HUD view seems to disable some DCS Bios devices ***Solved***

[lesthegrngo]

****EDITED*****

Solution at the bottom of the thread

 

I just realised that as the digital clock is not connected via RS485 it can't be anything to do with RS485!

 

I swear I should have been a beta tester for Microsoft.......

I have just discovered that using HUD view (in this case invoked with l-alt+f1) seems to interrupt the DCS Bios signal to some devices. In my case the ones I can definitely see are interrupted are the digital clock (ESP32 device) and the UHF radio (Nano) and there may be more of them that are not so obvious. I had the HUD assigned to a button on a Bodnar board too, and it does the same thing.

Even more curiously, clicking l-alt+f1 again to get back into cockpit view starts them working again, and if you had rotated an encoder it would catch up. For info clicking the Bodnar assigned button does the same

I will try and reassign the command, but as the Bodnar board works as a joystick input button I can't imagine it will change anything. All I can assume is that going to HUD mode simply stops DCS Bios from outputting the data

Can someone else try it to see if it is just on my rig?

 

Les

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by lesthegrngo

[Vinc_Vega]

I somewhere red that the HUD only view may cause trouble with rendering some instruments. The clock maybe one of these. It also can be the case in external views.

Therefore, an additional viewport, rendering the cockpit should be created. That view may be outside of the visual area and in the size of only 1 by 1 pixels.

But I haven't done that, so far no experience.

Regards, Vinc 

Edited October 13, 2023 by Vinc_Vega

[lesthegrngo]

ok, that sounds like a workaround

does anyone have the details of how to do that?

Cheers

Les

[hrnet940]

I have also noticed that issue with my TekCreations IEFI that it stops working when I transition to HUD only view, but catches back up when I switch out of HUD only view.  All of my WINWING devices continue to work without issues.

Wayne

[Vinc_Vega]

It's a matter of the cockpit view only rendered displays not the devices. So input should be possible, even if there is no visible output.

Regards, Vinc

[lesthegrngo]

for info I tried using Helios for the digital clock and UHF radio, I used one of Capt Zeen's predone profiles to make sure I didn't make any errors. It didn't work

So, we need to have a workaround. I'm wondering if the cockpit view modified to put the camera viewpoint in front of the HUD would work, as the cockpit would be there just not shown 

I'll be disappointed if after all the work I have done to replicate the devices would be wasted because there is no output to them......

Les

[Vinc_Vega]

I knew that I've read it somewhere:

https://dcs-bios.a10c.de/docs/v0.5.1/userguide.html#_aircraft_specific_notes

 

Regards, Vinc 

[lesthegrngo]

Yes, I'd seen that too, but was unable to recall where.

So the CMSC and CMSP are also affected. It looks like we have some work to do on viewports for all of us who have home cockpits. I'll start researching

Les

[lesthegrngo]

Ok, I have the solution. Unfortunately everyone will have to tailor it to their own monitor setup, but as long as you follow the monitor setup guides that you can find on these forums you should be OK. I recommend using Notepad++ for this

Please note that I have had to change the device callouts from previous posts discussing viewports as it seems a lot of them have changed over time. The ones in the code below are all working on my PC today, so I know that they are correct as of writing this. Getting the naming right is important otherwise while the .lua file will be accepted by DCS, it won't show the device. 

Once you have your monitor setup .lua file defined that suits your particular arrangement, call it HUD_View.lua. In the .lua file remember to change the part where it shows you what the file will be called in the DCS > system > monitors drop down menu.

name = _('HUD_View');

You then need to copy and paste the code below into the .lua file  below the callouts for the Center, Left MFCD and Right MFCD. Please note that syntax is very important, if you get it wrong, or miss a semi-colon, equals sign or other symbol, the .lua file will not appear in the monitors drop down menu, it is extremely sensitive to this. If your new .lua file does not appear in the monitors list, go through it and try and find the missing or incorrect symbol!

A10C_RWR =
{
	x = 3593;
	y = -41;
	width = 550;
	height = 550;
}

ED_A10C_CDU =
{
     x = 3600;
     y = 1024;
     width = 800;
     height = 500;
}

UHF_REPEATER =
	{
		x = 3650;
		y = 350;
		width = 40;
		height = 40;
	}

A_10C_DIGIT_CLOCK =
	{
		x = 3650;
		y = 250;
		width = 105;
		height = 105;
	}

CMSC_SCREEN =
	{
		x = 3700;
		y = 100;
		width = 199;
		height = 57;
	}

A_10C_UHF_PRESET_CHANNEL =
	{
		x = 3700;
		y = 200;
		width = 199;
		height = 57;
	}	
	
CMSP_SCREEN =
	{
		x = 3700;
		y = 300;
		width = 199;
		height = 57;
	}	
	
UHF_FREQUENCY_STATUS =
	{
		x = 3700;
		y = 300;
		width = 199;
		height = 57;
	}	
	

Obviously the x, y, width and height numbers will not match your setup - but I believe that they don't have to, unless you want to be able to see them on one of your screens. It seems that the PC will 'display' them even in a position that is not within the limits of your monitors, and to do so will require the DCS program to output the data, which is what we want. Now when you go to the HUD view, those devices are being supported by a data output even if you can't see them, but DCS Bios can now get that data to use for the displays and so forth that you have made.

Most of the above are self explanatory, but please note that unless your UHF radio frequency is set to display the repeater output, you will need the UHF_FREQUENCY_STATUS displayed.

At the bottom of the .lua file should be the following code

UIMainView = Viewports.Center
GU_MAIN_VIEWPORT = Viewports.Center

I hope that this is easy enough to understand, and that it works for you!

Les

[lesthegrngo]

All, just a note, you need to check the individual instruments in your installation of DCS or DCS Openbeta to make sure that the respective init.lua files are appended with the correct lines to make sue it works - my installation of DCS Openbeta did not have them so I had to copy them across

You need to go do DCS (or DCS Openbeta) > Mods > aircraft > (aircraft type, in my case A-10C) > Scripts > (devicename, in this case CMSC) > indicator

The CMSC_init.lua file needs this adding for example, making sure you include the callout in the code above, in this case "CMSC_SCREEN"

dofile(LockOn_Options.common_script_path.."ViewportHandling.lua")
try_find_assigned_viewport("A_10C_CMSC_SCREEN", "CMSC_SCREEN")

Sorry for not making a note of that before

Les

[Harley]

Is this only relevant to the A-10? I'm going to need to learn to navigate the DCS Lua scripts, because I'm going to commit to building an F18 sim pit. It's time. The winwing MIP will likely do its own thing with the displays, but I'm want to have just the hud display on the screen. I'm hoping to eliminate the view of the frame, as well. I hope to have a view of just the hud symbology and canopy glass, and the nose, but have the panels do all the cockpit instrumentation. Has anybody worked any of that out? I haven't found anything in the forums about specifically that yet.

[lesthegrngo]

This method does exactly that, and the methodology should work for other aircraft models, just make sure the actual references from the mod are used

Cheers

Les

[Harley]

On 12/4/2023 at 9:37 PM, lesthegrngo said:

This method does exactly that, and the methodology should work for other aircraft models, just make sure the actual references from the mod are used

Cheers

Les

I suppose I should have clarified this first: I'm building a simpit for the F-18. That said, and after installing all the winwing gear from the top gun MIP, the only thing that doesn't work in the alt+F1 HUD only view is the UFC. The other panels continue to display their relevant info, and it is awesome to see. I haven't yet tried to input any data into the UFC in the HUD only view yet, but I can tell you that the UFC display stops updating in the HUD only view. I hope winwing will find a way to make this work with their gear.

[Rolfez]

OUTSTANDING WORK SIR!

I was going mad that the UFC was  not working in HUD only view in my Hornet pit, just could not figure out how to fix it!

Thank you a million times!

[lesthegrngo]

you may want to take a look at this thread in order to reset the default view to one that suits the HUD view better

Les

[Rolfez]

Has anyone had issues with this weeks update?

My UFC bios is not working again in HUD view...

[lesthegrngo]

Have you tried to repeat the steps above? I'm not in front of the PC to check myself, but give it a go

Les

[Rolfez]

Yes, Still cant solve it...

[lesthegrngo]

I have noted that stuff like the RWR, LCD clock plus a couple of other things like the UHF radio and repeater are not working. Let me delve into the code and see

Les