Virtual Crew Chief for BMS
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@FullMetal_cooKie Did you ever get it working? I just installed VCC and get the same DLL error when attempting anything that checks shared memory.
I verified the DLL is in VoiceAttack’s shared/assemblies directory but no luck. I am attempting this while BMS is running.
Looking forward to getting this to work.
11:00:22.475 Inline function exception creating instance: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VoiceAttack\Shared\Assemblies\F4SharedMem.dll' or one of its dependencies. Operation is not supported. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131515) 11:00:22.298 Inline function exception creating instance: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. Could not load file or assembly 'F4SharedMem, Version=4.35.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=98c24c6603c8861c' or one of its dependencies. Operation is not supported. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131515)
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@zip said in Virtual Crew Chief for BMS:
I just installed VCC and get the same DLL error when attempting anything that checks shared memory.
@Ricky for info/assist
Therefore I assume that VCC4BMS works properly in Falcon BMS for things not requiring info from F4SharedMem, for example Comms Check or “How’s it going, Chief?”. I also assume that you are running the latest version of VCC4BMS (1.1), and that you had no issues with assigning your joystick/rudder axes/brakes in VoiceAttack when you installed VCC4BMS. That narrows it down a bit.
The exceptions are telling me that either Windows or VoiceAttack are not allowing F4SharedMem.dll to be accessed.
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First, I recommend that you double-check that all the VCC4BMS files are in their correct folders per the VCC4BMS installation instructions (…VoiceAttack\Apps\Virtual Crew Chief for BMS, …VoiceAttack\Shared\Assemblies\F4SharedMem.dll, …VoiceAttack\Sounds\Virtual Crew Chief for BMS with all included folders\files. Make sure all folder and file names are spelled properly too.
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Please check to see if VoiceAttack is being run in Administrator mode. To check this, open VoiceAttack, click on the wrench icon (lower right corner of VoiceAttack window) to open the Options window, select “System/Advanced” tab in the Options Window, and make sure the box for “Run VoiceAttack as an Administrator” is checked (ticked).
Since the location where you have F4SharedMem.dll is within C:\Program Files x86 folder, Windows requires Administrator permission to run anything contained within this folder or its subfolders. Normally, VoiceAttack sets itself up to be run as Administrator, but check anyway. If you just updated VoiceAttack to the latest version, perhaps the updating could have caused something to go awry.
Regards,
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@zip What version of Windows are you running? And is it 32 or 64 bit?
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@Ricky windows 11 64-bit
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@Tomcattwo For the record, I have verified all this. VCC commands are working fine otherwise and VoiceAttack is running as administrator. I’ve been using it for BMS with the AVCS4 Falcon BMS Radios profile for a while without issue.
And @Ricky, I am not sure if you need more Windows info, but it’s Windows 11 Pro version 23H2.
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@zip
Try this:-
Navigate to your F4SharedMem.dll file in c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VoiceAttack\Shared\Assemblies\ folder
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Right click the “F4SharedMem.dll” file, and from the dropdown select more… choose “Properties”, then under the “Attributes” tab, make sure “Blocked” is not checked. If so, uncheck it and click “OK”.
For some reason, Win 11 puts a block on what it considers suspicious , new .dll files, and defaults to checking that box.
- Once that box is no longer checked, click apply and OK, and go test VCC4BMS again. If that box was checked, unchecking it should fix the problem.
Please let us know if that worked.
Regards,
Tomcattwo
(VoiceClone) -
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@Tomcattwo Nailed it! Saw this notice and “Unblock” checkbox in the dialog. Totally silent… Windows Defender didn’t list it as a threat or action taken. Gotta love Windows. Thank you.
(Screenshot from the web - not the F4SharedMem.dll file, obviously.) -
@zip
Glad you got it working!
R/,
TC2 -
@Korbi I spoke to BogeyDope, he provided the following information:
“In real life, there are EOR (End of runway) checks that are done before the jet is sent to parking. This includes a walk around, and pinning the landing gear, and weapons troops pinning up everything on their end. From there, the jet is sent on to parking. We marshal the jet into the parking spot, we chock em up, then connect comms, and the first thing that is said is by the Crew Chief, “Welcome back sir/ma’am, clear to pin the EPU?” and then the Pilot gives the green light to pin it up. We pin it, and then we let them know it’s pinned and we shut down. That’s about it.”
So this could be a very interesting addition to the VCC, but we need to think about how to trigger it. Perhaps the parking brake? But then the parking brake should only be used at parking, not for the EOR checks.
Another option would be to pretend the currently unused UHF channel 1 is for the crew chief. But I understand this is not realistic, because communication is normally through an intercom.
What do you all think? Any other ideas what we could check for to determine if the jet is at parking? A certain step in the shutdown procedure maybe.
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@Ricky
As described by Bogey Dope, it sounds like the Ground crew installs chocks as soon as the aircraft is parked and it is safe to do so. However, in BMS, chocks are not installed until the pilot directs the ground crew to install chocks (t1).How about if we use that command (Ground install chocks) as the trigger? I haven’t looked in the F4SharedMem header file to see if chocks installed/not installed is monitored, but that may not matter if we just have a VCC command for “Ground, install chocks” (plus some other recognized ways to say that) to trigger the welcome back response, delay for 30 sec to install the chocks (t1) then have VCC request to pin the EPU? That might work better than parking brakes, since I know that I apply parking brakes any time I am stopped, to include EOR checks.
What do you think? I am open to suggestions from everyone else as well.
Regards,
TC2 -
@Tomcattwo
This idea sounds good to me TC2 -
@Tomcattwo This would probably make the most sense, especially kicking off the sequence with a voice command for installing chocks. I don’t see any other way of triggering it, except maybe the parking brake. But that’s not reliable either, because people might use it at EOR.
I’ll get to work.
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@Ricky
Sounds good. Message me if you need help or testing. Will Bogey Dope supply some voice .wav snippets for us?
Regards,
TC2 -
@Tomcattwo That’s the plan. And thanks for offering to help again, I’ll send you a test version as soon as it’s ready.
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Hey guys, one more idea before starting the work. The checklist supplied with BMS says we should put the canopy handle up as the first step prior to engine shutdown. I’ve always assumed this is the spider. Doing that triggers the canopy warning eyebrow light, which we can read from the shared memory. How about using that to trigger the crew chief?
The advantage would be that we can follow the procedure Bogey Dope describes more closely. It will seem like the crew chief comes up with the chocks and the “welcome back” phrase without us having to say anything first.
What do you all think?
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@Ricky said in Virtual Crew Chief for BMS:
Hey guys, one more idea before starting the work. The checklist supplied with BMS says we should put the canopy handle up as the first step prior to engine shutdown. I’ve always assumed this is the spider. Doing that triggers the canopy warning eyebrow light, which we can read from the shared memory. How about using that to trigger the crew chief?
I personally don’t pop the lid until JUST before I shut down the engine (that’s how my checklist is written). The very first thing I do after braking the aircraft into the marshaled parking spot is to engage the parking brake, make sure I have nothing radiating that could zap the ground crew, and then immediately get the chocks installed.
The advantage would be that we can follow the procedure Bogey Dope describes more closely. It will seem like the crew chief comes up with the chocks and the “welcome back” phrase without us having to say anything first.
What do you all think?
But the chocks still won’t get installed until the t1 command is generated. Although you could do that with VCC per your canopy proposal, I still would find it weird to have to pop the lid first thing after getting into the parking space.
Here’s a video of an F-16 returning to Osan South Korea.
.Notice that they ground crew does install chocks right away (after a hand signal from the pilot on the way in) but he doesn’t open the canopy until well after the gear are pinned, and EPU gets pinned.
I’m still in favor of directing ground to install chocks. I’d just feel more in control of the evolution of when we start into VCC upon return.
My 2 cents, but I will live with whatever you decide.
R/,
TC2 -
@Tomcattwo Cool video!
I don’t think raising the canopy handle (spider) is the same as opening the canopy. That happens later on in the checklist:
But maybe we should just put both in VCC, so everyone can use it the way they want. If you raise the spider, it starts the crew chief, but you could also trigger it manually by asking for chocks.
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@Ricky
Works for me. However, once the sequence has started, needs a flag set to NOT start the sequence again if/when the opposite trigger is fired.
R/,
TC2 -
I think you both have good points. I would tend to follow the procedure that Ricky listed…start the VCC sequence with the unlock spider command. Then having the option to use VCC saying " install chocks" to start the sequence, would make sense too.
Thanks for this effort Ricky and TC2
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Sorry for the very delayed reply @Ricky … was very busy. Thank you for your work and research!
I also thought about using a post landing checklist item first, so I think the “CANOPY” light which is triggered by opening the SPIDER is a good idea.
Maybe it makes sense to combine it with something else, to ensure, the VCC only does his job, when he really is supposed to. What about also listening to the “TAXI BACK” request to start a timer in which timeframe the SPIDER needs to be opened to trigger the VCC, the timer should off course be long enough to allow the pilot taxi back from the RNWY to the parking spot. To be absolutely sure VCC only gets triggered when it makes sense, also check for the WOW lightbit in sharedmem and engine is in idle rpm or the aircraft speed is at zero.What do you think?