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Jet45 MFD Crashes Loading Flight Plan

(Original thread started on 10-18-14 by Nigel Breddy)

Hi Guys, has anyone had the MFD crash when trying to load a flight plan? I have J45 running on a separate PC but all the relevant networking is okay, well I think it is as J45 works fine and I can also see the lost of flight plans when clicking on the 'FPLN' button, but when selecting one of the listed flight plans and click on the 'load' button, it fades out giving me a pop up box stating 'Jet45 MFD has stopped working. I've tried various different flight plans with the same result.

 

As an example, I create and save the plans through FSX's default flight planner and is named IFR Liverpool to Shannon.PLN. The MFD does list the flight plans every time without fail, it's only when I hit the 'load' button it crashes. This happens on both the sim setup itself and on my test environment which is my laptop which runs both FSX and Jet45 on the same machine. Any ideas?

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 10-20-14)

Nigel, I'm certain it's either corrupted somehow or in the naming convention. Please try renaming it as a standard flight plan format as EGGP-EINN and let it add the .pln on its own. Then see if that loads. If so, it might be the length of the name and when using the ICAO format, it's obviously much shorter. Typically all flights in a CDU will always be named via their ICAO codes, so this is good practice now to get into the habit of naming them this way. I'm hoping this fixes your issue because I'm not too sure what else could crash it.

 

Fortunately, I do not think that the sim crashing has anything to do with the FP crashing the MFD, because you should be able to load a FP in the MFD as long as the MFD can access the plan across the network. And, if it's giving you a choice to load in the plan selection screen of the MFD, it's got access.

 

Now that I think about it though, the crashing of FS might have something to do with it as far as the plan getting corrupted.

 

Email me the plan to e_tomlin@hotmail.com and I will try to load it.

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 10-22-14)

My flight plan has a full name: "Greensboro GSO to Jacksonville JAX" and it loaded okay. Just thought I should eliminate that as an issue.

 

(Posted by Mark Speechley on 10-22-14)

Have been patiently following this one. Whether I had missed this earlier, can FSX load any Flight Plan WITHOUT Jet 45 running ? What version of Jet45 are you running ?

 

I have not ever got an FP to load on the MFD. I think and 'hope' not that it is due to Prepar3d, as their FP's are different again. I know this is not your case but try loading a FP from another source to see what happens. Maybe you could load some one else's FP from FSX and see. The reverse with Eric loading your FP should be interesting.If that loads then you know it is not Jet45.

 

As a matter of interest since I am muddying the waters, has anyone else been able to load on the MFD a P3D flight plan ?

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 10-23-14)

I am using Prepar3D and it created a .PLN and it loaded just fine. When modifying the MFD.ini file to tell MFD where the flight plans are located make sure you use the correct syntax as defined in the user guide. It's in the form of “\\Z\Flight Plan” where "Z" is the network drive where you created the flight plan folder and "Flight Plan” should be the name of the folder (if it's on the root of the drive otherwise add the complete path.

 

I found that using anything other than this JET45 could not locate the flight plan.

 

(Posted by Mark Speechley on 1-23-14)

Thanks Alan, good to know about P3D. As for this thread here was a reply on AVSIM that may be of interest.

 

"FSX/P3D must be trying to load the XML document and when it fails, it doesn't display it as a choice. If FSX fails to load the .xml, it reverted to the FS9 loading method of .ini configuration data."

 

See post on AVSIM:  http://forum.avsim.net/topic/375008-converting-fsx-pln-to-p3d-pln-format/

 

Have you checked to see if the .pln file is an .xml *.pln or plain text format *.pln ?

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 10-24-14)

I tested this last night and I have mixed results. Nigel's plan loaded fine in FSX for me, and it also displayed fine as a choice in the MFD. However, the plan would not load in the MFD for me either.

 

My suspicion is that when you try to load the MFD with a flight plan and the same plan is loaded in FS, then two different programs are accessing the same file simultaneously. I have been talking with Jason about this and he is testing too.

 

(Posted by Nigel Breddy on 10-24-14)

Sorry guys I have been away for a few days on business. Eric, I'm glad you experienced the problems I faced, at least this way you can try problem solve too. Let's see what Jason has to say.

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 10-25-14)

Eric, I am not sure why you would want to load it in FS if you are creating it in FS in order to load in JET45. I guess Nigel must have created it in FS and then hit the LOAD button. When I created mine in Prepar3d I hit the SAVE button and them exited the window so Prepar3d doesn't load it automatically -- not sure if FS is different. I have a separate flight plan program that is much better than FS but still creates it in a .pln format.

 

I thought by loading it via the MFD into JET45 it would fly the route -- well the route shows up on the MFD with all the waypoints or am I missing something here?

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 10-29-14)

Hi Nigel, I emailed you a file for you to test. That was a few days ago- Sunday Oct 26.

 

Alan, you would want to load it in FS so that the autopilot will fly the route. You're missing the fact that the autopilot does not fly the route from the MFD. The MFD is only a Multi Function *Display*. The autopilot must have a flight plan loaded in order to fly the waypoints. So, you'd go in to the Flight Planner and load the plan you desire and then when you use the NAV function (while in GPS mode) the autopilot will fly that route. Other wise, it will just go all willy nilly.

 

This is all outlined in the JET45 User Guide.  See page 8-2:

"Using NAV hold to fly a preloaded flight plan.  Anytime NAV hold on the Flight Guidance Controller is pressed and the autopilot is engaged the aircraft will fly to the source selected via the EFIS Display Controller. If a flight plan is loaded and FMS is selected, the aircraft should follow the loaded flight plan. If NAV is selected as the navigation source then the aircraft should turn and intercept the radial course bearing of the VOR that is tuned to NAV1.

 

NOTE: The aircraft will only follow a flight plan if it has been loaded into the simulator first."

 

Then again on Page 9-4:

"Using the EFIS Display Controller in conjunction with the FGC.  Anytime NAV hold on the Flight Guidance Controller is pressed and the autopilot is engaged the aircraft will fly to the source selected via the EFIS Display Controller. If a flight plan is loaded and FMS is selected, the aircraft should follow the loaded flight plan. If NAV is selected as the navigation source then the aircraft should turn and intercept the radial course bearing of the VOR that is tuned to NAV1.

 

NOTE: The aircraft will only follow a flight plan if it has been loaded into the simulator first."

 

Then even more on page 10-1 thru 10-2:

"USING THIS PRODUCT WITHOUT A CDU/FMS PRODUCT.  The Flight Deck Soft JET45 Avionics Suite’s combination of flight plan depiction within the MFD/ND page as well as a comprehensive EFIS Display Controller gives the user the ability to have the aircraft fly the pre-planned, pre-loaded flight plan via the NAV function within Flight Simulator. The user must follow the procedures below in order to have the aircraft fly the route automatically when using NAV:

 

Create and Save your desired Flight Plan with any flight planning software that uses the default .pln format. Some planners tested include the default planner, FS Build, and Sim Routes. Be sure to save the route with a simple name to insure the route name displays properly in the list of available routes in the FP page on the MFD/ND. For example: KICT-KATL, ICT-ATL.

Load the plan first into FS via the Load option under Flight Planner in FS9/FSX.

To load a flight plan in the avionics suite click on the MFD button and then the LOAD FPLN button on the MFD DU Bezel. This can only be done once the AVIONICS are on.

Select the proper source for navigation via the EFIS (FMS or NAV)"

 

PAGE 10-1:

"Using NAV hold to fly a preloaded flight plan.  Anytime NAV hold on the Flight Guidance Controller is pressed and the autopilot is engaged the aircraft will fly to the source selected via the EFIS Display Controller. If a flight plan is loaded and FMS is selected, the aircraft should follow the loaded flight plan. If NAV is selected as the navigation source then the aircraft should turn and intercept the radial course bearing of the VOR that is tuned to NAV1.

 

NOTE: Currently the last pressed FMS/NAV source on the Pilot or Copilot EFIS panel will determine which side is the Master Side. The XFR switch is what actually determines the Master Side and is depicted by the direction the green arrow is pointing to on the top of the PFD. The XFR function is under development.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Having the desired flight plan loaded in the avionics suite via the MFD/ND will not result in flight plan route following. The user MUST load the flight plan into the sim or engaging the NAV button will only cause the aircraft to fly a due north route. As such, the aircraft will only fly the route that has been loaded into the sim via the Flight Planner regardless of what plan is depicted on the MFD/ND."

 

(Posted by Nigel Breddy on 10-30-14)

Hi Eric, sorry I've been away on business again. I tested the file this morning for about 5 minutes flying and it worked perfectly. I will give it a longer test tonight, but saying that, the old MFD crashed immediately when loading the FPlan whilst this one loads it fine and you clearly see the route. So I think we can confidently say this version has fixed the problem. I will follow up later tonight after a longer test. Thanks Eric & Jason!

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 10-30-14)

You're welcome, but I think the problem was not with the MFD per se, because the MFD has worked for years for me and many others. The issue (I believe, which I will confirm with Jason) is that you were trying to load a flight plan into the MFD that was installed on the same PC as where the flight plan was also accessed by FSX. However, this may be wrong.

 

This was what I theorized to Jason, and he sent an updated MFD but never explained what he found causing the crash. The reason I theorized this was because as I stated, I've ran the MFD for years BUT mine was installed on a networked machine. It loaded all flight plans without fail. However, now that I sold my LJ45 sim and it's no longer set up, I simply tried loading your FP on my FSX machine within the MFD- I had the same results you did. At any rate, I'm glad it's fixed for you.

 

(Posted by Nigel Breddy on 11-01-14)

I have completed my tests on my actual Sim and can confirm the MFD is working correctly.  So to recap, I tested the new MFD Jason supplied on my test sim, which is a single PC with both FSX and Jet 45 installed, and it worked faultless. I then tested it on my actual Sim, which consists of 2 PCs with FSX on the one and Jet 45 on the other connected via a local network, and the MFD once again worked faultless.

 

Prior to testing Jason's new version of the MFD, the old MFD failed on both my test Sim and actual Sim. This therefore eliminates it being a network issue or a single PC set up.

 

Thanks for all the input and Jason for repairing the MFD. I'll keep testing other elements from this side of the pond and let you know if anything crops up.

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 11-03-14)

I spoke with Jason this morning and I now understand why I never had the issue but others would- it was related to any waypoint (airport, Navaid) that had an Eastern longitude. The fix will be made available for everyone shortly.

 

Thanks Nigel! You were the first person to ever catch this. I've never flown outside of the US with JET45 so I'd never experienced it, but you helped us to expand our testing regimes!

 

UPDATE:

Per Jason, the new version of the MFD is now available on the site. You should be able to update with no issues. Thanks!

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 02-20-15)

If we never fly outside the US do we need this update? If so, if I install over the existing file does that mean the .ini file gets overwritten or are we just replacing the .exe file? Thanks

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 02-20-15)

Alan, I'd update it to garner any small issues that may be updated since your last version. And yes, keep your custom .ini file. Replace the rest.

 

Per Jason, JET45 has been updated and you will be able to simply re-download them and install over your existing files.

 

(Posted by Chris Capkalu on 02-23-15)

Alan, when I switched from the trail to the full JET45, I replaced the .ini with the one from the trial to maintain window positions etc. So I would backup the .ini anytime when installing over and then replace when needed.