TBM900 Panel Support
Deluxe TBM900 - Full Panel
Thanks for purchasing the Deluxe TBM900 panel by M9 Aviation! The fully built version of the panel utilizes an Arduino Mega 2560 as the interface board and can use RealSimGear, ArdSimX, or Mobiflight plugins to connect to X-Plane (the newer SimVim plugin is not compatible without a bunch of customization). The panel may also be driven by custom plugins or interfaces if customer desires. The fully built version comes pre-loaded with the RealSimGear firmware designed to work with the RealSimGear Plugin. As the processing board is an Arduino Mega2560, you can also choose to reload the firmware with any other Arduino compatible interface software, such as Mobiflight, Aviatek Connector, or SimVim.
** M9 Aviation does not support the use of software other than RealSimGear. If you choose to do so, all support for that must come from the authors of the chosen software.
Please note, while M9 Aviation and RealSimGear have a business relationship, RealSimGear does NOT currently provide any support for the desktop version of this panel outside of permission to use the RSG Plugin. For all support related to this panel, please us via our website or Discord channel.
The instructions below cover the RealSimGear plugin installation.
New Installation
- Download the RealSimGear Plugin Installer
- Run the RealSimGear installer, and when asked for a product, simply choose "Other"
- Make sure to select your X-Plane base folder location when prompted
- Once the installer is done, the Plugin is installed
- Download the RealSimGear CommandMapping file
- Extract (unzip) the CommandMapping.ini file and copy it to the root of the TBM900 folder, ie "X-Plane 11\Aircraft\X-Aviation\TBM900 (it must simply be named CommandMapping.ini after copying).
Update the Firmware
If you have an existing TBM panel (Generation 2 with a small ELT switch), you can update the firmware to the RealSimGear version by following the instructions below.
- Download the XLoader application
- Extract the XLoader application to an easy to find location such as "Desktop"
- Download and extract the RealSimGear Firmware
- Copy/save the RealSimGear firmware to the same folder as XLoader (for ease in locating)
- Navidate to the XLoader folder and run Xloader.exe and allow for any security prompts that may show up
- You will now have a window that looks like this: =======================>>>>>>>>>>
- In the Hex file box, choose the 3 "..." button and select the file named "M9Aviation-RealSimGear-TBM900-v2.6.2.hex" (the file you downloaded in Step 3.
- In the Device box, choose Mega(ATMEGA2560)
- In the COM port box, choose the COM port that was assigned to the panel (if you are unsure, simply unplug the panel, look at the list, the plug the panel back in and look at the list again, your panel should show up as a new entry)
- In the Baud rate, choose 115200
- Ensure the TBM panel is connected via USB (and on the COM port selected in step 5)
- Click the Upload button. The upload should only take a few seconds and should end with a message about "xxx bytes uploaded"
- Install the RealSimGear Plugin by following the steps above under "New Installation"
At this point, the TBM panel and the plugin should be set. It should be noted, that while the panel was designed around the HotStart TBM900, the panel can be used with any Aircraft in X-Plane, subject to a custom CommandMapping.ini file being created. By default, the RealSimGear Plugin uses a default CommandMapping.ini file found in X-Plane 11\Resources\plugins\RealSimGear to control any aircraft that does not have a custom CommandMapping.ini defined (like you did above with the TBM version).
Start X-Plane and load the aircraft. Once fully loaded, the TBM panel should be active. You can check the status of the panel by navigating to Plugins > RealSimGear > Connected Hardware within X-Plane. This will open up a new window in X-Plane showing all the devices using the RealSimGear firmware (this panel will be on line 7).
Kit building help
Deluxe TBM900 Panel - Kit Version
Support Documents
See above in the DOWNLOADS section two documents:
- TBM Panel - Reference Images - This provides some images of the panel throughout the build process as well as clarification on pin orientation
