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Troubles setting up Annunciator LEDs with DIO

jerry262jerry262
in GoFlight Interface Tool - Technical Support
I am interfacing Flight1 B200 Warning Panel annunciators
The program amazingly finds all of the annunciator LVars. 
I verified in the Detective that their values are 1 when on and 0 when off
 I set them to ON GREATER THAN  0
and sometimes they work. Mostly they don't though.
I tried OFF LESS THAN  1 with no better luck.  The program behaves as though it only acknowledges the changes if it catches them in the act of changing.  Often they stick in the on position.  A blinking light will often remain lit after the condition is cleared.  Sometimes everything behaves exactly backwards ie. What should be off is on and visa versa.
It seems to me that the program would regularly pole the variables and at that point would set the annunciators accordingly.
Any Idea what I am doing wrong? 

Comments

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    Hi Jerry,

    Use the light action "ON" and the light value of 1.

    Also, read this thread: http://www.pollypotsoftware.org.uk/support/forum.html#/discussion/148/erratic-led-lights-when-trying-to-program-mcp-pro

    Best wishes

    Steve 

  • jerry262jerry262
    Thanks for your quick response.
    I tried your suggestion and the results are the same ...Hit and miss with perhaps a slightly higher percentage of hits but that could just be wishful thinking.   
    I read the thread that you suggested and it sounded like that problem was only while programming the devise.  My problem happens while flying.  I almost never see a reaction while programming so I no longer expect too which is just fine for me.  Is there anything I can do to make the GIT more responsive to changes while flying?
    Thank you
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    edited February 2015

    Hi Jerry,

    When you say its the same when flying - did you shut down GIT and restart it making sure Detective was not running? If you didn't then the problem will have remained.

    Do you have another device you can test one of the LED's on in case its an issue with the DIO. Data is sampled 6 times a second so unless your light is blinking extremely fast GIT will pick it up.

    Another thing to check is to make sure you have the correct lvar. You will need one that indicates the light state not an error state. If the lvar is an error state it will stay as 1 until the error is corrected and thus why you are seeing the light stay on.

    Best wishes

    Steve


  • jerry262jerry262
    I have an MCP Pro that I can try.

    The LVars I am using are direct annunciator variables and they are 0 or 1
    The thing is, it works some times and not others.  It's as though it is out of phase at times.

    Most of the annunciators are either on or off however there are 2 that blink until cleared.  Sometimes when they are cleared, they will remain on indefinitely until I do something to set them to blinking again and clear it.  If I'm lucky I will catch it it the right phase and they will turn off.

    You had mentioned that the program only detects changes at the time they are changed to reduce code.  That explains why it won't update the light conditions after the fact.  Is there anything I might try to force it to see the changes more reliably?
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    Hi Jerry,

    "You had mentioned that the program only detects changes at the time they are changed to reduce code.  That explains why it won't update the light conditions after the fact.  Is there anything I might try to force it to see the changes more reliably?" You are misunderstanding how the program works. If the lvar has changed the LED will be updated - there is not a reliability problem.


    I think the two obvious issues are:

    - The DIO has a bug so try configuring the LED on your MCP PRO.

    - The lvars are not behaving how you think they are. Filter all variables except the one that indicates a light state. Set the polling interval slider fully left and then monitor the output as you trigger the error state and then fix the error state. Repeat a few times and make sure it isn't changing back to its original value and its behaviour is consistent.

    Best wishes

    Steve

  • jerry262jerry262
    Hi Steve,
    As always thank you for your rapid support.

    I will try with the MCP Pro tonight.
    Regarding the Lvar data, I am certain of their usage because The DIO does not have enough LED outputs to handle both annunciator panels in the B200 plane that I am interfacing  so I wrote a short VB.net program and a Lua script to handle the Caution panel using a Phidgets LED64. I am using the same basic Lvars for that and they function as expected albeit a bit slower than I would like.  Plus the GIT works as expected some of the time as well.

    One other consideration.  I have the standard Go-Flight to FSX bridge running which operated the MCP-Pro and I use FSUIPC to handle the hardware that is connected to the DIO inputs.  Could any of that play a part?.  I made sure that the DIO had no inputs or outputs configured in the Go-Flight Config tool.
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    It is possible that you have set something up to drive the LED's in GFConfig or FSUIPC LUA that is clashing. It would be worth double checking. Can you provide the lvars you are using and I will check at my end .

    Thx

    Steve

  • jerry262jerry262
    I have double checked the GF-Config and nothing is set in there regarding the DIO

    Here are the LVars I am using in GIT
    the bottom 2 are the blinking lights.  An interesting note:  The blinking lights are the most reliable however they often stick in the on position when they are cleared, but they will always start blinking when they are supposed to
    B200WAltWarn 
    B200WAPDisconnect 
    B200WAPTrimFail 
    B200WCabinDoor 
    B200WLBlAirFail 
    B200WLChipDetect 
    B200WLEngFire 
    B200WLFuelPress 
    B200WLGenOvht 
    B200WLOilPress 
    B200WRBlAirFail 
    B200WRChipDetect 
    B200WREngFire 
    B200WRFuelPress 
    B200WRGenOvht 
    B200WROilPress 
    B200WBlank 
    B200MCaution -  This is one of the blinking Lights  
    B200MWarning - This is the other blinking light
    These are the lVars That I am using in the FSUIPC script
    B200CAirCondN1Low 
    B200CBattCharge 
    B200CBrakeDeiceOn 
    B200CCabinDoor 
    B200CDuctOTemp 
    B200CElecHeatOn 
    B200CElecTrimOff 
    B200CExtPwr 
    B200CFuelCrossfeed 
    B200CHydFluidLow 
    B200CLAutofeather 
    B200CLBld 
    B200CLChipDet 
    B200CLdgTaxiLt 
    B200CLEngAntiIce 
    B200CLEngIceFail 
    B200CLGen 
    B200CLgndOff 
    B200CLIgnition 
    B200CPassOxyOn 
    B200CPropSync 
    B200CRAutofeather 
    B200CRBld 
    B200CRChipDet 
    B200CREngAntiIce 
    B200CREngIceFail 
    B200CRGen 
    B200CRIgnition 
    B200CRvsNotReady 
    B200CBlank


  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    Hi Jerry,

    I have just replicated the caution light using the MCP PRO and although it blinks sometimes erratically, I am seeing the light sometimes stay on. I'll need to investigate this further.

    Best wishes

    Steve

  • jerry262jerry262

    Hi Steve,

    I have to say your response to support issues is better than most software which I had to pay for.

    I just sent you donation because you deserve it.  I really appreciate your attention.  I wish it could send more but the Dollars to Pounds are pretty brutal.

    Thanks  Again

    Jerry

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    edited February 2015

    Hi Jerry,

    Many thanks for the donation. I'm pleased to say I have tracked down the bug. The issue must have been there for well over 18 months from when the goflight update routine was moved to a separate thread instead of the updates being bound to receiving a simconnect message. Essentially, now the data can be updated whilst the goflight update routine is running. The GoFlight Interface Module SDK does not correctly provide the "previous data" which causes the random behaviour of the lights.

    I will rework the code and get a beta out hopefully tomorrow.

    Thanks for identifying this issue.

    Best wishes

    Steve

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    Hi Jerry,

    I have fixed a number of issues around the lights and display updates for non PMDG aircraft and it all appears OK. I want to add a couple more features tomorrow, before I offer it to you as a Beta for Sunday.

    Best wishes

    Steve

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    OK, the BETA is out:

    http://www.pollypotsoftware.org.uk/support/forum.html#/discussion/170/goflight-interface-tool-2-1-8-0-beta

    Best wishes

    Steve

  • jerry262jerry262

    Finally got a chance to try it out last night and so far it looks perfect.  All of the annunciators go on and off just as they are supposed to.  The blinking lights now behave just as their counterpart in the VC. 

    Thanks so much for your attention on this Steve.

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps

    That's great news! Thanks for letting me know.

    Best wishes

    Steve

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