answered EGNM pdf SAM menus and ground polygons.

[Mainspar]

I bought and installed this product without issue last night. Read the PDF to check out SAM operation, none of the screenshots of the plugin menu match the current install. There is no explanation of any other functions other than the jet-way animation control (which is pointless seeing as the menus don't match at all), and (currently chucking it down at EGNM) no wet/damp ground polygons show up. As for the SAM marshaller, that showed up as i taxied to a jet-way (Stand 8), stopped on instruction and shut down but the jet-way didn't budge, no amount of searching the SAM menu (which doesn't match your PDF...remember) gave any answers.

 

I am hoping someone can clear this up, its not a deal breaker, just not what it says it is.

 

Cheers.

 

PS. Updated SAM to 2.0.1.

 

PPS. Tried changing colours/seasons in the SAM menu...nothing, scenery reloaded but looked identical.

[Greg Jones]

Perhaps you can post a screenshot of what you're seeing in the menus.

 

Remember that the manual and screenshots were taken prior to SAM version 2+ so there are likely going to be differences.

 

Due to a limitation of the XP texture draping system, there is no wet/damp function on the groundpoly. I'm aware this was in the feature list on the product page - I'm getting this updated right now.

 

Cheers,

 

Greg

 

 

[Jon Clarke]

@Mainspar  SAM seasons don't work in Ortho photoscenery as per the developers notes on the X-pane.org download webpage.

 SAM v2.0.1  user manual gives details on how to use the jetways. I find that setting to Manual is the best way to control the movement of the jetways and that option is also explained well in the User Manual.

I attach a copy in case you haven't kept yours. I hope this helps.

SAM_User_Manual.zip

 

 

 

 

[Coxy]

Thanks for the answers, appreciate it. I guess I can live without wet textures and I'll read up on the SAM manual. Cheers. 

[WebMaximus]

Hey guys!

 

Was just about to ask about the same thing since I had issues with the jetway at gate 8 not disconnecting before pushback. It looked a bit funny when the jetway followed the aircraft during pushback until it couldn't extend any further when it finally disconnected.

 

I see how you recommend to use manual mode instead rather than automatic. Any idea why automatic doesn't work as it should at this airport? It's working just fine at many other airports and I find it quite awkward to use the manual mode since I'm doing all my flying in VR and don't want to mess around with more manual steps than absolutely necessary.

 

This is what the SAM documentation says about using the automatic mode. And I'm positive I switched the beacon light ON before pushback. And yet the jetway didn't disconnect.

 

I wonder if this could be a result of me using SAM 2.0.1 where the file structure changed where you no longer have the SAM_Library in the Custom Scenery folder but just drop the SAM folder in your Plugins folder. Maybe EGNM doesn't yet support the latest version of SAM with this new file structure?

[Jon Clarke]

Further on down from your user manual quote is a list of compatible aircraft. Would this have anything to do with the jetway not working?

Also, did it work on automatic with the original v1 of SAM?

[WebMaximus]

Sorry, should of course have mentioned what aircraft I was in. The Zibo mod, which has all the check-boxes ticked in the aircraft compatibility chart in the SAM documentation.

 

Since I only recently bought EGNM, I never tried it with earlier versions of SAM.

[Vostflyer]

The instructions on the (Org) SAM download page are a bit lacking in clarity. It is important to read the 'Developer note' immediately below the main installation instructions. Specifically, once you have placed everything in your plugins folder, you must then either:

1. Copy the SAM library to your custom scenery directory (you need to do that every time there is a SAM update)

OR

2. Create a symbolic Junction between the SAM Library folder (inside your plugins/SAM/lib folder) and your X plane custom scenery folder. In theory, this approach should capture any future updates to SAM, so long as the plugin directory structure is not changed.

 

I went for option 2 and it works for me. However, option 1 might be easier for those not comfortable with setting up symbolic links.

[WebMaximus]

Ah, that's brilliant!

 

I do find it strange though why that information isn't in the documentation that comes with SAM. Or maybe it's in there, only I missed it.

 

Will have a look later on today. 

[WebMaximus]

Speaking of SAM, a new version was just released 

 

https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/files/file/5007-sam-scenery-animation-manager/

[WebMaximus]

Was just talking to the developer of SAM over here. I suggested the information to copy the SAM_Library to the Custom Scenery folder or create a static link should be included in the SAM documentation but was told, that information is for airport developers and not supposed to be performed by the end users.

 

However, to make things work with already existing SAM-enabled airports that were released before this new SAM file structure, I guess there won't be any harm for end users to perform this step themselves.

 

Using a static link seems like the best option since you then won't need to worry about it anymore when updating SAM down the road. Will read up on how to make that static link. I have a vague memory that is something you can do quite easily from the command line with a simple command.

[WebMaximus]

Regarding the importance of having the SAM_Library folder in the Custom Scenery folder, this is what the developer of SAM had to say about it

 

"You ONLY have to copy the library into custom scenery manually if you would like to see the objects in WED. That's all."

 

The comment is found in the thread linked in my post above.

[WebMaximus]

Here's some more info from the SAM developer on the same topic.

 

https://forum.thresholdx.net/topic/2116-creating-a-static-link-to-the-sam_library-folder/?do=findComment&comment=6339

 

He also suggests the issue with the jetway not attaching/detaching automatically at Orbx EGNM could be caused by the jetway limits were not set high enough by Orbx to cover the parking situation. Not really sure what that means and if that is something I could adjust myself or if it needs to be performed by you guys at Orbx.

[Vostflyer]

19 hours ago, WebMaximus said:

Regarding the importance of having the SAM_Library folder in the Custom Scenery folder, this is what the developer of SAM had to say about it

 

"You ONLY have to copy the library into custom scenery manually if you would like to see the objects in WED. That's all."

 

The comment is found in the thread linked in my post above.

I'm not entirely convinced about that since, until I set my link up properly, I was getting error messages regarding a number of SAM-enabled airports - including Orbx EGNM. But perhaps v 2.0.2 has changed something.

[Jon Clarke]

I also note that Marten@Stairport says his copy of the Orbx EGNM and SAM combo work fine:

"EGNM Gate 8 works fine for me. If you're using automatic mode and try to connect after a disconnect that might not work because we need an internal reset of the logic which will only be set if you move out of a 100m range of the jetway."

[WebMaximus]

6 minutes ago, Vostflyer said:

I'm not entirely convinced about that since, until I set my link up properly, I was getting error messages regarding a number of SAM-enabled airports - including Orbx EGNM. But perhaps v 2.0.2 has changed something.

 

That's strange. One would like to think the developer would know that how his own software works.

 

But if you found that is required for things to work for you, all is good I suppose 

[WebMaximus]

2 minutes ago, Jon Clarke said:

I also note that Marten@Stairport says his copy of the Orbx EGNM and SAM combo work fine:

"EGNM Gate 8 works fine for me. If you're using automatic mode and try to connect after a disconnect that might not work because we need an internal reset of the logic which will only be set if you move out of a 100m range of the jetway."

 

Yep, unfortunately I still had the same problem yesterday where the jetway wouldn't detach.

 

So something is still fishy but I haven't heard back from him after my last report. 

[Vostflyer]

Just a quick update (having installed SAM v2.0.2) and a warning to anyone using XOrganizer...

 

The SAM plugin installation works as advertised, placing a junction link to the SAM library at the top of your scenery_packs.ini file, provided that, after copying the SAM plugin to your resources\plugins folder, you run XPlane and then quit from the main menu.

 

However, XOrganiser (at least version 1.3) does not capture that ini file entry and thus the revised Scenery_packs.ini file written out by XO excludes any reference to the SAM Library. I don't know if the latest XO version performs differently.

 

To get round this, assuming you wish to continue using XOrganizer, you would need to set up the junction link manually, as I had done previously.

 

John

[WebMaximus]

Thanks for the heads-up and would be great if you could report it over here as well.

 

https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/forum/456-xorganizer/

 

 

[WebMaximus]

I just reported this issue with xOrganizer and SAM myself.

 

I also learned from the developer of SAM there's no point adding a junction point manually for the SAM_Library folder. This since an entry will be automatically written to your scenery_packs.ini file by the SAM plugin whenever you launch X-Plane.

 

Meaning, if you also create your own junction point, you'll end up with two entries pointing at the same folder which could possibly result in weird issues. At least, the developer of SAM earlier told me you should not create your own junction point to SAM_Library.

[Vostflyer]

I'll give it a whirl (deleting my junction point). Didn't appreciate that the ini file was updated by SAM on every launch. Thanks for the heads up.

[WebMaximus]

I actually ending up creating my own junction point meaning I'll see the SAM_Library in xOrganizer and have full manual control of what is going on. I also made sure to place it in the 'High priority scenery' section of XO to make sure it stays at the top. Just like it would be when added automatically by SAM.

 

This after the developer of SAM told me there's actually an option in SAM where you can choose if it should add an entry for SAM_Library automatically or not. I've now disabled that option and below is what it looks like in XO.

 

For some more info about this including a screenshot of the option in SAM, have a look at this post and onward -> https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/198003-xorganizer-and-sam-202/&do=findComment&comment=1805087

 

 

[Jon Clarke]

@Nick Cooper I think this topic has now drifted from its original subject/query.

[WebMaximus]

So, looking at what Jon says above, back on topic with SAM at EGNM specifically.

 

I just made a flight into another SAM-enabled airport (EDDM from ShortFinal) to see how the jetways would work over there. Happy to report I had no issues and the jetway at gate 208 worked flawlessly. So I'll now fly into EGNM again without touching anything related to SAM to see if it will work at EGNM as well. If not, something is clearly not right with my installation of EGNM.

 

Will report back.

[WebMaximus]

And here we are again back at gate 8 at Orbx EGNM...

 

As seen in the screenshot below, same thing as last time with the jetway acting like it would be static even when it's supposed to move automatically thanks to SAM. Just like it did in EDDM.

 

Good thing we always bring our own airstairs whenever we visit EGNM so the PAX won't have to literally jump off the aircraft 

 

[WebMaximus]

Funny enough, when I departed EGNM yesterday after being parked at gate 8 as seen above, when I released the parking brake and switched the beacon light on, the jetway did detach automatically. Which hasn't been the case before. Was both surprised and happy to see that! Next thing I'll try is to fly into EGNM again and this time park at gate 7 instead to see if that makes any difference and in an attempt to isolate if the issue is just with the jetway at gate 8.

 

Any clues why it would detach automatically but not attach when the jetway feature is set to 'Auto' in the SAM settings? Could it be something that needs to be "tuned" that senses the type of aircraft parked at the gate or something along those lines?

 

As mentioned previously (I think), I'm doing all my flying in the Zibo mod (B738).

[Jon Clarke]

I have no idea I am afraid. It all seems so random. How does it perform with default airliner models?

[WebMaximus]

OK, no big deal. As mentioned, will try to see what happens when I park at gate 7 next time instead of gate 8.

 

No idea how it performs with default airliners since I never use any of them but can't see how the default B738 for example would be any different since the Zibo mod "is" the default B738...only heavily modified when it comes to systems and handling.

[Vostflyer]

Curiosity got the better of me, so I just completed a short flight from Bristol to Leeds / Bradford in the Zibo 738. On arrival at EGNM gate 8, a marshaller duly appeared and guided me to my stopping point. Then, like WebMaximus, nothing.....that is until I turned off my anti-collision and wing lights. Then I heard a call to disarm the doors and, lo! the gate connected to the front entry and the door opened. So it looks like SAM is clever enough to know the appropriate trigger points for the Zibo.

[WebMaximus]

Thanks for testing @Vostflyer but what you describe is exactly what I did as well when taxiing into the gate.

 

What you describe how switching the anti-collision/beacon light OFF indeed is a good trigger. And also what FMOD in the Zibo mod uses to play the disarm slides call etc.

 

You also mention wing lights. I hope those are not involved since those are normally only used when inspecting the wings for ice. Or for maximum visibility in bad weather conditions. In normal operations, you don't use the wing lights.

 

I'm quite confident those are not involved here though since I as mentioned above don't have this issue at other SAM-enabled airports.

 

 

[Vostflyer]

I had Wing Lights set in the EFB as the trigger for Cabin Crew prepare for take-off, so perhaps the same trigger is used as part of the de-boarding. Try toggling whatever you have set up for your prep for take-off maybe?

 

Otherwise, I did nothing special; just pulled up, set parking brake, shut down, lights off. I assume you did get the marshaller as you pulled onto stand?

[WebMaximus]

I highly doubt to be honest the trigger for cabin crew, prepare for takeoff in the Zibo EFB is the culprit here. Based on the fact I don't have this problem at other SAM-enabled airports. For the record though, I do have the strobes set as the trigger for the same reason I mentioned above how using wing lights isn't part of standard OPS for the majority of airlines.

 

As a side-note, from start you had to use the wing lights since there wasn't an option for it in the EFB. The reason that option now is there is because I discussed this with the developer of the FMOD package used in the Zibo mod. Unfortunately, he never implemented it fully correct before he left the Zibo project. Meaning you won't get the cabin crew, prepare for takeoff call if you use the strobe lights as the trigger. Instead, you'll only get a single chime. I can live with that though and prefer that and follow real world OPS rather than the other way around.

 

Next thing I'll try will be to fly into EGNM but park at gate 7 this time instead. Will be most interesting! And yes, I did get the marshaller and parked perfectly aligned  Speaking about the position of the aircraft, what's a bit funny is when I load the saved situation when I'm parked at the exact same location at gate 8...the jetway is attached. Really odd issue this one!

[WebMaximus]

Just parked at gate 7 but we had to use the airstairs this time as well...

 

 

But maybe this gate isn't supposed to move since it doesn't have any wheels but just a lump of cement...

 

Guess the conclusion will be, always bring your airstairs when you fly into EGNM