Author Topic: Simconnect client error  (Read 6267 times)

Pearskin

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Simconnect client error
« on: January 19, 2019, 07:55:20 pm »
Hello FSDT … I am getting an "install simconnect for client" error when installing my FSDT airports. IT IS NOT DESTRUCTIVE. I can bypass the error and continue. Can you tell me why I get this error message please.

virtuali

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2019, 12:44:32 am »
The problem doesn't have anything to do with any of our products and, in fact, it's an indication you have a problem with your sim installation, because that message is coming from the Simconnect installer you already have on your disk (or, at least, you *should* have in a normal P3D or FSX:SE installation), that our installer simply launch.

The issue might be either trivial or serious, but it's not easy to say.

- If the FSDT airports work correctly, it problem mean the Simconnect installer you are supposed to have in the simulator \redist folder is not there for some reason. Not normal but, if the sceneries are working, it's not serious, since you already had the Simconnect client installed.

- If the FSDT airports don't work, and the software doesn't start, the problem was instead a real install problem, since it indicates Simconnect was not installer properly, and the installer that came with the sim couldn't even fix it, so this would require a bit more work to be fixed.


AirBorne

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2019, 06:49:28 am »
Umberto, did you realise SimConnect is not necessary for P3D v4? The simulator comes with some sort of internal connection mechanism that encompasses all needed functionalities. My setup is a proof of this, because it has not a single SimConnect installation and still EVERY addon (and I have loads of them) work just fine. Maybe you should revisit the need of including an external SimConnect installation, at least P3D v4 wise.

virtuali

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2019, 02:05:46 am »
Umberto, did you realise SimConnect is not necessary for P3D v4?

Of course is still is, that's why is already installed by default. But on a clean install of the sim, the only Simconnect that is installed, is the P3D4 version.

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The simulator comes with some sort of internal connection mechanism that encompasses all needed functionalities.

If you mean the PDK, then yes, we use it of course (and not many other developers do), but there are some things that are still not possible with the PDK only and still require Simconnect.

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My setup is a proof of this, because it has not a single SimConnect installation and still EVERY addon (and I have loads of them) work just fine. Maybe you should revisit the need of including an external SimConnect installation, at least P3D v4 wise.

It seems it's probably not very clear to you how Simconnect works.

It's a client-server system, with a server part that works inside the simulator, and a client part which works in the add-ons. Of course you DO have a Simconnect installed in your system, which is the one and only Simconnect P3D4 (as the server) uses which is, of course, the P3D4 Simconnect *server*

That's the one and only Simconnect the sim runs with so yes, you have it installed, because that's what the sim comes with by default.

This server can accept connection from ANY Simconnect client (FSX, P3D1, 2 and 3), which are the various add-ons which were programmed to use one of these Simconnect versions. But if you never installed any of these on a clean system, you are missing the CLIENT runtimes.

That's why there's a redist folder in the sim, which allow you to optionally install the various Simconnect clients runtimes, so you can run add-ons that are programmed to work with FSX and older P3D versions as well.

If you installed only add-ons that were made to connect only with P3D4, you didn't had to install the other clients: those addons could connect with the P3D4 Simconnect server, because the P3D4 Simconnect client is automatically installed by default, and that's what made you to assume "Simconnect is no longer required", which is not obviously the case.

And no, before you ask, Addons using the P3D4-version of Simconnect won't run "better" just because they use the same version, since it's just a matter of the number of functions available to them, since older versions had less functions, but we already solved this, by having a small .DLL in our software that acts as a bridge to allow calling the missing functions which we might need, which is easier to maintain, since it's very small and manageable.

This allows us to run almost the same client software except for the Addon Manager .DLL, which is a fully native P3D4 app that also use the more "native" PDK AND the P3D4 version of Simconnect, and keep the rest of all the other software backward compatible with FSX SP2, FSX:SE, P3D 1, 2, 3 and 4, without having to have separate versions of the executables for each supported sim.

AirBorne

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2019, 03:19:42 am »
There's something unique on my computer then, because I have NOT a single SimConnect installed and still, as I told before, everything works fine. I also managed to uninstall several Visual C++ Runtimes, because there was a plethora of them from 2005 until 2016 or something like that, really MANY of them (times 2 if you consider x86 and x64), and I was able to remove the majority of them (only 5 remaining) without compromising the correct usage of the simulator and all addons.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2019, 03:52:11 am by AirBorne »

virtuali

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2019, 03:33:04 am »
There's something unique on my computer then, because I have NOT a single SimConnect installed and still, as I told before, everything works fine.

Your system is not unique.

As I've said in my previous post, on a clean install of P3D4 and nothing else, the simulator installer has installed the P3D4 Simconnect SERVER automatically so, out of the box, P3D4 can accept connections from any CLIENT that has been compiled with the P3D4 version of the libraries. In order to accept connections from clients using those other Simconnect versions, the relevant runtimes must be installed.

The only difference, but has been like this since P3D2, is the P3D Simconnect doesn't have the runtime libraries as separate .DLLs inside the Windows\WinSxS folder (called Side-by-side libraries) but, instead, all add-ons that use a Simconnect version from P3D2 onward, use static linking, but that's a really minor technical difference.

AirBorne

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2019, 04:50:58 am »
OK, so you're saying that SimConnect is installed by default, but I can't find it in my system, that's why I told it must be part of P3D v4 itself. It's just not listed in Apps and Programs, like the older SimConnect programs/runtimes would. As to FSDT sceneries, whenever I have to install it to P3D v4 I negate the installation of the SimConnect it tries to install, because I know in advance it's not necessary.

virtuali

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2019, 05:06:33 am »
OK, so you're saying that SimConnect is installed by default, but I can't find it in my system, that's why I told it must be part of P3D v4 itself.

That's why, in my previous post, I made the explicit distinction between the Simconnect SERVER and Simconnect CLIENT. The *server* part has always part of the sim, since FSX, and it's called API.DLL.

The *client* RUNTIMES, as I've said in my last message, from FSX to P3D V1, used to be separate .DLLs in the Windows\WinSxS folder, but since P3D V2, add-ons will use static linking, which means the add-on themselves contains the Simconnect client linked inside.

There are many debates as whichever method is the best (static or dynamic linking), and each have both advantages and disadvantages, on paper the old method was superior and efficient, but it's also more complex to troubleshoot when something goes wrong.

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It's just not listed in Apps and Programs, like the older SimConnect programs/runtimes would. As to FSDT sceneries, whenever I have to install it to P3D v4 I negate the installation of the SimConnect it tries to install, because I know in advance it's not necessary.

That's a mistake, because we obviously require it (we wouldn't install it if we didn't...) and if you install on a clean system that never had any of this clients installed before, and always managed to skip their installation, you can be sure they won't work.

If they work, then you can be sure Simconnect for FSX HAS been installed, and it's there in your Windows\WinSxS folder, which is hidden by default, so it's not so easy to find.

AirBorne

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2019, 07:02:33 am »
Interesting, thanks for the information! As for your last sentence, I suppose the uninstall program of SimConnect (one or all of them I might have installed one day) didn't do a good job then, since everything is working fine regarding this subject, then it must have left leftovers in the SxS directory as per your explanation.

virtuali

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Re: Simconnect client error
« Reply #9 on: February 09, 2019, 03:30:36 pm »
As for your last sentence, I suppose the uninstall program of SimConnect (one or all of them I might have installed one day) didn't do a good job then, since everything is working fine regarding this subject, then it must have left leftovers in the SxS directory as per your explanation.

Very likely. Uninstalling a Windows Side-by-side library is very difficult, even manually, you usually have to boot Windows in Safe mode and remove the folders manually so, I doubt a regular installer can do that.