From 52848158ff84b11434b223a864b62ca8796d06e5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: curt Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 16:42:35 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] New FAQ. --- docs-mini/FG-FAQ.v3 | 263 --------------------- docs-mini/FlightGear-FAQ.html | 426 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 426 insertions(+), 263 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 docs-mini/FG-FAQ.v3 create mode 100644 docs-mini/FlightGear-FAQ.html diff --git a/docs-mini/FG-FAQ.v3 b/docs-mini/FG-FAQ.v3 deleted file mode 100644 index 98f982530..000000000 --- a/docs-mini/FG-FAQ.v3 +++ /dev/null @@ -1,263 +0,0 @@ -------- Flight Gear FAQ v0.03 14/04/1999 --------------------- - -Welcome to the Flight Gear FAQ. Here you find Questions/URL's/Tips about -Flight Gear mainly asked in the mailing lists. -This Document is divided into 5 sections: - - 1. Distribution Questions - 2. Compiling Questions - 3. User Questions - 4. Windoze related Questions - 5. ??? - - --------- Index ----------- - -Section One Distribution : - -1) Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ ? -2) What else is a must read ? -3) Where is the latest distribution of Flight Gear... ? -4) Where can I find the newest snapshots ? -5) Where can I fly ? - - -Section Two Compiling : - -1) Flight Gear doesn't smooth compile though configured succesfully -2) "gpc.c" and "gpc.h" files -3) Compiler could not find gfc/... -4) Red Had 5.1 / 5.2 related probs - -Section Three User : - -1) Upside down after crash? -2) Ailleron vs Rudder -3) FG is sooo slow (1 fps). - -Section Four Windoze : - -Section Five ??? : - -======================================================================== - - - -SECTION ONE : Distribution Questions - -1.1) Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ ? - -Ans: The latest version is stored at - http://www.online-club.de/home/olk/progs/flightgear - and it's updates are announced at flightgear mailing lists. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -1.2) What else is a must read ? - -Ans: Please also check out the "Getting started"-document which - provides much, much detailed information. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -1.3) Where is the latest distribution of Flight Gear... ? - -Ans: ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Source - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -1.4) Where can I find the newest snapshots ? - -Ans: ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Source/Snapshots - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -1.5) Where can I fly ? - -Ans: In front of your monitor, hehehe... - -[FG until v0.58]: - Curt has a nice collection of some flight-scenarios in the U.S. - have a look at the descriptions and needed files - http://www.flightgear.org/Places/ - - There are also scenarios located at: - ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Scenery/ - There you find currently AZ-central, Equador, Spain, Munich (DE) - - Frankfurt (DE) can be found at - http://people.frankfurt.netsurf.de/teddy/frankfurt.tar.gz - - Switzerland scenario at - http://www.2sic.ch/Hoshy/flightgear.html - -[FG after v0.59 incl.]: - Due to changes to the scenery format, which is currently v0.2, - the old Scenery Files (see above) are not compatible to FlightGear - v0.59 and later. - - The folowing Scenery Files are recommended instead: - - Alaska (Prince William Sounds) Scenario located at - ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Scenery/new-format-demo.tar.gz - - You also need the fgfs-base-0.59.tar.gz package with new graphics - ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Shared - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -======================================================================== - -SECTION TWO : Compiling questions - For the time beeing more Unix/Linux related. - - -2.1) Flight Gear doesn't smooth compile though configured succesful - -Ans: The fgfs-sources contain some Scenery Tool Kits beeing yet beta, - they use libraries written by others so there is often some - code/makefile tweaking needed. But this doesn't matter since - the Flight Gear executable is then already compiled. - Just make install from toplevel Makefile directory - and up you go... - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -2.2) "gpc.o" and "gpc.h" - Can anyone advise me on what to do with the gpc.c and gpc.h files. - I retrieved them OK after "configure"reported that they were needed. - But, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them. - -Ans: Flight Gear's Makefile expects libgpc to be on your System. - Try this: gcc -c gpc.c - ar cru libgpc.a gpc.o - Then copy libgpc.a to some place that your compiler knows about such - as /usr/local/lib, and then try compiling again. A better idea would be - to set LIBRARY_PATH to point to the location where you installed - the libgpc.a file instead of dropping it into a system-wide library - directory. - - Caveat Emptor: - One word of warning to Linux / Unix users. I recently discovered - that the gnu pascal compiler is also called "gpc" and comes with a - libgpc.a I know this has caused confusion on the part of at least one - or two people. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -2.3) compiler could not find gfc/... - -e.g. main.cxx:32: gfc/gshapefile.h: No such file or directory - main.cxx:30: gfc/gadt_polygon.h: No such file or directory - main.cxx:31: gfc/gdbf.h: No such file or directory - main.cxx:32: gfc/gshapefile.h: No such file or directory - there is no gadt_polygon.h on my system. What library does it belong to ? - -Ans: This is part of the GFC library it is not needed to run FlightGear - as it is part of the beta Scenery Tool Kit - GFC -- Geographic Foundation Classes library - http://www.geog.psu.edu/~qian/gfc/index.html - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -2.4) Red Had 5.1/5.2 related problems - -I quickly ran into problems with the basic_string library. (see undefined ref.) - - c++ -g -O2 -L/usr/local/lib -L/usr/X11R6/lib -o testbucket - testbucket.o../../Lib/Bucket/libBucket.a -lmtestbucket.o: In function - FGBucket::gen_base_path(void)':/usr/include/g++/std/bastring.h:75: undefined - reference to Basic_string, - __default_alloc_template>::Rep::clone(void)'collect2: ld returned 1 - exit statusmake[2]: *** [testbucket] Error 1 - - -Ans: I ran into the same problem on my RedHat 5.2 system (brand new). - After some searching I found out that it's got to do with a 'bug' in - the stdlibc++libraries. I picked up libstdc++-2.9.0-2.i386.rpm, - installed it and FGFS compiled just fine (after some other problems - with gfc, I had to pick up the one from the fgfs site). However, some - other packages must have the libstdc++-2.8 libraries.... - -Ans: I also solved it with the 2.8 libraries by including - /usr/include/g++/std/bastring.cc into the example programs. - I believe this can be done since it's a template. - -========================================================================== - -SECTION THREE : User Questions - - -3.1) Upside down after crash ? - After beeing crashed on the ground the navion continues to fly - upside-down and it stucks at almost groundlevel, - (like cruse missile ;-) flying with a reverse heading as before - and "balancing" left and right. The only solution seems to be - to give full throttle and then at +80-90 kts it can move up by - pressing one of the "elevator arrows" like a rocket doing a loop. - But hey, that's nerving bc the loop is allways to short and the - responding time of navion (correcting the "roll") is also to short, - which results in crash so you have to re-throttle again. - - -Ans: In his infinite wisdom the FlightGear GrandMaster decided - that planes were to valuable to allow them to be destroyed - by novice pilots who seemed to crash alot. - - The result of this as you have noticed is that - with a little practice an ingenuity you can trim the ship - to fly inverted along the ground. - - The trick to learn is to roll back to normal (non inverted) - do this by nursing the elevator to get to about 500 feet or so - and use the aierlons to snap roll 180*. - - This is all good avionics except for the plane not destroying itself. - - Remember the controls work in reverse when you are inverted - and keep that airspeed up !!! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.2) Ailleron vs Rudder - What's the difference. Both help the plane to turn, that i did understand - -Ans: There is a bit of info on aileron vs. rudder here: - http://www.arundel.net/xplane/html/crosswind.html - http://www.monmouth.com/~jsd/how/ - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3) FG is sooo slow (1 fps), though i got hardware acceleration like - Voodoo/Voodoo2 etc... What's the reason ? - -Ans: Flight Gear supports hardware acceleration, but it seems not - to be activated. Even a P-400 goes berzerk using software rendering. - First check out if you have MESA with glide support. - Linux Users enter "make linux-glide" to compile Mesa - - Check out your environment variables, whether you use soft or hard-ware - rendering. Here an example that should work : - - You have to tell Mesa to use fullscreen - - MESA_GLX_FX=fullscreen - - You also must set the appropriate Voodoo vars, here is for Voodoo2 - the Voodoo1 vars may slightly differ. - - SSTV2_BGAMMA=1.00 - SSTV2_FASTMEM_RAS_READS=1 - SSTV2_FASTPCIRD=1 - SSTV2_GAMMA=1.00 - SSTV2_GGAMMA=1.00 - SSTV2_GRXCLK=95 - SSTV2_RGAMMA=1.00 - SSTV2_SCREENREFRESH=60 - SSTV2_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC=0 - SSTV2_VGA_PASS=0 - - The Voodoo vars can be obtained at: - http://www.bahnhof.se/~engstrom/e_3dfxvars.htm - - Another good tool is glide-control to set the env. vars, go get it at: - http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~oliphant/gc - - Check also the help-startup-screen of Flight Gear: - fgfs --help - -=========================================================================== - -Oliver Delise Maintainer of FAQ -Please send any comments/suggestions/flames or beer to delise@rp-plus.de diff --git a/docs-mini/FlightGear-FAQ.html b/docs-mini/FlightGear-FAQ.html new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dd03c93d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs-mini/FlightGear-FAQ.html @@ -0,0 +1,426 @@ +FlightGear FAQ + +

FlightGear FAQ

+

Cameron Moore
cameron@unbeatenpath.net

+ + +

Introduction

+

Welcome to the FlightGear FAQ. Here you will find the answers to + some questions that are frequently asked on our mailing lists. If + you have a question that is not answered here, feel free to ask + us on our mailing lists. Enjoy

+ +

Table of Contents

1 - + The FAQ

1.1 - + Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?
1.2 - + Who do I contact if I have comments about this FAQ?
1.3 - + What other important documentation should I read?
1.4 - + How old is this document?

2 - + Distribution

2.1 - + Where is the latest distribution of FlightGear?
2.2 - + Where can I find the newest snapshots?
2.3 - + Where can I fly and where do I get the scenery?
2.4 - + Where can I get some different 3D models for my plane?

3 - + Compiling

3.1 - + Why won't FlightGear compile?
3.2 - + I'm using RedHat 7, and ...?

4 - + Configuring

4.1 - + How do I install new scenery?
4.2 - + How do I setup my joystick(s)?

5 - + Running

5.1 - + Why is FlightGear so slow?
5.2 - + Why is my SGI machine so slow?
5.3 - + Stuck upside down after "crash"?
5.4 - + What happened to the panel, keyboard, etc?
5.5 - + Why doesn't audio work properly under Irix?
5.6 - + Why do I get an error loading libmk4.so.0?

6 - + Hacking

6.1 - + How do I design a flight dynamics model for a new plane?
6.2 - + How do I import planes from Microsoft Flight Simulator?
6.3 - + How do I import BGL scenery from Microsoft Flight Simulator?
6.4 - + How do I design or modify a panel?
6.5 - + How do I place objects, like buildings, into FlightGear?

7 - + Flying

7.1 - + Where can I learn about instrument flying and navigation?
7.2 - + What is the difference between Aileron and Rudder?

8 - + FlightGear v0.7.6

8.1 - + Why do I get an error in viewer.cxx about `exit' being undeclared?

+ + +

1 - + The FAQ

+ 1.1 - + Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ? +
+

+ http://flightgear.org/Docs/FlightGear-FAQ.html +

+
+ + 1.2 - + Who do I contact if I have comments about this FAQ? +
+

First contact the author. If you get no response, send your + comments to the flightgear-users mailing list.

+
+ + 1.3 - + What other important documentation should I read? +
+

Definitely read the FlightGear Installation and Getting + Started document available at + http://flightgear.org/Docs/.

+

Also see the FlightGear/docs-mini/ directory in the source + distribution for various other helpful documents.

+
+ + 1.4 - + How old is this document? +
+

See the About This Document section at the end of the FAQ.

+
+ + +

2 - + Distribution

+ 2.1 - + Where is the latest distribution of FlightGear? +
+

See + http://flightgear.org/Downloads/. +

+
+ + 2.2 - + Where can I find the newest snapshots? +
+

The best place to get the latest development code is from our CVS + repository. See + http://flightgear.org/cvsResources/ for details. +

+

Otherwise, you can get relatively up-to-date snapshots of the + development tree at + ftp://flightgear.sourceforge.net/pub/flightgear/Devel/Snapshots/. +

+
+ + 2.3 - + Where can I fly and where do I get the scenery? +
+

While the base package only comes with scenery for the San Francisco + Bay area, you can currently fly just about anywhere in the world. + See the "Additional Scenery" section of + http://flightgear.org/Downloads/ + for more information or go directly to our graphical downloader at + http://flightgear.org/Downloads/world-scenery.html. +

+

Also visit our "Places to Fly" section of the website + (http://flightgear.org/Places/) + for some help navigating to some awesome locations.

+
+ + 2.4 - + Where can I get some different 3D models for my plane? +
+

We currently don't have any of our own models yet, but we have + been given permission by several people to convert their models (which + where originally intended for use with Microsoft Flight + Simulator) to use with FlightGear. See Wolfram's Hangar + (http://home.t-online.de/home/Wolfram.Kuss/) + for a list of what we currently have available as well as + information on how to convert models yourself.

+
+ + +

3 - + Compiling

+ 3.1 - + Why won't FlightGear compile? +
+

Well, that depends. First make sure you are using the appropriate + versions of FlightGear, SimGear, and plib. If any of the packages are + out of sync with the others, compilation may fail.

+

The FlightGear Downloads page + (http://flightgear.org/Downloads/) + should tell you what versions you need if you are trying to compile + the latest stable release. If you are using a development snapshot, + make sure all three packages are up-to-date.

+

Also ensure that you have some implementation of OpenGL with glut + support with the appropriate header files. Linux users with nVidia + cards should make sure you have the latest drivers from nVidia. Other + Linux users make sure you have Mesa3D + (http://mesa3d.org) + and your X server installed correctly. Windows users see + http://www.x-plane.com/SYSREQ/v5ibm.html, + and Mac users see + http://www.x-plane.com/SYSREQ/v5mac.html. +

+

If your problems persist, subscribe to our FlightGear-Users mailing + list and let us know what problem you're having. See + http://flightgear.org/mail.html for help with this. +

+
+ + 3.2 - + I'm using RedHat 7, and ...? +
+

Update your gcc packages. See + http://redhat.com/errata/ + to fix it and + http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc-2.96.html + for an explanation why.

+
+ + +

4 - + Configuring

+ 4.1 - + How do I install new scenery? +
+

The scenery archive files (ie. w100n30.tar.gz) should be untarred + into the Scenery/ directory in your + $FG_ROOT.

+
+ + 4.2 - + How do I setup my joystick(s)? +
+ +

See the README.Joystick file located in the + FlightGear/docs-mini/ directory of the source + distribution. This document is mirrored at + http://rockfish.net/shell/aboutjoy.txt. +

+

If you have a joystick with digital axes, see + http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a8603365/flightgear.html + for a patch to the development version of FlightGear.

+
+ + +

5 - + Running

+ 5.1 - + Why is FlightGear so slow? +
+

FlightGear supports hardware acceleration, but it seems not to be + activated. Make sure you have OpenGL libraries installed and + configured properly and make sure you have the latest drivers for your + video card.

+

Linux users: If you are an nVidia user, follow their + directions on getting your card working. For most other users, make + sure Mesa is installed property and ensure that you have the + appropriate kernel device drivers for your card. Most people (and + distributions) use modules for their video card device drivers; run + `lsmod` as root to see what modules are loaded. You should also + make sure that you are loading the appropriate modules in your + XF86Config and that your video device section is correct. Now try + running an OpenGL application (other than FlightGear) to see how it + performs. You can try the gears demo from Mesa or something + like Quake3.

+
+ + 5.2 - + Why is my SGI machine so slow? +
+

First of all, one of the most common mistakes on SGI hardware is to + forget to specify --fog-fastest. On most SGI machines the EXP2 shading + model isn't hardware supported resulting in frame rates below 1 frame + per second (fps).

+

FlightGear makes extensive use of the OpenGL z-buffer feature,which + on most older SGI hardware is only supported in software. This means + that the CPU has to do all the z-buffer calculations in addition to the + other tasks FlightGear involves (flight dynamics, scenery tracking, + pushing commands into the graphics queue, etc). The following features + are software rendered on low-end SGI machines (like Indy and + Indigo):

+
    +
  • stencil and accumulation buffer
    • +
  • depth queuing and depth buffering
    • +
  • fogging, lighting, clipping and transforms
    • +
  • texturing
    • +
+

This means that running FlightGear with the following options may not + even get the desired result:

+

./runfgfs --fog-disable --shading-flat --disable-skyblend \
+ --disable-textures --disable-clouds --disable-sound \
+ --disable-panel --enable-hud --disable-anti-alias-hud

+

I could even imagine that adding --enable-wireframe doesn't work on + these machines (I would be happy to be proven wrong though).

+

On a machine like O2 the following options give an acceptable + result:

+ ./runfgfs --fog-fastest --disable-sound +

Since I don't have access to other SGI hardware I can't tell which + options would be appropriate for your situation.

+
+ + 5.3 - + Stuck upside down after "crash"? +
+

In his infinite wisdom the FlightGear Grand Master decided that + planes were to valuable to allow them to be destroyed by novice pilots + who seemed to crash a lot. The fact that nobody has bothered to model + crashes may have something to do with it too. :-)

+

The result of this as you have noticed is that with a little + practice an ingenuity you can trim the ship to fly inverted along the + ground.

+

The quick answer is to hit Ctrl+U (with the default key bindings) + to warp the plane up 1000ft.

+

For the stubborn people out there: The trick to learn is to roll + back to normal (non inverted) do this by nursing the elevator to get + to about 500 feet or so and use the ailerons to snap roll 180*. + This is all good avionics except for the plane not destroying + itself. Remember the controls work in reverse when you are inverted + and keep that airspeed up!!!

+
+ + 5.4 - + What happened to the panel, keyboard, etc? +
+

If you are using a development version of FlightGear, make + sure you also have the latest base package. See + http://rockfish.net/fg/ + for details on getting the latest CVS version.

+
+ + 5.5 - + Why doesn't audio work properly under Irix? +
+

FlightGear (as of June 2001) uses the Portable Libraries (PLIB) + for playing audio. The audio queue implementation of PLIB is far from + optimal (in fact it's just wrong). This seems to work on other + platforms quite well, but Irix expects things to be programmed + properly.

+

There has been discussion about using OpenAL + (http://www.openal.org) + for the next release of both PLIB and FlightGear. Tests show that + the OpenAL audio implementation does the job right, meaning that + these audio problems should be gone by then. In the mean time it is + best to disable audio on Irix completely (by adding --disable-sound + either on the command line or to your $HOME/.fgfsrc + file).

+
+ + 5.6 - + Why do I get an error loading libmk4.so.0? +
+

With the default installation, libmk4.so.0 is installed into + /usr/local/lib. You need to ensure that that path is + listed in /etc/ld.so.conf, then run `ldconfig`as + root.

+
+ + +

6 - + Hacking

+ 6.1 - + How do I design a flight dynamics model for a new plane? +
+

See + http://jsbsim.sf.net.

+
+ + 6.2 - + How do I import planes from Microsoft Flight Simulator? +
+

See + http://home.t-online.de/home/Wolfram.Kuss/. +

+
+ + 6.3 - + How do I import BGL scenery from Microsoft Flight Simulator? +
+

See + http://matrixsoft.50megs.com/BGL/. +

+
+ + 6.4 - + How do I design or modify a panel? +
+

See the README.xmlpanel file located in the + FlightGear/docs-mini/ directory of the source + distribution. This document is mirrored at + http://rockfish.net/fg/README.xmlpanel. +

+
+ + 6.5 - + How do I place objects, like buildings, into FlightGear? +
+

First, ensure that you have v0.7.7 or later, the scenery files + where you plan to place the object, the actual model, and the + longitude and latitude where you plan to place the object.

+

Now get the altitude for your point. If you don't want to + calculate this yourself, start FlightGear at your location and take + note of the altitude. Here's an example command:

+

fgfs --lat=45.50 --lon=-75.73 2>&1 | tee fgfs.log

+

The altitude is probably in feet, so divide the starting altitude + by 3.28.

+

Search the output log file for the first occurrence of the string + "Loading tile" and take note of the filename. In the above example, + the output line looks like:

+

Loading tile /usr/local/Scenery/w080n40/w076n45/1712601

+

Copy a 3D model in a format that Plib understands to the same + directory as the tile file. Edit the text file in that directory + consisting of the tile name with the extension ".ind". The file will + already exist if there is an airport on the tile; otherwise, you can + create it from scratch. In our example, the filename is:

+

/usr/local/Scenery/w080n40/w076n45/1712601.ind

+

At the end of the file, add a new entry for your object, + consisting of the word "OBJECT_STATIC" followed by the model name, + the longitude in degrees, the latitude in degrees, the altitude in + meters, and the heading in degrees. In our example the line looks + like:

+

OBJECT_STATIC Towerax.ac -75.73 45.40 60 0

+

Save the changes to the .ind file, restart FlightGear, and + enjoy.

+

NOTE: The above information was taken from the following mailing + list post: + http://www.geocrawler.com/archives/3/11854/2001/6/0/5991409/. + See that page if this one doesn't make sense.

+
+ + +

7 - + Flying

+ 7.1 - + Where can I learn about instrument flying and navigation? +
+

+ http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/ + is a very good site for learning techniques for navigation. Check + it out!

+
+ + 7.2 - + What is the difference between Aileron and Rudder? +
+

There is a bit of info on aileron vs. rudder here: + http://www.arundel.net/xplane/html/crosswind.html + and + http://www.monmouth.com/~jsd/how/. +

+
+ + +

8 - + FlightGear v0.7.6

+ 8.1 - + Why do I get an error in viewer.cxx about `exit' being undeclared? +
+

This error cropped up after the release of v0.7.6. To fix the + problem, add "#include <stdlib.h>" to the top of viewer.cxx.

+
+ + + +

About This Document

FlightGear FAQ
$Revision$
$Date$

+ This document generated from XML using + Sablotron. +

Cameron Moore
cameron@unbeatenpath.net
\ No newline at end of file