Failure of the TDS GTN750NXi to initiate on Comanche Startup

[MM]

My install of the Comanche will not initiate the TDS GTN750NXi. I would appreciate some help in debugging this failure.

This is the Comanche v1.2 that did install correctly a few days ago. I flew v1.2 several times (say half a dozen) without a problem with the GTN750NXi at all. (And several dozens of times with previous versions without problems.) Then yesterday I started the simulator and loaded the Comanche and the GTN750NXi remained completely dark.

For half-a-day I have tried to “fix” this by playing around with the Comanche to see if something obvious is wrong. I switched from a custom paint to a default instance. I did a Cold-and-Dark startup. Then an Automatic Startup. Then an “on the runway automatic startup”. Used a “brand new” condition of the aircraft. No Persistence. Selected No Faults. The circuit breakers are fine. The tablet indicated that the electrical system is fine. Did a full tablet inspection and then a complete overhaul. Restarted the simulator. Then Restarted the computer and then Restarted the simulator. Used the tablet to switch to the other default GPS alternatives. They are fine. Switched back to the GTN750NXi.) Changed airport locations (... I was getting desperate.) Same results: all normal parts of the aircraft are fine but the TDS GTN750NXi does not light up at all.

In the past, I experienced the failure of the GTN750NXi to initiate – when I had tried different liveries in quick succession. That seems to be a known problem. But in this current instance, GTN750NXi fails to initiate even when I am starting up the Comanche from a fresh load of MSFS after a fresh restart of the computer.

One clue is that MSFS crashed on initiation just before I experienced this GTN750NXi failure. That is: I loaded up the simulator (fresh) and the simulator Crashed to Desktop on the loading screens. This was a simple direct CTD in the initial load – before I had the chance to select anything. On reloading the simulator, I selected “start normally” and things seemed fine. However, I then loaded the Comanche and discovered that the GTN750NXi would not initiate. So something may have gone wrong then on the “just-prior MSFS simulator CTD.”

And on my second or third try (not sure), I opened the tablet immediately after the start and the tablet began to update its internal settings as though this were a re-initiation of the tablet. This happened too quickly for me to make accurate observations about what it was actually doing.

To be sure, many additional attempts have had the simulator load properly. And in additional testing, the TDS GTN750NXi works completely normally in other aircraft (not the Comanche).

TDS has had two recent updates. I was using v1.0.2.8 (tweaked for the A2A Comanche) when this GTN failure appeared. (I had flown several times before while using v1.0.2.8 and had no problems in those flights.) I have since updated to v1.0.2.9 hoping that would fix things, but it did not.

Sorry for this long history of my inability to debug the failure.

I’m afraid that this is getting beyond my capacity. Or, better, I have simply missed something obvious. I would love to have some help.

Thanks,
Mike MacKuen

[einherz]

hi, couple a month ago i had exactly same problem with xi. i open discord channel of that guys, in the minute i was asked "how can i help you?" we solve the problem really fast. problem was after update in msfs, something just broke this thing. in my case, was you'd not believe it "fraps" that software make the thing blanked screen, so actually no connection for any msfs update. i hope you'll figure it out as fast as possible.

[Nick - A2A]

Hi Mike,

It's possible this issue has cropped up due to a very recently uncovered bug.

Please can you navigate to this location in your Community folder (it's a rather long path I'm afraid)

Code: Select all

Community\a2a-aircraft-pa24\html_ui\Pages\VCockpit\Instruments\A2ATablet\js\pages\comanche250

And replace the "Comanche250ControlsPage.js" file with this copy and see if that fixes the problem for you.

Thanks
Nick

[MM]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for getting back so quickly. Unfortunately, replacing the prior Comanche250ControlsPage.js with the new one did not solve the problem. Starting up with N6229P on the runway and already running yielded a dark “dead” GTN750NXi. If I immediately shift to another aircraft, starting from the same runway, the GTN750NXi is running nicely.

Perhaps something got corrupted? Would it make sense to uninstall the Comanche v1.2 and then install the previously downloaded Comanche v1.1? Try to load the aircraft on the runway and see what happens. Then update to the Comanche v1.2? And try again?

Not sure about how to proceed.

Thanks,
Mike

[fosl]

I had the same issue. I replaced the file that Nick posted and the tds GTN is working again.

[MM]

Well, I can now report a tentative success with the replacement Comanche250ControlsPage.js file. (Without uninstalling and reinstalling the Comanche.)

Again, I started the simulator with the Comanche on a runway with everything running – except that the GTN750NXi was dark.

Then I started to experiment – using the tablet to switch to the GNS530/GNS430 combination. The two screens lighted up and after a minute they were ready to go. Hmmm. Switched back to the GTN750NXi but that remained dark.

Then back to the GNS530/GNS430 combination and they were operating. Then I tried flipping the Avionics toggle “off” and the two GNS screens went dark. Toggled the Avionics “on” and the two GNS instruments went through their normal startup by acquiring satellites and so forth before they were ready to go. Turned the Avionics “off” and they went dark. Then I switched to the GTN750NXi and dark again.

But when I toggled the Avionics “on” and suddenly the GTN750NXi came alive. It was now in operation.

(I confirmed this by going back to the main menu and restarted the flight from the runway. The GTN750NXi came alive as normal. And I could toggle the Avionics “off” and then “on” and produce the proper response. Closing the simulator and then restarting with a different “livery” and a different airport happily produced a working GTN750NXi.)

Thanks @fosl for your testimony of success. You encouraged me to give this new Comanche250ControlsPage.js file another try and to experiment with the different configurations.

And thanks Nick for your help. Your newfound bug fix seems to have worked. Though I am not quite so sure about the logical coding implications of my having to flip the Avionics toggle “off” and then “on” for the GNS530/GNS430 and then again for the GTN750NXi as part of the solution. But ... all’s well that ends well.

[Nick - A2A]

Glad to hear you're sorted Mike (and fosi too) and thanks for confirmation. We'll be implementing this fix in the next update for the Comanche.

Thanks,
Nick

[SR22Driver]

I replaced the file as described above but still had a blank screen. I followed the procedure that Mike M suggested and it worked as well. Thanks Mike!

Edit - actually after loading the GPS and getting past the blank screen issue it would not accept a button press. I was in VR at the time.

Will try re-install of V1.2.

[SR22Driver]

Re-install of 1.2 and tested with and without above .js file. No change. Still more often than not blank screen on startup.

That said - no buttons are clickable on the GPS in VR for the Comanche or other 3rd party addons. Might be related to the MS VR bug affecting the tablet.

I am guessing this is a new Microsoft issue?

[tiberiu11]

Re-install of 1.2 and tested with and without above .js file. No change. Still more often than not blank screen on startup.

That said - no buttons are clickable on the GPS in VR for the Comanche or other 3rd party addons. Might be related to the MS VR bug affecting the tablet.

I am guessing this is a new Microsoft issue?

Hello,

Can you please contact us on the TDS Sim Software Discord with the issue that you are experiencing?
https://discord.com/invite/NupgPCUgsH

[Raller]

Since the update 1.0.3.0 the TDS GTNxi750 does not start for me either and the modified file "Comanche250ControlsPage.js" did not fix the bug.

[tiberiu11]

Since the update 1.0.3.0 the TDS GTNxi750 does not start for me either and the modified file "Comanche250ControlsPage.js" did not fix the bug.

This seems to be an isolated issue, we have responded to your post in the TDS Sim Software support forum.

[Nick - A2A]

Thanks for chiming in on this one Tiberiu.

Nick

[tiberiu11]

Thanks for chiming in on this one Tiberiu.

Nick

You're welcome, Nick, we do our best to help.

We looked a bit into the issue posted by Raller and here is our response to him as well as the forum post:
"After analyzing the issue, it seems that the problem was with a state variable (from the A2A tablet) being saved incorrectly in your specific saved flight. By using the correct A2A tablet JS file and setting the variable correctly, then re-saving the flight, you have been able to resolve the issue. "

http://forum.tdssim.com/thread-824-post ... ml#pid3417

[SR22Driver]

Hello,

Can you please contact us on the TDS Sim Software Discord with the issue that you are experiencing?
https://discord.com/invite/NupgPCUgsH

Thanks for reaching out.

Went over to your discord and I had already completed all the setup elements suggested prior to the issue appearing. I also put in the A2A .js file. After restarting the system and probably applying more VR tweaks to improve performance everything started working again... I did reboot multiple times when I had the blank screen problems, and the lack of ability to click in VR, with no change in behavior - so the reboot was not it.

So, I don't know what it was that I changed in the process to make it work. Gremlins.

I will reappear on Discord if it starts again to dig deeper. But all is good again now.

tx

Rick