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Binky9 Needs Help Getting Cumulusx Installed


B21

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Hi all - I'm getting the thread started for binky9 who's struggling to get CumulusX (and sim_probe) installed...

Binky9 do you have Vista or XP ?

How far have you got with the install so far ?

Is it just the exe.xml edit you're worried about? If so have you at least found the folder the file goes in ?

B21

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Hi all - I'm getting the thread started for binky9 who's struggling to get CumulusX (and sim_probe) installed...

Binky9 do you have Vista or XP ?

How far have you got with the install so far ?

Is it just the exe.xml edit you're worried about? If so have you at least found the folder the file goes in ?

B21

I have XP and FSX Gold, which includes the Acceleration pkg. If it's OK with you, I would prefer to just start back at the beginning, after re-loading CumulusX! and sim_probe back on my computer. I'll do that tonight, and we can go from there.

I hope you have lots of patience.

Thanks up front for this assist,

binky9

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HI Binky9,

sorry for not answering quickly. I was a few days offline, because of my home getting a comprehensive LAN installation.

I read from your last post, that you have FSX Gold, which includes Acceleration. That's probably the point. You should do the following:

Download from MS FSX service pack #1 and #2.

If you have already upgraded to FSX Acceleration, uninstall Acceleration for the time being and revert to FSX standard.

Now install FSX SP1, then SP2.

Install CumulusX! and sim_probe according the documentation and try out.

If it does not work, please make screenshots of error message boxes that may occur and return to this forum.

However, if it works now, then uninstall FSX SP2 and install Acceleration again. It should still work. Please give us a feedback about the result.

best regards,

Peter

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Hi Peter - I think Binky9's issues are more to do with the simple basic installation of the add-ons... what's the rationale to remove Acceleration?

Ian

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what's the rationale to remove Acceleration?

Hi Ian,

there were several users that had problems with an out-of-the-box acceleration install and error messages at start up. In those cases the procedure solved the problems.

There are four different simconnect.dll's with different serial numbers, RTM, SP1, ACC, and SP2, which is the latest.

So if you never had SP2 on your machine, but only acceleration, CumulusX! can only find the Acceleration version, which has a lower serial number than SP2, against it is linked.

But if you ever had SP2 on your machine, simconnect.dll of SP2 will remain, even if you uninstall SP2 in order to install Acceleration.

As you know, I don't have the acceleration package, so I can't test every detail of it.

best regards,

Peter

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thanks - now I get it. Any idea if it works if the user just drops the DLL into the right folder? I have no conscience about posting up a link to the required DLL.

B21

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Probably not. The correctly installed DLL resides in the folder \Windows\WinSXS\..... and comes along with a manifest, a policy and some other stuff. Additionally, during install the policies of the remaining DLL's of the same name are updated, so that they usually refer to the most up-to-date version. So it is not recommended to manually interfere with it (although I tried this without much success to fix the CTD-bug of FSX).

Unlike legacy applications, dot-net applications do not prefer dll's that are located in the application directory, but always use dll's from the assembly cache, unless very special configuration files are used. In general, this is not recommended for end users.

best regards,

Peter

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Probably not. The correctly installed DLL resides in the folder \Windows\WinSXS\..... and comes along with a manifest, a policy and some other stuff. Additionally, during install the policies of the remaining DLL's of the same name are updated, so that they usually refer to the most up-to-date version. So it is not recommended to manually interfere with it (although I tried this without much success to fix the CTD-bug of FSX).

Unlike legacy applications, dot-net applications do not prefer dll's that are located in the application directory, but always use dll's from the assembly cache, unless very special configuration files are used. In general, this is not recommended for end users.

best regards,

Peter

OK, you guys lost me at DLL. Peter, should I go ahead with the steps you recommended?

Thanks,

Bruce (binky9)

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Hi Bruce,

first, could you confirm, that you have installed first FSX, and then immediately Accleration, without SP2 in between?

If so I would proceed as described above.

best regards,

Peter

Peter,

The last time I loaded FSX, I immediately installed Acceleration, w/o SP1 or SP2. When I have some free evening hours, I will follow the instructions, and report back.

Thanks,

Bruce

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When I have some free evening hours

yup, that about sums it up. Sadly it's a case of an FSX re-install (FSX then SP1 (208MB) then SP2 (166MB) then Acceleration). Stick with it Bruce and you can be planking the DG808S into the trees with the rest of us...

B21

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yup, that about sums it up. Sadly it's a case of an FSX re-install (FSX then SP1 (208MB) then SP2 (166MB) then Acceleration). Stick with it Bruce and you can be planking the DG808S into the trees with the rest of us...

B21

OK, I started out by uninstalling FSX and Acceleration.

I backed up the airobjectvisual.xml and the simobjects DG808 panel.

I reinstalled FSX and SP1 and SP2.

I followed the instructions for renaming the thermaldescription.xml file.

CumulusX! is in the right place in FSX, and the control box appeared, with the slope data base checked and red, as was the sim probe.

I'm a little confused about the Disable Lift box. I clicked it, and got Enable Lift, but the box never turned green. However, Auto Thermals did. Also, how do I know if I am connected? The connected box never got bold or anything to indicate I was connected.

Once I was in the air and released from the tow plane, I could see clouds that looked like they would have lift to varying degrees, but I never got anything but nibbles. Also, the varios never went positive, even when the lift suddenly got strong for a couple of seconds. Trying to center the lift was a no go. There didn't seem to be any structure to the thermals, just bits and pieces of lift.

SP2 is still installed, and I haven't reinstalled Acceleration.

Any advice?

Brauce

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I backed up the airobjectvisual.xml and the simobjects DG808 panel.

This should have done after SP1 and SP2 installation, but nevermind.

CumulusX! is in the right place in FSX, and the control box appeared, with the slope data base checked and red, as was the sim probe.

Very good. So CumulusX! is now up and running. Did you make an entry for Sim_Probe in the EXE.XML, too? If not, the Sim_Probe indicator will stay red anyway.

I'm a little confused about the Disable Lift box. I clicked it, and got Enable Lift, but the box never turned green.

This is ok, unless you have started a flight. CumulusX! does not enable its lift procedure (that's when the button goes green) unless the sim is real flight, rather than the welcome screen, slewing, pausing, or in some configuration setting. In all these cases the button stays grey.

However, Auto Thermals did. Also, how do I know if I am connected? The connected box never got bold or anything to indicate I was connected.

AutoThermals indicator works a bit different. You are already connected, therefore the button "Connect" is inactive, while the button "Disconnect" is active.

Once I was in the air and released from the tow plane, I could see clouds that looked like they would have lift to varying degrees, but I never got anything but nibbles. Also, the varios never went positive, even when the lift suddenly got strong for a couple of seconds. Trying to center the lift was a no go. There didn't seem to be any structure to the thermals, just bits and pieces of lift.

Don't look out for the usual FSX clouds, the CumulusX! clouds look different. Go to my homepage and have a look at the picture of the 3D-cloud replacement. This is what you should expect.

The lift and sink you have experienced is probably mostly the air structure. To get acquainted with CumulusX! you should select the fair weather theme first, and turn on the "UnBlue" option in the CumlusX! add-on menu. Currently CumulusX! looks only at the position of the aircraft for the general weather conditions, which makes the thermal clouds frequently disappear, unless you turn on this option.

To check if you are really in a thermal or not, you may also activate the "Debug" option, which tells you some statistics about the current situation, including the actual thermal lift.

For the time being everything looks pretty good. Once you have identified the correct function of CumulusX!, resp. Sim_probe, you can make the last step and reinstall Acceleration. Probably, this will overwrite the ThermalDescrptions.XML and AirVisualObjects.XML modifications again. Simply make another backup of the new files after Acceleration install and re-do the changes for the CumulusX! environment.

Cheers,

Peter

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re the "Disable Lift" button - that's the button you can turn CumulusX ON and OFF with. If the button says "Disable Lift", then CumulusX is already ENABLED and clicking it will turn CumulusX OFF. If the button says "Enable Lift" then CumulusX is currently DISABLED and when you click it the CumulusX will be enabled and the text on the button change to "Disable Lift".

Well done getting CumulusX running. You can tell if sim_probe is installed by simply looking that the top menu of FSX in the normal flight view and seeing if there's a sim_probe entry under the 'Add-ons' menu. For ridge lift there are *no* settings to be done in sim_probe, but you will have to make sure the relevant box is ticked in the CumulusX window for it to accept the sim_probe lift input.

Ridge lift is *easy* to test because you can set a decent wind (say 15 knots) and fly next to a slope and there it will be. The AddOn->sim_probe menu gives you a way of displaying the current ridgelift value in a text bar, but after you've confirmed it's there I suggest it is bad form to leave that hint up for normal flying.... The SOAR DG808S instruments are pretty good anyway.

B21

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This should have done after SP1 and SP2 installation, but nevermind.

Very good. So CumulusX! is now up and running. Did you make an entry for Sim_Probe in the EXE.XML, too? If not, the Sim_Probe indicator will stay red anyway.

This is ok, unless you have started a flight. CumulusX! does not enable its lift procedure (that's when the button goes green) unless the sim is real flight, rather than the welcome screen, slewing, pausing, or in some configuration setting. In all these cases the button stays grey.

AutoThermals indicator works a bit different. You are already connected, therefore the button "Connect" is inactive, while the button "Disconnect" is active.

Don't look out for the usual FSX clouds, the CumulusX! clouds look different. Go to my homepage and have a look at the picture of the 3D-cloud replacement. This is what you should expect.

The lift and sink you have experienced is probably mostly the air structure. To get acquainted with CumulusX! you should select the fair weather theme first, and turn on the "UnBlue" option in the CumlusX! add-on menu. Currently CumulusX! looks only at the position of the aircraft for the general weather conditions, which makes the thermal clouds frequently disappear, unless you turn on this option.

To check if you are really in a thermal or not, you may also activate the "Debug" option, which tells you some statistics about the current situation, including the actual thermal lift.

For the time being everything looks pretty good. Once you have identified the correct function of CumulusX!, resp. Sim_probe, you can make the last step and reinstall Acceleration. Probably, this will overwrite the ThermalDescrptions.XML and AirVisualObjects.XML modifications again. Simply make another backup of the new files after Acceleration install and re-do the changes for the CumulusX! environment.

Cheers,

Peter

Peter,

I don't seem to have an "Application Data" file/folder, which is keeping me from activating "Autostart" for CumulusX! and downloading sim_probe. There are two folders in "Documents and Settings". One is "All Users", the other is "Bruce".

CumulusX! is running fine. I deleted SP2, and added Acceleration. Now, the clouds look differently than prior to those changes. Is that good or bad?

As for "planking the DG into the trees, I did that last night in the Austria mission. Things were going great until I was about 5 miles from the finish, all of a sudden there was nothing but heavy sink everywhere I turned.

Bruce

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I don't seem to have an "Application Data" file/folder, which is keeping me from activating "Autostart" for CumulusX! and downloading sim_probe. There are two folders in "Documents and Settings". One is "All Users", the other is "Bruce".

Type Winkey-R and type in the box %AppData%\Microsoft\FSX. This opens the folder for your personal FSX settings.

CumulusX! is running fine. I deleted SP2, and added Acceleration. Now, the clouds look differently than prior to those changes. Is that good or bad?

I don't have a clue. Does this refer to the special CumulusX! clouds or to the normal FSX clouds? Nevertheless, if it's still working and you find lift beneath the CumulusX! clouds, I suppose that it is ok. Could you post a screenshot of the particular situation in ACC? Could you explain the difference?

Cheers,

Peter

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the 'Application Data' folder is C:\Documents and Settings\Bruce\Application Data.

Microsoft have made it especially hard to find by giving that folder a default 'invisibility' setting and you have to set your folder option to 'show hidden files':

* Open "My Computer" and navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\Bruce

* Click menu item "Tools" then "Folder Options" which will open a "Folder Options" window (see below)

* Click the "View" tab and click the "Show hidden files and folders" radiobutton:

WinFileExplorerShowHiddenFiles.png

* Click the "Apply to All Folders" button.

Now you will be able to see the "Application Data" folder, and in there you will find "C:\Documents and Settings\Bruce\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX"

*** edit - I see I overlapped with a simulataneous post from Peter - both instructions work tho.

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Now, the clouds look differently than prior to those changes

I'm sure this is referring to the CumulusX! clouds - i.e. this is *good*. When there's a mix of FSX and CumulusX clouds you can detect the difference in the cloud models, so you get a hint of the clouds with thermals under them. If the sky is otherwise clear, each cloud is a Cx! cloud and these look a little simpler than the standard FSX.

Binky it sounds like you're nearly there - CumulusX is installed and running, you just want to autostart it. Once you have CumulusX installed, sim_probe install should be easy.

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I'm sure this is referring to the CumulusX! clouds - i.e. this is *good*. When there's a mix of FSX and CumulusX clouds you can detect the difference in the cloud models, so you get a hint of the clouds with thermals under them. If the sky is otherwise clear, each cloud is a Cx! cloud and these look a little simpler than the standard FSX.

Binky it sounds like you're nearly there - CumulusX is installed and running, you just want to autostart it. Once you have CumulusX installed, sim_probe install should be easy.

I haven't loaded sim_probe, yet. And CumulusX! seems to be running fine. But, I find that I have lost some aircraft in FSX. For instance, I now have one F/A-18, one Grumman Goose, etc. Begore, there were several paint jobs to choose from. Anyone know what happened?

binky9

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But, I find that I have lost some aircraft in FSX. For instance, I now have one F/A-18, one Grumman Goose, etc. Begore, there were several paint jobs to choose from.

Maybe somehow the option "Show all variants (or so)" in the plane selection pane has been turned off?

regards,

Peter

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Maybe somehow the option "Show all variants (or so)" in the plane selection pane has been turned off?

regards,

Peter

Peter,

Maybe I should have noticed that.

Thanks,

Bruce

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I'm sure this is referring to the CumulusX! clouds - i.e. this is *good*. When there's a mix of FSX and CumulusX clouds you can detect the difference in the cloud models, so you get a hint of the clouds with thermals under them. If the sky is otherwise clear, each cloud is a Cx! cloud and these look a little simpler than the standard FSX.

Binky it sounds like you're nearly there - CumulusX is installed and running, you just want to autostart it. Once you have CumulusX installed, sim_probe install should be easy.

Ian,

You forget who you are dealing with, when you say sim_probe should be easy.

I have gotten as far as putting in the exe file in the right place, but there is another exe file already there for CumulusX!, and Windows wants to over-write it. What should I tell it?

Does the sample exe file at the bottom of the reademe file get pasted to the exe file for CumulusX!?

Thanks,

Binky9

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Do you have 'show all variations' checked at the bottom of the aircraft selection screen?

load.jpg

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Do you have 'show all variations' checked at the bottom of the aircraft selection screen?

load.jpg

Yes, Peter pointed that oversight on my part to me.

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