Some updates for those with a CTD problem.....

[Guest Goreb]

Hello again! Since my last posting I have again had to remove the Queen and the PMDG 737's, using the "PMDG 737 remove" tool for the latter and the Windows remove programmes system for the former. [No. 2 below explains the problem]. THANK YOU to "Support" for resetting my validations so that I don't have to ask each time! Removals and reinstalls are a daily event now! Hopefully not for long! Will this help? I have discovered that... 1. If I follow the "cleaning" procedure recommended in the above main post and then reinstall the PMDG 737s and the 747 in the correct order the 747 and all the others work PERFECTLY, flying, autoland, etc. 2. If I have ANY addon liveries installed in 737's or 747 I getsudden blanking of all "glass cockpit" screens in both 2d and virtual cockpit views of the 747. Only the complete cleaning/removing/reinstall process given above restores normal functioning. 3. Using a programme such as "Enditall" before running the PMDG 747 causes the 747 to CTD on loading. Presumably some of the features of windows that Enditall closes are essential to the proper running of the PMDG 747. (When I made the last test flight I inadvertently left ALL my windows programmes running, even Zone Alarm and AVG antivirus and the Queen still performed faultlessly!) Hope this input helps! Chocks Away Chaps! Gordon Webb (FSUG-UK member)

[Tabs 2,790]

Gordon, check out the Render to Texture issue in Captain Randazzo's latest post, sounds like what's happening to you.

[Guest Goreb]

>Gordon, check out the Render to Texture issue in Captain>Randazzo's latest post, sounds like what's happening to you.Thanks for tip, but on checking the suggestions re cleaning out before reinstall cannot find reference to "Render to Texture".Everything still working OK with original PMDG textures.Gordon

[Guest fschermo]

Hi,I'm very frustrated with the behaviour of my latest purchase fromPMDG.Constant Trouble due to system crash.Here some facts,Used to fly PMDG 737/FS2002, no probs, i really enjoyed the way of flying.Then came out the big bird and I went for it.Had to buy FS9 first,since required for the 747-400.Therefor I have allready an absolut clean FS9 Installation, no addonsor anything like this,The 747-400 should be the latest SW-version since it was only purchasedon 3rd Dec 05.The system just keeps crashing without any clear reason,I couldn't evendescribe a pattern when it most likely would happen.Sometimes it crashes during flight prep, sometimes during takeoff,sometimes in the middle of the flight.I can't see that any measures you recommend would make any difference,see above.When will it be fixed?Fred

[Guest rvdlaak]

I had a problem with the Queen in that it kept crashing at odd times (after the update). twice it crashed due to overstress on the same flight. I removed the FS setting to prevent damage to the aircraft. This seems to solve that issue, but then on finals at EDDF, it did a CTD. I never experienced a CTD before the update, so I figured I would uninstall the queen (crom the crontol panel) and reinstalled it.Now I get a CTD when I select the queen from the FS list.No idea why, but my application log shows this:"Faulting application fs9.exe, version 9.1.0.40901, faulting module pmdg_747400_main.gau, version 1.0.0.0, fault address 0x00174d08."Any ideas?cheers,Ronniehttp://ronnie.vandelaak.com/baw644.gif

[Guest rvdlaak]

OK - fixed that problem I metioned by removing the pmdg_747400_main.gau file.(a search found it in H:Microsoft GamesFlight Simulator 9Gauges)I then rerun the install, and chose repair, after whih a new gau file was placed in there. that works and I no longer get the CTD when I load the plane ....Hope this helps,cheers,Ronniehttp://ronnie.vandelaak.com/baw644.gif

[Guest UPS009]

> 3. Using a programme such as "Enditall" before running>the PMDG 747 causes the 747 to CTD on loading. Presumably some>of the features of windows that Enditall closes are essential>to the proper running of the PMDG 747. (When I made the last>test flight I inadvertently left ALL my windows programmes>running, even Zone Alarm and AVG antivirus and the Queen still>performed faultlessly!)I have a lot of the WindowsXP services turned off manually. Does anyone know which serice it might be if any that the 747 needs to run properly. This is not a factor with the original release, just the 1.10 update.Dan Moore

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Fred->I can't see that any measures you recommend would make any>difference, see above.>When will it be fixed?The problem is your installation, it is not the 747. We have run hundreds and hundreds of scenarios based upon user input, and worked on dozens of user machines.In ALL CIRCUMSTANCES we have found that users have an unending stream of junk installed with FS- and that this triggers CTDs when using higher hend simulations that tax the capabilities of their system and/or MSFS.If you have taken the time to read through the suggestions we make- and you feel that they will not work- then we are unable to assist you.As the user- you must accept responsibility for your system- it's care, maintenance and upkeep. If you read many of the threads related here in the forum you will find that users are coming to find that many freeware modules and some commercial addons that they have purchased are triggering errors with their other addons.We can help most users find the source of these problems- but not when the start of the conversation includes the concept that you won't take the time or effort to examine your own installation.

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Captains-We have spent a considerable amount of time and energy focused on this errant CTD problem that's been reported by a few of you. I thought I'd give you an update and try to re-align the conversation a bit- as the previous thread was starting to fill with some information that wasn't well graded on the accuracy scale. ;-)Okay- quick review:Yes- we are still working on it- and we are quite concerned about it primarily because we are unable to duplicate the problem and it is happening to only a very small group of you. (currently estimated at about 1/4 of 1%.... but CTDs are CTDs and we don't like them because they completely inhibit your ability to enjoy the airplane.Some things we know:====================-> If you have a pirated copy of the airplane- you will have some problems. Merry Christmas.-> If you have a pirated copy of FSUIPC- you will have some problems. Merry Christmas.-> We have found that having folks thoroughly clean their FS9 installation helps about 75% of folks having problems. I may update the installer to do most of this work for you since the results are not noticable to the end user. (You'd have to do the FS9.CFG yourself- as it simply isn't helpful for us to do that for you...)I will re-include the cleaning instructions at the conclusions of this post- for those who need them.Some things we are looking into:================================-> A bunch of you have reported to us that a CTD can be averted by muting MSFS while FS is loading the 747-400. This leads us to some confusion as there were not a significant number of changes made to sounds during the update. We are in the process of catalogueing all the changes that were made that might have had ANY impact on sounds however- as this does appear to be a clue.-> If you start deleting sound files- you are going to induce a CTD. Please don't do that. ;-)-> We are in the process of working closely with a few of you in order to trouble shoot "live" on your machines in order to see if we cannot determine the problem right on your box. If we succeed in finding a "gotcha!" on one of your machines- it will greatly assist us in rapidly resolving the problem for others.-> We are not seeing a clear pattern of outdated drivers/FS issues. Nor are we seeing anything that is clearly defineable as an issue with the 747-400. If we were- we'd have many thousands of you reporting this problem, not just a very few.... So we are puzzled.Some things we need:====================-> The calm and deliberate feedback of the past few days has been extremely helpful. Please keep the information flow coming- and thank you again for keeping it conversational. It's always easie for us to find and resolve problems when we get honest, timely feedback without any yelling!-> We are reaching out to a few of you because we see things that we want to look at more closely. Please don't email us to volunteer- we are looking for specific things in feedback that can help us.... (Don't call us- we'll call you! In a nice, way- of course!)-> We need 1 or 2 brave souls to completely remove FS9 and all of their installed addons- the reinstall JUST fs9 and the -400. (Without a single other addon installed....) If you can do this- please let us know via this thread and we'll get in touch with you. (okay- ignore what i said about volunteering in the previous paragraph...) If we are able to see you running in this configuration we are going to have you re-install your addons in a specific order to see if we cannot induce the failure in a controlled environment. (Yes- we ARE sniffing down a specific trail!)Okay- for those who haven't done this yet- here are the "FS9 Cleanout Instructions." Please try them before anything else:1) Load FS9, and make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you are not launching the sim into a saved flight that uses the 747-400. (Save a new startup situation if needed.)2) Uninstall the PMDG 747-400 using the ADD/REMOVE products menu in Windows.3) Go to FS9/MODULES and delete PMDGOptions.dll4) Go to WINDOWS CONTROL PANEL, select FOLDER OPTIONS, click on the VIEW tab, then select "Show hidden files and folders" 5) Go to C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftFS95a) Delete FS9.cfg (Don't be smart and try to save it- just delete it!)6) Go to C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftFS9AIRCRAFTPMDG747-4006a) Delete the STATE.CFG file you find here.7) (stop- take a deep breath- then continue.)8) Run FS9. Spend a few moments going through and "re-setting" all of your various configuration preferences for resolution, etc. (DO NOT JUST RELOAD YOUR PREVIOUS FS9.CFG... FS slowly accumulates information in the FS9.CFG and eventually this accumulation of clutter can create problems... )9) Close FS9 when done, then rerun it again to ensure that all of your new settings have taken- and that you do not see any error messages about the 747-400, which is supposed to be uninstalled and not referenced by any save flights that you are loading accidentally. 10) Reload the -400. You can do this one of two ways:10a) Run your base installer, then run the V1.10 Update.10b) If you don't mind waiting a whole day, send an email to updateme@precisionmanuals.com and explain that you are experiencing the CTD problem- and we'll help you acquire the full version 1.10. (You may wait a day or possibly 36-48hrs here- so this is obviously not the recommended method!)11) Once the -400 is loaded, run FS. You should need to select the -400, since you should not be calling it automatically from a saved flight at this point.... (You can resave those once you are up and running.... but for now, please don't...)12) If you are now up and running, please drop by here to let us know.13) (Unlucky number here, notice that?) Navigate to your FS9/GAUGES directory, and tell us the time/date stamp on your PMDG747_xxxxxx.gau files (there are 4 of them)14) Navigate to your FS9/MODULES directory and tell us the time/date stamp on PMDGOptions.dll and FSUIPC.dll15) Navigate to FS9/AIRCRAFT/PMDG747-400 and tell us the time/date stamp on your aircraft.cfg file.Keep us posted folks, we are here to help you.

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Gordon-> 2. If I have ANY addon liveries installed in 737's or 747>I get>sudden blanking of all "glass cockpit" screens in both 2d and>virtual cockpit views of the 747. This indicates to me that something on your machine is triggering the fraud protection on the -400. If you are getting this while installing liveries- then I'll bet that something is amiss in the way you are installing them....You must use the aircraft.cfg installed by your installer. It contains and is watermarked to make it identifiable to the fraud protection system. If you replace the aircraft.cfg with one made by someone else- or one installed at a different time- it is going to fail.

[willywonka 36]

Tried the above. Doesn't work.1.02 works ok. 1.10 doesn't, either from universal updater or from full installer. .gau files were 12/1/05I can induce the crash though. Loading 744 from a dark cessna is ok and I can play with any buttons as long as the 744 is dark, but once I hit the BATT button--BOOM! Black out.I'm flying 1.02, but of course I'm missing about 70+ features and fixes.Preston

[Jure 36]

Captain,I am experiencing the same CTD problems and am currently working with Mr. Michael Greenblatt to fine tune my new system and eventually solve the 747 problem as well. I posted my specifications already, so I will just explain what I did so far.1. Reformatted my disk, added another SATA disk, running now in RAID0. 2. Bought a brand new Creative X-Fi sound card3. Bought powered USB hub for my controller(s).4. Thoroughly tested RAM 5. Installed FS9 and update (installed correctly!)6. Installed PMDG 747 (I have the all-in-one 1.10 version and both, original and update files.)7. I loaded the Queen, and my computer crashed after the loading was complete.At one point I managed to fly around when I pressed Q to mute the sound immediately after the loading was finished. After 10 minutes, I pressed Q again and that resulted in a crash. I have since installed the new sound card (see above) to no avail. AC97 is disabled.What I am trying to say is, that inspite a brand new system with no add-ons, the B747 still produced a crash. My system is apparently set up more or less correctly (I am sure Mr. Greenblatt's reputation is well known) and other complex add-ons I have since installed all work correctly. I have tried most suggestions found here in the forum and even cleaned the registry after an uninstall of the B747 (there were over 1000 Navdata entries orphaned in the registry). Now, I believe that the PMDG B747 might well be the most complex add-on for FS9 ever produced and that it cannot run on all PC's due to enormous variety in hardware. On the other hand, I have nothing special in the box: ASUS, AMD, ATI, Corsair and Creative are all well known and common. I am running out of ideas and will probably start from scratch again. Reformat, install windows and so on... if there is anything from your side, a suggestion, maybe an online session with support, anything... I am willing to cooperate. I've always had nothing but the best experience with PMDG and when I requested v1.1 and later reactivation of the B747 from support I got it without a problem. Thank you for that.I'm simply asking not to abandon the posibility that something in the code for the B747 is producing these CTD problems on SOME machines. On the other hand, crashing of the B747 might indicate that there's a problem on my (and other's) machine, I'll admit that much. :) Even if it is new.Thank you for reading. I am off my soapbox now. ;)Regards,Jure Dolanec

[Guest UPS009]

From reading all the messages, I'm wondering if it is a computer issue. Several users have done clean installs,both WinXP and FS9. Some have switched out sound cards and other hardware components. Fact:1. The CTD didn't start happening until the 1.10 was released. 2. Even a clean OS and FS9 install with 1.10 causes CTD for some.3. Earlier release works perfect for all those with CTD issues.4. Other software works without CTD.5. Following the procedures listed by PMDG did not fix the CTD's.I'm out of ideas as a few others are. I hope this will be figured out. Until then, see you in the friendly skies. :-)Dan Moore

[Guest lalo lolo1]

Worked!!! I followed all steps and everything runs well now.Just for the record. In case FSUIPC was making some king of trouble I changed it by an older version.Leo