solved Comms menu not working after game crash

[nairb121]

Yesterday I had a game crash while flying the F-5E online, and when I restarted, the comms menu wasn't working anymore. When I select something from the menu (e.g. "Connect ground air supply") my pilot doesn't say anything, there's no response, and the thing I asked for doesn't happen. Doesn't work either for ground crew (canopy open) or for ATC (Radio on and properly tuned).

I've tried other modules and they still work normally.

I've tried restarting the game, restarting the PC, running the repair (both fast and slow), and deleting the module files, then repairing. Does anyone have any other suggestions for fixing this?

Track attached.

F-5 comms issues.trk

[Frederf]

That's strange. When I put an F-5E-3 on parking 36 at Tibilisi I can converse with ground but taking over your track I can't. I see your unit is country USA but I can't tell if USA is in the BLUE coalition. I made a copy of the mission and loaded it as a .miz. USA is blue. Red coalition is empty but that doesn't matter. If I run the mission from editor I get normal comms. I feel there must something about that track specifically.

[nairb121]

Yeah, this is the built-in instant action Caucasus cold start mission (went with that to rule out user error), but it's the same in any mission I've tried. The mission (and presumably any others) work fine on my laptop, I can only imagine something got corrupted in the files somewhere on my desktop (where this was recorded), wherever the comms functions are defined. Just don't know where to look, since I already deleted and repaired dcs.openbeta/mods/aircraft/F-5E.

I think it has to be the module though, not something else, because I tried it with the Hornet and it worked fine. I don't think it's a mission issue either, since it happens on any I've tried, including a new one in the editor. Even if it was a coalition issue, I still think I'd get the "Connect ground air supply" voiceover, just not the "Copy". If you have any troubleshooting suggestions though, please let me know.

[BIGNEWY]

Hi, can you try a slow repair in dcs or verify if you are steam. 

also please try may attached track, its the same instant action mission and all seems to work for me. 

f5 ground air supply.trk

[nairb121]

I tried the slow repair before I posted, in addition to deleting and reinstalling the module. DCS is standalone open beta. I'll try the track tonight.

[nairb121]

I tried a few more things, but no luck so far.

@BIGNEWY I ran your track. When I watch it, the comms come up fine, like they should. If I take over at any point though (even after the successful connection of the air supply) they no longer work.

I ran through the rest of my modules (I can list if you need me to), this is the only one having this problem.

I've also tried on other terrains, same thing.

All signs point to it being corruption in the module - but I would think completely deleting and redownloading it should've worked. Are there any other files that might affect this?

Edited May 17, 2022 by nairb121

[nairb121]

OK, mystery solved... 

After experimenting with removing (via renaming) various directories, I eventually found that my issue resolves when I rename config/input/F-5E-3. I eventually narrowed it down further to a specific input device. Renaming that one .diff.lua file fixed it. So what about that file caused the problem?

I went into my input settings after naming it back to see what was bound to it. Just a couple latching ON/ON switches, one for nose strut, and one for NWS. I look down... and sure enough, the NWS switch is on. Flip it back off, and ground crew can hear me again!

This must be related to the usage of the NWS button as radio while airborne (coincidentally(?) it's currently bugged per another report). It appears that you can't talk to the ground crew while the NWS is engaged (at least with the engine off). So while I've found the source of my particular issue, this does seem to be a (very) minor bug.