Troubleshooting

At Simlog, we work hard to make our Personal Simulators easy to install and use. And that’s why we’ve built into our software releases a comprehensive User Manual, available from the “Help” Main Menu, structured as a miniature Web site to make it easy to “hop” from topic to topic. So as first step, please look there to answer your questions. (The same User Manual is also available from Simlog as a PDF file.)

As a second step we present here some trouble-shooting suggestions regarding common problems encountered by our customers, especially associated with initial setup.

After that, as a third step, contact Simlog for technical support. Here we’ll use the telephone, email, our Virtual Visit video-conferencing, and remote login from our offices to help you out.

Problems with Simlog Software

My desktop computer has a graphics card from NVIDIA as recommended by Simlog, but there are problems with the simulation graphics, the simulated equipment is moving too slowly, etc.

Make sure that you have connected your displays to the NVIDIA graphics card video outputs of your PC. (There may also be video outputs for your computer’s “motherboard” equipped with Intel integrated graphics that offer lower performance.)

If the problems persist, upgrade the “driver” for your NVIDIA graphics card by downloading the most recent version from the NVIDIA Web site (not from the computer manufacturer’s Web site).

My laptop computer has a graphics card from NVIDIA as recommended by Simlog, but there are problems with the simulation graphics, the simulated equipment is moving too slowly, etc.

Some laptop PCs are equipped with two different graphics chipsets and the default is often the Intel integrated graphics on the computer’s “motherboard” that offers lower performance.

So to enable the higher performance NVIDIA chipset instead (or double check that it is already enabled), right click on the Windows desktop and select the “NVIDIA Control Panel”. Then in the new window that appears, select “Manage 3D settings” in the list at the left. Then select the “Global Settings” tab in the middle part of the window and choose your NVIDIA graphics card in the “Preferred graphics processor” pull-down menu (instead of “Auto-select” or “Integrated graphics”).

My simulation software is suddenly in the (free) Evaluation Mode instead of the (paid) Commercial Mode.

Making a hardware or software change to your computer will change your PC-specific “License Code”, so it will no longer “match” the “License Key” that Simlog previously provided to activate the Commercial Mode. For this reason, you will need to contact Simlog to enquire about what we call software re-licensing.

I have multiple simulator stations with computers that are networked but when I launch a simulation program, there is an error message about accessing the Simulation Manager database.

Simlog’s Simulation Manager relies on Microsoft Windows for computer-to-computer networking. For that reason, make sure that the computer with the Simulation Manager is turned on and properly networked to the computer with the simulation program. For more details, please refer to the installation instructions in the Simulation Manager’s User Manual.

Problems with Simulator Controls

One of my simulator controls is “broken”. What can I do?

In many cases, you can continue to train with your Personal Simulator by simply choosing a different option in the “Simulator Controls” pull-down menu. For example:

for Forklift, if one of your four levers stops working, you can keep going with just three levers (and the simulation software will change the spacing between the forks)
for Hydraulic Excavator, if your pedals stop working, you can keep going with just the joysticks (and use them as “travel levers”)

My simulator controls don’t work like the Simlog-provided “Controls Diagram”.

Make sure that you have selected the correct option in the “Simulators Control” pull-down menu, available from the “Options/Controllers” Main Menu.

In particular, if you are using a Logitech steering wheel, you must first install the driver for that steering wheel and then connect the AC adapter’s power cable before using the USB cable to connect to your PC. For more details, please refer to the installation instructions in the simulation program’s User Manual.

My simulator controls are connected to my computer but in the “Simulator Controls” pull-down menu, the only option I see is “None Available”.

For each option in the “Simulators Control” pull-down menu (available from the “Options/Controllers” Main Menu), you must have connected a particular set of input devices (joysticks, pedal units, etc.). So make sure that you have connected all of the required input devices according to the Simlog “Controls Diagram” of your simulation program.

If you have connected an input device using a powered USB hub but that input device is not “recognized” by your PC, proceed as follows:

Disconnect the USB hub from the PC, power down the hub by disconnecting its AC adapter, power up the hub again by reconnecting its AC adapter, and then reconnect the hub to the PC.
If the problem persists, connect the hub to your PC using a different USB input port.
If the problem persists, connect the input device directly to the PC (instead of using the hub).
If the problem persists, check that the input device is functional using a different PC. If the device appears correctly in the Windows “Game Controllers” list on that different PC, then there may be a hardware problem with the USB ports on your original PC.
Finally, if the problem persists on the different PC, there may be a problem with the input device itself and to so you will need to contact Simlog.

The simulated machine is moving by itself (but I’m not using the simulator controls).

Re-calibrate your simulator controls by following the installation instructions in the simulation program’s User Manual.

In particular, the Hydraulic Excavator Personal Simulator’s “rocker style” Replica Controls 2-Pedal Unit must be re-calibrated each time you turn off and then turn on again your computer. For more details, please refer to the installation instructions in that product’s User Manual.