I think my Carenado plane is the one causing my problems, but how can I confirm this for sure?

QUESTION:
I think my Carenado plane is the one causing my problems, but how can I confirm this for sure?

 
ANSWER: 
X-Plane is a complex sim, running on 3 different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux), in 2 modes: 32-bit and 64-bit.  Carenado planes use a plugin system that needs to match this ability to run on these platforms and modes.  

Carenado makes every effort to publish its products to work as advertised for the platforms and X-Plane versions they were released for.

However, there are some known negative interactions with other 3rd party add-ons and plugins. Sometimes, a plugin will also require the installation of dependencies, such as the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables.

So: quite often, a user may experience problems while flying in a Carenado plane, which is actually caused by interaction with another plugin, or even with scenery.  While Carenado makes every effort to cause no negative interactions with 3rd party add-ons, we cannot guarantee that other plugins and add-ons do the same.  

So, we recommend taking a step-by-step approach to confirm whether the problem is inherently Carenado's or whether it is caused by interactions with 3rd party add-ons.  To this end, please follow these steps:

1. Download a fresh demo version of the simulator from here:  
http://www.x-plane.com/downloads/x-plane_10_demo/

Or, if you wish to test this on X-Plane 9, get the v9 demo installer from here:
http://www.x-plane.com/downloads/older/

2. Install this demo somewhere on any available hard drive that has sufficient space, preferably in the top directory.  If you are going to create sub-folders, keep the names simple (no symbols), and don't go too deep, as this has been known to affect plugin loading on some systems.

3. X-Plane is created to make it possible to have several simultaneous installations of the sim, which are completely independent of each other.  So: you can leave your old installation intact, and there's no need to fear negative interactions between the two installations of the sim.  

4. Please keep the demo installation clean.  I.e, no Aerosoft scenery, no plugins, no other add-ons, not even hardware should be added at this time.  

It might be a good idea to compress or zip up this clean installation of X-Plane, so that you can have a backup copy of it, and don't have to re-install it from the web, the next time you want to perform a clean test like this with other add-ons.  If you do so, make sure you run the updater the next time you do a clean sim test, just to make sure you're running the latest version of the sim.

5. Run X-Plane once, and make sure everything works as expected. Configure the rendering settings that work best for your system, and make sure you disable other planes from flying. (Under "Aircraft>Aircraft & Situations, set "number of aircraft" to 1). For now, only use mouse and keyboard to fly.

6. Install the Carenado plane you're having difficulties with, simply by copying it into the folder of your choice.  Fly around the demo area with it, and confirm that it works.  If it DOESN'T work as you expect, please submit a support request, and make sure you attach the log.txt file to your support ticket. This file is located in X-Plane's top directory, and should reveal any errors and/or problems that may arise.  

7. If it DOES work as expected, and you are NOT experiencing any of the negative effects that you experienced in your full version, you can assume that the problem you're having is caused by 3rd party add-on interactions.  Proceed to hooking up your hardware (Joystick, SAITEK panels, etc), and do another test flight, to confirm everything is still working as expected.  Repeat this process for scenery, plugins, and other add-ons, adding the ones that are installed in your main copy of the sim (you can simply copy them over), in the order of importance to you as a user. (E.g. if you cannot live without the "Checklister" plugin, then install that one first).  Make sure you test the plane between every new add-on installation, and keep an eye on the log.txt file.  

8. When the problem arises again, send us a support request, and make sure you attach the log.txt file.  This will help us narrowing down the issue, and recommend workarounds.  Also, it may help the other 3rd party developer release a possible fix to the problem it's causing.