X-Squawk Box has no audio.

[Todd Gilbey]

Is there any reason as to why I am:
 

• not hearing any ATC chatter despite tuning to an online ATC service, volume turned up, & set on COM1 - as illustrated below - normally in a world that clearly this piece of software does not belong in, when you tune to a frequency and you're within range, you're supposed to hear ATC chatter. That is unless I have all of a sudden developed selective hearing because I can hear the APU on the Zibo and every other sound, but just not the ATC service? Maybe I'm just going mad, who knows? 
• not seeing my "File Flight plan" open highlighted?

All I can say is thank God no one is paying for this software because there'll be a lot of people who would have been royally ripped off.

 

[Andreas Fuchs]

1 hour ago, Todd Gilbey said:

All I can say is thank God no one is paying for this software because there'll be a lot of people who would have been royally ripped off.

Hi Todd,

this is not very polite. I understand that you are frustrated, but please give our freeware client developers some slack. Without them, VATSIM would be dead.

There are hundreds of other pilots who are using xSquawkbox without problems and are happy with it, so it might be that the root of the issue is somewhere on your side (not trying to blame you). I assume you did not consult that manual of XSB, so please have a look at it.

Have you configured the correct hardware device for voice output? Have you tried routing the voice output manually? https://xsb2-manual.readthedocs.io/en/latest/using-xsquawkbox.html#aircraft-without-a-working-audio-panel

If all fails, also have a look at xPilot and swift pilot clients. Please note that X-Plane's plugin folder can only contain ONE plugin of this kind, more information here: https://xsb2-manual.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting-started.html#plugin-compatibility

Edited March 7, 2021 at 10:29 AM by Andreas Fuchs

[Todd Gilbey]

Andreas,

I'm sorry but when I have provided this forum with evidence that I have not only connected to the VATSIM network correctly, but also that I have tuned to the correct frequency and you're hearing no audio, what would that say to you? You say that without these freeware (& I can't stress the "free" bit enough here) VATSIM would be dead, I completely agree with you but at this rate VATSIM is going to be dead anyway if new members continue to come onto this service, see a VATSIM client that is suggested on the website, download it correctly and still run into trouble with this. 

It becomes quite clear as to why the developer isn't charging for this service, yes, there may well be many pilots who use this and are happy with this service but I have seen many who are not, and considering they all do the same thing it baffles me as to why someone has spent $30,000+ on a software engineering degree only to go on to develop a temperamental piece of software. I'd be asking for my money back, personally.

I'm a software developer myself, although not in this field, and if my software gave my users this kind of result, I would be very concerned. 

I have not yet got my mic set up but surely I would still be able to hear ATC chatter? When you tune into the correct online ATC service, you could be considered a reasonable and sane individual (although my sanity is slowly diminishing with this software) when you expect to hear ATC chatter as a result, but oh no, because I have people on here telling me that the root cause is me. 

How?

I will start giving people slack when either a) VATSIM stops promoting dud technology or b) there is a seriously rework of the clients suggested.

However, I will take your suggestions on board and see if I can get what little left of my sanity back - wish me luck!

Thank you and all the best, 

[Andreas Fuchs]

33 minutes ago, Todd Gilbey said:

It becomes quite clear as to why the developer isn't charging for this service, yes, there may well be many pilots who use this and are happy with this service but I have seen many who are not, and considering they all do the same thing it baffles me as to why someone has spent $30,000+ on a software engineering degree only to go on to develop a temperamental piece of software. I'd be asking for my money back, personally.

In VATSIM it is not permissible for any developer of software to ask for money. VATSIM also does not ask for donations of money and will reject offers of this kind. So, there is no scenario of this ever happening.

If I am not mistaken, xSquawkbox has had more than one "owner" in its long history. People come, people go and if someone is kind of to develop a piece of software, we should be grateful. The gentleman who currently maintains XSB is a very busy developer in the real world, so he's getting his investment back, don't worry. Jobs and family come first, hobbies should always coming second or third place, that's how it is.

 

Regarding your voice issues: have you understood that you don't need to only set the frequency of an active ATCO nearby, but you also need to tell the client what radio you actually want to transmit (TX) and receive (RX) on? If your aircraft is not distributing this information to your pilot client, then you won't hear anything. Or is your firewall blocking voice?

 

VATSIM is suggesting various pilot clients for each simulator, you can try them all. If you are not happy with one of them, try the next in line. You are not stuck with a "not working" piece of software, you have a choice! So, for your own sake, I suggest you calm down and have a look at your settings again. I never had any issues of this kind in the past, although I am using another client these days.

Edited March 7, 2021 at 11:35 AM by Andreas Fuchs

[Todd Gilbey]

1 hour ago, Andreas Fuchs said:

If I am not mistaken, xSquawkbox has had more than one "owner" in its long history. People come, people go and if someone is kind of to develop a piece of software, we should be grateful. The gentleman who currently maintains XSB is a very busy developer in the real world, so he's getting his investment back, don't worry. Jobs and family come first, hobbies should always coming second or third place, that's how it is.

I have no doubt it has had more than one owner, probably due to the fact that the current owner realised that their pride and joy was developed with a potato, and so they handed it over to another owner, who very quickly realised the same thing, and so it was passed around from one owner to another.

1 hour ago, Andreas Fuchs said:

t you don't need to only set the frequency of an active ATCO nearby, but you also need to tell the client what radio you actually want to transmit (TX) and receive (RX) on? If your aircraft is not distributing this information to your pilot client, then you won't hear anything. Or is your firewall blocking voice?

Yes I understand that, and yet it won't even let me configure my audio. I mean, seriously, VATSIM are promoting a piece of software that is clearly riddled with bugs and yet it won't even let you fix the issues(s), the "Setup Audio" feature is faded out. The absolute stupidity of this whole thing in unreal. 

Lastly, please do not tell me to calm down. I am sick to the back teeth of everything I try not working & I am so angry right now I could scream. I grew up with an IT professional and have been around this sort of thing my whole life, if I can't work out why a piece of software is not doing as it's told, it it normally safe to say that the software is not up to scratch

It is a piece of software, if I tell it do something, it does it. it is not an awkward disobedient ill-disciplined child, it is software. If I tell it to connect, it connects, if I tell it to disconnect, it disconnects, if I tell it to transmit my voice, it transmits my voice, if I tell it to receive an ATC transmission, guess what? It does exactly that. You know why it does exactly that? Because its not an awkward disobedient ill-disciplined child, it's software.

[Phillip Kurus]

How utterly unpleasant.

[Andreas Fuchs]

3 hours ago, Todd Gilbey said:

I have no doubt it has had more than one owner, probably due to the fact that the current owner realised that their pride and joy was developed with a potato, and so they handed it over to another owner, who very quickly realised the same thing, and so it was passed around from one owner to another.

Your assumption is not accurate. That's not how it was. Sometimes, people change hobbies and they lose interest, simple as that. As far as I know the current developer is the second developer of XSB, so it is far from a "hot potato".

 

3 hours ago, Todd Gilbey said:

Lastly, please do not tell me to calm down. I am sick to the back teeth of everything I try not working & I am so angry right now I could scream.

If you get so agitated about a piece of software, how angry will you become in your virtual cockpit if some else cuts into your way? 😄

Seriously, if you don't want to deal with XSB any further, uninstall it completely and try xpilot.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Todd -- not only was the software developed and provided for free, but, all the tech support you're being given now is also free.  If you continue to tell us all what a miserable experience our help is giving you, we're likely to stop, without losing a wink of sleep over it.  Have a fantastic day!

[Christopher Collins]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:09 PM, Todd Gilbey said:

Is there any reason as to why I am:
 

• not hearing any ATC chatter despite tuning to an online ATC service, volume turned up, & set on COM1 - as illustrated below - normally in a world that clearly this piece of software does not belong in, when you tune to a frequency and you're within range, you're supposed to hear ATC chatter. That is unless I have all of a sudden developed selective hearing because I can hear the APU on the Zibo and every other sound, but just not the ATC service? Maybe I'm just going mad, who knows? 
• not seeing my "File Flight plan" open highlighted?

The cause is in your screenshot in red above your white box.  "Your voice devices have not been configured correctly.  Voice is disabled."