Problem with ATC FS9/FS2004

[Guest KazperNZL]

HelloThis is my first post in the AVSIM forum, I have recently run into a brick wall :( with regards to using ATC in Flight Simulator 2004 A Century of Flight aka FS9. On my desktop.Anyway ATC was working nicely until last night when it stopped working as expected. The problem:When I press the "tilde ~" key the ATC window opens, and I can hear and see "text" ATC broadcasts from other AI aircraft. But I do not see any menu options to confirm with ATC what I wish to do. If I press "1" knowing thats what I would normally do. Request a departure straight out. This works and is acknowledged by Ground.My problem basically is no ATC menu options in the ATC window. I've attached a screen shot of the problem.FYI I have uninstalled Flight Sim, and re-installed from the box in its out of box state. Yet the problem still occurs. I installed FS onto my laptop and Menu Options are working on my laptop.

[Opa 6]

Just a shot in the dark -When you uninstalled FS2004 did you also check and remove any "left over " files such as the FS9.cfg file (which is hidden by default) ?? The un-install would not have removed it.If not, and if the problem is related to a bad entry in the FS9.cfg, then a new install would still use the old FS9.cfg file and the problem would persist.Try renaming your present FS9.cfg file (use a BAK or ORIG extension) and FS2004 will rebuild a fresh new one when you start up again.Sometimes a fresh FS9.cfg file will correct strange issues such as this - no guarantees though.FYI - in a default installation the FS9.cfg file can be found here:C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9It is a hidden file so turn on "show hidden files and folders" when searching.Keep us posted!

[John Hinson 23]

In addition to Opa's suggestions I would also recommend trying a different screen resolution. That window displays text in different sizes and, in some cases, different fonts according to the screen resolution. It may be that for some reason it can't find the right system font for the present settings.John

[Guest KazperNZL]

Thank-you for taking a moment to try and help me with my ATC issues. I went into C:\Documents and Settings\Owen\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9 and renamed the "FS9.CFG" file I started FS again and the problem remains still no menu options in ATC window. I note that a new FS9.CFG file has been created.

Just a shot in the dark -When you uninstalled FS2004 did you also check and remove any "left over " files such as the FS9.cfg file (which is hidden by default) ?? The un-install would not have removed it.If not, and if the problem is related to a bad entry in the FS9.cfg, then a new install would still use the old FS9.cfg file and the problem would persist.Try renaming your present FS9.cfg file (use a BAK or ORIG extension) and FS2004 will rebuild a fresh new one when you start up again.Sometimes a fresh FS9.cfg file will correct strange issues such as this - no guarantees though.FYI - in a default installation the FS9.cfg file can be found here:C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9It is a hidden file so turn on "show hidden files and folders" when searching.Keep us posted!

Hello,Thanks also for your suggestion, I tried different resolutions 800x600, 1024x768 etc and yet the problem is still present.

Just a shot in the dark -When you uninstalled FS2004 did you also check and remove any "left over " files such as the FS9.cfg file (which is hidden by default) ?? The un-install would not have removed it.If not, and if the problem is related to a bad entry in the FS9.cfg, then a new install would still use the old FS9.cfg file and the problem would persist.Try renaming your present FS9.cfg file (use a BAK or ORIG extension) and FS2004 will rebuild a fresh new one when you start up again.Sometimes a fresh FS9.cfg file will correct strange issues such as this - no guarantees though.FYI - in a default installation the FS9.cfg file can be found here:C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9It is a hidden file so turn on "show hidden files and folders" when searching.Keep us posted!

[Guest KazperNZL]

Well I've just partitioned and re-formatted my hard disk, reinstalled Windows XP and re-installed FS9 and bugger me the problem is still there. I just can't understand why. There's only 2 constants throughout everything I've tried.1. My computer hardware2. The source CD-ROM from which I installed FS9I'm completely stumped! :( :( :(

[Opa 6]

I don't think you ever told us what Operating System you are using.Is it Vista perhaps? If so, you might try disabling "Desktop Composition".Not sure where that is done (possibly Right Click the Desktop) but seems doing that has resolved some display issues.Sure hope you find out what is happening - and soon!

[Guest KazperNZL]

HiyaRunning Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3. By my findings I have narrowed the problem down to just 2 constants:1. The computer itself2. The CD I'll installing from.I have changed everything else. The computer and CD-ROMs are only things that have not changed.A brief summary of what I've tried to date.1. Tried chaning the resolution on my desktop.2. Tried various resolution changes in game.3. Deleted and forced FS9 to rebuild FS9.CFG4. Deleted and copied over a fresh "language.dll" from the GAME FOLDER from the installation CD5. Copied over a good working copy of FS9 from my laptop. Where ATC works perfectly.6. Uninstalled my ATI Radeo 9600 Catalyst drivers and reinstalled new ones from AMD's website.7. Uninstalled FS9 rebooted and reinstalled FS9.8. Deleted my C: Partition and repartitioned formatted and reinstalled Windows XP Pro9. Reinstalled FS9 from out of box.And yet the problem remains. I get ATC sound, I get ATC text "yellow" and "Green" but still no MENU options to indicate to control what I want to do. At game start when I press 1 it tunes correctly to right frequency. and I press 2 for a straight out departure and this works. But no MENU options are seen.In conclusion I find it difficult to believe that my computer hardware is responsible for this problem. Yet my findings seem to indicate that they are. I'm installing FS9 on another desktop computer this afternoon to rule out the original installation CD's as being the cause of the problem. If ATC works on another desktop PC I have I'll know its my hardware that causing it.A + B = CBut at this time I am at a real loss as to explain why this happening let alone resolve it. I'm a computer engineer MS certified with 12+ years experience and to be honest I've never come across a problem quite like this one.Cheers.

I don't think you ever told us what Operating System you are using.Is it Vista perhaps? If so, you might try disabling "Desktop Composition".Not sure where that is done (possibly Right Click the Desktop) but seems doing that has resolved some display issues.Sure hope you find out what is happening - and soon!

[palafox 0]

6. Uninstalled my ATI Radeo 9600 Catalyst drivers and reinstalled new ones from AMD's website.

Not necessarily it's your case, but I had a similar issue with my previous box and it seemed to be related to the video card. In fact, I had an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro.Now, with a nVidia card, the problem has gone.JAMM

[Guest KazperNZL]

You might have something there, FS9 has in the past worked on my desktop box. With no issues at all. When I ask myself "Whats changed?" what comes to mind is the Video Card Drivers. As a test I'm going to try installing older ATI drivers that came on CD with the card. Perhaps this might solve the issue.

Not necessarily it's your case, but I had a similar issue with my previous box and it seemed to be related to the video card. In fact, I had an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro.Now, with a nVidia card, the problem has gone.JAMM

[Guest KazperNZL]

Problem Resolved! :( Uninstalled latest ATI Catalyst and Video Drivers, rebooted and Installed Orginal ATI drivers from ATI CDROM that came with video card.ATC is working as expected once more. See attached screen shot.I'm going to try stepping the video drivers up with later catalyst drivers in an attempt to see if I can have almost the latest drivers installed with ATC working normally. If all else fails I know I can always fall back to the version of ATI drivers that came with the video card.

[Opa 6]

That is fantastic news !! :( The inner workings of computers never ceases to amaze me. :(

[palafox 0]

Problem Resolved! :( Uninstalled latest ATI Catalyst and Video Drivers, rebooted and Installed Orginal ATI drivers from ATI CDROM that came with video card.ATC is working as expected once more. See attached screen shot.I'm going to try stepping the video drivers up with later catalyst drivers in an attempt to see if I can have almost the latest drivers installed with ATC working normally. If all else fails I know I can always fall back to the version of ATI drivers that came with the video card.

Very glad to learn you've solved your problem. Anyway it's possible you'll still have some another issue with this card. In my case, the ATC text seldom disappearead when I switched to another task and then back to FS9. I needed to restart the FS to get things right. Apart from this, the 9600Pro served me well, even having a rather moderate performance. And nVidia cards come with their handful of problems JAMM

[Guest KazperNZL]

Yeah it is. Have stepped all the way up to ATI Catalyst 9.2 drivers the 2nd to latest which was 9.3 for my video card. And ATC is still working.