Blurriness - ideas of what's causing it?

[John_Cillis 2,406]

That is blurry--it's always very good to have a jpg as sometimes blurry is very subjective. I am not sure what the issue is, but I know you can achieve much more--these shots were done on a P3/800 with Add-On mesh:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=249140&page=My texture entries are pretty small:TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=2.0TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=3.500000If you search on my name you'll also find a thread I opened on the texture bandwidth settings and how locking fps is essential to getting them to work right. I hope some of that helps. Last, any background task can throw off MSFS's ability to keep up--you need to closely examine your system and eliminate background processes--such as leaving Anti_virus software off when running the sim. Years ago I found Nortan a huge drag on MSFS, as an example. Some keyboard managers (that let you adjust volume or tap into a website from preprogrammed buttons on your keyboard) can also really drag MSFS into the dumps.-John

[Guest PARADISE]

You may have to start over. By that I mean, make a copy of your fs9.CFG file then delete the original file. When you restart FS9 it should build a new CFG file. Then make your tweaks one at a time to see which ones work best for your system. John is right in saying that your Terrain Default/Extended Radius values look too high. Mine are set at Default Radius = 3.50000 and Extended Radius at 4.00000 with FPS locked at 22. Check your Display settings within FS9 and make sure they are within values that your system can handle.John M

[normada 0]

Also very important is regulary defragmentation of your harddisk. FS9 tends to spread the files all over the harddisk in every session. I use a defragmentation software from O&O-Software, as the build in defrag software from WinXp doesnt make a good job.O&O defrags the harddisk with different modes which sorts your file by name, date of modified or accessed. I use the mode called Complete/Name, cause the bgl files from FS9 have a alphanumeric names.Hope this helps.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"Also very important is regulary defragmentation of your harddisk. FS9 tends to spread the files all over the harddisk in every session."Need to get a basic law of computer science across--the core set of MSFS files don't get spread all over the HD once they are installed and/or during sessions. Only files that are written to during a session stand a chance of getting spread across sectors--and those aren't the type of files that MSFS is fetching when it reads scenery. Once scenery or an aircraft is installed, there it stays unless you modify it in some way. That's true of applications in general. Some add-ons may store and update dynamic data in a file, but that's not the case with scenery, an aircraft panel, or aircraft mdl. I only defrag if I write major volumes of data to the hard drive, such as after a hefty scenery install. Installs like that don't come up often and given my humble system it slides by alright without much interference on my part. Scenery blurring like that shown in this thread is likely caused by something else. If the member hasn't defragged in ages, it's worth a try--I am not saying never defrag. But if the member's defragged since MSFS was installed, chances are those files aren't going to be optimized by another one.-John

[normada 0]

Then you might explain to me why after a complete/name defragmentation and starting FS9, flying some hours and analyze the harddisk, my harddisk is defragged again, Dr. Prof John.I didn´t say that the bgl files are spread all over the harddisk, instead i tried to tell that member that organizing the files by name on the harddisk, access time will be improved and this will help to fight against the blurries. If the simulation tries to read a texture file but spends alot of time searching the corresponding bgl file, i think this will lead to blurries.And it is not just me who suggests to regulary defrag the harddisk, nearly all developers and others even here on Avsim suggest defragmentation.Ron

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"my harddisk is defragged again, Dr. Prof John."Look, I wasn't trying to be a wise *ss with you, so why don't you quit your act please. It's my business--been in it two decades. Don't take my post out of context, I was quite clear in saying that I wasn't preaching "don't defrag". But facts are facts--once a static file has gone thru a defrag, it doesn't have to go thru it again unless that file changes or is overwritten. Edit: Lest you take that quote out of context (petty name calling tends to get me peeved), I should point out that the baseline MSFS scenery and textures should never, ever--did I say never? change unless someone has a penchant for trying out new scenery textures at every turn. -John

[Mike T 208]

Hi John:Actually, quite the inverse from your previous advice re: defragging. The real villan here is your Windows PF getting fragmented. MSFS makes good use of virtual memory to load and swap textures in and out, ergo, scenery stutters. If indeed, the PF becomes fragmented, and it will, PF performance stutters and, by association, graphics within MSFS becomes suboptimal.Apropos: blurries, stutters and other subpar performance behavior is inexorably linked, in many regards, to lack of disk defragmentation. Furthermore, disk optimiztion, i.e. optimal placement of files on the platter for faster retrieval can help MSFS.Of course, defragmentation and disk optimization means nothing if the abovementioned scenarios don't apply.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"...the real villan here is your Windows PF getting fragmented"But the Prefetch is not a cache. It creates an index to the location of files (in this case MSFS) and order in which they load. Prefetch isn't the same as virtual memory, and virtual memory shouldn't be getting used unless Ram is exausted--and almost always having applications running in the background like what I cite in my first reply can have that effect. And as noted earlier I am not arguing against optimizing the HD after install of MSFS or a major scenery install--it just shouldn't need to be done on a frequent basis. Edit--and it's usually not the cause of "blurries in extremis". -John

[Guest PARADISE]

Tom,Just some more suggestions. You state that you think it might be something you have installed recently. If that's the case, do a system restore to a point before before you did the install and see if it still occurs. If you do not have a restore point at that time then uninstall that software(s) completely, defrag your system and run a disc clean up. Check MSFS and see if it still occurs. You may also want to check the hard disc for errors while you're at it. But, try the restore point first. Try to always create a restore point before installing any software and/or updates.The other suggestion is to tinker with your settings in FS9 itself, ie-Display: scenery,hardware,texture setting etc.Hope this helps John M

[Mike T 208]

:-) PF=Pagefile

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Thanks--people also use PF to describe the PreFetch and some get the prefetch confused with Virtual Memory--should have been obvious to me you weren't but after a long day at work I plead fatigue. The PageFile should not be getting hit hard with MSFS, if at all, unless the system is deficient in RAM. Virtual Memory is supposed to be used as the Ram's exhausted. MSFS uses a lot of Ram, but should not tax a system to that extent--so essentially my opinion's unchanged and I still feel a defrag isn't the best solution here. -John

[Guest Muppet22]

Thanks for suggestions guys.I've now tried just about everything I can think of but still the problem remains.Just something I will accept and hopefully it will dissapear as quickly as it appeared!

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Since there's always a chance, had you tried the defrag? Also, have you considered setting the texture entries to a lower value (I found by experimentation that setting those to a value > 3.5 can really start soaking up Ram quickly).I also thought of another issue I was experiencing for months and had just wrote off to my system's age. I noticed over the course of a long session, MSFS would start using the page file and free Ram would drop by about one meg a minute. After an hour and a half, I'd run out of RAM and everything became stuttery. I remembered a thread discussing the Filemon tool, and how it was used to track down files that MSFS couldn't find. I learned that anytime MSFS had to search for a file, even if it found the file in elsewhere in the folder hierarchy, it caused the memory leak. Filemon identified what MSFS was looking for and the location it was scanning. I moved the files to that location from where I had saved them, and my sim was transformed. Now memory usage is consistent and has never increased above 250 megs.There also is a tool out there called HijackThis, which is nice because it can save a list of running processes that you can paste into the group. If time permits, it would be worth it for you to submit the list here. A lot of trouble can be diagnosed by simply scanning what's happening behind the scenes.-John

[normada 0]

Tom, i also recommend to have a look into your display properties of your graphic card and verify that the performance slider there is set to high quality and not to high performance etc. I would provide the english terms for this but i´m on a german winxp and therefor i don´t know the english terms.I had strange blurries with an non default aircraft by switching on the panel lights, happens only during dusk or dawn, the problem here had something to do with a nightlighting texture of the non default aircraft.What are your mipmaps settings within FS9 ? I recommend something above 4 and also switch to bilinear filtering.Hope this helps,Ron

[ctiger 49]

Tom,I have been reading the possible solutions with interest since I have a similar problem.. sometimes. I have also noticed same problem when I try to use FSX. Since it is not consistent, I went ahead and programed a key to refresh the scenery when the blurries appear. I do a "shift R" and textures will reappear normal. This may happen once or twice during flight.Although it doesn't cure the problem it does help.CarlDell E510. P4-3.4ghz, 2gram, 7600GS