Using X-Plane 12 Build 13, after updating today AirFMC does not connect. I received an error on my iPad which reads:

WAITING FOR FMC SIMS ...

PLEASE LAUNCH A SIMULATOR
WITH AN FMC AND THE AIR
PLUGIN INSTALLED

I created HaversineAir.cfg in the X-Plane 12\Resources\plugins\HaversineAir and added:

DESTINATION-IP=AUTO
APP-IP=162.198.1.57

This is for use with the Zibo 737.

Thank you,
Robert

I resolved the issue after reading the Install.txt in the X-Plane 12\Resources\plugins\HaversineAir folder and I then modified the HaversineAir.cfg in the Resources\plugins folder and added the IP address of my iPad:

DESTINATION-IP=162.198.1.57

Below are the instructions:

DESTINATION-IP
##############

This is the IP address UDP packets are sent to. You should leave this as AUTO
which means that the plugin will try to autoconfigure and find devices using
multicast. Alternatively if you change the IP address in the setting widget
this gets changed to that IP address.

Examples:

DESTINATION-IP=AUTO (the default)

or

DESTINATION-IP=192.168.1.10

Only one destination IP statement is considered.

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the trouble and the delay. The plugin config is a bit tricky and I have plans to improve it in the future.

DESTINATION-IP=x.x.x.x is the original way to specify a static IP address when multicast doesn't work. This is what you see in the builtin plugin settings window. By default it says AUTO which means, use multicast auto-discovery.

APP-IP=x.x.x.x is something that was later added to allow multiple IPs. You can repeat APP-IP as many times as you like for different IPs. For example my file looks like this at the moment:

DESTINATION-IP=AUTO
CPFLIGHT-SERIAL-PORT=/dev/cu.usbserial-1240
APP-IP=172.16.3.65
APP-IP=172.16.3.83
APP-IP=172.16.3.84

APP-IP is text file only.

In your config above, you seem to have the wrong IP address in the APP IP statement, you mentioned 162.198 instead of 192.168 ... could this be it or was it just a typo?

===

P.S. The current version of the plugin 5.9 has a bug which I just discovered and fixed few days ago, coincidentally about this which reads like this:

"If the IP address you specify with APP-IP (or DESTINATION-IP) is invalid / unreachable, the plugin will think it is an error and will keep closing and opening the network connection, which results in an unstable behaviour with a lot of packets getting lost."

In other words you need to make sure that the IP address you specify is valid and responding at that IP address at the time. So if the IP address changed for instance, this could cause an unstable connection.

I already fixed this but haven't released a new version yet as I'm currently doing a lot of changes on the plugin, but if you need it I can email you a snapshot of a new version with this fixed.

Fun flights,
joao @ haversine

Hi Joao,

It is not the real IP address, I did not want the real one to be visible for the public. I wonder why "Auto" did not work when listed in the destination IP?

I can wait for the public release of the update, no worries.

Robert

Hi Joao,

It is not the real IP address, I did not want the real one to be visible for the public. I wonder why "Auto" did not work when listed in the destination IP?

I can wait for the public release of the update, no worries.

Robert

Ah okay about the real ip address.

But APP-IP has to work to send to multiple addresses.

You can troubleshoot with a packet analyser, tcpdump on Mac or Wireshark on Windows for example, and filtering for UDP port 2425. A packet will be sent to port 2425 to each listed IP every second, which is a hello packet.

In AUTO mode, the plugin sends this UDP to a multicast address, namely 239.224.224.1 every second on port 2425. Instances of AirFMC listen on this address/port and so X-Plane turns on on the SIMS page without the need of configuring the address manually.

Unfortunately some home routers nowadays don't propagate multicast packets between WiFi stations, or don't implement multicast very well, and the packets don't reach the desired stations. This could be a reason for AUTO not to work.

Sorry if this is a bit too technical, but it's the gist of it.

===

p.s. In addition to these two modes (AUTO and APP-IP/DESTINATION-IP) AirFMC allows supports a third mode. On the CALL page you can enter the IP address of the computer (not the iPad) and press CONNECT. This will make the iPad send the initial hello packet, and if it goes well it will connect / appear in the SIMS page. In other words, instead of the AirFMC waiting to hear from the plugin, it is AirFMC that sends the first packet. This might be an easier way for you and allows you to connect from multiple devices too.

Just to let you know, version 5.10 of the plugin is out which fixes the mentioned issued.

Available in the downloads section of AirFMC,

http://haversine.com/airfmc/downloads

fun flights,
joao