Game Manager Lost Connection

I was letting a few friends try out the roller coaster rides and they were totally digging it. While a smaller kid was riding, I noticed the right motor was not responding, but was still getting power.

I exited the game and the motor did not release until I shut down the power to it. At that point, a window popped up on the screen stating Game Engine had some sort of issue and had to shut down. When I tried to restart, the Game Manager would not connect.

Although I had tried a dual PC setup a few days ago, I had switched back to 1 computer and I had everything working until the issue described above. When I went into Game Manager Tool, the IP address was still there and correct.

Just an odd glitch? Anyone else ever had that happen during game play?

Thanks for any help,
Steve

I have this happen once in the while and only restarting my pc seems to fix it.

Ugh!!! I know that SimTools does not need an internet connection. I had no issues before I tried the stupid dual PC setup.

And as surprising as it may be, my wife won't let me move the rig into the kitchen or living room where the laptop I am using can pick up wifi. Yes, I know I should not need wifi. I lost connection again and could not get it back. Restarting the computer did not fix it. As soon as I bring the laptop within wifi range, GameManager connects.

Here is the crazy part. I can then take the laptop back to the sim and it works. Come back the next day - no connection. My best guess is something may be happening when it goes to sleep for power saving. I do not understand why it will not reconnect once it wakes up though. Then again, it may be something totally different.

Help ... please!!!!
Steve

ok, 2 pcs, I found that my laptop, even LAN wired, on restart tends to change its own IP address. And in Game manager you need to set Ip address.
Maybe this will help http://portforward.com/networking/static-win7.htm
I now have a static IP in the laptop for game engine and no further problems with IP.
Cheers, David.

@bsft - Thanks for the quick help. I am not even using 2 pc's anymore. I am back to one laptop, but I will still take a look to see if for some reason the ip address is changing on the 1 laptop I am using. I would be surprised if it is, because it connects fine once in wifi range without changing the ip setting in Game Manager.

Steve

thats weird,
@yobuddy ? any ideas?

@noorbeast - but, the stinking computer shouldn't need wifi, that is what is so frustrating.

I would use a direct connection ie connect pc and laptop with a network cable, or even to a cheap router.
Its a network connection issue.

Why not run it all from one pc. SimTools is not resource hungry we had a member using it successfully on an old dual core PC with Rfactor.

@eaorobbie - my current troubles are with just 1 laptop. I will say that I never had a problem until I tried the dual PC setup.

I am considering writing down all my SimTools settings and just uninstalling and starting over. It was gold before I messed with the ip settings for the dual PC business.

Yea if you don't have many games setup , I would recommend it.
On the other hand if the engine is falling over then it will spit out some debug information , from this information we can normally tell you the issue. Sounds like something has been crossed up.
Try un installing and keeping the settings files there is an option for this when un installing.
Re Install and test.
If not then do a clean installation after writing it all down.

Edit: You did change back the IP in GameManager once setup on one pc and Saved. ?

@eaorobbie - I did change the ip setting back and double check it every time GameManager loses connection. It is always what it should be. The strange thing is, once I take the laptop within wifi range, GameManage connects fine and stays fine when I take it back out of wifi range. The problem comes back after the laptop has been inactive. Once it "wakes" up, the connection will not come back.

It will be a nice surprise if I can save the settings. Fingers crossed.

in the game manager, did you set IP address to 127.000.000.1 or what ever it is?

@noorbeast - I did not disregard your suggestion to change the sleep settings, I just was trying avoid that route in part because I would eventually have to shut the computer down. When that happens, the problem occurred.

In the end, I decided to take the go big or go home approach. Complete uninstall and start over. Everything is running good now and I will avoid any ip changes. One PC works fine for me.