I know this has been discussed before but I can't find the details. I have been using FMS on a Win98SE system with both serial and parallel ports and it works fine with my Futaba transmitters. The graphics card is better on my newly built WinXP system and I can get FMS to load but the serial and parallel interfaces don't enable. I'm using FMS Beta 7.0 What difference does FMS Alpha 7.5.1 make ?? What is the problem with WinXP? Is it because the XP HDD is NOT set up with the FAT32 files like Win98SE ? ....or what ? The parallel port is set up as ECP in both.

Is the card on your newer maching an ATI card?
These don't work on FMS.

WinXP is reported to have problems with parallel ports. My parallel port works, but the computer slows down drastically when printing.

Did you upgrade over Win98? Here is a link that describes WinXP having problems with printers, might help you ...

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315325

The difference in the HDD (NTFS vs Fat32) shouldn't cause a problem.

-Allan

The graphics card based on the nVIDIA chip set appears to be fine, it's just an odd serial/parallel response I get with WinXP to the RC transmitter. Haven't tried it with a printer but after trying a dual boot system with Win98SE and WinXP (MUST BE installed in sequence) and running into more problems with other programs with FAT32 files and WinXP with some that wouldn't load under WinXP on a FTNS HDD ....AND some programs which wouldn't load at all (older stuff) which upset the wife ....I decided stability and ease of use was "job one" and reformatted the drive for FAT32 only and loaded Win98SE. Most all the software seems happy.

FMS runs at 56 Frames per Second in 32 color, 1024x768 mode and looks fine. Since I have nothing to compare it with what do you guys see ? I
might go check out the hobby store because they have a G2 running.

There is a little extra noise on the speaker I need to look into.

Hi


In windows Xp the ports are not available to FMS if you wish to try and use either of the 2 interfaces you mention you need to get a software driver that sits between the port and the software, these are not the best of things because you enable/disable when you wish to use or use the printer port. You can get a serial interface that is based around a MCU (pic chip) this will work with all versions of windows.

Thanks Cubanflyer,

I was just trying to see if there was a way around it. Looked at the costs of the PIC interface (available in the UK) and decided to fly FMS on my
Win98 machine only. I like the FMS program and the price (free) and think it's more than good enough to learn the basics of keeping a plane in the air and landing. However, for a more challenging sim, I went to a friend's house to try RealFlight G2 Lite and went to the local hobby shop and plunked down my $130. Runs fine on WinXP and Win98.

Got me.

[:'(]

Any more info on the software to add. I use a USB printer and the FMS cable (printer type) was good on 98 but not on XP as I knew. I don't have a printer hooked up to the port so if I could enable something with software it would be great!

Easy answer for XP is to get a USB interface that works with FMS and all other programs that have joystick input. The USB-JSIM from www.rc-electronics.co.uk is very good and works fine for FMS on my XP machine.

Cliff

Yes, but I already have the parallel interface that I was using on Win98. Now I have switched to XP. The interface is at http://www.angelfire.com/retro/deonvdw/PPJoy.htm and I got it working after a few tweaks. Had to assign the LPT1 port an IRQ and my printer is USB so this won't interfere with printing. If you share it with a printer you need to disable it when FMS not in use.
Works great!! Saved me $35 approx.

Maybe some ATI cards but my ATI 9000 all in wonder card works great in XP with FMS. I run 1280x1024 res at 160+ frames per second.

Hi 4*60,

That is what I was looking for to make the WinXP system work with the FMS program while keeping the cost as low as possible by using hardware I already have. I'll just build a little cable to go from the parallel connector to the game port.

With this software the parallel connection works. Why would you need to build between parallel and game port???

Hi 4*60,

OK, I didn't understand that it actually activated the parallel port. That makes it even easier.

By the way, I only know one RCer in Blind Bay. Are you Lorne ?

speaking of ppjoy if you have a serial PIC TX interface you can use PPJoy and the driver at this site (bottom of page) http://myweb.absa.co.za/eric.brouwer/interface.htm to create a joystick out of your TX that can be used in anything that uses a joystick.

There is a new version of PPJoy available, which I believe will allow you to use your parallel interface as a normal joystick. You will need to download and install PPJoy and follow the setup instructions of PPJoy to set up your virtual joystick port.

Have a look on [link=http://myweb.absa.co.za/eric.brouwer/interface.htm]my web[/link] for a link to the PPJoy download site. As my free 10MB web space is almost used up, i can not place the PPJoy driver on my web.

As I am using Win98SE, I am unable to test the parallel interface on PPJoy.

Please give us your feedback.

Hi

I have just bought a JR tx and wanted to use FMS but couldn't find a cable anywhere. After some searching, I found Smartpropo http://www.sekiriki.jp/smartpropo/index.html . This lets you use a normal 3.5mm Audio cable to connect from your tx to your Mic in port on your sound card and converts the signal to input commands for FMS. Can't get cheaper than that!!!

Shred

Hey gang,

I've got a Futaba 9C hooked up to the parallel port on and XP machine, and just wanted to say THANKS. After reading around in here I was able to construct a 9C to parallel port cable, then get it recognized by using the PPJoy software driver. I had to manually assign an IRQ to the port, and after a reboot the 9C works within FMS like a champ! I appreciate the useful information found here, keep up the good work.

TX-Deck

I tried the same but didn't have any luck. I'm using XP. What version of Windows are you using?

The Parrelel ports on XP are not set-up for work the adapter only works on 95 and 98

So if I understand you correctly, you're saying that SmartPropo will not work on XP? I would tend to agree with that as I had no luck! Then again, I'm no computer guru, so perhaps I'm missing something.

The drivers and patch cord that comes with ripmax works with FMS.

Something you may want to check out: I have written a small app for PPJoy that reads your TX using the SmartPropo .DLL files (audio input) and creates a virtual joystick from that. So you can use those .DLLs with any program, not just FMS.

One catch: the SmartPropo .DLLs seem to produce access violations on some XP systems - including mine.

You can download PPJoyDLL from http://deonvdw.netfirms.com/PPJoyDLL.htm

Regards
Deon van der Westhuysen

I am having problems with installed the PPJoy interface. The program says something like "Unable to verify IRQ". You said you had to assign the IRQ manually to the port. What did you mean by that? I see that LPT1 already has an IRQ assignment. Why is PPJoy not able to see it? I need help with this IRQ stuff. Thanks.

It's been a long time, but I do know that I have 378/IRQ7 assigned in my PC BIOS. You go into setup while booting by pressing delete key. You go to integrated peripherals and instead of "auto" for the port you assin the IRQ as mentioned above. If you are not comfortable with this, do not do it. Perhaps you have a friend more knowledgeable with PC's. I will not be responsible for results. All I know is that it got things working for me. XP handles IRQ's and I think when it takes over it's already too late in the process, because the PPJOY interface that we are using has already been loaded and doesn't know what XP did later. If the assignment occurs right at the start of booting PPJOY can be aware of what IRQ is to be used.

Thanks for the reply. I have the same setup in BIOS and I verified that there are no conflicts or shraring with that particular IRQ. But I still dont seem to be getting PPJOY to figure out the IRQ of the parallel port. Weird stuff.