Author Topic: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??  (Read 11843 times)

Amigo

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"HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« on: August 18, 2018, 08:05:41 pm »
Hi Jimi;
Yes Sir, I got  the "Genius"-message and I appreciate your modest philosophy.
Referring to your last post August 14 under:
For v4:
-Verify ......P3D version
-Verify Hornet FCS.dll file

I just installed P3Dv4 on my machine yesterday and of course, I like to install the "Beauty".
I'm not sure if I understand the importance of FCS.dll while installing FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet ver.18.3(5May 2018).
Doesn't it include .dll?? Do I need to install anything additionally?
Sorry for the bother. I just like to make it right in the first place to avoid later complications.
Thanks as always, Amigo


PhantomTweak

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2018, 09:23:31 pm »
First, of course, let's verify you got the correct down load :)
You did down load the P3DV4 V18.3 Hornet off of the first post in the latest thread about the Hornet, yes? The thread with 16 pages, and the different down loads for different sim versions, as well as the information on what's been updated.

Presuming you did download the correct plane, then you should have the correct HornetFCS.DLL in your plane's Panel.Fleet folder, and that it installed into your sim's \Gauges folder.
You can verify the correct .DLL version by checking the size Windows reports it as being. The one for P3DV4 and above is shown as 109 kb. The "old" version, the one for FSX etc is only 76 kb, and is only placed in the plane's Panel.Fleet folder, not the sim's \Gauges.

Hope this helps out a little bit...
Pat☺

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2018, 10:10:27 pm »
Hi Pat;
Thank you for spending your time with people who just don't get it. File and folders became a pet peeve to me since I'm not familiar with location,sequence and function.
Yes, your first assumption is correct, I got the right download from Jimi's 16 page thread. But there is some confusion on my part referring to his explanation on the "FCS FAIL" thread, under "For v4": -verify......HornetFCS.dllfile etc.
I did not pay much attention to that part since I was not concerned about v4 at that time. In the meantime I did install v4 and got confused about the location of .dll. So I did not start installing the Hornet yet.
Jimi explained finding .dll in: Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3Dv4\gauges Folder. Not so in my version.
My .dll is located in gauges as a Sub-Folder of Specific Files. Yes, you are right; it shows 109KB. But is that the correct location??
I don't have the knowledge on how much impact the location has, and after my unpleasant happenings on the v3 F-18 installation I rather be more cautious. Since you showed me how to identify files by KB, the 109 indicates at least that we are talking about the
correct .dll.
Please let me know what you think about the importance of the location.
Thanks a lot for your time and your help, Amigo

jimi08

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2018, 02:00:36 pm »
Amigo,

No worries about the confusion, we've all been there at one point or another.

To clarify....
Although FSX and P3D are very similar in their file hierarchy, there are some subtle differences in the way some files are read.

In FSX, that FCS.dll file would normally be read and executed from the Sim Object's Panel folder (i.e. Panel.Fleet for the FSXBA Hornet).

But for P3D, that same dll is read and executed from the sim's 'Gauges' folder (i.e. Lockheed Martin/P3Dv4/Gauges)

Because of this, you will need to take that FCS file that Pat mentioned previously, and place it in that Gauges folder that I just mentioned above.

After doing that, start or restart the Sim and select YES for the windows/prompts asking if you want to run the FCS.dll.

Let me know if that works for you.

-Jimi

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2018, 10:24:12 pm »
Hi Jimi, hi Pat;
Today I have to divide my post into two parts: the positive and the, let's just call it the less positive.
I very much appreciate you guys help in educating my understanding of files and folders. As a result of that, the Beauty flies like an angel. But the catch is, during VFR flights only.
Instrument flights show numerous FCS problems as I found out after the installation of the F-18 to P3Dv3 last week and some instrument testing. After these violent instrument flops I decided to go for v4 by believing for a different behavior. It did not turn out that way after installing F-18 to v4 today.
Exactly the very same malfunctions. In auto pilot mode, altitude control is very erratic by hundreds of feet (up to 800/900feet) throughout a flight from Philly to JFK. Heading control is very slow and sluggish and ILS interception is not reliable. At times it just doesn't intercept the ILS final approach course at all. Disengaging auto pilot on final is most of the time not possible; not with the A/P button nor with "Z/Y" on the keyboard.
I guess this time I don't have to take the blame because all the other Fighter or Passenger jets on FSX,P3Dv3,P3Dv4 and X-Plane 11.20 are behaving normal and trustfully during IFR flights.
If anyone can help, I don't have to guess. It has to be you.
I hope I am not asking too much of your time. Best regards, Amigo   

PhantomTweak

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2018, 11:07:01 pm »
Bear in mind that the plane for P3Dv3 is totally separate from the P3Dv4 plane.
The P3dV3 and FSX planes are the same, and the P3Dv4 is separate. The two aren't interchangeable.

Use the FSX plane download for P3Dv3, and make sure you have the F18.dll file from FSX in your P3D\Gauges folder. The old version of the HornetFCS.dll also needs to be there. In your P3D\Gauges folder.
For P3Dv4, the F18.dll file is no longer necessary. But the new HornetFCS.dll file IS necessary.
All this is because P3Dv4 is, essentially, a totally new sim. LOOKS the same, but because it's been upgraded to a 64bit application, all the .dll files used must be updated to function in the new environment. That's why two separate planes. Jimi and the Team are still working on perfecting the new HornetFCS.dll file, so there may well be troubles. I don't have P3D of any sort, but I know that V4 and up are totally different and unique from FSX and P3Dv3, which work very similarly.

Does this help answer the question?
Pat☺

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2018, 10:06:11 pm »
Pat;
Sure, I very much appreciate your comment. Your instant reply helped me a lot in confirming and understanding what Jimi already explained to me; that FSX and P3Dv3 downloads do require completely different .dlls than v4.
That is understood.The question however remains why v3 and v4 (after the installations of F-18 updates of Jimi's 16 page recommendations: FSX ver.18.3 and P3Dv4 ver. 18.3) show auto pilot malfunctions with F-18 while other aircraft types don't.

I did a complete revue today on all installed files and folders of FSX, v3 and v4; mainly searching for Hornet.dlls. I have seen too many .dlls, of which I don't think, all of them belong there.
In this respect may be this question could be relevant(?) Do I have to remove previous F-18 files before or after installing a new update? Could that be the reason of seeing so many Hornet.dlls in different folders?
Would a complete reinstall of the F-18 updates being a solution?
Give me a few days and I'll check out sim by sim and aircraft by aircraft for their auto pilot performances. May be I'll get a better clue.
Thanks a lot for your help, Amigo

PhantomTweak

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2018, 08:18:38 am »
Ola, mi Amigo  :D
If it were me, I would remove any and all previous versions of this Hornet. At least, put them someplace other than ...\Simobjects\Airplanes. Even a folder like ...\Simobjects\Airplanes\BACKS would be quite adequate. As long as the sim can no longer "see" them.
I would also go through, and remove any and all HornetFCS.dll files, other than the two you need. One for FSX and P3DV3 which is the 76kb one, in the Panel.Fleet folder of the plane, and the totally different one for P3DV4 and higher, which is 109kb, and is in the sim's \Gauges folder, from wherever they might be hiding. The sim's root folder, it's \Gauges folder, it's ...\Modules folder, wherever. You can save them off to some temp folder someplace, but you shouldn't need them again. I think.  :D

Don't do anything to any other .dll file though! Only the HornetFCS.DLL .

Finally, at least for the P3DV4, and higher, plane, check to make sure there is no HornetFCS.dll file in the Panel.Fleet folder. Especially a 76kb one. It seems, from another thread, that that may cause troubles for P3DV4. Just a heads-up :)

I don't think a total reinstall is necessary at this point. Just me though.
Hope this helps!
Pat☺

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2018, 08:51:20 pm »
Hi Pat;
You speak better Spanish than me. I was reading your comment with a smile on my face and enjoyed it very much.
I understand what you are saying and I appreciate the way you approach the problem.
Before I have read your post yesterday I cranked up my alternate machine, just to study a little the structure of the "old" folders of FSX. There I have installed the initial simple FSX-Gold Edition out of the box, with the following folders:
FA-18
FA18_2012_FSXBA_Effects
FA18_2012_FSXBA_Multiplayer
I couldn't find any Hornet.dll in there at all but the bird performed beautifully. How is that possible?
Now I go back to your instructions. I may take a few days.
Thanks again for your help, Amigo

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2018, 09:23:57 pm »
Pat;
I just was reading through Jimi's 16 pages. Helice post 4 (page 16) caught my attention. Just one of the same problems I am having during instrument flying. Do we have to look for something else than just .dll??
Amigo

PhantomTweak

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2018, 07:51:29 am »
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You speak better Spanish than me. I was reading your comment with a smile on my face and enjoyed it very much.
After nearly 30 years in Yuma, Az., with my house less than a 1/4 from the Mexican, to the North, and California, to the East, borders (you figure it out. Screwy place!  :P ), I've managed to pick up a little. Down here, we call it Spanglish. They just mix the two languages indiscriminately. But I learned :D

It helped that my mother was born and raised in Panama, in the Canal Zone, so she's pretty bilingual. I knew I was in real trouble when she'd break into Spanish to yell at me  ;D
By the way, she was born in Panama, but was French Canadian. My grandfather was Army Corps of Engineers, in the Canal Zone. He, and my grandmother, were originally from somewhere "up there", and when he retired it was to California. Mom became Naturalized, and went to work for Pan Am as a stew. One of the old Pan Am Glamour Gals.
So, she's French Canadian, yet speaks very fluent Spanish. Especially when I was about to get a spanking. Deservedly, as a general rule :D

Anywho, back to the sim!
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Just one of the same problems I am having during instrument flying. Do we have to look for something else than just .dll??
No. Remember, and I was going to put this on the Jimi's thread, this plane is made for handflying. The "autopilot" is actually called a Pilot Relief System. It'll hold the plane for a few minutes so the pilot can stretch, grab some water out of his vest, read the NATOPS pocket Emergency Procedures, something like that. Not really "fly" the plane for any length of time. The only exception is on approach to the boat. And then, only when the ACLS is actually working properly, which is pretty seldom. The pilot always ghosts the stick and throttle when using the ACLS, ready to grab them, and either land it himself, or go around for a manual try.
The radios and AP on the v18.3 have some indication troubles with the carriers. They are known, and under repair even as we speak. About the only part of the Ap that really works well around the boat is the autothrottle system. But I believe you need to use SHFT+R to properly activate it, especially in PA mode.
The ILS needles should work correctly for the boats, assuming you have the correct freq dialed in, and ILS selected on the HSI screen, or the HUD Control panel. Remember they only indicate within certain dimensions around the ILS beam. 15° either side of the runway centerline, 2000' AGL.
I seem to recall the TACAN needle on the HUD does work properly though, and will guide you to the boat properly. I never had any trouble that I remember with it, anyway.
I'm busy testing some of the updates Jimi and the team are working on, so I just don't have time to re-install the v18.3 to really test it. I am sorry.

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I couldn't find any Hornet.dll in there at all but the bird performed beautifully. How is that possible?
I seem to recall that the HornetFCS.dll didn't exist yet. The F18.dll was the only .dll it needed. It was basically just the beginning of this long road of upgrades Jimi and the Team are doing so well.
Remember, Jimi and the Team were the ones who originally created the F/A-18C for FSX Acceleration in the first place. The v12.xxx was just the first update of that, essentially so they could use it during their FSX Blue Angels air shows in multiplayer. They didn't expect it to, pardon the pun, take off the way it has  :D
Does that answer that question?

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Thanks again for your help, Amigo
No es problemas, mi Amigo  ;D  :D
I'm glad I could be of a little help. I wish you great pleasure of this plane. And vLSO, AICarriers, etc etc.  ::)
Pat☺

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #11 on: August 23, 2018, 09:40:33 pm »
Hi Pat;
Thank you very much for your interesting narrative about family history as well as Hornet history. I enjoyed the way you presented the story very much, and I mean it.
Years back I passed through Yuma, AZ on the way to San Diego where we (my wife and I) had a superb and very interesting tour on USS Kitty Hawk. "Permission to come aboard, Sir"; and we were escorted by "our private" sailor through the carrier. Incredible! We had a great time on the boat and the memory is still there, also of the Silver Beach.
Now, talking about simulators, I understand that the F-18 is a tactical fighter plane and not an airliner. But, to be a little pregnant is not possible. So, if you provide a little bit of an A/P it has to be reliable as a real one. When I started with the F-18 on the sim years ago, A/P worked absolutely reliable like one of the Boeing's. My Flight Simulator Look Book Editor shows 4904 Airports used, meaning: landings on 4904 different airports within the US. All of them I have approached with the F-18, some of them just for a touch and go because of the rwy length, some of them VFR, and a lot of them IFR night-weather which is my favored. I am a wx-hawk. So the old F-18 generation performed very well in weather situations down to the minima in A/P mode. Why would an updated version, which I understand is normally an improvement, perform less than before?
I understand the concept of the F-18, a fighter plane being mostly hand flown, as you said, over the sea and around the boat. A know some more similar fighter birds in a similar category. I did a lot of simulator F-18 hand flying around the boat and I think hundreds of missions I must have done just by chasing the default carrier from Everett to SFO, to LAX to San Diego and around Norfolk and Hawaii. Details show my post of July o6, 2012 "Rendezvous with moving carriers". Occasionally I still do some missions in the Bay of San Francisco where the carrier gets stuck on the cliff. Kind of funny but not good enough for a simulator in second generation as v3 is. I haven't checked on v4 yet.
All this being said, I don't think a PRS (Pilot Relief System) as you call it, is expected if the button is named A/P. 
But this is my philosophy and I also understand that there is much more in the world than just pure logic.
Pat, I thank you very much for our conversations and I hope you may be available for questions coming up in the future.
Have a great time home in Yuma, AZ and I wish I could be visiting that area I enjoyed years ago.
Hasta la vista, Amigo
 

PhantomTweak

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2018, 08:01:06 am »
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Years back I passed through Yuma, AZ
You lucky devil! I wish I could have "passed through", but I spent nearly 30 years there. Ten in the Corps, well 7 there and 3 other bases for training on various things, and the rest because when I got out I got a couple of very good jobs. First, with the Israelis in VMFAT-401, an agresspr squadron for the Navy and Marines to fly against, and then with the, originally, US Customs Aerostat site, later, taken over by the Air Force, and, sadly, given to Lockheed to man. But the pay was nearly worth it!
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Have a great time home in Yuma, AZ and I wish I could be visiting that area I enjoyed years ago.
I had a family to raise, and had bought a nearly 3 acre parcel to live on. But when it got to the point I couldn't walk out my front door without a side-arm, at the very least, it was time to leave. I had a stream or illegals trying to camp on my property, and a few even spoke Spanish. Most spoke a Middle Eastern dialects. They got held at gun-point until the cops got there.
My neighbors were running the biggest chop-shop in Arizona, and we found a car at the end of my access road one morning, burnt to a shell. 4 bodies in it.
Nice dog fighting ring going too. Some of the dogs would get loose once in a while and come over to visit. They weren't very friendly, though. Some even survived our meetings.
Now you understand the side-arm being a requirement. Bad days, it was a rifle.
My family was grown and gone, all 5 of the little critters (3 girls, 2 boys, at least the ones by my ex-wife), and I had had to retire for medical reasons. I left Yuma behind, and never looked back. Not once, not even a little.
Now I live in a very quiet, pleasant, small town in Oregon. Supposedly the single, longest continuously inhabited, town in America. Supposedly 11,000 years continuous inhabitation. That's the claim, and oral history told by, the local Native Americans. I am 1/8 Nez-Perce, so we fit in nicely. Place named Chiloquin. 1 Main street, no lights, a couple stop signs here and there. I love it.

Anywho, as to the Hornet: The AP problems in this, and not the original, are because the AP is NOW integrated into the HornetFCS.dll. The original, Acceleration plane, uses a fairly standard FSX AP. That's the biggest trouble now. The problems are known, and are in work for fixing. It's annoying, I understand, but since I almost never use the AP for anything other than a quick potty break (Try THAT super duper pro military pilots!), I don't pay it much attention during my testing. I hope you understand.

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Pat, I thank you very much for our conversations and I hope you may be available for questions coming up in the future.
It's been my pleasure, and as far as I can see, I will be around for a while yet :D

Have fun, and feel free to ask anything, anytime. I can't promise I can solve all problems, but I'll try like heck.
Talk to ya later!
Pat☺

Amigo

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #13 on: August 25, 2018, 09:38:45 pm »
Pat;
Have you ever thought writing a book? What I was reading in your last posts would be worth trying.
It crossed my mind already some time ago, reading one of your posts to someone else, where you talked about your bike accident in a very amusing way. I see a talent of a writer not easy to find.
Let me go back to sim business. I hope you have been home March 16, 2017 when my F-18 rocked your town. No damage done, just one touch and go at your home airfield.The attachment shows the mission profile around Klamath Falls, one of the many missions for my
4904 paved airfields collection of the US. I enjoy this add on Look Book Editor I am using because it's counting all airports but summarizing each of them only once. Out of these info's I prepared some kind of an airfield collection where I rated the places by rwy length etc. for my future spontaneous planning.  Airfield 2S7 got the rating "good". Nice area you are living in, a bit too cold for me I guess.
And here is another curiosity driven question, please.
Why is the update FSXBA_FA-18_Hornet_v17.1.31 done as an installer (run as administrator),
while update FA-18C_FSXBA_BA_18.3.00FSX and P3D are just copy and paste process?
What is the difference of the internal computer process. Thanks, Amigo

PhantomTweak

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Re: "HornetFCS.dll" file for P3Dv4??
« Reply #14 on: August 25, 2018, 10:51:37 pm »
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Why is the update FSXBA_FA-18_Hornet_v17.1.31 done as an installer (run as administrator),
while update FA-18C_FSXBA_BA_18.3.00FSX and P3D are just copy and paste process?
What is the difference of the internal computer process. Thanks, Amigo
Hiyas Amigo!
Only difference is Jimi's work. He just didn't bother to make the v18.3 auto-installer, because he was very busy, and figured people could handle it themselves. If it becomes REALLY necessary, I can do it. But Jimi's mostly too busy at the moment. He did tell me the next update (v18.4, basically) will have the autoinstaller. The next update will be coming out as soon as he gets it done. End of September, maybe?

The biggest thing he working on at the moment is getting the TacPack integration taken care of. This next update will have a much better TP integration included. But it's not an easy process, and he's learning this stuff as he goes, with help from one of the main TP developers.
All I can say is that it'll really rock the TP add-on.
He's also working on all the little niggling details still to be done to the radios, displays, HUD, and so on. His to-do list is a lot longer than you might think.  ;)
Also, he's still active duty military, and his duties, and the TAD's he keeps getting sent on, all takes a fair percentage of his time, along with his family.
Rightfully so, this project is down his list of priorities.

Does all that babbling satisfy the curiosity bug?  :D
Have fun!

By the way, I'm no writer, I just try to be of help. Honestly, I'm a lousy instructor. I tend to focus too much on the small details, instead of starting with the big picture and  working down. My lovely wife, however, IS slowly writing a book, or series of books. She hasn't decided yet. Military Fiction. Really very good.

Ok, gotta go. Lunch, and chores, call :D
Enjoy!
Pat☺