Random 3-4 second graphic buffers-Please help!

[Guest johndtray]

Hi all,I have been having a strange problem recently in fs2004, which i cannot figure out-please help!What is happening is this:I am using the fs9 autostart program, which defrags my pc and stops idle tasks before entering the simulator, ensuring that my cpu is dedicated to performing well during the sim..However, when am on the ground i begin to get annoying buffer problems..All will be well, frame rates good, and all of a sudden, the graphics will begin to buffer, for what seems 3-4 frames almost like a stutter, then return completely to normal.I find that when this happens if i pause the simulator and attempt it again within 5 seconds its fine..This only happens when am on the ground,or during descent and landing, but NEVER during flight!Equally, i have brought up task manager to see my cpu stats when this happens. whilst running fs9 my cpu remains at a steady 45-50%- When this problem occurs, it shoots up to 90-100%(thus causing buffering) and then drops back down to normal..It has ust happened to me again, and in those few seconds it was happening, I went into task manager to see what processes were draining my systems performance, and found that when this problem occurs, the process 'system' goes from 0 on my cpu up to 50-60 thus causing my simulator to bufer then drops again, and the sim frame rate returns to normal..Would anyone know what causes this process 'system' to just flare up like this momentarily and drop just like that?I dont understand what causes it or why its happening..I hope i havent confused anyone....ANY help would be much appreciated..Like i say when this happens, all i have running is my wireless network(for activesky weather to operate from the net) copilot, fs9,and my sound, thats it..There are no other processes or software running in the background,apart from my graphics card ATI Catalyst panel, which uses no resources unless called up..PLEASE HELP!!Many thanks in advance..John

[irocx 292]

Hi John, Sounds to me like Windows doing it's thing, most likely explorer. I think the reason you only notice this close to the groundas opposed to "in-flight" is because it requires more cpu resources during that time (bigger, more detailed textures loading and an environment that is changing more frequently). I would suggest running Process Explorer from Microsoft SysInternals to find out what exactly is happening at that time. Process Explorer is like FileMon on steroids and will monitor much more activity. Download it here:http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx should you desire. Hope it helpsRegards, Kendall#1: E6750@3.2GHZ/Coolermaster HyperTX2 Gigabyte P35-DS3L 4GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers PC6400 Seagate 250GB 7200.10 SATA2 Gigabyte X800XT -Cat 6.12's CH Yoke/Pedals/Saitek Throttle Dual Monitor: Dell 2405/1905 #2: Dell 8400 3.2 H.T. 3GB PC4200 Diamond Xtreme/Logitech X-530's

[Guest johndtray]

Hi there!Many thanks for your suggestion.. I have now downloaded it, and discovered that the 'system' process is the general non expanded process made up of all system devices, meaning the problem lies with something within it..I will get the program running when in fs2004 to pinpoint the problem, and report back for any advice..Many thanks again,Cheers,John

[Guest RonB49]

Hi John,How long since you've updated your FSAutoStart FS9 profile? If you have added new programs or Windows, or your AV program, or anything else has added TSRs or other startup progrms since you created your profile, then the profile does not include an instruction to stop that new preocess. Check and see, it happened to me. R-

[Guest johndtray]

Hi there,Thanks for your reply-I check fsautostart nearly every day, and am very careful n prompt to notice if any entires change..That is how i know that all entries within it are ok..The problem seems to be happening when the process 'system' randomly shoots up to 50 or 60% of my cpu resources for 3-5 seconds then drops back down again..exactly what is causing this is a mystery, perhaps an overheating graphics card? i really dont know,id sooner go out n buy a new machine to ensure max reality tbh!!lol

[Guest johndtray]

Hi all,Ok,please find within this thread the screenshots taken from the process explorer window showing what is actually running at the exact times that these frame buffers take place..Any advice or help would be much welcome...Cheers,J

[irocx 292]

Hi again John, Oy...I'm very sorry but I gave you the wrong name of the utility I suggested earlier. While Process Explorer (which you now have) will give you a good look at what tasks are running in the background, I meant to suggest using Process Monitor, which is a tool that will show you in real-time exactly what file system, registry and process/thread activity is occuring while you fly. I would use this to see what Windows is actually doing in the background when your stutters occur. Here is the download page: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysintern...essmonitor.mspx Give it a whirl and I hope something will jump out at you to solve your problem. Sorry again for the confusion.Regards, Kendall#1: E6750@3.2GHZ/Coolermaster HyperTX2 Gigabyte P35-DS3L 4GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers PC6400 Seagate 250GB 7200.10 SATA2 Gigabyte X800XT -Cat 6.12's CH Yoke/Pedals/Saitek Throttle Dual Monitor: Dell 2405/1905 #2: Dell 8400 3.2 H.T. 3GB PC4200 Diamond Xtreme/Logitech X-530's

[Guest johndtray]

Hey, I gave that utility a try, but it didnt pick up anything untoward, all appeared normal, so i have reformatted my machine, and reloaded EVERYTHING frm scratch back onto it. Although this has eliminated the majority of buffers itas still happening upon taxi in, taxi out and upon descent and landing.Its really starting to annoy me. If i have reformatted my machine and its still happening, could this mean that i have a graphics card problem or a memory problem? It almost seems as though my machine is running out of memory when it buffers which at 1gig it really shouldnt be doing!Please help me before i throw this machine out the window.John

[Guest Nealoc187]

john, did you ever get a resolution to your problem? I have the exact same issue except that mine will happen during enroute flight too. I'll be tooling along at 30fps then for 3-4 seconds my screen will turn into a "slideshow" meaning that it's down to like 1fps, you can see the actual screen refreshing, then it will go back to normal, locked at 30fps. happens every few minutes.I too shut down basically everything that would be running in the background. The only things running are my FS, utilities, and network, though it does not seem to make any difference whether i shut all the extraneous processes down or not.

[gwillmot 31]

>john, did you ever get a resolution to your problem? I have>the exact same issue except that mine will happen during>enroute flight too. I'll be tooling along at 30fps then for>3-4 seconds my screen will turn into a "slideshow" meaning>that it's down to like 1fps, you can see the actual screen>refreshing, then it will go back to normal, locked at 30fps. >happens every few minutes.>>I too shut down basically everything that would be running in>the background. The only things running are my FS, utilities,>and network, though it does not seem to make any difference>whether i shut all the extraneous processes down or not.EXACTLY what is happening to me also....although the period of time between episodes is longer than what you are experiencing.gwillmot

[Guest Nealoc187]

>>john, did you ever get a resolution to your problem? I>have>>the exact same issue except that mine will happen during>>enroute flight too. I'll be tooling along at 30fps then for>>3-4 seconds my screen will turn into a "slideshow" meaning>>that it's down to like 1fps, you can see the actual screen>>refreshing, then it will go back to normal, locked at 30fps.>>>happens every few minutes.>>>>I too shut down basically everything that would be running>in>>the background. The only things running are my FS,>utilities,>>and network, though it does not seem to make any difference>>whether i shut all the extraneous processes down or not.>>EXACTLY what is happening to me also....although the period of>time between episodes is longer than what you are>experiencing.>gwillmot>what are your system stats. for reference, in case anyone wants to know I'm running the following:ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA motherboardIntel E4400 dual core overclocked to 2.92ghz1.5GB Corsair Valueselect PC3200 (800mhz)ATI X850Pro 256mb overclocked very slightly, latest catalyst drivers1680x1050x32 resolutionI've tried AA and AF both off and at 2x (each) and I can't detect any change, it seems to happen either way.I have tons of add ons GE Pro, UT, lots of AI traffic, RC4, AS6.5, etc so there is a lot of stuff going on. I also only fly add on planes so I don't know if the added computing stress of a plane like an F1 ATR, or Dreamfleet A36 RXP has anything to do with it, or if this is purely a graphical issue.

[Guest johndtray]

Hi guys!Good to hear from you..I racked my brains day and night for over a month- Reformated my machine several times, but could nt get rid of the ag- THEN i hit the forums....It turns out that my problem was down to 2 things:The first was definite the 2nd merely a suspicion maybe coincidence?!..As i am running fs2004 on an Acer Aspire laptop, i have never before had problems and ALWAYS ran everything smoothly despite graphic settings etc..Yet, when i began having this problem i also noticed that my laptop keyboard and surrounding areas were getting hot..So i began looking on Acer Aspire forum entries across the net, and discovered that there is a known problem with Acer laptops when performing high demand applications. These apps, normally require the hard disk to be performing/spinning on max, and i have never cleaned out my laptop of dirt..To cut a long story short, i turned my lappie over,took the fan out where woe and behold there was about 5cm of compressed dust built up onto the extractor griddle..Having cleared this out,and air sprayed it, i then rebooted my pc,and ran FS2004. The problem was solved. It appears that whilst trying to run the game, my pc was simply overheating as the hot air from the HD could not be vented out and as such was blowing around the motherboard and processor and graphics card instead, heating them up, and causing them to respond in the manner i described above..The 2nd thing i did was the following: having solved this problem my game was still a little jittery. So i ran spyware and antivirus scans on it and run a program called defraggler (superb, and its free! download it!) to defrag my hard drives properly- having ran the defraggler and disposed of the junk, i then ran fs2004 again, and was still jittery. So i booted up XP in safe mode, and having done so, proceeded to clear ALL but the last restore point- This clears out any virus or spyware still recorded on the HD from an earlier restore point, which may now no loner be on the current system :)I rebooted- reran the simulator- And EVERYTHING is back to normal!!So to sum up: my problem appeared to be overheating: check your computers vents and clear out air outlets/inlets making sure your computer can 'breathe and pant' when its hot,then run the defraggler, and clear out system restore points IN SAFE MODE, then run the game again.It sorted it for me, hopefully itll work for you!Please update the thread when you have tried the above and let me know how it all went- remember there may be more than one vent on your pcs so check well!Hope this helps!John