[CHK] JF-17 weapons randomly become inoperable

[Slim_Kermie]

Sometimes, weapons systems on the JF-17 will not fire/release.  Once they fail, nothing will fix them.  The bug occurs in singleplayer missions and on multiplayer servers.  For example: sometimes one weapon (ex. GB-6 HE) will drop, but the other GB-6 HE will not release even just two seconds later during level flight.  Sometimes both GB-6 will drop, but then the weapons on outer pylons (with rockets, LD-10, etc) will not work.  Sometimes only the gun will work, and sometimes nothing will work at all.

 

Quick facts:

 

• Weapons switch is on "armed" (not safe or training)
• Weapons not damaged by over-g (no pylon damage indicated, and the bug occurs in A/G 2 mode as well)
• DTC updated and uploaded
• Speed/altitude restrictions observed for weapons like 802 AK
• Once one weapon fails, it will never work again, even after repair and re-arm.  Only death/respawn can fix it.
• Weapons sometimes fail one at a time, and sometimes all at once (and sometimes everything works just fine and nothing fails)
• Can affect all weapons (even the gun - yes, the "feed" button is used)
• HOTAS buttons confirmed working correctly via "adjust controls" - correct keybinds light up every time

 

 

I have not experienced this bug with any other aircraft, and I never experienced this bug before the 2.7 update.  It seems to happen most often on a second or third sortie, but this is not guaranteed;  Sometimes the weapons will fail on the first sortie, and sometimes they will never fail.

 

Unfortunately, I do not know how to reproduce this bug, as it seems entirely random.  I have not been able to find any single factor that will cause the bug to happen 100% of the time.

 

The replay and log show a failure of the SD-10 during my second sortie in the 17. The second sortie begins at approximately 48 minutes into the replay, and at ~52 minutes, something happens in the replay that did not happen in-game:  When I went into Vertical Scan mode, I selected the SD-10 instead of the PL5, and everything looked normal.  However, in the replay, it shows that nothing is selected in the lower box instead, while the SD-10 is selected appropriately on the upper visual indicator.  A few moments later, I start attempting to fire the SD-10s at the F-15 (right as it starts to turn around), but nothing will launch.

 

I like the JF-17 simulation.  It is very fun and well-produced, and I enjoy it.  Thank you for taking the time to debug it after its release.

 

Note: the dcs.log is attached, but the replay was too large to upload along with it, so it's on a file sharing website for one week: https://we.tl/t-GtziW8HMQ6

dcs.log

Edited July 9, 2021 by uboats

[Slim_Kermie]

Additional info:

 

Weapons that don't fire can still be jettisoned, which ironically results in LD-10 and SD-10 missiles launching in passive/"mad dog" mode, respectively.

[uboats]

Quote

The replay and log show a failure of the SD-10 during my second sortie in the 17. 

Could you try in a new sortie and fire the SD-10 under the same situation (enemy pos, self conditions, like alt, att, speed etc) as when it failed in your trk?

[Slim_Kermie]

I tested it several times in a custom mission and was unable to replicate the bug.  The SD-10 was selectable and fired in both BVR and vertical scan every time, even after landing and rearming.

 

I did encounter the bug 2 days ago with LD-10 and GB-6 SFW loadout.  The replay is very long though so I will wait until I see it another time (and quit right away to keep the track shorter!).  The only odd thing I noticed before the bug occurred was that the "LD-10 ON" option on the SMS page was not present.  When the button that should have said it was pressed, the LD-10s turned on and aligned like normal, but "LD-10 RDY" on the HUD was crossed out.

 

I will post here again as soon as I have more information and another track.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Slim_Kermie
Additional information

[uboats]

thanks!

[Slim_Kermie]

I experienced a similar situation again where I could not fully select the SD-10 while in vertical scan mode.  It occurs at the very end of the linked replay: https://we.tl/t-WImMh5P1oI  .  I will check back in with more replays if I experience the bug with other weapons.

dcs.log

[Slim_Kermie]

It happened again, this time with the GB-6.  Third sortie, at the end of the replay:  https://we.tl/t-607Pl6PM8E

dcs.log

[uboats]

1 hour ago, Slim_Kermie said:

It happened again, this time with the GB-6.  Third sortie, at the end of the replay:  https://we.tl/t-607Pl6PM8E

dcs.log 67.25 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks, will check

[fantastic]

Hello all

 

Since the last update, I am also having this issue. Particularly with GB6 SFW, although this is the weapon I am working on learning at the moment so I haven’t really launched anything else!!

 

I have flown two sorties in the last couple of days, both about an hour to target, and the weapon would not release when the time came. I launch earlier in a sortie, the weapon will work, but later in a sortie it won’t.

 

• RDY was visible on the HUD
• Weapon in PP mode with a waypoint on number 36
• Master arm on
• DTC updated, in, and data transferred
• Config set appropriately
• No ‘FAIL’ or red signals on the stores page
• No error messages on the instrument panel
• Max G for the sorties was 2.5, so within g restrictions
• Key binds checked and mapped correctly, also tried release through alternative means (HOTAS AND keyboard) – still no release
• I made sure I had set up the weapons settings before departing, and checked the mode/settings before release.
• On the screen I saw a circle around the target with a direct line to it, and the moving horizontal line towards me – so that targeting is working correctly.
• I also had rockets on board, so tried to launch those but they wouldn’t launch either. On another sortie, I tried launching earlier on in the trip and both the GB6 and BRM rockets worked.

It just seems like there is something wrong with the release after a certain period of time?

 

I have the track file from a multiplayer mission where it happened, see: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0lzs12n6xlga63v/Free_Flight_v7.95-20210817-123955.trk?dl=0

 

I haven’t got the track file for the last sortie which was a single player to try and replicate what’s going on.

 

I have found a DCS log which I think is of the sortie and it said:

 

2021-08-17 15:45:25.230 INFO    NET: Current ping: 120.5ms

2021-08-17 15:45:55.252 INFO    NET: Current ping: 123.4ms

2021-08-17 15:46:12.637 INFO    DCS: Invalid pilotid, initiator pilotid: 2502765, target pilotid: 0

2021-08-17 15:46:25.256 WARNING LOG: 11 duplicate message(s) skipped.

2021-08-17 15:46:25.256 INFO    NET: Current ping: 123.0ms

2021-08-17 15:46:27.458 INFO    DCS: Invalid pilotid, initiator pilotid: 2502765, target pilotid: 0

2021-08-17 15:46:55.256 WARNING LOG: 74 duplicate message(s) skipped.

2021-08-17 15:46:55.256 INFO    NET: Current ping: 123.8ms

2021-08-17 15:47:25.265 INFO    NET: Current ping: 122.7ms

2021-08-17 15:47:55.287 INFO    NET: Current ping: 134.6ms

2021-08-17 15:48:25.320 INFO    NET: Current ping: 120.3ms

2021-08-17 15:48:55.334 INFO    NET: Current ping: 122.4ms

2021-08-17 15:49:13.388 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 9

2021-08-17 15:49:25.362 WARNING LOG: 5 duplicate message(s) skipped.

2021-08-17 15:49:25.362 INFO    NET: Current ping: 122.8ms

2021-08-17 15:49:55.379 INFO    NET: Current ping: 123.4ms

2021-08-17 15:50:07.435 INFO    Deka: JF-17: avGenericSensor::set_Pilon_Station(1): 'DIS_WMD7'

2021-08-17 15:50:25.385 WARNING LOG: 1 duplicate message(s) skipped.

2021-08-17 15:50:25.385 INFO    NET: Current ping: 123.0ms

2021-08-17 15:50:55.408 INFO    NET: Current ping: 123.2ms

 

What’s WCS Launch Error Code: 9? Is it that?

 

Is this a bug or my ineptitude? I love the JF 17 module and it’s the one I mostly fly. I probably have around 150 hours on it so far. Thank you so much for creating such a great aircraft!

dcs.20210817-155623.log

Edited August 19, 2021 by fantastic

[uboats]

17 hours ago, fantastic said:

What’s WCS Launch Error Code: 9? Is it that?

 

Is this a bug or my ineptitude? I love the JF 17 module and it’s the one I mostly fly. I probably have around 150 hours on it so far. Thank you so much for creating such a great aircraft!

dcs.20210817-155623.log 125.96 kB · 0 downloads

 

that's the info I need.

error 9 is launch fail code, it's for non SEAD a/g weapons

this fail means either

1. your pitch not in [-60, 40] degrees,

2. bank not in +/- 20 degress

3. g load < 0.0

 

[fantastic]

12 hours ago, uboats said:

error 9 is launch fail code, it's for non SEAD a/g weapons

this fail means either

1. your pitch not in [-60, 40] degrees,

2. bank not in +/- 20 degress

3. g load < 0.0

 

 

Thank you! Glad it is my ineptitude, and not a bug.

 

Is there anywhere I should see this on a console please? I know that some weapons go red on the SMS page when they have failed, but I didn't see any warning for this - only a non-release. I wonder if the same thing is happening for colleagues above?

[J20Stronk]

2 hours ago, fantastic said:

 

Thank you! Glad it is my ineptitude, and not a bug.

 

Is there anywhere I should see this on a console please? I know that some weapons go red on the SMS page when they have failed, but I didn't see any warning for this - only a non-release. I wonder if the same thing is happening for colleagues above?

I imagine it'd show up on the PFL (pilot fault list), accessible via the UFC.

[Slim_Kermie]

So far I have not seen anything on the PFL, but I have not checked every time.  I will start doing that when I run into problems.

[Coole28]

I’ve run into this problem on occasion.  What worked for me is, under the stores management page (SMS), select the top left option on the ddi, it should be labelled A/S1 or something similar, and switch it to a different value.

Admittedly I have no idea what that button actually does (or is supposed to do), but for whatever reason when I can’t release my weapons when I’m within acceptable launch parameters, hitting that button fixes it 9/10.

[fantastic]

So i wanted to test out the PFL warnings just to see what limit I could get to (i know there is a programme limit but i just wanted to find it whilst flying). I chucked the aircraft about all over the place with some of the GB6s on and a GBU16. The first flight, I had no problem launching the GB6s but did get a red error message from the GBU16. The second flight, i threw it about all over the place again but had no PFL warnings, and no launch was able. I could see the following codes in the log:

 

Quote

2021-08-28 12:18:35.009 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 5
2021-08-28 12:18:35.159 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 4
2021-08-28 12:19:25.955 WARNING LOG: 10 duplicate message(s) skipped.
2021-08-28 12:19:25.955 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 5
2021-08-28 12:19:30.203 WARNING LOG: 1 duplicate message(s) skipped.
2021-08-28 12:19:30.203 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 4
2021-08-28 12:19:32.245 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 9
2021-08-28 12:19:50.244 WARNING LOG: 10 duplicate message(s) skipped.
2021-08-28 12:19:50.244 INFO    Deka: JF-17: WCS launch error code: 5

 

Do all error messages appear on the PFL error list? If not, could this be changed so they do appear?

 

What people are reporting here might be that they are getting a launch code error, but not seeing this in the PFL error list in the cockpit?

[iLOVEwindmills]

Not sure if it's relevant but GBU16/MK83 had issues last I tried, you can break them with too much G despite being in the correct A2G/1 (?) mode. Put some MK82, MK83 and MK84 on your plane, pull some Gs and the MK83/GBU16 will be the only ones that start giving errors.

[uboats]

On 8/20/2021 at 8:06 AM, fantastic said:

I wonder if the same thing is happening for colleagues above?

that's debug code, not in pfl