Resolved New setup, Manager does not connect with Engine

Hello everyone, my name is John and I am nearly done getting my new DOFReality H3 up and running. I have followed all the instructions and videos supplied by DOFReality, and their tech support has been great in getting me this far, however I seem to have another issue. I hope I'm just missing something simple.

I can use SimTools to drive my rig, all my motion occurs correctly. So now I am trying to get the rig to work with iRacing. Its the sim I use the most and why I bought the H3.

From my understanding from the online docs... the Manager reads "Connected" when it is communicating with the Engine, and reads "Game Running" when the program is running as well. I never see Connected or Game Running.

As you can see from the images below, I am running both the Manager and the Engine at the same time, so I'm not sure why they are not connecting... (Again, please forgive me, I am new to this). I have tried to run the game and "patch" it, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but this hasn't change my "connection" issue.

Any insight would be most welcome,
I hope I'm just missing something simple

-John


Simulator

1. Commercial or DIY: DOF Reality H3
2. DOF (Number of axles ): 3
3. Actuators (DIY, SCN5 etc.): 3
4. Interface (Arduino, SCN, Mega, DIY etc. ): ???

SimTools

1. Version: 2.3.1
2. Game Plugin: iRacing
3. Settings (Relevant ones) included in pics attached below
4. SimTools Licence type: Pro
5. 

Here is the picture, I was hoping to see 2 different IP's and have my answer, but looks like they are set correctly.

Hi @yobuddy,

I took the above picture quickly before work this morning. I appreciate you helping me with this. I'm so excited to have this new setup and I'm patiently attempting everything I can to get it to work. I have reinstalled the software and plugins multiple times with the same results. I am the only user on this computer so everything is being installed under the administrator account. B/C of the mention of TCP I have looked into my firewall software and it seems that both the engine and the manager have permission to send/receive.

Any other information that will help, please ask and I will happily provide. I've used a traction loss system before and _really_ want to have this capability at home.

Thanks again,
-John

So continuing to investigate the issue on my own...

I see the both the manager and the engine had what looked to be local IP addresses in their screens 192.168.0.106.
I thought perhaps this was the IP address that each program had acquired somehow so I changed both the manager and engine IP addresses to match this number. No change. Restarted the computer, no change. Just an update... There has to be a reason my manager never says connected.... There has to be a way for me to get this rig working.

Please help,
-J.p.

Hi @noorbeast,

As part of my initial setup process and communication with DOF reality, I have already confirmed that the rig moves using the SimTools output controls. All my axis function and move in the correct direction. The specific issue I am having is that the Game Manager never displays "Connected" even though I am running both the engine and the manager. All my attempts to Patch the game are therefore unsuccessful. I have done multiple installs, have the latest drivers and software.... I'm sure you can see where my frustration is coming from, but there must be a solution...

Yes @yobuddy! That is exactly what happens, game engine icon is red when I start it up, and turns green when I start the game manager. But the game manager never turns green and says connected.

I am using the basic window's firewall. Have to get to work now but I will continue to look down this avenue when I get home. I'm no expert in firewalls so any suggestions would be great.

Thanks again,
-John

I did a bit of research at work today and I have created a "new rule" in windows firewall for the program Game Manager, to allow incoming connections using TCP. However this did not change my situation. Again, not an expert at firewalls, but was hoping this would work as it seems that the game engine sees the game manager but the game manger does not see the engine... Going to keep researching but any advice is absolutely welcome.

Hi @noorbeast,

Below should be an image of my axis assignments for iRacing.

DOF Reality has been very helpful up to this point. When I discovered the issue with the game manager never connecting their response was, and I quote "Strange. Pls install simtools 2.3.1 simtools.us and if it wont help pls open a ticket with simtools.us"
Again everything with their rig and the game engine appear to be working properly, good motion, correct axis assignments and movement. I can't help but get past the idea that my problem continues to be a communication issue between the engine and the manager. Exhausted at this point so after my initial attempts as creating a new firewall rule I'm going to take a break and revisit.

All suggestions welcome and I will do my best to respond.

-J.p.

Here is the image

Hi @noorbeast & @yobuddy,
I was thinking the same thing. I have disabled my firewall... I have built permissions... However the manager continues to say Not Connected. I don't understand why. If the two programs communicate through TCP/IP then why should one be able to talk to another but not the other way around, especially after turning off the firewall. Very discouraging. Not your fault, I'm glad for the insight, just want my setup to work. I'll keep at it, just wish this had worked.

Hi @yobuddy and @noorbeast,

So I unistalled simtools, removed old files and settings.
I turned of virus protection and installed the software again.
When I started the game engine my firewall gave me a notice it had blocked some communication but gave me the option to let it through, which I did. The same message appeared when I ran the manager and I also allowed it.
My manager still says Not Connected. I checked my firewall settings and it already has new incoming rules to allow both the manager and the engine to communicate through bot TCP and UDP.

Should the manager say "Connected" now even before I put my settings in for the games, since it is just an indication that the software is communicating with each other?