Air Manager with Multi computer

Support for Arduino in combination with Air Manager and Air Player

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PilotOlivier
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:17 pm

Air Manager with Multi computer

#1 Post by PilotOlivier »

Hi

I am a new user of Air Manager (paid version) and I am impressed by the quality of the product.

I have 3 computers:
computer 1 : air manager + Arduino Mega2560 board
computer 2 : Xplane 11 (last version) + FlightSim plugin version 3.8
computer 3 : Xplane 11 (last version) + FlightSim plugin version 3.8
All computers are on the same home network.

I configured a switch with the following program:
image.png
The switch works with the computer which has started the first but not with both.

Question 1
When i click on "start" button in Air manager, i have a white window as showing the picture here attached.... it is normal?
image.png

Question 2
How i can proceed to use the switch for computer 2 AND computer 3?

I spent a lot of time without success and/or answer... thank you for your support.

Cheers

Olivier
Pilot Olivier

MSFS 2020 - KIng Air 350i - Steam Gauge Overhaul - Analog King Air
Air Manager - SPAD.neXt
Arduino MEGA2560

Mickolodias
Posts: 69
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:21 am

Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#2 Post by Mickolodias »

Hi Oliver

The white window is the place you see the graphics for the instrument. Which you don't have any so that's fine.
Later you'll add your new instrument to a panel. And you can set that panel as 'Do not show panel' in the panel settings.

AirManager can only connect to 1 computer at a time.
What;s the reason for 2 X-plane computers?
Normally these would be talking to each other via X-Plane, with 1 master and any number of external or locked visual computers.
With this setup you point AirManager to the master
I'm one of 'those' mac guys. (and I have no idea why I can't afford to eat)

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Sling
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Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#3 Post by Sling »

Hi, Oliver

Welcome to the world of Air Manager.

The white box you see will not be shown at all if you use that code as a hardware function rather than an instrument. A hardware function is specifically for those bits of code that don’t require any graphics or click spots. I.e. hardware only. It will not do any harm having it in an instrument but the convention now is to set these up as hardware functions.

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PilotOlivier
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Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:17 pm

Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#4 Post by PilotOlivier »

Hi Mickolodias & Sling

Understood. Now it is working well with Laminar plane.
Pilot Olivier

MSFS 2020 - KIng Air 350i - Steam Gauge Overhaul - Analog King Air
Air Manager - SPAD.neXt
Arduino MEGA2560

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jph
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Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#5 Post by jph »

Hi, I am still interested in what your 2 x-plane PC's are configured as ?
Are you running one mainly as the visuals ?
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

steveald
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2022 2:21 am

Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#6 Post by steveald »

Hi,
I'm not sure what the OP was trying to accomplish, but here's what I'm trying to do.
I have 1 PC with 3 monitors as external visuals, and 1 PC with flight controls and air manager panels, as well as some switches connected to USB joystick controller boards and accessed via flywithlua scripts.
I like to have the 3D cockpit displayed on the external visuals mainly to get the feel of being in a cockpit rather than just flying around like Superman. The first issue I came across was landing at night, turning on the landing lights (on Aerobask Phenom 300) from my panel works on the master computer, but no lights come on, on the external displays. I can turn them on by using the keyboard connected to the external visuals computer, but I would like that automated so I can use just one switch. One solution I was thinking of is to use a DPDT switch with one side wired to a USB joystick controller on one computer and the other side wired to a USB controller connected to the other, but that would not allow me to use the switches on my Alpha yoke. Another solution I am toying with would be to have Air Manager on master PC turn on a LED via an Arduino, but somehow wire that output to the input of another Arduino on the slave PC running Air Player connected to the simulator on the slave. I think the 2 Arduinos would need a common ground for that to (maybe) work, and I don't know how wise it would be to do that.
Anyway, that is why I would like to have an Air Manager panel talk to 2 separate instances of X-Plane. If anyone can suggest any way to do that I would be very grateful.
(and it isn't just landing lights, there are countless datarefs that don't make it across the network from master to external visual computer)

Thanks,
SA

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jph
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Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#7 Post by jph »

Steve
Why are you running two copies of X-Plane ?
I see no need to in what you are doing.
You can run air manager on a second PC, that is sensible, but you certainly do not need to be running X-Plane on that PC also.
AM will connect to the PC running X-Plane via the network.
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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Sling
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Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#8 Post by Sling »

If one pc is not talking to the other pc that is your issue. The solutions you suggested are just hacks to try and get round the fundamental issue. If you can tell us in more detail how you have configured your setup we might be able to help root out what’s wrong.

Which pc is the Xplane Master?
Which plug-in do you have and where is it installed?
What AM instrument?
What aircraft?
Network details etc, etc

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jph
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Re: Air Manager with Multi computer

#9 Post by jph »

The aircraft etc (and most of the above post) is simply not important. What IS important is why you are running two copies of X-Plane ?
X-Plane does NOT do distributed load / computing.
You only need a single copy. You will have absolutely ZERO benefit from running two copies (caveat below)

In 'some' cases people will use multiple pc's with copies of XP so that a single PC can drive - say, the main monitor / projector and the other PCs drive a left and right monitor hence sharing some load. This is quite simply down to the inabilities of most single PCs to power 3 high resolution graphics displays at high frame rates
However, XP is simply not intelligent enough to actually distribute any of the load. It is just multiple and totally independent copies of X-Plane running at the same time and relying on the most very basic sync data. No work is offloaded.
All that happens is that the most basic information is shared to each PC to try to keep them in sync with what they are doing and showing - but each is acting independently.
When you have, for example, randomly generated animated scenery, then - certainly in V11, this is NOT distributed so can appear on one monitor / PC but is not present on the others.

When you use the single copy, which - unless you are doing something remarkable - then that is absolutely all you need and all you can benefit from, then AM is pointed to the only XP machine and as said, you can run AM on any other PC on the network.
If you then still have issues you can follow the standard guidance here :-
https://siminnovations.com/wiki/index.p ... n_problems
Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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