FSX Lightnings

[sammach]

I wonder if anyone as had a try at upgrading the old Alphasim Lighting upgrade that is published on the Sim Outhouse Site, better still if anyone has been successful, I would be very grateful to any advice or pointing to any tutorial relevent to the task. I am a complete novice I have the F1s flying on my sim butI cannot get all the gauges to work, due to the process in volve in unpack cab files, I would show an image but I dont Know how to do it on this forum, I did say I am a novice, Why dont I post on the SOF you might ask, I have, under the same user name sammach, I have had a few replies to my post all like me totally baffled with the process.
Which brings me to another question to those experienced in these matters, converting a aircraft model like the Lightning, which is superb in FS9 is quite a task. is it beyond the average Flight Simmer like myself with a very limited knowledge of Computer Programes

[Garry Russell]

Hmm.... .cab files don't get unpacked, they go into the 'guages' folder as they are, sometimes it suggested to put them in the panel folder

Not sure about the FS.X structure, but .cab look like .zip files but they're not.

[SkippyBing]

Hmm.... .cab files don't get unpacked, they go into the 'guages' folder as they are,

Not strictly true, if you unpack the cab files into a folder with the same name as the original cab FSX will use them quite happily which allows you to alter specific files in the cab. I think FS9 might do the same but I haven't used it in about 5 years.
Porting an aircraft to FSX shouldn't be beyond anyone's capability as long as you're happy moving files around and renaming stuff. And possibly saving image files in a different format, to be honest I gave up porting aircraft to FSX when I realised it was detracting from developing stuff specifically for FSX and that seems to take me ages!

[DaveB]

I think as a good rule of thumb, cab files do not get extracted/decompiled unless it's for a good reason although they will work as described above. Certain developers don't 'cab' gauges and I can think of one off the top of my head.. not that it matters who it is. The one I'm thinking of had 'speed' issues on his system and he found that leaving the xml gauges in an open folder ran faster than if they were compiled into a cab. Horses for courses really but the norm is for a cab to be left 'as is'

ATB
DaveB

[Garry Russell]

Certainly everyone I've ever come across says do not extract, but there may well be reason for extracting as Dave mentions.

Some of Frasers panels suggested leaving the unzipped cab in the panel folder...I think it was his and they worked fine, then some long term expert on FS.com assured me that was wrong and wouldn't work ...which it did.

But generally I put as is in the gauges folder unless the instruction specifically say otherwise.

[sammach]

Thanks for your support and interest, basicaly some of the FS9 gauges work in FSX, in a folder called Cab are the guages that are intended to replace any gauges that dont work, to move the files from the Cab folder provided in the upgrade to the original FS9 cab files, three sugestions are given, 1) by using the cabdir.exe from SDK ( Software development Kit )2) Use winzip or winRar. 3) this is the one that appeals to me because it sound the simplist, just put the contents of the Cab folder in a directory in your panels folder and re-reference the panel.cfg file, As I said that seems the simple solution, however the only time i have altered a panel.cfg is to fit a GPS panel.
I have the F1s and Trainers flyable the textures look really good I can land using ILS so the autopilot works, the Radar is U/S and so are some switches. if I new how to post an image i could demostrate, can you give me quick tutorial on posting an image, all the forums have different methods.
Again thanks for your time and interest

[nigelb]

With FS9, I have sometimes unpacked the gauge cab files to make minor changes and then repacked them using IZARC, which will convert between archive formats.

Nigel²

[DaveB]

Hi Sammach

I'll have a look at the Lightnings when I can but don't hold your breath.. I've not flown anything in weeks due to circumstances beyond my control. You shouldn't have to decompile a cab to replace a 'faulty' gauge unless the replacement has been named the same. You mention making changes to the panel.cfg so I'm guessing the 'replacement' gauge has a new name.

To post images here, you need your own webspace.. be it from your own ISP account or from an external source like Photobucket. You then upload your image to that account (whichever it may be) then reference it to here using the syntax [img]as%20a%20prefix%20and[/img] as a suffix. Right click on my sig or avatar to display the location of the picture. The forum won't let me explain what I want to explain as it keeps looking for the picture I've not uploaded so this is the truncated reply

ATB
DaveB

[Garry Russell]

If you use Photobucket, there are (I think four) links beneath the pic

One of them is an image link...click that and it's copied ready to paste into you post.

[sammach]

Thaks to everyone for your time and interest , learning something everyday, facinating, there as been a development over at SOH, there is a thread on the Lightning Upgrade, a lot of inputs from many people, I found a lot of the info difficult to understand due, mainly to Forum shorthand, one member put out a panel.cfg he had compiled, I had dificulty in opening this file so did others , however another very clever guy came on to my thread and explained why I was getting a message that the file was invalid.I have now managed to view the the cfg with notepad, its just a matter now have tranfering to my models on my PC. It may help, I will come back and update anyone interested, Iintend to keep at this, I am spending a lot time on this subject but I am learning, next time I hope to show the images of my Lightnings.
Again many thanks for all the interest and help