Does your sim ever have a sick day?

[blueskydriver]

Okay, I am sure your sim is either flying or not, but has there been days when you just think it's not working right, or you got the Gremlins, or whatever statement you use to describe when things act up for no real reason?

Even more so, has there been times where you just resolve one small matter and another just shows up, and then no sooner you fix that one another appears? As if no matter what you do, you're not meant to fly the sim on that day. However, the very next day everything is just fine, even the problems you don't fix!

I myself have been sick for about 5 days or so, and I do believe my sim has caught my sickness. It has been one thing if not another and another! So much that I gave up! Here is my list for today:

1. Fired up sim
2. Upper EICAS monitor goes black
3. change power supply and it's fine
4. get ready to takeoff (on runway and on vatsim), Upper EICAS goes black again!
5. Switch lower EICAS to upper via switch, circuit breaker trips shuts off four computers.
6. Change power supply for Upper EICAS to another one, restart everything all over again, start pushing back and Upper EICAS goes black again!
7 Change to another supply, it doesn't work, so try the first one again. It works fine for an hour, so restart everything AGAIN and now a different circuit breaker trips with four different computers and one is the FSX computer.
8. Turn everything else off, curse a few choice words and realize my sim is sick!

If any of this sounds weird; well, it is weird yes and I might conclude the Upper EICAS Monitor is going bad. Yet, things like this have happened many of time before with no real reason, and then starting the very next day everything works fine for months...

It's days like this that make a crazy person become normal, assuming a normal person would go crazy; thus, me being crazy as a fruitcake, I hate becoming normal...uuuuugggghhhhhh!

John

[Sam Llorca]

Welcome to the club John!!

[Maurice]

Nope, never ever happens John. My sim is rock solid with never a hiccup. Well, ok, no hiccups,  just monthly or even weekly violent, gut wrenching, brain frying, suicide inducing bouts of unbelievably bizarre behaviour which makes you want to take a sledge hammer to it and end your misery once & for all.

Aside from that, rock solid. And by the way, not a chance of you becoming normal 

Maurice

[tennyson]

This is probably not the case, but I'll mention it anyway.

I had a similar problem with computer systems going crazy for no apparent reason, blowing power supplies and generally frying stuff.

Then, the next day, not a sausage. Everything rock solid (this term stolen from Maurice)!

Just when I thought it was all in my head, it would rear it's ugly head again.

A mate of mine, who was also an electrician, came and tested my power at the house. It turned out there were wild fluctuations coming from the power company.
When I investigated, it turned out, I was on the end of the grid and consequently, if the power was low, I'd be the first to cop it.
He installed some elec device which gave me a warning when the "brownouts" were occurring and eventually I installed a UPS (uninteruptible power supply) to my sim room and the stupidity stopped.

This just showed me that you really can't go far enough when people tell you to "think outside the box!"


Frank Cooper

[blueskydriver]

Well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one! For the longest time I've been doubting my sim and that it is just a bad one or a lemon; however, after reading the posts above gives me two answers. One, that home cockpits are going be plagued with things like this because they're specifically not designed for the home; unlike, a sim in a commercial environment where everything is taking into account. Two, because no matter how hard I try, I need to accept the fact of one...

Still, I wish everyone a "Sim Get Well Soon".

John

[brianwilliamson]

Thank goodness I am not alone !!

Here is another gem that I have just discovered. I have just installed a 400 hz. power supply from China for the seats in the Airbus. When I switched on the power supply I could hear a nice high pitched hum coming from one of the speakers in the cockpit, which was certainly being caused by the power supply. Then went fo a flight to test the seats etc.
When I lent over to put my hand on the throttles I noticed the trim wheel started to stutter.

I then started to check everything out and sure enough as soon as the power supply was turned on and I placed a hand near the trim wheels I would get a jitter on the trim.

So I now have to go into the power supply and try and stop the noise from it. It can obviously get back into the USB cables and back into the computers and create all sorts of problems.
Over the years I have discovered that many of the problems have been caused by electrical noise, so if you are having troubles in the sim, it pays to look for electrical leakage in the form of noise.
Takes the fun out of flying some days !!

Regards..........Brian W.

[brianwilliamson]

Just found the answer........................

[Bob Reed]

Just found the answer........................

Oh My!!!!! 

[bernard S]

F...... me does it come with matching Captains Hat and or raybans  don't mean to take the piss but I could not stop laughing a very innovative approach ... Is that really tin foil???

[Maurice]

F...... me does it come with matching Captains Hat and or raybans  don't mean to take the piss but I could not stop laughing a very innovative approach ... Is that really tin foil???

If you look closely, this is an office cubicle which somebody may have covered in foil as a joke I would guess. But then again, may not  . See the other cubicles behind.

Maurice

[MLeavy737]

sick DAY? lol.. my sim has been in a coma for the last 5 years

Mike L

[HarryZ]

I'm a 50-50 flyer....I spend half my time flying and the other half fixing all the things that go wrong in the sim!!

Harry

[sagrada737]

Hi Folks,

So many of these comments make me smile.  I can't help but reflect on the "Dream" we all have to build and fly our own full-scale flight simulator.  Ah...  the progression of this dream to reality where a Sim would actually begin to take shape.  And how we would share this dream with friends and family, telling them all about how great it is to build up such a complex machine and then fly it.  As our dream takes shape, it becomes impressive, and people are amazed by our extensive knowledge and prowess - folks think we have electro-mechanical software genius in our DNA - is there anything we can't do! 

Then the day comes when the Sim starts to breath...  Our Sim is alive! Oh how we have such mastery and command over our world - that is, our Sim world.  Everything else in our world might exhibit compromise, or go to hell in a hand-basket, but our Sim is still first priority - shining in all its glory.  Our Sim has become a safe haven, where everything works, is understood, and we don't have to question the order of the day.  Oh what a "beautiful creation" we have made!

Then one day...  In the dark corners of our Sim Room, there rises up a problem, a strange behavior, then another problem, and another....  We're not sweating yet, as we built this THING (no longer beauty - now it's a "thing").

Hesitant to share our Sim anomalies, we continue to fly on - much like single pilot IFR with clues of systems failing - we proceed headlong into the growing storm.  We try this and that to resolve the problems - it seems that nothing we do resolves our dilemma.  Like stacking more logs onto a sinking raft - we can't figure out why it is still sinking.  No matter what we try, things are getting worse, with more and more things not working.   As we sit in the Captain's Seat, we ponder what could be happening - afraid to admit that we don't have any answers - confidence turns to frustration, and frustration to depression.  It soon becomes reality that we finally realize that we have gone too far, and our Sim is in deep trouble - we are indeed in a mess - up to our ears in complexities - unable to correct the situation on our own.

It is at this point, that we begin to humble ourselves and turn to others for help - first to trusted friends, then to anyone that offers anything that looks like help - trying all the time not to let our desperation show.  For our pride tells us that we can't admit failure or misjudgment.  Now for the first time, we admit to ourselves, and soon to others, that we have a "love-hate" relationship with our Sims, where some days, we feel like throwing the whole "thing" in the dumpster - "who needs these headaches"  "piece of crap" we say as we finally pull-the-plug, turn out the lights in the Sim Room, walk out and close the door.  Disgusted and dejected, we look for something new to do to console our pride.

After days, or weeks, or perhaps months...  As our sanity (what's left of it) slowly returns, our reason and intellect agree that a "machine" can't do that to us    We must fight back and win this battle!  It's not long after that...  We are once again back in the Sim Room, plug back in the wall, methodically sorting out the issues/problems with fresh perspective and friendly, compassionate advice from those who understand the nature of this cycle.  The problem turns out to be something simple (usually is... it's just a machine) like a broken wire, bad RAM or SSD, incorrect Config, corrupt Driver, Network issue, or something...  and it gets fixed. 

Miraculously, one-by-one, the problems seem to be resolved, and we find ourselves back in the realm of blue sky and smooth air.  We are happy once more and quickly forget our recent trauma, pain and suffering.  After all, our Sim is operational, and our dread is replaced with a confident smile on our face as we express to ourselves, "Oh what a joy it is to fly my beautiful Sim."   

Problem? What problems?  I love my Sim!   

And at the end of the new day, having successfully flown our Sim to parts unknown, we shut the systems down and rejoice in our accomplishment.  We take proper care and tuck the Sim in for the night - a well deserved rest for the day's work.  As we turn out the lights and leave the Sim Room, we look back and glimpse one more time at our creation, and say with affection in our hearts, "See you tomorrow Sweet Heart."

Yep...  The question then becomes, "Is it we, or our Sims that are sick?"   

Have a great day!

Mike

[brianwilliamson]

Oh so true ! I think you have summed up our expectations perfectly Mike.
Well said..............Brian W.

[phil744]

sick DAY? lol.. my sim has been in a coma for the last 5 years

Thats two of us then

off topic, the picture with the tin foil, have a close look at the photo within the picture, top left, is that our Jackpilot?

[DarrylH]

When you're seven miles up in the heavens,
(That's a hell of a lonely spot)
And it's fifty degrees below zero
Which isn't exactly hot.
When you're frozen blue like your Spitfire
And you're scared a Mosquito pink,
When you're thousands of miles from nowhere
And there's nothing below but the drink
It's then you will see the Gremlins,
Green and gamboge and gold,
Male and female and neuter
Gremlins both young and old.
It's no good trying to dodge them,
The lessons you learned on the Link
Won't help you evade a Gremlin,
Though you boost and you dive and you fink.
White ones will wiggle your wingtips,
Male ones will muddle your maps,
Green ones will guzzle your Glycol,
Females will flutter your flaps.
Pink ones will perch on your perspex,
And dance pirouettes on your prop;
There's a spherical, middle-aged Gremlin
who'll spin on your stick like a top.
They'll freeze up your camera shutters,
They'll bite through your aileron wires,
They'll bend and they'll break and they'll batter,
They'll insert toasting forks in your tyres.
That is the tale of the Gremlins,
Told by the P.R.U.,
(P)retty (R)uddy (U)nlikely to many
But fact, none the less, to the few."

[dc8flightdeck]

I have learned to expect the entire sim to suddenly attemp to die at the smallest hint of making an upgrade. It should be a simple mod, but unrelated componants start to go up in smoke.

My last project with the F-4 sim was to replace the harddive and make a fresh software install. After many hours of work, my new flight sim installation went crazy. Last Saturday I gave up and deleted everything to prepare for a second attempt at an install.

By late Sunday it seemed to be ok, except that the carrier radio communications will not work from Flight Deck 6. Ive never had problem with Flight Deck 6 before, and it appears Im simply out of luck this time around.