in range

4.) Return to MSFS main menu

5.) Spawn at EDDK, Gate D20

6.) Open the VDGS menu using Shift+V --> works fine here, and I can select Gate D20, after which the panel starts displaying information

7.) Open the VDGS menu using Shift+V and set a FLTPLN to PAD --> I can select Gate 5 and the destination is displayed accordingly in the panel

8.) Open the VDGS menu using Shift+V and cancel the FLTPLN

9.) Open the VDGS menu using Shift+V and set a FLTPLN to HAM --> no gate selection is possible, but HAM is displayed as destination in the panel

 

Note that I have EDDH and EDDK installed through the MSFS marketplace, and EDLP installed through Aerosoft One. All airport sceneries and the VDGS drivers are at their latest available versions.

 

I would appreciate any support you can give me with this.

Thank you!

 

aerosoft-vdgs-driver-log.log

[CPtkvn 4]

Hi WernerAir,

 

I found a  temporary solution to make it work with the marketplace version of EDDH. You have to open XML file simwings_EDDH (found in aerosoft-vdgs-driver/airports) with the notepad and modify the package name.

 

For example : packageName in the notepad without modification is "simwings-EDDH" and it should be named as : "aerosoft-airport-eddh-hamburg" which is the name of folder found in the official folder where marketplace installs the airport files.

 

I hope my explanation was clear, i managed to make it work, hope you as well. 

[WernerAir 8]

Hi CPtkvn,

thank you for the workaround - that actually made it work! And yes, the explanation was very clear.

[CPtkvn 4]

Hi,

Glad it helped you. I hope microsoft will deliver the rest of the updates much faster and avoid giving wrong names to their installation folders. (still waiting for GCTS and GCLA)

Therefore we wouldn't have to apply these workarounds.

[SimWare 731]

Thank you everyone for sharing experience and knowledge!

[WernerAir 8]

Hi there,

after getting it to work, I have noticed that the parking position where the Aerosoft VDGS makes you stop is too far away from the terminal building for many positions. As a result, the jetways don't dock correctly with the aircraft - see the attached screenshot for gate 5A as an example.

I suppose that - in contrast to GSX - there is no way for the user to edit the actual stop position?

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[WernerAir 8]

Just continued testing. Gate 2A has the same problem when arriving at the airport. VDGS makes you stop too far away for the jetway to dock correctly. This is not the same position where the aircraft stands when you spawn at this gate. I am using the Flybywire A32NX, but it should be the same with a B737...

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[CPtkvn 4]

Hi there,

I have tried with Fenix A320 and VDGS parked me right in the spot. It was on gate 2B, maybe the problem related to FBW A32NX.

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[WernerAir 8]

Hi CPtkvn,

 

thank you for providing the comparison. Here is what I get with the FBW A32NX when parking at gate 2B. As you can see, the aircraft is a little further back than the Fenix A320, but here the jetway almost docks correctly. Have you tried other gates like 2A or 5A where the FBW is really far off? (In fact, at gate 5A the VDGS panel is also not positioned where it is in real life, because at this gate the actual panel is positioned above the stairs next to the jetway.)

In any case, while there seem indeed to be differences between the Fenix A320 and the FBWW A32NX, my feeling is that the VDGS parking positions are too far away from the terminal building in general - among other things, why are they not identical to the positions at which the aircraft spawns when you begin your flight in EDDH?

In the end, GSX has a definite advantage in its feature that parking positions are defined by the position of the main door rather than the center of the aircraft. I guess I'll have to go back to using GSX for VDGS for the time being. Too bad - I really like the display of the Aerosoft VDGS much better, but that doesn't help if it parks you in the wrong place...

 

 

 

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[belgianflightsimpilot 1]

my gates are way off

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[WernerAir 8]

I think I have found the source of the problem, and thus the solution.

 

Aerosoft VDGS uses xml configuration files for each airport, placed in the folder Community\aerosoft-vdgs-driver\airports. For airports like EDLP or EDDK, these contain blocks like

"<Stop type="ARC-C" distanceInMtrs="0.0"/>    <!-- A320,B737...         - Medium Airliners -->"

for each gate, effectively giving a stop distance along the centerline for every aircraft category. Such lines are missing in the configuration files for EDDH, GCLP, and probably other sim-wings sceneries. As a result, Aerosoft VDGS reverts to a standard stop distance of 4.0m for Cat C aircraft that it reads from the "arc_default_definitions" xml file in the main folder. I have put lines like the above in the EDDH config file, and now I can control where the system makes me stop.

 

That of course opens the question whether some documentation on these xml files could be available from Aerosoft. For example, I would like to know if the stop distance can also be set specifically for an aircraft type rather than a category.

And of course, at gate 5A the screen is still in the wring place. This has to be changed in the scenery, as well, as it seems.