Connection problems

From Sim Innovations Wiki
Revision as of 11:09, 17 March 2020 by Admin (talk | contribs) (Check instrument compatibility)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

If you're experiencing problems with connecting to your simulator software then please read this page carefully. If by checking all these options, the problem still exists, then please submit a support ticket through our website.

Network issues

The connection between the flight simulator and Air Manager / Air Player goes over UDP (Ethernet/WiFi), a connection through USB will not work. These are the most common issues regarding the network.

Firewall

One of the most common problems is firewall related, even when running Air Manager or Air Player on the same computer as the flight simulator. An easy method to confirm this is by (temporarily) turning off the firewall on your flight simulator computer. This counts for the Windows firewall in case of running Windows, and any other firewall software you have running.

If this helps, you will have to create a firewall exception / rule for your flight simulator and possibly also Air Manager. How to do this depends on your operating system and firewall being used. Google is your friend in this case. Search for something like 'Create Windows 10 firewall exception', or whatever suits your situation.

Same network (sub-network)

In case the flight simulator and Air Manager and/or Air Player are running on separate computers, be sure that both computers are on the same network. To verify this, you can check the IP addresses. Everything in front of the last digits in the IP address of both devices has to be the same. In some cases the 5G WiFi network is on a different subnet. If this is the case, you will have to modify your router settings and/or network setup.

So for example this will work:

Flight simulator                 192.168.0.10
Air Manager / Air Player device  192.168.0.12

This will not work:

Flight simulator                 192.168.0.10
Air Manager / Air Player device  192.168.1.12

WiFi repeaters are know for causing network issues. In case you have a WiFi repeater, try it without the repeater to see if this helps.

The plugin

Is the plugin installed?

This one is as obvious as 'is the power plugged in?'. Make sure you have the latest plugin(s) installed on your flight simulator computer, you can find those here. The plugin installer will show for which simulators the plugin was successfully installed with the message 'Installed!'.

Clicking on 'details' will show you where the plugin was installed. Check if this is really the location where your simulator is installed. Having (had) a demo version of your simulator installed for example, might cause the plugin being installed in the wrong location.

Air Plugin listed in the X-Plane plugins menu.

Confirming the plugin is loaded

To confirm that the plugin is loaded go to: C:/users/<user_name>/Air Plugin/ and look for either fsx_log.txt in case of FSX, p3d_log.txt in case of Prepar3D and xpl_log.txt in case of X-Plane. In case the plugin was loaded correctly, the file will show similar messages as below.

For FSX and Prepar3D (Note that the version number, SimConnect handle and port numbers can be different in your case, this is just an example.)

Main: Starting plugin (V2.2.1)...
SimConnectHandler: SimConnect handle: 0F42B070
Main: Init Sim Bus...
Main: Done initializing!
Main: Serving forever...
SimBus: New client connected on port 55558 (ext. port 26339)
SimBus: New client connected on port 55557 (ext. port 26595)

For X-Plane (Note that the version number and port numbers can be different in your case, this is just an example.)

Main: Starting plugin (V2.2.2)...
Main: Init Air Bus...
Main: Initializing GUI...
Main: Done initializing!
Main: Serving forever...
SimBus: New client connected on port 55558 (ext. port 21243)
SimBus: New client connected on port 55556 (ext. port 20987)

In case the plugin wasn't loaded correctly, it will display an error. In this case, submit a support ticket and include your log file.

The instruments

Are the instruments you are using compatible with the flight sim you're connected to? You can check this in the Online tab by looking for the flight simulator icons. There are 3 different icons: X-Plane, FSX and Prepar3D. If the icon of your flight simulator is not there for the instrument(s) you are using, then the instrument(s) will not work.

Trying a manual connection (remote only)

Once you have confirmed that the plugin is loaded correctly, and you have checked all of the above, it is time to try a manual connection. Air Manager and Air Player rely on an automatic connection system. In some cases the connection cannot be established automatically, this can be due to various issues. To confirm this, you will have to configure the connection manually by selecting the IP address and the simulator of your choice. How to do this is described in the user manuals.