Read all posts about it, no solution yet. No other aircraft

[Daren Lahey 921881]

Greetings,

 

I have connected to VATSIM two or three times nad actually flew some, but I soon realized that I could not see other aircrafts. I was thankful enough to have great ATC support to fly the flight plan safely, without bumping into any other aircraft.

 

I have started troubleshooting the problem and I got to this point:

 

I have fs2004 running on XP pro sp2

firewall disabled before connecting

antivirus disabled before connecting

SB registered

SBRelay running (I had a refused connection until I registered SB, now I get no errors and it does not freeze)

used 127.0.0.1

I see myself on the vatsim network

 

and I am following the connection procedure: sbrelay, fs2004, host multiplayer, create flight, fly now, open SBHost module, start SBHost.exe, 127.0.0.1, connect to sbHost game, Squawk standby, send flight plan, squawk mode C, connect, vatsim id and p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]word.

 

to sum it up: no errors, settings are all there, VATSIM network logs me (but didn't log me last night... ??), and cannot see other aircrafts.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Thanks,

 

Daren Lahey

Sun Airways Pilot

[Lennart Vedin]

I don't know if it help, but I have some remarks.

 

>host multiplayer

For FS2004 you should join multiplayer.

 

> open SBHost module

Not sure what you mean, but after "fly now", you should start SBHost.exe and then Start squawkbox.exe and enter all data.

 

Troubleshooting at http://forums.vatsim.net/viewtopic.php?p=2262#2262

 

(Did you read the PRC 103d docomeent ?)

[Daren Lahey 921881]

by start SBHost module I mean,

 

once I start my flight in fs2004, from the menu I select, modules, SBhost

 

This opens an empty window in fs2004 (where sb will then appear)

 

At this point I start sbHost.exe from outside fs2004, and after asking me for connections parameters, it fills the SBHost windows I had opened in fs2004 with the program.

 

I will try not hosting a multiplayer session, but just joining one and see if it works. I will get back to you tomorrow on this.

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

Daren Lahey

Sun Ariways Pilot

[Lennart Vedin]

> once I start my flight in fs2004, from the menu I select, modules, SBhost

Don't do this now, this is named the HostSB.dll .

 

Note that you should run ether "FS -> modules -> SBHost" or "SB Host.exe", not both. It's two choses you have.

 

So try "SB Host.exe" first. Please refere to the PRC and Troubleshooting at http://forums.vatsim.net/viewtopic.php?p=2262#2262 (subject 4. Squawkbox "SB Host.exe". ) if you want this better explained.

 

Yes you do missing not just one thing. Read the PRC docomeent with care step-by-step and you will probably have no problem. This software does not create messages for all kind of mistakes, you just must do it exactly right.

 

Welcome and good luck !

Say if you get problem after next try.

[Eric Lange 823818]

Hi Lennart, I've been reading most of the posts on not seeing other aircrafts so I will insert this as it may help solve some issues. I changed from CABLE to Hi Speed ADSL and since then I cannot see other aircrafts also. They see me and I see them on the SB "radar" screen. I read one of your posts about port 80 and port forwarding so I called my ADSL company before I poked with the D-Link DSL 604+ modem/router (it's wireless, but I am using hard wires to connect the computer)

 

They told me that because of port 80 issues with hackers that they have shut down that port system wide. Port forwarding will not work and the only way out is to get another account which would cost me twice what I am paying now per month. This account would then set me up with a static IP address and port 80 would be available.

 

BTW the company is Telus.com which is the major telephone supplier in B.C. Canada. Do I go back to Shaw Cable or is there a way around this port 80 problem?

 

Thanks for all your help, I've gained a lot of info from you in the past.

Eric Lange

[Lennart Vedin]

We have the same problem in Sweden, the major telephone supplier in Sweden (Telia) has some kind of built in forwarding (I don't know exactly what it mean, but at least it's not direct line to the global internet). I did check out my company (Universal Telecom, international company) before I order ADSL, that they supply me with a static IP-address direct connected to the global internet network.

 

But Telia is also one of the most expensive in Sweden, while Universal Telecom is the lowest cost.

 

> only way out is to get another account which would cost me twice

If you mean another account in same company, I understand twice. What about an other company (?)

 

p.s.

Your reply give a hint what might be problem for some people.

[Eric Lange 823818]

I just clued in on the starting sequence described in one of the above posts. Mainly:

>host multiplayer

For FS2004 you should join multiplayer.

 

It so happens that after I started SB relay 1.2 , started FS9 and once I clicked on the "open multiplayer session" I would get "sb relay - fs2004" in the sessions box. Now this does not show up, even if I place 127.0.0.1 in the IP address, I've tried it with no firewall and search results are NIL. I remember now that I used to have this session as an option and that I have been flying with SB online by on HOST, then in the next window "sb relay - fs2004" shows up in that session name field. Perhaps this is the problem, but how do I get it to appear in the first window?

 

I'm still trying with ADSL because a technician from Telus called me back and told me that having the port 80 blocked system wide should not cause a problem. Now I don't know which tech to believe so I'll keep plucking at it.

 

Any ideas why the session field is blank? What can I do further?

 

Eric

[Javier Larroulet]

verify that, after connecting, Servinfo displays you exactly were you should be (whatever airport you're on) instead of "ACCRA FIR (DGAC)" at altitude 0.

 

If that would be the case, you need to register FSUIPC

 

Also, check you have the latest DirectX as the first 9.0 version had a bug that made FS report its position incorrectly on some situations

[Eric Lange 823818]

I've solved my problem of not seeing other aircrafts visually. Just for the record I am running Win XP with SP2 and yes my direct x has been up to date and FSUIPC was registered.

Turns out that the clue was given in one of the above posts. Daren Lahey said:

 

"and I am following the connection procedure: sbrelay, fs2004, host multiplayer, "

 

The error is that after SEARCH is selected, since the session name "SB Relay - FS2004 (0ms)" does not appear, one selects "hosts" the session, and then in the next screen you would join in with no aircrafts visual. I was doing that too, because there was no session name found in the search once 127.0.0.1 was inserted. So one goes with the logical "host" selection when you should actually be "joining" the "SB RELAY - FS2004 (0 ms)" name that appears in the SESSION box which Lennar advised him to do in the next post

>host multiplayer

For FS2004 you should join multiplayer.

 

The cure for me was to select "CLIENT SETTING" which is to the left of the "HOST" button and from the next window select "other" under the CONNECT option and insert 23457 in the blank field. Click OK and Search and that's it, the session name appears after a few seconds. Click HOST and the rest of the sequence as mentioned in Daren's post.

 

Now get this. Next time you fire up FS9 if the session name doesn't appear, flip the Client setting back to default 23456 and click ok and Search then go back to Client Setting and insert 23457, click OK and search and the session name appears again, sometimes a search is not needed.

For some reason when I was on internet cable this was not a problem. It only appeared after I changed from Cable to Hi speed ADSL

 

Thanks to Javier and Lennart for your help and Daren, if you want further help just add a post and I can send you an E-mail with screenshots if you wish

Eric

[Eric Lange 823818]

Here is a good pictoral "How to" article, step Nr 5 in the "Now for the Fun" section, shows the proper session name needed .

http://www.geocities.com/dweese2001/

 

Eric

[Lennart Vedin]

OK I added as Dave Weese's link say into my Troubleshooting http://forums.vatsim.net/viewtopic.php?p=2262#2262 .

If it doesn't complete make sence, you can post a suggest here, cause I don't know this issue my self.

[Daren Lahey 921881]

Well, it worked.

 

I just changed from hosting a multiplayer session, to joining it in FS2004 and I was able to see the other planes.

 

Well the only thing left to do is to install all the aircrafts and paints... pant pant.. almost there.

 

 

Thanks alot!

[John Landes 877822]

Just wanted to chime in with another variation of this same issue. What is boiled down to is SBRelay could't find the fake FS2002 session so, when Squawkbox connects, rather than getting the "Added Fake Player" in SBRelay, I was getting "Could not find session" message when Squawkbox connected. Unless you were paying attention to the SBRelay log you'd nevery suspect anything was wrong, everything works just fine - you connect, can talk with voice client, see others on radar, everything... except actually "see" others out the window (kinda dangerous in the REAL world....).

 

I'm running FS2004 on XPSP2 behind a Linksys wireless router (I'm hardwired) with cable connection to internet (Time Warner). One note about ISPs, we set up users at my office for VPN connections from their homes, hotels, etc, to our home office. Many "value added" ISPs, specifically AOL Time Warner cable, block all kinds of ports - AOL specifically blocks use of Virtual Private Networking (VPN), so we recommend our employees don't subscribe to them - they may also block many ports required for using Squawkbox - I know the basic Time Warner cable here in the US works fine for online flying and VPNs.

 

I also use XP's firewall and Norton AntiVirus 2005. We have a number of PCs in the house so the router is setup to serve DHCP addresses to all the clients. After configuring the router to p[Mod - Happy Thoughts] through the specific port ranges to my IP, configuring XP's firewall to allow the specific programs in the Vatsim software set, everything worked just fine. That was, until I installed Norton Antivirus 2005 - this has a worm-detection feature that's really a mini-firewall that must be disabled. Then there's the issue that I can't reserve a specific IP from the router for my PC, so I have to periodically change the router settings when I get a different IP from the router. I have to disable Norton's worm-detection feature entirely, reboot, check that my IP didn't change (fix the router settings if needed), start everything up (SBRelay, FS2004, join MultiPlayer, open SBHost and start Sqawkbox) and then inspect SBRelay's log to be sure it create's the "Fake" player rather then not find the FS2004 session. If I get the "Added Fake Player" in the log, everything's fine.

 

Since SBRelay shrinks down to the system tray it's easy to skip looking at what it's logging, that's why I mention this. Norton AV 2005 ended up being the root of my problem - and I wan't expecting to find any port blocking/scanning functionality in it. Also, lots of people think you have to disable all the firewalls, antivirus software and have problems with their routers. I went through my setup just to prove that you CAN set things up without completely shutting down your firewall and antivirus - it's a dangerous world out there - fly safe and exercise safe computing (or as safe as you can).