FSInn disconnection symptoms

[alpha892003]

Dear Lary
I'm a new user of the latest versions of FSInn and FSCopilot. I'm playing on Windows XP Proffesional with DirectX 9.0c, on FSX. I have the same connection problems as many of players using FSInn (exactely the same as in this post: http://www.mcdu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5065&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=connection&start=0). I've tried everything: microsoft loopback adapter configured as you said, disabling UPnP via xp-Anty Spy, removing antivrus software, disabling firewall. I connect to internet via Cable modem which is connected to some sort of box in the hall of my house (I live in a small flat so I think it's a router, because everyone is connected to this box which belongs to one of Polish commercial internet's provider). After a few tries of reconnecting I've spotted some things:

1. I run FSX, then FSInn Control Panel in Addons and connect to VATSIM. In SET/Network/Peer to peer tab I see that UPnp router is not detected and is in red, Port forwarding and Default peering are operational and in green. Unfortunately it changes after 10 minutes. Then Port forwarding and Default peering goes red with mark "not operational". However, I'm still able to get curent weather info from Wx tab, as well as connect to ATC's and get curent radar data. Unfortunately, after aprox. 30 minutes of starting the whole game, I can't do that anymore. My VATSIM button stays in green but I get no new data from Wx, radar and can't hear ATC. When I try to log out and log in again to VATSIM, I'm unable to do that, the button stays with green lines and text on a black background, rarely it turnes into red lines and text on a black background.

2. As soon as I connect to VATSIM, when I minimalize FSX window and maximalize FWInn icon localized next to my windows clock on task tray I go to "Log" tab and turn log level to "Error". After few seconds I start to get some different messages, all start from "UPnp Download XML failed Location url=" mainly ending in "/RootDevice.xml". When FSInn disconects from VATSIM after 30 minutes as mentioned above, I can see two red-writen entries in Objects tab "FSDC" and "FSDS", as well as entry "FSDConnection" in Thread list tab.

3. It is possible to log in to VATSIM again after it self-disconnecting. I need to minimalize FSX window, maximalize FWInn window and close it, closing whole FWInn program. Then, back in FSX Window I see, that FSInn button in FSInn Control Panel turned amber. When I click on it, it goes back to green and I can connect to VATSIM for another 30 minutes (in fact sometimes it is much less time).

4. I thought It might be problem with Port forwarding, so I checked the DHCP default gateway on my interned adapter and typed it as Port in Port Forwarding tab (I heared that DHCP default gateway is the same as the router's adress). Unfortunately, it didn't make any effect.



My questions are:

Is it normal to see such things in Log/error tab in FWInn? Should there ever be any error message in a well configured and working FS/FWInn ?

What would you suggest me to do to make my game working?



NOTES:

1. I was doing all this with UPnp turned off by xp-AntiSpy.

2. I have uninstalled my only antivirus (Avira Anti-Vir) and turned off completely windows firewall.

4. In first 10 minutes of play, when everything is ok, I can disconnect from and connect to VATSIM as many times as I like. When I do that, the symbol of cloud near the name VATSIM fades out (after disconnection) and goes back (after re-connecting). When I disconnect after these famous 30 minutes, the symbol of cloud and sun stays where it was and doesn't fade out.

5. Some of my Error logs from FWInn can be downloaded here:
http://forum.apollo3.com//user_files/30.zip

6. Those lines ending with "Send error=10053" in the middle of "080226_22.log" error log were created as I clicked several times on VATSIM button when I was disconnected from VATSIM after 30 minutes of play.

7. I really love that game, It made me love avionics and planes, I really appreciate your work in this project. It makes me only flustrated that because of some silly network problems I can't play it multiplayer which is totally different than single.

8. I'm sorry for the mistakes in my English :)

[L. D. James]

>
>8. I'm sorry for the mistakes in my English :)
>

Your message is clearer and more descriptive than most. I'll study the details and see if I can duplicate the problem and offer a solution.

In the meantime, let's see if this is an isolated factor of VATSIM. Will you attempt to connect to the Apollo III Server? You can set it up as follows:

Inn Control Panel -> Set -> Network -> (Pick a Net Slot – Enter the Network Specific Info):

Network Specific Info for Apollo:

ID: 222222
Password: password
Net Label: Apollo
Server: fsd.apollo3.com

I realize you've done a lot of changes and testing while trying to get VATSIM to work. For this test, try to have everything as much as it's defaults as you can.

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[alpha892003]

I wasn't able to chose any details in Apollo net slot so I left it without any changes, with its original configuration (ID:222222, password: I don't know what was the password, but the number of "*" was the same as the number of letters in the word "password", Net Label: Apollo, Server: www.apollo3.com). Still the same disconnection problems occurs as as I would be connected to VATSIM, and the same errors show up in FWInn log tab.
Note:I did this after enabling UPnP in Xp-Antispy., everything else was as set as it would be just after installing FSCopilot and FSInn.

[L. D. James]

Are you saying the connection/disconnect was the same as VATSIM? The same length of time. You couldn't stay connected past 30 minutes?

In other words, did Apollo disconnect you or did you initiate the disconnection?

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[alpha892003]

You know, I couldn't find anyone in the area so I couldn't check if I'm still connected as I did in VATSIM (f.in. by trying to connect to ATC, trying to get updated radar view - in VATSIM, when I couldn't do that I knew I was disconnected) so after about 20 minutes I just clicked "Apollo" button in FSInn Control Panel to disconnect, then pushed it once again and noticed I couldn't connect to it once again, just like it was with VATSIM. Also, when I went to SET/Network/Peer to peer tab I noticed that UPnP, Port forwarding and this third think were all red, just like it was with VATSIM. But in the first 10 minutes I was able to disconnect and reconnect to Apollo, so as you see everything happened just like with VATSIM.

[L. D. James]

I should have suggested that you setup Servinfo as a way to verify the connection.

From Servinfo click Options -> Connection Parameters -> (Select one of the Custom Networks) -> (Under Network Name:) Apollo (Under Locator path url:) fsd.apollo3.com/whazzup -> Ok.

I should have given you the [link:flightsim.apollo3.com/serverconnectioninfo.htm|Connection Settings] link.

You mentioned that you couldn't change the Apollo network settings. Did you have any of the net specifics open? I'll most likely create an exe file to create the proper information in the near future.

Grab http://flightsim.apollo3.com/files/fsinn-timeout3.zip and see if this enhances your connection.

Run the reg script 1 to change the registry value to extend the timeout count. Run the reg script 2 to restore the value to it's default after we complete the test if this fix fail.

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[alpha892003]

I still couldn't have set the Apollo network in FSInn Control Panel/SET/Network/Apollo (almost everything was grayed out), however, when I connected to Apollo in FSInn, I saw myself in ServInfo, configured as you told me. The fix enhanced the time of my real connection (when I was able to f.in. download weather data by Wx tab in FSInn Control Panel) from 10 minutes to aprox 20 minutes, but unfortunately, I was disconnected completely after 30 minutes of initial connecting to Apollo.
As I noticed, ServInfo doesn't show me the information about my real connection (this when I can download weather data, contact new ATC's, and I'm seen on their radars) because after these 20 minutes I couldn't have done that anymore, but I was still on the "all pilots" tab in ServInfo and there was still a green connection to FSDNetwork2 mark in FSInn Control Panel\Advanced\Pla\Network tab till the time when I was completely disconnected. Also I noticed that connecting to Apollo just after running FSX and FSInn Control Panel takes about 15 secs, contrary to VATSIM which takes only 2 secs.

[L. D. James]

I still couldn't have set the Apollo network in FSInn Control Panel/SET/Network/Apollo (almost everything was grayed out),

You should have been able to find a different Net slot and edit that one. Then you would have been able to program it the way you wanted it.

The key is to find one that’s editable… not look for Apollo when trying to setup the preference.

however, when I connected to Apollo in FSInn, I saw myself in ServInfo, configured as you told me. The fix enhanced the time of my real connection (when I was able to f.in. download weather data by Wx tab in FSInn Control Panel) from 10 minutes to aprox 20 minutes, but unfortunately, I was disconnected completely after 30 minutes of initial connecting to Apollo.
As I noticed, ServInfo doesn't show me the information about my real connection (this when I can download weather data, contact new ATC's, and I'm seen on their radars) because after these 20 minutes I couldn't have done that anymore, but I was still on the "all pilots" tab in ServInfo and there was still a green connection to FSDNetwork2 mark in FSInn Control Panel\Advanced\Pla\Network tab till the time when I was completely disconnected. Also I noticed that connecting to Apollo just after running FSX and FSInn Control Panel takes about 15 secs, contrary to VATSIM which takes only 2 secs.

Check with your ISP or Network Administrator to insure that the following ports are fully available to your computer:

6809 TCP
3782 TCP+UDP
3290 UDP

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[alpha892003]

I called my ISP representative and he told me that my ISP company doesn't block any ports so all of them should be fully available. He told me also that there is no router in my connection to Internet, the box in the staircase is just a connection distributor, not a router as I thought before. Btw, today I went to the advanced settings of my network card, then to settings to the internet sharing (I share my internet connection with my second computer) and found out that there are some interesting port services there (f.in. "Inn P2P (127.0.0.1:32062)32(062-104) UDP" (there was about 20 of that, with constantly increasing the number at the end of each line from 062 to 104. These were all enabled.) At the end of the list there was also two chart boxes: one was "UPnP (TCP)" and the second one was "UPnP (UDP)". I went to settings in these two and set the ports you told me about before (6809 for UPnP TCP, 3290 for UPnP UDP) and added two more services with the same port no. 3782 and changes only in the type of external port (one was for TCP, the second one was for UDP). Then I turned on all of these UPnP (they were turned off before) but unfortunately it didn't make any progress in connection to VATSIM because the same problems happened as before. Now I disabled once again both UPnP (TCP and UDP) and deleted these two more (port no. 3782) which I added earlier. I don't know if it was even worth of trying, if it could make any difference.

[L. D. James]

I called my ISP representative and he told me that my ISP company doesn't block any ports so all of them should be fully available. He told me also that there is no router in my connection to Internet, the box in the staircase is just a connection distributor, not a router as I thought before. Btw, today I went to the advanced settings of my network card, then to settings to the internet sharing (I share my internet connection with my second computer) and found out that there are some interesting port services there (f.in. "Inn P2P (127.0.0.1:32062)32(062-104) UDP" (there was about 20 of that, with constantly increasing the number at the end of each line from 062 to 104. These were all enabled.) At the end of the list there was also two chart boxes: one was "UPnP (TCP)" and the second one was "UPnP (UDP)".

Reading your reference to the sharing, it appears that the computer that you’re using for running FSX/FSInn is the main computer. This is the one that had the cable directly from your ISP, am I correct? If it isn’t make sure you try using this configuration.

I’m not going to ask you to publish your complete IP address, but will you type in the first two parts of your IP address? You can find it by Right Clicking (your Local Area Connection adapther) -> (Click) Status -> Support.

The first two of mind is 216.153

What is the first two of yours?

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[alpha892003]

Yes, the computer which I'm using FSX on is the main one. The first part of my IP assigned by DHCP server is 89.229

[alpha892003]

First of all, thanks for the response on MCDU forum.
I ask the same question again: have you found any solution to my problem?

[L. D. James]

You're welcome.

If you can, see if you can plug the computer directly into the cable from the Internet, by passing the router, and see if you're able to maintain a connection.

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[alpha892003]

First of all, there is no router in my connection to the Internet (this is what I heared from my ISP consultant). I've got only a normal modem which is connected by standart LAN cable to my computer and by a big cable to this box which is situated in the staircase in my flat. Consequently, I can't just connect this big cable directly to my PC as it has a strange plug which can be connected only to my modem.

[L. D. James]

Studying the thread, I can’t see a reason for the disconnections that you’re experiencing. There might be something installed in the computer that you’re not aware of.

If you find you can backup your important data, and then install the OS fresh, then Flight simulator and the appropriate patches, continuing to follow the install steps using only Windows Firewall and it’s built in protection I would expect this to give you a stable environment.

It has been rare, that nothing else worked, but there have been occasions that the users had to result to this procedure and so far has had success each time.

-- L. James

--
L. D. James
ljames@apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames