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pCars Dash Setup and Troubleshooting

Need help with pCars Dash? You've come to the right page

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Notice regarding Project CARS 2

New users should use RS Dash to link with Project Cars 2, this is our official companion app for Project CARS 2.

Existing pCars Dash app users can use it Project Cars 2 by enabling the compatibility option in the game which allows any companion app that worked with Project Cars 1 to be used with Project Cars 2., but there are some limitations such as pCars Dash will not have any of the new track maps.

Please also be aware that Slightly Mad Studios are creating a new telemetry interface with additional features for Project CARS 2 and this will NOT be supported by pCars Dash, so while pCars Dash can be used now, it will be limited to the same features/tracks that were available for Project Cars 1.

RS Dash will have full support for the new Project CARS 2 telemetry added once it becomes available, currently it uses the Project Cars 1 compatibility option in the interim.

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See the followings sections below for more information on

  • Direct Mode (UDP) Setup for PC / XBox1 / PS4

  • Shared Memory Mode Setup (PC Only)

  • Troubleshooting

Direct Mode (UDP) Setup for PC / XBox1 / PS4

Step 1

Start Project CARS and ensure you have Patch 7.0 or newer. 
From the main menu screen, click on the right side to scroll over to the second part of the menu where the "Options & Help" button is located and click on it.

Step 2

Click on the "Gameplay" menu option

Step 3

Change the "UDP" setting located at the bottom of the screen to a value of 3 as shown.

Advanced
The UDP option has a range of values from 1-9 and OFF which affect the transmission rate of the telemetry stream. A value of 5 (50ms, ie 20 times per second) is recommended for pCars Dash). You may be able to use faster settings (lower numbers), but this is device and network dependant. If you choose a value that is too fast for your device you will have telemetry lag, ie the telemetry shown will be out of sync with your inputs. 

UDP OFF - no telemetry data is transmitted
UDP 1 - 60/sec (16ms)
UDP 2 - 50/sec (20ms)
UDP 3 - 40/sec (25ms)<-- Recommended
UDP 4 - 30/sec (32ms)
UDP 5 - 20/sec (50ms)
UDP 6 - 15/sec (66ms)
UDP 7 - 10/sec (100ms)
UDP 8 - 05/sec (200ms)
UDP 9 - 01/sec (1000ms)

Direct Mode setup is complete and ready for you to start racing.

Shared Memory Mode Setup (PC Only)

Step 1

Download the latest pCars Transmitter application that is compatible with your version of the pCars Dash app from the links below. (Hint: the pCars Dash app version is shown on the app's starting screen)

 

[Download pCarsTXSetup2-90 for pCars Dash v2.9+] and run the pCarsTXSetup exe file you have downloaded.

Follow the setup wizard prompt to install pCars Transmitter. A shortcut will be placed on your desktop.

Step 2

Ensure your device is connected to your Wireless (Wifi) network.

 

Make note of the IP address of your device which is shown just below the pCars Dash logo. You will need to know this when running the pCars Transmitter application on the PC.

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Click on the "Shared Memory" interface setting so it turns green (if its not already green).

Step 3

Start the pCars Transmitter application using the shortcut on your desktop or through the Start Menu -> Programs -> Pocket Playground menu.

 

In the IP address field, enter the IP address that was on the startup screen of your device when you started the pCars Dash app as shown in the image above. 

 

If you are going to be running pCars Dash on multiple devices at the same time, you can enable the "Use Broadcast Mode" flag. 

 

Click the "Start Transmitter" button.

Note: Some Android devices have problems with broadcast mode, you can run the pCars Transmitter application multiple times instead (once for each device) if you have telemetry reliability issues while using broadcast mode.

Step 4

Once you have clicked the Start Transmitter button as per the previous step, the pCars Transmitter app will change to show an animated transmission icon and it will say Transmitting... 

 

You can stop the transmitter app at any time by clicking "Stop Transmitter" or by exiting the program by clicking the [x] in the top right corner.

 

Note: The pCars Dash application will only receive telemetry data when the pCars Transmitter is transmitting.

Step 5

Once you have started the pCars transmitter the status on the startup screen of the pCars Dash app will change from "Waiting for Transmitter Signal" to "Waiting for Project Cars to start". This indicates that the pCars transmitter and pCars dash applications are communicating successfully.

 

If your pCars Dash application still says "Waiting for Transmitter Signal" then you should check your Wireless connection and ensure that both your PC and device are both connected to the same Wireless network. You can also try enabling the broadcast mode flag before starting the transmitter, as this will broadcast to all devices on the same network meaning if your IP address is wrong it should still detect the signal. 

Step 6

Start Project Cars. From the main menu screen, click on the right side to scroll over to the second part of the menu where the "Help & Options" button is and click on it.

Select Visuals from the options menu

Click the Hardware tab in the top right corner

Find the setting called "Use Shared Memory" and set it to "Yes"

Click the < arrow in the top left corner to save your changes

Shared Memory Mode setup is complete and ready for you to start racing.

Troubleshooting

Updated news regarding pCars Dash and PS4 / XBox1

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As of Project CARS Patch 7.0, console players will be able to use pCars Dash version 2.1+ and any other 3rd party companion app that has added support for the new UDP streaming option. There is a dedicated thread to this of the Project Cars forum here

Important Notice to users with Android or Windows Phone 8 devices: Some Android and Windows Phone 8 devices will not work with the new broadcast UDP stream interface. If you have one of these devices and you play Project CARS on PS4 or XBox1 then you will not be able to use this or any other 3rd party companion app. This is a networking restriction imposed by the manufacturer of your device, it is outside the control of myself and Slightly Mad Studios. Project CARS PC users with one of these problematic android devices can use the Shared Memory interface via the pCars Transmitter which will work fine as it can use the direct address of your device instead of a broadcast. 
Some manufacturers have released firmware updates which do resolve this issue, so please ensure you have the latest firmware and OS updates installed on your device.
A list of devices that are known to work and not work with Direct Mode are published on the pCars Dash thread on the official Project Cars forum. This list will grow as we receive reports of problems or success with different device models used by the community.

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Direct Mode (UDP) - Troubleshooting Tips

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  • Verify that your device is connected to the same Wifi network as your PC / XBox1 / PS4.

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  • Verify that your wireless devices are connected using the same Wifi frequency (2.4Ghz or 5Ghz) as your PC / XBox1 / PS4 if that is also connected wirelessly.
     

  • Verify that you have enabled the UDP setting in Project CARS (Options->Gameplay) and it is set to a suitable value (eg 4). 

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Shared Memory - Troubleshooting Tips

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  • IMPORTANT: To all Android users, please ensure that you are running pCars Dash v1.8 or higher. If you are on an earlier version then you may experience telemetry issues. You will need to also upgrade your pCars Transmitter if you also upgrade your pCars Dash version.
     

  • IMPORTANT: A number of Android devices have experienced issues with the telemetry data stopping during use, or starting and stopping intermittently. If you are experiencing this problem, please turn OFF the "Use Broadcast Mode" flag in the pCars Transmitter. You must then make sure that the IP address you have entered in the IP Address field in the pCars Transmitter matches the IP address shown when you first start the pCars Dash app. 
     

  • IMPORTANT: Do NOT have Jumbo Frames / Jumbo Packets enabled on your PC's network adapter as this may cause a loss of telemetry in Multiplayer sessions or single player sessions with a reasonable number of opponents. The symptoms for this would be that the app works flawlessly when playing single player with no AI, but you lose telemetry when playing single or multiplayer sessions with a reasonable number of opponents. If you are unsure whether or not Jumbo Frames have been enabled, an article such as this explains how to enable it so can therefore also be used as a basis for how to check and disable it if required. The reason why jumbo frames usually does not work is that the hardware between your PC and the tablet/phone device you are using does not support it. For example a number of Wifi routers / access points do not support this feature and will therefore cut off the transmission once Jumbo Frames are sent from the PC (which occurs once you have a certain number of human or AI opponents in game as the amount of telemetry data that needs to be transmitted increases).
     

  • Verify that your device is connected to the same Wifi network as your PC and that you have specified the correct IP Address for your device in the IP Address field in the pCars Transmitter application.
     

  • Perform the following steps to try and isolate where your issue may be
    1. If you start the app on the device without the transmitter running, it should show the message "Waiting for Transmitter Signal"
    2. If you then load the pCars Transmitter on the PC and click "Start Transmitter", the app should change to say "Waiting for Project Cars to start.."
    3. If you then start Project Cars, by the time it gets to the menu the app should have changed to the vehicle page with the values showing as 0.
    4. If you then start a Time Trial (for example), the values will start showing as soon as you start driving. 

    If it stays at step 1 "Waiting for Transmitter" then it means that your Wifi connection between the PC and device is not working or you have specified the wrong IP Address. You could try tick the "Use broadcast mode" checkbox on the transmitter screen to see if this fixes your problem however a very small percentage of Android devices may have problems with broadcast mode resulting in the telemetry feed stopping between the PC and device.

    If it stays at step 2 "Waiting for Project Cars to start.." and you have started Project Cars, then it would indicate that the "Shared Memory" option is not enabled. See the steps for enabling Shared Memory on the pCars Dash page here to fix.

    If it goes to step 3 (automatically, not by clicking the screen) then it should go to step 4 without any problems once you start driving. If it does not do this and you are using the "Broadcast Mode" option in pCars Transmitter, please try disabling "Broadcast Mode' and set the IP Address to the correct IP of the device to see if this resolves your issue.

    Note: You must be running Project Cars on the same Windows PC that you are running the pCars Transmitter on. 

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General Troubleshooting Tips

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  • Android device says "App license could not be verified with Google Play!" when starting the app. Check that your device is connected to the internet. Check that your date/time and time zone settings are accurate. If the time is different to the google play servers by too much then it will cause this error. It is recommended that you let the device synchronise its time from the Internet. If neither of the options above help, you may have an outdated version of Google Play Store and/or Google Play Services. See the troubleshooting tip below with regards to fixing these services.
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  • java.lang.SecurityException: Neither user <userid> nor current process has com.android.vending.CHECK_LICENSE. This error will occur if your device is stuck with an old version of Google Play Store. You can fix this by completely uninstalling Google Play Store and reinstalling it, alternatively go to Apps -> Play Store -> Clear data and then do the same for Google Play Services. After that launch Google Play Store, set it up and wait for update.

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  • Power off the device completely (on Apple devices, hold the power button until it comes up with "Slide to Power Off", then use the slider to switch it off). Wait for 10 seconds or so, then power the device back up. Wait for it to completely load and then start the application.

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