Logbooks and multiple FSX installs, I think I found the unsolvable problem Options

[GarrisonP]

Greetings to all here from a newcomer to the forums. I really like this website even though I am far away from New Zealand and living in Texas. I have found many answers to FSX issues here and wanted to say thanks first.

I think I have found a problem that there is no solution for. I have been enjoying my FSX program for a couple of years now. Total logbook hours are starting to add up. I also enjoy getting the different awards in my pilot records. My problem is this. As all of you know, the quest to get good performance out of the program is a pursuit unto itself and as a result I have had the program installed on a total of three different machines in order to arrive at a setup that runs good and is truly enjoyable to fly. The install on the first machine (and it's logbook records) are lost forever because I did not save any of the data. But the second machine was used for flying quite a bit before I finished building and started using my current rig. I want to somehow find a way to combine the logbook.BIN files from both machines so that I have the totals shown on my current rig in the logbook/rewards. I have searched and searched and found two different logbook file editing & repair programs. I downloaded and tried both of them but neither one seems capable of combining two different FSX logbook.BIN files. One program even makes a provision for importing a FS9 logbook file over to FSX, but I can find no way to do the same procedure with another FSX logbook.BIN file. It also allows a maunal, line by line edit operation, to duplicate the old logbook records into the new logbook. That would be too time consuming and tedious and I want to avoid that. The one useful thing I have managed to learn is how to avoid this in the future. I need to import my old logbook.BIN file before doing any flying after a clean FSX install. I wish I had known that when I first set up my third rig. I guess I was too busy focusing on the multitude of other tweaks to achieve the best performance and did not even think about the old logbook at the time. Has anyone else had this problem? Did they find a solution? I have searched and searched and any time I find a forum that really addresses my particular problem the answer seems to be that there is no way to do this. I have even tried to open both logbook.BIN files in a notepad and copy one over to the other. I am obviously missing something there because when I try to use that file it shows my logbook hours as zero. Any help, or consolation/commiseration for that matter, would be truly appreciated.

[Adamski]

Can't help you on this one, I'm sorry to say ... but I just thought I'd like to say HI and *welcome*

As to multiple installs - what else can I say but "I feel your pain" ... I'm sure most people on NZFF have got that T-shirt!

[GarrisonP]

Can't help you on this one, I'm sorry to say ... but I just thought I'd like to say HI and *welcome*

As to multiple installs - what else can I say but "I feel your pain" ... I'm sure most people on NZFF have got that T-shirt!

Thanks. The closest I have come to seeming to see a path to a possible solution may be by understanding and successfully editing binary code. I have learned that the ".bin" means that it is a binary code file. Some tool from completely outside the flight sim realm may be the answer I am looking for. If I have any success I will post back here. Thanks again.

[Adamski]

Thanks. The closest I have come to seeming to see a path to a possible solution may be by understanding and successfully editing binary code. I have learned that the ".bin" means that it is a binary code file. Some tool from completely outside the flight sim realm may be the answer I am looking for. If I have any success I will post back here. Thanks again.

I hate to pour rain on your parade - but a binary file (.bin etc.) will probably be *compiled* form some original source code. Even if you know what the code was developed with (C++ or whatever), without the source you may be stuffed. The odd hex-edit (changing a value) may occasionally work, but I think you're on a loser there!

Also - as soon as you touch original MSFS code, you won't be able to let it go past your own desktop, for copyright reasons.

That said - if you manage it, I'll eat my [insert item of clothing here]

[GarrisonP]

I hate to pour rain on your parade - but a binary file (.bin etc.) will probably be *compiled* form some original source code. Even if you know what the code was developed with (C++ or whatever), without the source you may be stuffed. The odd hex-edit (changing a value) may occasionally work, but I think you're on a loser there!

Also - as soon as you touch original MSFS code, you won't be able to let it go past your own desktop, for copyright reasons.

That said - if you manage it, I'll eat my [insert item of clothing here]

I think I understand what you are getting at then. Leave it to me to underestimate the difficulty. If there were an easy solution then it would be out there already because, lets face it, everything else is already out there. That being said, how do I reconcile the fact that a software tool exists than can successfully import a FS9 logbook into a FSX logbook against your statement? I realize that FS9 was not a bin file, but would not the same problems crop up as far as the source code obstacle?

PS Awesome screenshot winner for May! My jaw dropped when the page loaded! Congrats Ian Warren!

[Adamski]

That being said, how do I reconcile the fact that a software tool exists than can successfully import a FS9 logbook into a FSX logbook against your statement?

Maybe because the log files themselves aren't bin files (just some regular data format - possibly even text or XML - I haven't looked at one) and the tool is simply reformatting the data to what FSX will understand. No binary editing required <??>.

The short answer is ... I don't know

[Sinz]

Ah Yes the Logbook.
I have quite a bit of trouble with this also. You tried the tool "FSXLog11" not sure if it will do what your looking for by combining logs but it can fix them. Mine still tends to get stuck and stop recording flights so I end up deleting the logbook.bin file and start again. It can actually stop FSX from starting which has happened to me a few times. Soon as I delete it FSX starts working again.
Be interested in any tool you might find that fixs and combines logbooks,that you find. I'm not overly concerned with the logbook ATM though..... Still learning to fly.