CSM Simulator Version 10

Technical support

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS

DOWNLOAD LATEST SOFTWARE UPDATE
Ver. 10_16

DOWNLOAD V10 SIMULATOR   MANUAL
WORD DOCUMENT

V10_xx SIMULATOR PROBLEM SOLVING:

Install program will not run or reports errors
Install program runs but simulator will not run
No sound
Problems with setting up Sanwa RD6000
Unreadable text
Windows Me
Windows XP
Windows 2000 / NT
I don't have a floppy disk drive
I don't have a parallel port

INSTALL PROGRAM WILL NOT RUN
If you are trying to run 'install' from within Windows 95 or Windows 98 then you should try to restart your machine in MS-DOS mode as follows.

Click on 'Start' button.
Click on 'Shut Down'.
Select 'Restart in MS-DOS Mode'.
Click on 'Yes' button.

The computer will exit to a 'C:\WINDOWS>' prompt.

Insert the CSM simulator distribution disk and then type:-

A:   ¿  {this will take you to the floppy drive}

INSTALL   ¿  {this will start the install program}

If you are still having problems:

(1) Install program reports a BGI error - 'Not in graphics mode'
This is usually due to your graphics card not having a FULLY VESA compatible  BIOS. There are a number of drivers and 'Fix' programs to solve this problem. We recommend that you should contact your PC supplier or obtain help from the card manufacturer's web site. You should indicate to them that you require to run a program that needs a VESA compatible BIOS to at least VESA standard Ver. 1.02

(2) Screen is striped horizontally, as if through venetian blinds
Again, a symptom of non-VESA compatible BIOS. Contact your PC supplier or the manufacturer of your graphics card, as above.

(3) Install program reports 'RUNTIME ERROR 200@.........'
This only occurs for early UK releases of the simulator when used on some Pentium II machines. You should down load the most recent version of the sim software from the simulator page.

(4) Install program hangs without error message, or returns to DOS prompt without running
This is caused by some of the resident virus scanner programs (e.g. Dr Solomans). You should remove the anti-virus program from the list of programs from the 'start up' group. Having done this you should reboot the machine and then run the install program. If you are concerned about possible viruses on the distribution disk you should use the disk scanning utility of your anti-virus package to check the floppy prior to installation.

INSTALL PROGRAM RUNS BUT SIMULATOR FAILS TO RUN OK


How to run the simulator

As with the install program, if you are running from within Windows 95 or Windows 98 you should restart your machine in MS-DOS mode as follows:-

Click on 'Start' button.
Click on 'Shut Down'.
Select 'Restart machine in MS-DOS Mode'.
Click on 'Yes' button.

The computer will exit to a 'C:\WINDOWS>' prompt.

At the prompt you should type:-

C:                    ¿    {Or D: or E: etc., whichever drive you have installed the simulator on}
CD\                   ¿    {This will take you to the root directory of that drive}
CD CSM10    ¿     {This will take you to the CSM10 directory on that drive}

You should now run the 'TXTEST' program by typing:-

TXTEST        ¿

When prompted you should ensure that the interface is correctly connected to your PC parallel port. You should make sure that the end of the interface marked 'COMPUTER' is facing the computer and that the interface is seated fully to the parallel (LPT) port of the computer. Where the computer is fitted with with two LPT ports either may be used and the simulator will auto detect which port is in use.
You should also make sure that your transmitter is set in PPM modulation mode, (FM), and is connected via the supplied cable to the 3.5mm jack socket on the side of the interface.

Having connected the transmitter / interface correctly press the enter key  ¿


Possible faults:

1. TXTEST reports 'interface or transmitter not found'
If all the above regarding the interface / transmitter have been done then the likely cause is the parallel port mode. It has been found that, where configurable, printer ports should be set into ECP mode to obtain the most reliable interface operation. This is a BIOS set-up feature and the setting process varies from PC to PC. Where the PC has an 'AWARD' or 'AMI' BIOS the BIOS set-up can be entered during the Boot-up sequence of the PC,   (immediately after the RAM check routine has completed), by pressing the 'DELETE' key. Once in the BIOS set-up you should find the integrated peripherals section. Under this section you will find the 'Parallel port mode' or LPT Port mode and this should be set to ECP. Pressing the 'ESCAPE' key and then 'F10' key will exit and save the change.

Once the TXTEST program has been run successfully you should exit from the TXTEST program by pressing the 'Q' key. This will take you back to the DOS prompt inside the CSM10 directory. ( C:\CSM10> )

You should now check that there is sufficient base memory by typing:-

MEM   ¿

Of the data provided the only item of interest is the 'Largest executable program size' which should be at least 550K. If less than this then is it more than likely that the PC has been set-up with a large number of programs in the 'Start Up' group, and some or all of these should be removed from the Start Up group and the PC rebooted before proceeding further. Resident Virus checkers are a common type of program that are placed in the 'Start Up' group and can interfere with the operation of the sim.

ALSO BOOT DISK FOR CLEAN BOOT

Once the required Base memory has been obtained the running of the simulators can be tried.

Once the 'INSTALL' and 'TXTEST' programs have been successfully run and the Base memory has been checked OK the simulator usually runs OK.

2. Flight screen flickers or the simulator appears slow or jerky
This is due to the graphics card not implementing the VESA page switching (Part of the VESA BIOS standard). As with other VESA BIOS problems, the PC supplier should be contacted regarding a VESA Video BIOS driver or other patch program. Alternatively there are some useful graphics utilities at the SCITECH web site.
www.scitechsoft.com

3. Simulator reports 'RUNTIME ERROR 208@....'
This is caused by a corrupt installation. You should try re-installing and if the problem persists you should download the latest version from the simulator page. Other errors that are typical of corrupt installations are:
Error 2  (File not found)
Error 3  (Path not found)
Error 100  (Disk read error)
Error 101  (Disk write error)
Error 154  (CRC error)
Error 161  (Device read fault)

4. Simulator reports 'RUNTIME ERROR 209@....'
This is indicative of a communications problem between the interface and the PC. If this problem occurs even with the parallel port set in ECP mode then a defect in the interface or parallel port should be suspected. If the fault persists even when the interface has been exchanged then the port is suspect and you should consider the fitting of a second parallel port (LPT2)

SIMULATOR RUNS OK BUT THERE IS NO SOUND
The sound from the simulator program is designed to come from the internal PC speaker. We have found that some PC's are being supplied with no internal speaker and rely solely on a sound card being fitted. There is an option with some sound cards to let you route the PC speaker line from the motherboard to the sound card, ( e.g. Sound Blaster AWE32, Appendix B of the getting started book). This will allow you to hear the sound through the soundcard / external speakers. The other route to take is to fit an internal speaker to the case and connect this to your motherboard. In both instances you should either consult your motherboard and soundcard manual or if you are unsure consult your PC supplier.



I'M HAVING DIFFICULTY SETTING UP MY SANWA RD6000  WITH THE HELICOPTER SIM:
The Sanwa RD6000 is a little different than other mainstream radios and needs some attention to the way it is set up.  Please download the Word file for further information.
DOWNLOAD RD6000 INFORMATION FOR V10_xx



THE TEXT DISPLAYED ON MY SCREEN IS UNREADABLE:
Some graphics cards we have encountered do not implement standard font sets and when trying to run the simulator software the text is unreadable. The cure for this is to download the latest version of the software ver.10_16 which has a fix for this problem. To do this go back to the main simulator page and click on the hyperlink.



WINDOWS MILLENIUM?
We have successfully run the sim on Millenium. The only problem that we encountered was due to a slightly incompatible driver for the graphics card. Millenium boasts a large driver data base for all manner of hardware but managed to load the wrong one for our ATI Rage Pro card, although the name of it was the same as the card? This was noticed by a slight flickering of the screen at all times and caused the DOS screen to be displayed incorrectly. A stripe about 1/8 screen width on the right was placed on the left of all menu screens although actually running the sim on the flight screen was OK.

Installation was fine after this problem was cured and installed just like in Win95/98. You need to pay attention when creating shortcuts if you follow the instructions in the manual. If you drag and drop Heli10 or Aero10 from the CSM10 directory to the Desktop, as described in the instructions, this will actually move that particular file to the desktop and cause an error if you try to run it, as all of the ancillary files are in a different directory. It is recommended that you right mouse click on the relevant file, (Aero10, Heli10 or Txtest), and select 'create shortcut' instead. This will than create a shortcut for the file within the CSM10 directory that you may then drag and drop to the desktop. After this you should again right click on the shortcut of each file, (should now be on the Desktop), and select properties. From here there will be several 'Tabs' at the top of the window that opens. You should look in 'misc.' and 'screen' and make sure that 'allow screen saver' is NOT checked and also that 'run full screen' IS checked.

Windows Millenium has no 'restart in MS-DOS' facility. To enter the DOS environment you have to either click on start, then programs and look for the MS-DOS icon. Clicking this will open up a DOS shell. Entering DOS in this manner means that Windows is still running in the background etc etc.
Secondly you need to use the start up disk that was created during Millenium install. If you insert this disk in drive A: before powering the PC up it will allow you to boot the computer into DOS without Windows starting up. You will need to select 'start the PC without CD-ROM support' for this to happen. After the PC has finished booting you will be left at the DOS prompt, something like A:\   to change to the hard disk type C: press enter. then type CD CSM10 followed by enter and then type either Heli10 or Aero10 followed by pressing enter in order to start the simulator. Using this method many of the problems associated with Windows set-ups can be iradicated and also should leave the maximum amount of conventional memory free for people who run into problems with base/conventional memory.
If your PC came with Millenium pre-installed then you will need to create a start up disk. You will need a blank formatted 3.5" floppy disk. Click on the start button, then go to settings and then control panel. You will then see an icon called Add/Remove programs, double click on this. The window that opens up will have a tab at the top labeled create start up disk. Click on this and just follow the on screen instructions.



WINDOWS XP
This operating system causes an immediate problem when running the sim software, as it won't allow the detection of the simulator interface. This is due to the computer being run in protected mode, and  will not allow a DOS application to have direct communication with any of the peripheral ports. The easiest solution is to create a Boot Disk and start your machine without Windows XP starting. Current production simulators are being sent out with a boot disk included, and we can send you one if necessary. However, you can make your own as follows:

You will need a floppy disk drive and a spare blank floppy disk.

Insert the floppy disk. Open Windows Explorer and right click on the floppy disk drive.
Select FORMAT. Choose the option "Format with system files" to create a bootable floppy. Just follow the prompts till completion.

Shut down your computer, insert the floppy disk and turn it back on again. When it's finished booting it will leave you in a DOS environment at the command prompt. If it tries to boot from the hard disk instead of the boot disk, wait until the option appears to press a certain key (usually the delete key) and enter SETUP. In the Setup, you can change the options so that the computer will boot from a floppy disk when one is inserted.

The screen should show the DOS command a:>

Now remove the Boot Disk from the floppy drive and insert the original CSM distribution disk.
Make sure that the write protect tab is off so that the disk can be written to (To do this, close the square hole in disk top right hand corner.)


To start the helicopter simulator type:

Heli10 (Press Enter key)

To start the aeroplane simulator type:

Aero10 (Press Enter key)

To start TXTest type:

Txtest (Press Enter key)

Please note that you may not be able to use the mouse. The keyboard can be used to access the menus and alter the parameters.

When you have finished with the sim, exit to operating system as usual, remove the boot disk and either just switch the machine off (OK as you are not in Windows) or hit the restart button to boot back into XP.



WINDOWS 2000, 2003 and NT
These operating systems are designed for use with networks. We do not recommend trying to use the simulator on these operating systems.


NO FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
If your computer does not have a floppy disk drive, you can download the software from this page - see the top of the page. If you are using Windows XP you are likely to need to use the boot disk. In this case, we recommend that you buy an external floppy drive which plugs into the USB port. These cost roughly £12.

NO PARALLEL PORT
The simulator is designed to run through the parallel (LPT/printer) port. It will not work with LPT adapters which fit into the USB port, as these do not support all the features of the parallel port. LPT adapters which fit into the PCMCIA slot (on portable computers) will give the full functionality of the LPT port; however, these are currently about £50.

 

IF YOU REQUIRE FURTHER INFORMATION OR HELP REGARDING OUR PRODUCTS PLEASE CONTACT US.


e-mail: tech@csm-ltd.co.uk
phone: +44 (0) 1457 854 680