TapA321 0 Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Hi guys, I came across a really annoying problem just today on FSX. It involves the top menu with Flight, Options, View etc. when you press Alt in FSX. I like to use the "Flight analysis" map a lot while flying, particularly on IFR, but today for some reason, I pressed this mid-flight and it came up fine, but on leaving the window and going back to the FSX flight, I got some weird distorted views. The VC had disappeared, when I tried to change view, the aircraft was missing and it mucked up all the menu as well. The only option was to alt+f4 exit. This happened first of all while using the PMDG JS41. So when FSX had rebooted again, I started a test flight and opened the flight analysis window numerous times - no problems at all. So I thought it must have just been a small glitch. Next thing, started up a flight (this time with the FeelThere ERJ-145) - the same flight. This time I opened up the flight analysis before takeoff.. it was fine. However, during the flight, I opened it up again and same problem. Had to alt+f4. I am really confused by this. The last program that I installed to FSX was the FeelThere ERJ-145. That was on Friday, and since then I did a 2-3 hour flight to Ibiza in it, and had no problems whatsoever. I did however also install a livery today before I started FSX (from the PMDG website for the JS41.) After I had the problem with the ERJ flight, my Dad said that it could just be a glitch with the memory and the best thing to do would be to restart the PC and try again. So I restarted the PC and did the same flight in the ERJ. Flight analysis before takeoff. Opened the flight analysis window many-a-time mid-flight and also again at the end. Absolutely no problems - so I was relieved. But then I went to end the flight. Clicked on end flight, and then I clicked on continue flight, just to check to see if that caused any problems ... VC gone. Everything distorted again. So it's not just the Flight anaylisis, but any of the windows that takes you to a different menu. One other thing I've noticed. I can't say whether this is just a recent problem or not, but when I have a lot of clouds, if I change the view from VC to spot, the clouds disappear when I go back to VC and then gradually fade back into view after a few seconds. I can't tell if this is recent or not as this was the first cloudy flight I had really done since I got REX. Anyway, I hope I've made the problem clear, but I'm worried that nobody will have a solution. Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 I was thinking about this again - and the only thing I've altered in FSX since I noticed the problem was that livery from PMDG. Could installing a livery cause a problem like this? I also first noticed the problem while using that livery in a flight.. however the problem still remains even when using a different aircraft. Do you think it is worth removing the PMDG livery to see if it solves the problem? I suppose I would just remove the texture file and the entry into the aircraft.cfg? The annoying thing about this problem is it's really hard to test for. For example, it happened mid-flight one time - and then another time it worked fine for the whole flight until the very end... Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Hi George, This could be memory related, is the PMDG livery .dds format? if so that will be DXT file. If it is in .bmp 32bit format it will use more of your resources. Have a look in the texture folder and see if the file sizes are a lot bigger than the standard PMDG supplied livery textures. It could just be a rogue texture causing a memory leak, I have had similar problems in the past where one paint job just cause FSX to crash. Good luck Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Hi Joe, Thanks for the reply - the PMDG livery is in .dds format and the files are no bigger than the two standard liveries (except the thumbnail image is 20kb more) that came with the JS41. There's a difference in the aircraft.cfg entry. The other two liveries are labelled with "gallery=fore" and this one is labelled "gallery=aft". I have no idea what these lines mean but I presume they are something to do with "before and after"? When you said a texture caused FSX to crash, was that when you used that texture or did it happen whatever the aircraft? Another thing with this problem, Joe - it's never consistent... sometimes it's fine and sometimes it's not. I tested it again today and had no problems. However, it could be 5 mins and it goes weird if I open the flight analysis - it could be 10 hours before it starts doing it. My Dad thought that it was a memory problem too, because it wasn't just the aircraft that was distorted, the whole menu at the top (Flight,view etc.) .. all the text had disappeared, it had turned a different shade of blue, and was merging all over the screen. Please can I stress though that this wasn't just when I was using the PMDG aircraft - it also happened when using different aircraft. Do you think it's a good idea just to remove the texture and .cfg entry for that texture? Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted June 2, 2010 Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi George, It's worth a try but if it happens with other aircraft I doubt that is the cause. My only other thought is do you have any road traffic set? By that I mean the traffic traffic slider greater than zero? This is a known problem for memory leaks. I'm not sure what else to advise so hopefully we may get more ideas posted. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi Joe, All my traffic has remained the same settings for quite a long time now, and this has only happened recently. I could try changing it, but it's very hard to pin down what the problem might be. On the other hand, I haven't seen this problem now since when I first posted, but it's very hard to test for. It never happens if you start a flight and open up all the menus. It was only happening a good way into the flight or at the end. I normally use the flight analysis to check the flight progress and route on approach, which is a very irritating time for it to occur, because the whole flight has just been wasted without finishing. I'm not sure how much this may be related, but I've also noticed that my "addons" tab from the menu bar has disappeared. The only thing I've ever used this for is FS Recorder, and since I haven't used FS recorder for the best part of a month, I can't pin down when it was that that disappeared. However, from further research on google, this problem seems to be related to an error in the dll.xml file. From the things I've read on the internet, it seems that these problems seem to be related to something called Ivap as well as FS recorder, because people can't access the Add-ons menu from the menu tab. What I do know, though, is that the add-on menu was not visible when I did the flight from Exeter - Ibiza, when I had no problems at all with the flight analysis. However, I can't actually tell whether the flight analysis problem was actually occuring then - I may have just been lucky and it may not have occured for that flight. I did open the flight analysis at least 20 times during that flight, though. I know Soya uses the new ERJ by FeelThere, so I might ask him if he's had any problems in terms of add-ons menu disappearing etc. I really don't know if it is possible that this error in dll.xml could be related to the problem I am getting with the flight analysis, but it's so hard to tell what is the cause. Could you please tell me what you think about this problem in the dll.xml, Joe, and if you have any experience of such problems? Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted June 2, 2010 Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi George, Yes I have seen issues with the dll.xml file being overwritten. Back the file up first then open it in Notepad and look for this entry ( The dll.xml should be located in C:Users{YOUR NAMEAppDataRoamingMicrosoftFSX) FS Recorder Module False False C:Program Files (x86)FS Recorder for FSXRecorderFSX.dll .Addon> Insert this code just before .Document> If it doesn't exist then add it, the path to YOUR FS Recorder file may be different than mine. That will get your Addon menu back with FS Recorder on it. Cheers, Joe Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi Joe, Thanks for that reply I'm not quite sure where to place the line you've said to add. Here is what my whole dll.xml looks like. I'm quite sure there's some stuff missing... <?xml version="1.0"?> Launch dll.xml False False.ManualLoad> FS Recorder Module False False F:GamesFS AddonsFS RecorderRecorderFSX.dll .Addon> FeelThere ERJX Helper False FeelThereErjE145XH.dll .Addon> .Document> U Interestingly as well.. I have another dll.xml file from ages ago which was an automated backup before Ibiza X was installed. It was created back in Nov 09: I didn't have FS recorder installed at this point, by the way: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> Launch dll.xml False False.ManualLoad> Object Placement Tool True False ..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKMission Creation Kitobject_placement.dll .Addon> Traffic Toolbox True False ..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKEnvironment KitTraffic Toolbox SDKtraffictoolbox.dll .Addon> Visual Effects Tool True False ..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKEnvironment KitSpecial Effects SDKvisualfxtool.dll .Addon> .Document> There's quite a big difference... Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted June 2, 2010 Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi George, Yes in your original file you have the SDK stuff that appears on the Tools menu. In your new file you already have the FS Recorder entry there but there is a "U" character at the end of the file, get rid of that. It looks as though the file was not merged correctly with the previous version when some software was installed. If you have anything else missing from the menus then re-install the software and it should update this file if it needs to. One thing I find strange is that you don't have FSUIPC installed as there is no entry for it, that could impact on some 3rd party programs not showing as well. Get the free copy here http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html version 4.60 is the lastest for FSX. So in conclusion it does look as though this file has been corrupted in the past. Get rid of that U Install FSUIPC (FS recorder is already done) Change the schema information at the top of the file to and see how it goes. Please make sure you are happy to take these actions and backup anything you are worried about, usual disclamers Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Thanks for that advice, Joe. I will have a go at this when I have time a little later on. I will edit this post to let you know how it went. Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Joe, This is what the dll.xml now looks like. I created backups of both the two and then sort of merged them together.. using the old backup as a basis to add the new add-ons to. It opens properly in internet explorer now and looks a lot healthier: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> Launch dll.xml False False.ManualLoad> Object Placement Tool True False ..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKMission Creation Kitobject_placement.dll .Addon> Traffic Toolbox True False ..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKEnvironment KitTraffic Toolbox SDKtraffictoolbox.dll .Addon> Visual Effects Tool True False ..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKEnvironment KitSpecial Effects SDKvisualfxtool.dll .Addon> FS Recorder Module False False F:GamesFS AddonsFS RecorderRecorderFSX.dll .Addon> FeelThere ERJX Helper False FeelThereErjE145XH.dll .Addon> .Document> This has now fixed the FS recorder problem with that not appearing.. and with a bit of luck it may have fixed the flight analysis menu problem. Further investigation and testing will only find that out. In terms of what to do next, I need to find out if any entries that should be in here are missing. I need to find out of any entries are needed for: - PMDG JS41 - REX - Wilco/FeelThere E170/190 - Any of my scenery addons Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted June 2, 2010 Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi George, Good work, that is looking a whole lot better. The flight analysis menu problem may be cured by installing FSUIPC ? REX definitely doesn't have an entry, neither does the E170/190 as I have them. Not sure about the PMDG JS41, Rob may be able to help you with that one. Other scenery areas, unlikely to write to the dll.xml. Most of the entries are for linking external programs into the FSX interface whilst it's running. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
TapA321 0 Posted June 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2010 Hi Joe, I think I will leave FSUIPC uninstalled for the moment, just to see how things go. I haven't had that problem with the flight analysis, so fingers crossed, it will stay away! If the problem pops up again, I will definately install FSUPIC. Unfortunately, I caught Rob at a really bad time with the PMDG enquiry, as he's just in the middle of upgrading to windows 7 and has wiped everything! (Good luck with the installation, Rob!) Thanks for all the help, Joe. I feel pleased that I've come out of the surgery with a healthy dll.xml file now, anyway! Cheers, George Link to post Share on other sites
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