Baron Autopilot Not Working
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I bought the Analog Baron a couple days ago and have been having trouble with the autopilot from the start. Out of multiple attempts over three flight sim sessions and following the checklists through the Runup Checklist, I have only had the autopilot work one time. I checked for failures and the failure manager is not reporting any. The behavior is a lack of response from the system when testing it. The yokes aren't following the movement of the heading bug when the autopilot is engaged. I attempted one flight when it failed that test and none of the modes functioned though their lights were illuminated and the warning horn sounded when I disengaged the autopilot. It would not follow the heading bug during flight or track a flight plan input into the GNS530 (I verified GPS was selected for the CDI), follow the VS setting, or capture my set altitude. I am using the most recent version of the Working Title GNS530 and 430 and own no other avionics addons so there shouldn't be anything conflicting. Any thoughts on why this may be happening?
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Unfortunately, something changed with the WT GNS530 in the last sim update that is causing problems for many users. I was hoping that the change would be reverted, or a fix published immediately after the bug was reported, but I haven't seen any changes in the last couple days. I will investigate this myself thoroughly this week, and see if I can find what changed. In the meantime, you should be able to use the autopilot with any other avionics package. I have also seen some reports that hard coding the radio configuration in the .flt files in the aircraft directory can alleviate the problem. I can provide instruction on how to do that, and there is also discussion to that effect on the MSFS official forums. Sorry you purchased the Baron just in time to encounter this error. I'll do whatever I can to get it sorted out soon.
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Thank you for the response! I definitely don't regret my purchase and trust that this will get worked out. In the meantime I would like to try hard coding the radio configuration in the .flt file to see if that helps with the issue. Shortly after I published the original post I was able to successfully load and complete a flight with the B58P but I think I had to reload the flight 4 or 5 times. At least it works after a few tries!
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AUTOPILOT FIXED
Hello, all. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting for this solution. As this looked entirely like a problem with the WT GNS after SU14, I was waiting for a solution from Asobo/WT. I looked into the problem myself yesterday and discovered that it was actually caused by a complex interaction between the WT GNS and the TDS GTNxi 750. The TDS developer has provided a new version of his software (1.0.3.3), which can be downloaded from the TDS GPS Manager immediately.
Thank you for your patience. Please share this solution with anyone on the MSFS Official Forums or Discord who has been having this problem since SU14.
Thank you!
Nick C. -
How would this impact mine then as I do not own the TDS GTNxi 750?
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I was really hoping you wouldn't say that... Rereading your message, I only assumed that you fell into the category of those experiencing this new problem since SU14. It's possible that you fall into the old category of customers experiencing some other GPS incompatibility. In short, there have been so many patches and version updates from so many GPS developers over the last couple years that old files and outdated software can cause conflicts between units.
The best people to help you are Just Flight's technical support. I really mean that. They are far more experienced at detecting and resolving those incompatibilities than even I am. In the meantime, I will give you my personal advice, though. I test all my aircraft with the simplest setup possible. For you, this should mean that the only software required is the current version of the WT GNS 530, downloaded from the in-game marketplace (for free). I would suggest giving the Baron a try with nothing else in your Community Folder, and reinstalling the WT GNS from the marketplace.
Give that a try, and let me know how it goes. Always happy to help.
Nick C. -
I will give clearing out the community folder a try. I see there are two version of the WT GNS430/530 showing up in my content manager, one is version 1.1.4 and the other version 1.1.10. I deleted the earlier version which I think was the Marketplace version from before MS incorporated it into the default aircraft - not sure of that though.
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After removing all items except the Baron from my Community folder, these are the results of six attempts:
First run of MSFS:
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Load first flight using B58, start engines, turn on avionics, allow GNS units to initialize and acquire satellites, set HDG bug, engage autopilot. Successful autopilot test. Exit to Main Menu.
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Load second flight using B58P, turn on battery (did not start engines), turn on avionics, allow GNS units to initialize and acquire satellites, set HDG bug, engage autopilot. Autopilot test failed. Exit to Main Menu.
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Load third flight using B58P, start engines, turn on avionics, allow GNS units to initialize and acquire satellites, set HDG bug, engage autopilot. Test failed. Exit to Main Menu.
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Load fourth flight using B58, start engines, turn on avionics, allow GNS units to initialize and acquire satellites, set HDG bug, engage autopilot. Test failed. Exit to Main Menu. Exist MSFS.
Second run of MSFS:
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Load first flight using B58, start engines, turn on avionics, allow GNS units to initialize and acquire satellites, set HDG bug, engage autopilot. Autopilot test failed. Exit to Main Menu.
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Load second flight using B58P, turn on battery (did not start engines), turn on avionics, allow GNS units to initialize and acquire satellites, set HDG bug, engage autopilot. Autopilot test failed. Exit to Main Menu. Exit MSFS.
I will contact Just Flight's technical support as well now that I have tried it after clearing the community folder. I appreciate your help.
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Thank you for the information, and most of all, thank you for being so understanding. I'm sure this is frustrating. It's very unfortunate that software troubleshooting often falls victim to the "it works fine for me" effect.
This is unusual behavior with a clean community folder, so I will still be looking into this today, and I will let you know if I learn anything.
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I likewise appreciate your responsiveness! I've been an MSFS user over 20 years now, first using FS2002 and every version since, and on MSFS 2020 from the day of release. I am used to the growing pains of new and changing addons haha! The TDS GTNxi 750 is on my list of addons to purchase in the near future so maybe I'll put that to the front of the line. I just ordered the Honeycomb Bravo throttle quadrant to replace my CH Products throttle quadrant that died a couple years ago. Need to recover from that purchase before picking up any more addons!
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Please check out my post in this related topic. I believe I have found the culprit, but I would like to have you guys test it before I make any undue pronouncements again. The guys there claim that your symptoms also match theirs.
Thanks again for your patience. I like to tell myself that us old-school simmers (FS98 was my first, but I really took up the hobby with FS2004), have more patience for this sort of thing, because we are used to the way things used to be where updates and fixes often never came unless you fixed them yourself.
Good luck, and please let me know if that fixes it for you.
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That worked for me, thanks so much!
I don't know if this is a bug or the way the system should actually behave but I found that the autopilot test only works with the engines running. Either way, it's not important as far I am concerned because the autopilot now functions in flight for me as expected.
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Thank you so much for the response! I'm so glad it's working for you! Enjoy!
I just checked the code, and there doesn't seem to be any reason that would be the case. It won't self-test within 10 seconds of turning on power or loading the aircraft, though. I'll test it when I have the simulator open later and look for anything suspicious, though.
Thank you again for working with me. Hopefully I will have an official fix from WT shortly. If you post on the MSFS Official Forums, please share this development with anyone having this problem. I think they've been discussing it in the TBM 850 topic.
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I will find that thread in the MSFS forums and share this fix.
I received a nice Christmas bonus today so I just picked up your Analog Caravan as well as the TDS GTNxi 750. Thanks for all your hard work and Merry Christmas!
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I just saw your post, thank you for sharing. Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the Caravan. I think it's my most underrated aircraft, and it will be receiving many improvements eventually, as I work various improvements back from my newer aircraft. I think you will also really enjoy the TDS GTN. The response time is a little slower than the PMS50 GTN, but having the real Garmin software is unbeatable.
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Yes, I am loving the TDS software, it's just fantastic! And the Caravan is great as well, I love how docile the handling is. I decided to pick up the Analog Kingair today as well but waiting to try it out until after I receive my Honeycomb Bravo (should be here tomorrow). I don't remember the developer anymore but I used to have a payware Kingair 200 in FS2004 that was a lot of fun, realistic startup sequence, analog gauges. Put many, many hours on that aircraft. Looking forward to that again with yours.
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Ok, I already tried this but not only did it not work, all the avionics stopped working and the radar shows the fixed system test screen.
As additional information, the autopilot error only happens with the GNS530, if I put the KX-155B as COM/NAV1 and the GNS430 in COM/NAV2 the autopilot works perfectly.
I do not have the TDS GTNxi 750 or any GTN750 installed, it is a device that I personally do not like so what other solution could I have?
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Just so we're on the same page, you mean that you did try making the modification from this post?
If you are on SU15 Beta, that modification is no longer needed. If you made the modification and the avionics will no longer load, then you made a mistake while editing the files. Beyond that, the behavior you're describing is exactly what we saw with this problem, so I suspect it will be fixed with the correct modification.
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@Black-Square I tried again and now it works 100%, I don't know what I did wrong the first time.
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Great! Glad to hear it! That file should be overwritten when you download Sim Update 15, but if you have any issues after that, just delete the file altogether. This will force the launcher to download a new version.
