SETPANEL.EXE v3.1 Sound, Aircraft and Panel Manager for FS 5.1 by Richard Lewis -- richl@juno.com. WHATS NEW. Version 3.1 allows upto 80 aircraft to be installed. Fixed a strange problem, where on a couple peoples computers, the .pnl file wouldn't install. It seemed to be a problem with the MOVE.EXE program. NOTES: VERSION 3.1 IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ANY VERSION BEFORE 2.1. If you are using a version before 2.1, set everything to its default, remove SETPANEL.EXE and its directories, and then use SETPANEL.EXE v3.1. SETPANEL.EXE v3.1 may be used as a drop in replacement for v2.1, and 3.0. Versions before 3.0 will create a new directory in your flight sim directory called NEWFILES, and copy your NEWPANEL directory information into it, and then remove the NEWPANEL directory. So make sure you have more hard drive space than the amount of data in the NEWPANEL directory. FEATURES Install, change, and remove nearly all panels currently in circulation, for your FS5.1 and FSFS planes. Select from up to 40 panels. In this version, you may keep and use all of the .pnl files that come with a panel in the same directory with their graphic files. There is no longer a one .pnl file limit per directory. Will easily allow you to select your favorite prop and jet sounds, before you fly. They will then remain the same, until you change them. Install, change, and remove up to 80 FSFS aircraft. WARNING ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- All new users should start with original versions of their panels, prop.wav and jet1.wav files, as these will be backed up, so SETPANEL can restore them when necessary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIRST TIME USE. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. Copy SETPANEL.EXE to your flight sim main directory. 2. Go to your flight sim directory. 3. Run SETPANEL.EXE. A new directory 'NEWFILES' and a few sub directories within it, will be created for your panel, sound, and aircraft files. Also, for new users, some files will be backed up to a directory in 'NEWFILES', called 'SPDATA', for restoring panel and sound files. 4. Now, At the Main Menu, select X to exit. 5. Go to the newly created 'NEWFILES' directory. INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING NEW PANELS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. In the 'NEWFILES' directory is a directory called 'NEWPANEL'. Go to it now. 2. There are 10 empty directories there labeled PANEL_01 - PANEL_10, for your new panel files. You may create your own, up to PANEL_40. You can also delete any you don't need, if you wish. Before deleting panels from your PANEL_NN directories, make sure you have un installed them. 3. Unzip a different panel file into each of the new PANEL_NN directories as you need them. Do not run the batch files that come with these programs, when using my program. However, you should keep them to see how the author uses them to overwrite some of the .pix files. This will come in handy later on as you will see. Note: In this version, you may keep and use all of the .pnl files that come with a panel in the same directory with their graphic files. There is no longer a one .pnl file limit per directory. 4. Run SETPANEL.EXE and select '1' at the Main Menu, and press enter. You will now see the aircraft engine type menu. Select the engine type you are changing the panel for. Now, If you are installing a new panel for that plane, choose 'C'. You will now see all the panels available to you. Choose one, and press Enter. The installation will begin, and when finished, take you back to the Aircraft Engine Type Menu. When you are ready to leave, choose 'x' to get to the Main Menu, and 'x' again to leave the program. 5. Run FS5.1 and start the panel situation setup file, if there is one, and if you want to. Otherwise, select the aircraft type that uses the new panel you installed. Some panels will need to be adjusted, others will not. FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT INSTALLING PANEL FILES. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Some, but not all, panel programs have files that need to be renamed, so that my generic panel switching program can use them to their fullest. These files usually overwrite the following files in the panels directory. lr_ghead.pix t_attit.pix t_attit2.pix r_attit2.pix r_sattit.pix So, you need to read the authors batch and text files, to see if they have lines which say something like "COPY MY_ATTIT.PIX T_ATTIT.PIX", or "RENAME MY_GHEAD.PIX LR_GHEAD.PIX". Remember, these are only example names, and they will surely be some other name. When and if you find such lines or comments, you simply rename that, filename to whatever it is supposed to overwrite, and leave it in the PANEL_NN directory. There may be one, or more such files to rename, or none at all. Examples. rename B727-ATT.PIX to T_ATTIT.PIX. rename DAKATTIT.PIX to T_ATTIT.PIX. rename IFR7.PIX to LR_GHEAD.PIX. Now, when you install these panels, they will use their version of these files, as long as they are not overwritten, when you install another panel program. If you want to make sure a panel is using its version of the above files, just reinstall it in SETPANEL.EXE before running fs5. I hope that is clear enough. NOTES: 1. This program was written for FS5.1, FSFS, and SVGA panels only. 2. Panel files named *.hel or similar should be renamed with a .pnl extension. ex: lear_s.hel to ab206hel.pnl 3. Jorg Dolgners' JDJET2_S panel does not work with this program. He uses his own INSTALL.EXE program. INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING ENGINE SOUNDS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. In the 'NEWFILES' directory are two empty directories labeled SOUND_P, and SOUND_J. Put your new prop engine sounds in SOUND_P, and your new jet engine sounds in SOUND_J. 2. Run SETPANEL.EXE, and select '2'. You will get a menu asking you what you would like to do about sound files. Choose '1' or '2' to change your prop or jet sounds. You will then get a menu of your new sounds to choose from. 3. When finished choose 'x' to leave. INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING FSFS AIRCRAFT. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. In the 'NEWFILES' directory is a directory called 'AIRCRAFT'. Go to it now. 2. There are 10 empty directories there labeled PLANE_01 - PLANE_10, for your new aircraft files. You may create your own, up to PLANE_80. You can also delete any you don't need, if you wish. Be sure to un install a plane before removing it from the directory. 3. Unzip a different aircraft file into each of the new PLANE_NN directories as you need them. For each file, there should be an .air file, and several .?af files. 4. Run SETPANEL.EXE and select '3' to see the new aircraft available. Select those you wish to install. When installed, an aircraft will have an 'X' next to it. When un installed, a '-' will be next to it. To uninstall a plane, simply enter its number again. The program automatically checks for aircraft with the same names, so you don't have to worry about that. It will simply un install one, if necessary, before installing the next. When finished, select 'x' to return to the Main Menu. OTHER FEATURES Supports changing the .PAN files in the TEXTURE directory. The .PAN files are the graphics you see when using the 'SEE YOUR OWN AIRCRAFT' setting in the aircraft preferences. Just rename your .PAN file to the exact file name it will replace, and put it into the PANEL_NN directory, with the panel file you want to use it with. It will then be installed and restored as required. SUGGESTION You might want to create a 'SCENERY' directory in 'NEWFILES' to keep your new scenery files and directories. This puts almost everything new in one place for easy management. My program dosen't install your scenery, just provides a convenient place to put it. TROUBLE SHOOTING. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. Make sure SETPANEL.EXE v3.1 is in your Flight Sim root directory. 2. Make sure you are using SVGA mode. 3. Make sure you have and have installed Flight Sim Flight Shop (FSFS). 4. Make sure you have put the SOUND, AIRCRAFT, or PANEL files in the correct directories as explained above. 5. The directory structure should look like this. NEWFILES\ AIRCRAFT\ PLANE_01\ PLANE_02\ PLANE_03\ PLANE_04\ PLANE_05\ PLANE_06\ PLANE_07\ PLANE_08\ PLANE_09\ PLANE_10\ NEWPANEL\ PANEL_01\ PANEL_02\ PANEL_03\ PANEL_04\ PANEL_05\ PANEL_06\ PANEL_07\ PANEL_08\ PANEL_09\ PANEL_10\ SOUND_J\ SOUND_P\ SPDATA\ 6. A dir command of the SPDATA directory MUST contain the following backup and .dat files. The .ORG files are the original .PNL files. The .P_X files are the original .PIX files. The .W_V are the original .WAV files, and the .P_N files, are the original .PAN files. The two .dat files are to keep up with what is and isn't installed. Volume in drive C is DRIVE_C Volume Serial Number is 1F90-095B Directory of C:\FLTSIM5\NEWFILES\SPDATA . 08-07-96 10:39a . .. 08-07-96 10:39a .. PLANE DAT 165 08-15-96 1:06p PLANE.DAT AIRCRAFT DAT 126 08-15-96 1:07p aircraft.dat CESN_S ORG 812 04-04-95 5:10a CESN_S.ORG SCHW_S ORG 521 04-04-95 5:10a SCHW_S.ORG LEAR_S ORG 985 04-04-95 5:10a LEAR_S.ORG SOPW_S ORG 676 04-04-95 5:10a SOPW_S.ORG RECIP1_S ORG 813 10-07-95 5:00a RECIP1_S.ORG RECIP2_S ORG 861 10-07-95 5:00a RECIP2_S.ORG RECIP3_S ORG 861 10-07-95 5:00a RECIP3_S.ORG RECIP4_S ORG 861 10-07-95 5:00a RECIP4_S.ORG JET1_S ORG 962 10-07-95 5:00a JET1_S.ORG JET2_S ORG 967 10-07-95 5:00a JET2_S.ORG JET3_S ORG 1,022 10-07-95 5:00a JET3_S.ORG JET4_S ORG 1,025 10-07-95 5:00a JET4_S.ORG CAMEL P_N 65,536 04-04-95 5:10a CAMEL.P_N CESSNA P_N 65,536 04-04-95 5:10a CESSNA.P_N LEAR P_N 65,536 04-04-95 5:10a LEAR.P_N SG232 P_N 65,536 04-04-95 5:10a SG232.P_N LR_GHEAD P_X 36,118 04-04-95 5:10a LR_GHEAD.P_X T_ATTIT P_X 49,174 04-04-95 5:10a T_ATTIT.P_X T_ATTIT2 P_X 66,310 04-04-95 5:10a T_ATTIT2.P_X R_ATTIT2 P_X 5,263 04-04-95 5:10a R_ATTIT2.P_X R_SATTIT P_X 8,170 04-04-95 5:10a R_SATTIT.P_X PROP W_V 32,278 04-04-95 5:10a PROP.W_V JET1 W_V 23,278 04-04-95 5:10a JET1.W_V 25 file(s) 493,392 bytes 2 dir(s) 40,730,624 bytes free LEGAL STUFF This program is freeware and may be freely distributed, but I retain any Copyrights. DISCLAIMER: You use this file at your on risk. Any problems that may result from its use are your own responsibility. Richard Lewis richl@juno.com