Autopilot After SIM Update 14
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Just a reminder to anyone coming to this thread later, but you can fix the current GNS 530 bug with one copy-paste edit to one file on your computer right now.
I know that's not the most convenient solution, but for anything better, I would have to post the entirety of WT's work. I also worry about generating yet more "compatibility" mods in the wild for people to further confuse their installations with.
For those following along, I have not heard back from Working Title yet, as I suspect they are off for the holidays. I have heard that this solution is being discussed with the developers on their Discord, though. I will let everyone know when I hear back from them.
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Thanks so much... My A36 Bonanza panel was broken... I could not even move the left GPS options switch and my GPS was missing. Now it is back!
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I'm glad it's working for you guys. Sorry I didn't look into this problem myself even sooner. Trust me, it doesn't benefit me to have broken autopilots in any way, so I'm looking forward to an official fix from Working Title just as much as you are.
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Thank you all for providing more information, and for the votes of confidence. I've dropped everything else I'm working on to focus on this right now.
I have good news! I was able to replicate what you were seeing, and I have found a single line to be the culprit in the new WT GNS. I don't fully understand why, but I am able to produce the bug with 100% reliability by toggling that line on and off. You were right that this could be avoided if the instrument was loaded as the primary on startup, and never unloaded by the aircraft's state saving. I'm very confident that this is the culprit, and the TDS issue was only a side effect. Luckily, this is very easy for you to fix locally, but I will obviously have to contact Working Title for a patch to be made. Please make the following change to...
...\Official\OneStore\workingtitle-instruments-garmin-gns\html_ui\Pages\VCockpit\Instruments\NavSystems\GPS\WT530\WT530B.js (and WT430B.js)
Search for "Update loop for the main screen", and replace the existing update function with the following:
update() { var _a, _b; const isPrimaryInstrument = this.props.options.navIndex === 1; this.clock.onUpdate(); this.props.backplane.onUpdate(); if (isPrimaryInstrument) { (_a = this.autopilot) === null || _a === void 0 ? void 0 : _a.update(); // Planner update const now = Date.now(); if (now - this.lastCalculate > 3000) { this.planner.hasFlightPlan(msfsGarminsdk.Fms.PRIMARY_PLAN_INDEX) && this.planner.getFlightPlan(msfsGarminsdk.Fms.PRIMARY_PLAN_INDEX).calculate(); // SimVar.SetSimVarValue('K:HEADING_GYRO_SET', SimVarValueType.Number, 0); this.lastCalculate = now; } this.gpsSynchronizer.update(); } (_b = this.vnavController) === null || _b === void 0 ? void 0 : _b.update(); if (this.currentPowerState === PowerState.On || this.currentPowerState === PowerState.OnSkipInit) { this.gpsSatComputer.onUpdate(); } }Once you have seen if this solves your problem, please tell me asap so that I can contact Working Title. Thank you all for working with me. I hope this is the solution. Good luck!
@Black-Square
Thank you for the code. Look like it fixed the AP. Working now. Thanks again...and wishing you a Happy and prosper New year. -
@Black-Square can you please give me a little description of where we would change the code
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From my post above:
Search for "Update loop for the main screen", and replace the existing update function with the following:
This function should begin on line 22326 of WT530B.js, if you have the exact same version as I do.
Still waiting to hear back from WT, everyone... I'll let you know when I hear something. This timing with the holidays has been very unfortunate, I think.
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Small remark. I can confirm that his modifcation definitely works for the BSq TBM 850. All AP problems were solved after replacing the two files. The downside is that the tablet of the A2A no longer works after doing so. Putting the original WT530B.js and WT430B.js back made the A2A tablet work again.
So make sure you store both the original and the modified files, so that you can use the appropriate ones for the plane you want to fly at that time. -
From my post above:
Search for "Update loop for the main screen", and replace the existing update function with the following:
This function should begin on line 22326 of WT530B.js, if you have the exact same version as I do.
Still waiting to hear back from WT, everyone... I'll let you know when I hear something. This timing with the holidays has been very unfortunate, I think.
@Black-Square Hello Nick, Thanks for the continuous support.
Does this also have effect on the state saving?
It does not seem to work currently with SU14.
I always close off MSFS by returning to the main menu and then exiting, but fuel state and avionics selection are still reset to default.Kind Regards, Andre
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I'm glad it's working for you guys. Sorry I didn't look into this problem myself even sooner. Trust me, it doesn't benefit me to have broken autopilots in any way, so I'm looking forward to an official fix from Working Title just as much as you are.
@Black-Square the saving grace is how wonderful it is to fly 😁👌
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I cannot imagine how that one line edit could affect the A2A tablet. Anything is possible with software, but I suggest that it is extremely unlikely.
No, this should have no impact on state saving. I have also noticed no change in state saving behavior since SU14, nor has any been reported to technical support. Trust me, I would love a magic bullet for state saving, as well. I have no idea why the Asobo recommended approach works so poorly for some users. For the record, it's not that the state does not get saved, it's that the saved variables get detected as valid, but load all zeros.
I am moving many of the most important features over to a different state saving technique that I have found more reliable for the Dukes. If it works well there, I will move over to that system for all aircraft. The TBM already uses this method for some features, which should make it slightly more reliable than my older aircraft.
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I cannot imagine how that one line edit could affect the A2A tablet. Anything is possible with software, but I suggest that it is extremely unlikely.
No, this should have no impact on state saving. I have also noticed no change in state saving behavior since SU14, nor has any been reported to technical support. Trust me, I would love a magic bullet for state saving, as well. I have no idea why the Asobo recommended approach works so poorly for some users. For the record, it's not that the state does not get saved, it's that the saved variables get detected as valid, but load all zeros.
I am moving many of the most important features over to a different state saving technique that I have found more reliable for the Dukes. If it works well there, I will move over to that system for all aircraft. The TBM already uses this method for some features, which should make it slightly more reliable than my older aircraft.
@Black-Square said in Autopilot After SIM Update 14:
I cannot imagine how that one line edit could affect the A2A tablet. Anything is possible with software, but I suggest that it is extremely unlikely.
I just tested it. Made the changes in the 530/430 files and jumped into my Comanche. No problems with the Tablet. Neither with or without active 530/430.
EDIT: And just tried out the TBM and the AP is working as intended again.
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Thank you for sharing. I hesitate to much such a strong declaration without testing it myself, but as I've become more knowledgeable about the WT GNS while making some of my own improvements, and that line really should not cause any external problems like that. Thank you.
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I really do not know what is going on, but on my system the tablet of the Comanche definitely does not work if I replace the two WT GNS 530/430 files, while the other aircraft are just fine. By putting back the unmodified files the Comance tablet again works. I realize that it will be pretty difficult to figure out what is going on, since hardware/software configurations differ.
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I modified the original files again by just replacing the lines between update () { and the last } of the respective block. I guess this did the trick since my problems with the A2A Comanche tablet have been solved, while the AP of the TBM 850 now also works as it should.
Thanks again for helping out and my apologies for the confusion I added. -
Hello - per my earlier message ( I think on the MSFS forum), the change does not seem to have fixed the Caravan for me. I did a flight yesterday and still found that with the 530/430 selected, Nav was not working properly. There was no course deviation line on the HUD, and the AP did not correctly capture the course. When I switched out the Garmin GNS 530 and put in just the nav radio, everything worked fine. The only add-ins that were in place when I tested were FSUIPC and Better Bravo lights.
As before, other planes were working correctly with the 530/430.I'll go back and made sure I made the edit correctly to the GNS files.
Perhaps you could post the revised files to take editing mistakes out of the loop? -
Here's my report for the Bonanza/Baron:
I had the issue that the aircraft almost never loaded with the configuration I wanted (GNS530/KX155) but kept loading with the GTN750/GNS430 config. Before anyone asks - I of course shut down the sim via main menu - quit to desktop every time.
After switching in flight, the avionics never worked.
- after entering a FPL in the 530, no DTK/DST was indicated
- CDI did not show any deviation
- AP only worked in roll/pitch hold mode
Firstly, i still had an old WT GNS mod in my content (v1.1.4) which I deleted. After that, it still didn't work, though. The aircraft still frequently loaded with 750/430 and didn't work after switching.
Then, I changed the code as described above. After that, the aircraft loaded 8/10 times with the desired 530/155 config, and even when it started with 750/430, it worked after switching.
So, the code change must have done the trick for me. I'm just afraid it will be overwritten with the next sim update (and I won't remember this one anymore ;-)
Out of interest: Where is the aircraft configuration stored? Wouldn't it have been easier (and safer) just to offer the different configs as variants instead of hot swapping? I mean, who switches the avionics in-flight?
And as a side note: I don't own the A2A Comanche, but afaik it also uses the WT 530/430. And with this, editing the code for it very well can have an effect on the A2A. I think the whole thing has to to with the hot swap function BKSQ built into the aircraft. It does not show for every user, by far not, only for some of us, as in so many other cases.
Boris
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I'm glad it's at least working better for you now. Sorry that we are still waiting for an official fix to this. If I don't hear anything by next week, I will get more people involved to see if we can coax a solution from WT sooner rather than later.
Just to address your couple of questions:
The aircraft configuration is stored in the "cloud". I believe it's also stored locally in a large encrypted file that is synced with the cloud. The alternative method of state saving that I'm experimenting with right now is stored locally at \Users[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\SimObjects\Airplanes, at least for the Windows Store version of MSFS. This is more difficult to use, and less customizable than the cloud storage solution, but it seems to be more reliable.
Yes, the Comanche uses the GNS 530, but I know what that one line of code is doing, and it's still extremely unlikely to affect the Comanche's tablet interface.
I have had a few people suggest including a different aircraft in the aircraft selection menu for each avionics option. There are a few reasons I don't do this, which I don't believe I've ever put in writing publicly:
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I want my users to have as many avionics options as possible. Ironically, I still get lots of requests for even more configurations.
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If I included every avionics configuration option for my upcoming Dukes (of which there are three variants), it would put 48 aircraft into your aircraft selection menu. I think it's inconvenient, and looks pretentious of the developer to hog this much space among your other aircraft.
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In many ways, it is actually much harder for me, as a developer, to separate all the avionics configurations, as each configuration requires maybe 1,000 lines of custom code to interface with the aircraft's autopilot, annunciators, and instruments. Separating them would cause me to have to maintain as many 15,000 line code files as there are avionics combinations, each one only varying 1,000 lines for each avionics configuration. With the benefit of hindsight, I don't think this would have been any harder than maintaining hotswapping interoperability with each GPS and autopilot, but it would lack the hotswapping feature.
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I also don't like that option personally, as a user of my own products. Those of us who like to practice realistic IFR operations in MSFS, really appreciate the hot swapping, because it means we can practice approaches with many different types of avionics without skipping a beat. When I test my aircraft, I fly every type of approach with every type of avionics, one after the other, and it's some of the most fun I've ever had with a flight simulator. I only hope many others with similar flying missions to myself have had as much fun as I've had.
Lastly, hot swapping should be improved with some major changes that are coming to my aircraft, including a tablet interface. This will eliminate the need for switches on the panel, and allow you to select your configuration directly. The avionics configuration will also be moved over to my new state saving method, which will hopefully make it more reliable.
I hope putting my thoughts in writing like this can help explain the thought process behind my development, if nothing else. I am not a fan of social media the way that some other developers are, but interact with you all directly via this forum and hearing your opinions has been a delight.
Happy New Year!
Nick C. -
