Finding missing gauge

[PH_AJH]

Hi there
My first visit to this forum, hope you can help me out.
I downloaded a nice Warrior III. Only thing is, when I end my flight with it the simulator crashes. According to CFGEdit there's a gauge missing so I thought this might be the reason.
To be more precise: rcPA28.carb_heat is missing. I checked the gauges folder in the download but it wasn't there. It isn't at FSGauges either.
It might be a default gauge but in that case I'm afraid I have deleted it once using a gaugecleaner because it is not in the FS2002/gauges folder. Anyone know where I can find the default gauges on the CD?
Second question: with the download comes gaugesound.dll . Where does this go? If I put it in the modules folder it is detected as third-party software and not loaded. So I took it out again and everything seems to be working fine but maybe I'm missing something?

Cheers
AJ

[Hagar]

AJ. rcPA28.carb_heat.gau is not a default gauge. It might be part of a compressed cluster gauge like the defaults. One way to fix it would be to delete it from the panel with CfgEdit.

If you get the "3rd party software" error with a module add this line to FS2002.cfg. Use the exact name of the file in the error message. I haven't come across this particular one.

[OLDMODULES]
gaugesound.dll=1

PS. The offending gauge might be a later XML gauge which CfgEdit cannot read. In this case it will be named rcPA28.carb_heat.cab & look like a zipfile.

[PH_AJH]

Hi Hagar
Suppose this is a better place to talk about this subject.
I noticed it is not a default gauge.
I am just starting to learn using CfgEdit. One thing I would like to know: How do I find a specific gauge in a panel? I have been looking at the different windows but can not find mentioned gauge. I'll have to locate it to remove it, haven't I?
About the gaugesound.dll: is it supposed to go in the modules folder? I think so but maybe I am wrong.
Thanks a lot
AJ

[Hagar]

Hi AJ. The easiest way to find which gauges are used on a panel might be to open Panel.cfg in Notepad. Ordinary gauges will be defined like this.
gauge01=Bvr_Attitude,  541,325,112,105

This gauge will be named Bvr_Attitude.gau (or Bvr_Attitude.cab).

Gauges from a cluster are defined like this
gauge00=cessna!Heading_Indicator,  545,464,117,111

Cluster gauges are libraries made up of a collection of sub-gauges. The actual gauge (in FS2002\GAUGES)will be named cessna.gau (or cessna.cab), the part before the exclamation mark. The part of the name after the exclamation mark ( ! ) is a sub-gauge in the collection. You will not find the sub-gauge in the FS2002\GAUGES folder.

As a rule of thumb, FS modules (DLL files) belong in the FS2002\MODULES folder. Specific installation intructions would usually be included in the Readme with the download.

[PH_AJH]

Hagar!
This is getting tricky now.
See what I find in the panel.cf (part of the Vcockpit1 view):
gauge39=rcPA28.carb_heat,  857,803,38,41
gauge40=r_c_carb_heat!r_c_carb_heat,  609,282,19,19
gauge41=r_c_amps!r_c_amps,  632,284,60,58
gauge42=r_c_suction!r_c_suction,  838,74,57,57
gauge43=r_c_annunciators!r_c_annunciators,  356,11,107,6
gauge44=r_c_DG!r_c_DG,  232,111,88,87

As far as I understand gauge 39 is not a clustered one. But I cannot find it anywhere in the gauges folder or the download. FsGauges doesn't list it either. And to make it even more complicated, in CfgEdit I cannot find this gauge in any window (maybe because it's not in the gauges folder?
So how do I delete it? Can I just delete the line (guess not)?

Also I am wondering: do you think this is the reason the sim is crashing when I end a flight?

About the dll: adding the line makes the sim shut down immediately when I try to start it so I'll just leave it out. There is no info in the download so  **** it.

AJ

[Hagar]

OK. Gauge 39 is not a cluster. It should be named rcPA28.carb_heat.gau or rcPA28.carb_heat.cab. I don't have CfgEdit installed right now but there is an "Outline Gauges" option on one of the menus, possibly Preferences. Enable this option, look in the Windows section & select Virtual Cockpit1. The missing gauge(s) should be outlined. You can then select, identify & delete as necessary. Please remember that CfgEdit cannot read the XML (CAB) gauges. Make sure the missing gauge is not on another window. DVC gauges are usually on the main panel too.

You can also manually delete (or add) any gauge from Panel.cfg in Notepad. Make sure to edit the following entries in the window so the gauge numbers run in sequence. I know some designers who still create complete panels like this.

[PH_AJH]

Hagar thanks for your time.
With help of the coordinates in the panel.cfg I found the gauge, it was way below the panel. Looks like a mistake by the one who designed it to me. Anyway I removed it with cfgedit no problem.
Still....the bastard keeps crashing the sim. Funny thing is, if I first start a flight in a default plane and th

[Hagar]

OK. Glad you found it. As you say, it could be a mistake. This bug intrigues me. If you tell me exactly where to find this aircraft I'll check it out myself. Providing it's not too big a download.

[PH_AJH]

Hi
It is at
http://www.simviation.com/fs2002props49.htm
called: FS2002 Piper Arow-III, non turbo

Nice plane by the way, beautiful VC

Thanks Hagar
AJ

[Hagar]

Hmm. I just downloaded the Arrow III. Not had time to try it in the sim. I note there are 2 versions of the aircraft, each with a different panel. The Panel High version is the one with that suspect gauge. The gauge is not included in the download. I'll check this out properly tomorrow.

[PH_AJH]

Solved it!
By pure luck I bumped into a later version of a similar aircraft by the same author. This time there was a readme that stated that the GaugeSound.dll has to go into the main FS2002 folder. So I did, everything working now (no more crashes that is - the gauge is still missing but I can live with that)

Thanks a lot for the assistance. Learned some more which is always good.

Bye now
AJ

[Hagar]

Solved it!
By pure luck I bumped into a later version of a similar aircraft by the same author. This time there was a readme that stated that the GaugeSound.dll has to go into the main FS2002 folder. So I did, everything working now (no more crashes that is - the gauge is still missing but I can live with that)

Thanks a lot for the assistance. Learned some more which is always good.

Bye now
AJ

Glad you figured that out. This seems most unusual. I think it would have fooled me. LOL

[PH_AJH]

And suddenly I noticed there are quite a lot of .dll's in the fs2002 main folder. Well have you ever! Never seen them before, must have had smoke in my eyes or something...

Cheers
AJ