Just bought FS Passengers X and it doesn't work - Please Help!

[steve31000]

A few days ago I downloaded the demo of FS Passengers X, liked what I saw and decided to purchase it today. I had read that it's best to
run in admin mode which I hadn't done initially so after purchasing, I decided to uninstall FS Passengers and then reinstall it running in
admin mode. So I go to load up FSX (accelleration by the way) and I don't get any FS Passengers start-up screen or anything. Suprised, I
load up a flight to find that FS Passengers is no longer included in my meny bar. So I uninstall, then reinstall about 5 times or so and
nothing. So I could play the demo but now after purchasing and reinstalling I can't use it at all. Needless to say I am extremeley
dissappointed and frustrated after paying over £30. Can you please advise me on what might have gone wrong here and how I can fix it. It
seems a little bizzare that it was working and then not at all. My install log is as follows:

-FsPassengers setup ver. Dec 16 2008 started: 09.08.2010 - 18:19

-Search if FsX is running
-OK FsX is not running
-Attempting to find FsX directory.
-Checking 64 byte registry
-FsX Directory found: D:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\
-Checking FsX path, searching this file: D:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\dialogs\dlgabout.spb
-FsX found ok
-Detecting VISTA and FsPassengers install path...
-DOH! VISTA detected: 6
-FsPassengers will be installed in: D:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\FsPassengers
-Check free space
-Free space Total Mb available: 184835
-Check needed space
-Needed space: 116
-This is a fresh install, no previous version of FsPX detected.
-Start of file copy...
-Attempting to find dll.xml file
-Found application data path, searching fsx.cfg C:\Users
-fsx.cfg found, writing dll.xml in: C:\Users\Stephen and Gosia\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX\dll.xml
-Start of dll.xml parsing----------------------------
-dll.xml, Nbr of addons found: 8
-dll.xml : ' Addon Manager' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' Object Placement Tool' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' Traffic Toolbox' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' Visual Effects Tool' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' FS Recorder' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' FSUIPC 4' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' Captain Sim 727 Menu' Xml ok.
-dll.xml : ' Captain Sim 767 Menu' Xml ok.
-dll.xml written ok
-End of dll.xml parsing----------------------------
-Extracting file to: D:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\FsPassengers
-Attempting to write Config file 'FsPassengers\bin\FsXPath.cfg'
-Config file 'FsPassengers\bin\FsXPath.cfg' written ok
-Creating shortcut in start menu...
-Install completed with success
-Writting this log in FsPassengers folder...

Thanks

Steve

[Joeflyer]

Steve, did you try performing a search on this forum about this situation? There are quite a few topics about it....not just about running as Admin,
but a couple of other issues associated with Vista.

[steve31000]

I have searched the forum and the internet and can see others have the same problem. However, they have never had the problem
resolved which really concerns me. The things they have been told to do such as reinstall as admin, make sure UAC is off (I am running
Windows 7), I have already done. They have also seemed a little annoyed at times and have been told that you guys are working at fixing it
but there never seems to be any resolution. One guy was told to reinstall all things FSX on his system which I think is a bit of a harsh 'fix'.

I have read a lot on this forum about how the programmer of this software is a family guy and only one guy and therefore it is hard for him
to create a patch as quick as other developers, however, I do not have much money at the moment having given up my job to study an
MSc. and paying £30 for this was a real treat for me, something I did in good faith in the belief that this program would work. There are two
sides to the coin. I cannot see the justification in charging a considerable sum for a product that, without being disrespectful, does not
really seem to be supported as much as it should be. If the level of support that I require is not available (which is fairly basic in the sense
that it doesn't work where every other add-on I have bought always has, and that's a lot of add-ons), then buyers should be warned before
purchasing or the price should be lower.

I am not a computer programmer but I am technically capable when it comes to computers and I can see that a bug like this is fairly
major. I am praying that you can offer me some kind of fix which doesn't involve reinstalling everything (not really a fix). I noticed a previous
customer who had the same problem ask for a copy of your .cfg file to compare with his but he was left unanswered. My .cfg has two
entries for FSP. Is this normal or should there be more? What else can I do?

I know you guys mean well and would like to help and I sincerely hope you can. I think though that you need to either re-evaluate the price
or try to figure out a substantial patch to address user issues.

Thanks

Steve

[Joeflyer]

Well, it sounds like you did do a thorough search with no solution. With that being said, I don't know what else to tell you until Dan decides to make
an appearance on the forum. I have not heard anything from him in a while regarding the patches for FsP and FsPX.

Since I don't use Vista or Win 7(only XP), I haven't experienced many of the problems other users have dealt with while using either of the 64 bit
systems. Your frustrations are noted.

Also, may I suggest that you send an email to Dan personally? At the bottom of the page click on "Contact". Maybe this will help in some way.

[iflyfsx]

The only reason a "warning" or a different price would make any sense, is if everyone else, or a significant number of other people, had exactly the
same problem. Then I'd be inclined to believe the problem is with the software. Until then, I would rather bet on the problem being with the specific
configuration, hardware, or conflicts with other software.

[steve31000]

Thanks for the response Joeflyer. I sincerely appreciate your honesty. It does seem from the searches that many users have highlighted
the necessity of a patch. As for iflyfsx, it is of course going to be the case that not every FSX user has this problem due to different config.
setups but enough have had this same problem to warrent an investigation by the author.

My setup is a very common one - i7 @920, ATI 5870, 6GB ram, Windows 7....and I bet that if I uninstalled everything, it might work. However, after spending 10s of hours installing all of FSX addons and defragging after each one, forgive me if I am a little disillusioned at the prospect of doing it all again.
There is not adequate support on these forums (in terms of technical help) and this IS a fact. I accept that some people run FSP without problem and believe me, I wish (and I was in) were in this category now. However, a simple fact remains - I paid £30 for this addon and nobody with detailed knowledge of the program and how to fix it can help (no disrepect to the moderators who I can see are trying). So what can I do.....Just accept I paid £30 for nothing or have to reinstall everything again which might take hours upon hours and the risk of ruining my current config and maybe then not even work when probably the answer is something much simpler if the programmer himself cared to take a look at the forum. I'm afraid there is not much excuse for a lack of his presence. If you want to put out a legitamite and respected program, you have to be able to support it adequately. I am not a renegade, just am honest man who cannot afford to 'waste' £30.

Thanks

Steve



Post Edited ( 08-10-10 03:09 )

[iflyfsx]

I understand your frustration, but you didn't pay £30 for "nothing." You paid that for an excellent program, with equally excellent documentation,
which is rare to find these days. Unfortunately, you are having technical issues getting it to work.

Is it 100% bug-free? No, no software is. Just look at Windows and the constant patching it requires.

Put yourself in the programmer's shoes. The program was tested before release. As far as you know, there are no major bugs. Can you anticipate every
possible hardware and software combination out there, and guarantee 100% compatibility with your program? No, of course not. No one could. You just do
the best you can.

The author can either spend time talking about all that here, or working on the code. Maybe he's not as available as many people would want him to be,
but he's not completely unresponsive, either.

There's always room for improvement, but the problem here is not as bad as some people seem to think.

[timtomairways]

Okay, I will state a procedure i want you to follow. It is something im shure you have already done. but i want you to do it just to get rid of
the potential small mistakes that you may/may not have made.

Uninstall FSp, then go to the FSX root folder, and delete the FSpassengers folder (if there is one).

assuming you purchase a download, delete the installer, then re download it.
Re start your PC.
then go to the FSX root directory. and find the iten titeled fsx (file type: Aplication) right click it and go to the Compatibility TAB. be shure,
Run as administrator is checked. Click Apply

Right click the FS passengers installer, and run it as administrator.
After the install, restart you PC, then Defragment your Hard drive, A registroy clean up wont hurt ither.

then start FSX, and prey it worked.

do that and it would eliminate any small mistakes you may have made. sometimes people forget 1 small thing, and that can mess every
thing up.

[gfurm]

iflyfsx: of course he paid 30 quid for nothing, just like I did. If you bought a 30 quid toaster and it didn't work would you say the same? that's
it's brilliant product, just doesn't work?And keep it in your kitchen? Don't think so. You'd go and return it, but with software we just accept that
we can't do it.

I bought FSPX last year and now I don't even bother installing it. Wrong authorisation problems all the time that cannot be resolved. Support doesn't
exist, which is rather strange if you consider some people statements that this program is Dan main income. He's always too busy to help when problems
arise. And the FAQ still says there's no problems with Vista when we all know it has some issues.

I do agree that you can't guarantee bug free program, but if someone paid you for it you should at least answer and try to help if it doesn't work for
him, not ignore the guy. And I don't buy this "one guy can't do it" thing. Look at Bryan York, creator of Fs2Crew addons, he answers all questions
within one day and really tries to help people who have problems with FS2Crew. That shows it can be done.

Greg

[steve31000]

timtomairways wrote:
Okay, I will state a procedure i want you to follow. It is something im shure you have already done. but i want you to do it just to get rid of
the potential small mistakes that you may/may not have made.

Uninstall FSp, then go to the FSX root folder, and delete the FSpassengers folder (if there is one).

assuming you purchase a download, delete the installer, then re download it.
Re start your PC.
then go to the FSX root directory. and find the iten titeled fsx (file type: Aplication) right click it and go to the Compatibility TAB. be shure,
Run as administrator is checked. Click Apply

Right click the FS passengers installer, and run it as administrator.
After the install, restart you PC, then Defragment your Hard drive, A registroy clean up wont hurt ither.

then start FSX, and prey it worked.

do that and it would eliminate any small mistakes you may have made. sometimes people forget 1 small thing, and that can mess every
thing up.

I have just tried this and still it won't work. For me the shocking thing is that I can't even get FS Passengers to start up when before I could.
I have made no major changes to my system in the mean time. I have a feeling that the uninstall mechanism in FSP is corrupt and
therefore not allowing a fresh reinstall.

I agree with Greg's 'toaster' analagy 100%. From what I see on these forums there are quite a few customers who have problems that are
unresolved and I guess who after the dissappointment of wasting £30 has faded, have simply stopped asking for help because they're
not getting any.

It is simply wrong that I am told that I didn't pay £30 for "nothing". Sorry to break this to you but I did waste £30 and I seem to be not the
only one by far. I am happy for you and others that the program works great but for a substantial number of users it doesn't work at all. I
didn't pay £30 so that you could use it, I paid £30 so I could use. If it's unuseable then, I am afraid it is for 'nothing'. As I already said
maybe £30 is not a lot for some people but for most it's a considerable sum of money to waste especially when I consider that I could
have given the £30 to charity to help somebody in need rather than pay somebody who seems to care very little about those customers
who like me are unable to even get the program started. Its a matter of principal.

I suppose that like many other purchasers (I would like to use the word 'user', but since I can't even use it....errr...) I will be expected to just
fade into the background and give up.

The FSX simming community prides itself on help and support from developers because we all know FSX is a beast that needs to be
tamed, but I have to say I am loosing faith after this experience so far.

Disappointed

Steve

[Joeflyer]

Steve, did you send an email to Dan as I suggested earlier? I don't know if this will work but it's worth a shot.

[steve31000]

Joe, I sent Dan an email and waiting for a response. I wasn't too impressed with the message that comes up once you send an email
that says 'I'm a bit busy programming and I get a lot of emails each day'. If you are going to release something with so many issues for
£30 and then tell people that you might be too busy to reply to them in a hurry don't expect too many happy customers especially
considering that according to other forum members, Dan does not make much of an appearance on the forums.

[iflyfsx]

Your toaster analogy is wrong.

A toaster is a physical thing. It either works, or it doesn't. If it doesn't work for you, it won't work for me, either.

Software is not the same thing at all.

The vast majority of users do not have a problem with the software. Unfortunately, a few users do.

Like I said, NO ONE can guarantee any particular software will be 100% compatible with 100% of all the possible computer setups out there.

You might try the very same software on a different computer, and it will probably work just fine. Will it be "for nothing" then?

I'm not saying you should buy a new computer just to run this program, but at some point you are going to upgrade. Maybe change the OS. Or update the
graphics drivers. Who knows. Then, the "toaster" will magically work again. Without even touching it. Amazing.

[steve31000]

I feel that there is a touch of arrogance about what you are saying iflyfsx. My problem is that there is no one here on the forum with the
technical knowledge to solve problems such as this. It's very easy for you to claim how wonderful the software is and start telling me that
maybe I should update this and that. For your information, I am technically savy, and my drivers are uptodate and FSP was working on
Sunday (in demo mode) with my current drivers.

You come across as very defensive and to be honest a little rude. From my end the facts are simple - the program doesn't work at all
when it was working on Sunday because of a simple reinstall. Most of the FSX community try to help each other out in an understanding
kind of way, not by being condescending. Many simmers have complained about the lack of support that FSP has and the lack of Dan's
prescence given the number of bugs in the program. I took a chance on it (as I had it working) and now I have been bitten. I really don't
need to have this rubbed in my face with a philosophy on how software should be viewed. I can perfectly accept that most software that has some bugs as long as it is updated, or that a user might make a mistake by not checking the specs before buying. Neither of these examples is the case here.



Post Edited ( 08-11-10 00:54 )

[iflyfsx]

It's not arrogance, it's impatience with other people's arrogance. Those who demand an immediate response, solution, special price, whatever.

You are not too bad, but you still need to get things in perspective. This program is still supported. We all know the author is working on a patch.

These things take months, so it's a matter of patience.

If you are computer savvy, you should realize how complicated it is to debug these problems, with all the unknowns and variables we have.

You have a bunch of add-ons. Not many people may have exactly your combination of software and hardware. We are as confused by your technical problems
as you are, except we don't have access to your system. We can't see what's on it, and we can't troubleshoot it directly. We have to guess. This takes
TIME.

You are not being ignored, we simply don't have a quick and easy solution.