FSNav

[Jive1 2]

Hey!This morning I was installing a new airport in FS9 and I use FSNav to put any scenery into its database which then gives all that information to FS9 scenery.cfg file.This time the program FSNAV ( registered ) crashed!After carefully looking for the origin of that problem I've seen that it was exactly the 1000th scenery that I was installing, and that the database of FSNav, which is stored in two files, Scenery.000 and Scenery.001 was exactly, added together, was exactly 10Mb ( the first one being 4.748kB and the latter one being 5.252kB ).I wonder...Am I at the end of the possibilities of the program FSNav? Or what could else be the reason why that program with these figures refuses working?Is there anybody who can tell me what could have happened, and moreover, what I can do now? Stop using FSNav? Or is there a trick somewhere so that I can continue using that, apart from this incident, excellent program?Please help me?GreetzJive1

[Opa 6]

Hey!This morning I was installing a new airport in FS9 and I use FSNav to put any scenery into its database which then gives all that information to FS9 scenery.cfg file.This time the program FSNAV ( registered ) crashed!After carefully looking for the origin of that problem I've seen that it was exactly the 1000th scenery that I was installing, and that the database of FSNav, which is stored in two files, Scenery.000 and Scenery.001 was exactly, added together, was exactly 10Mb ( the first one being 4.748kB and the latter one being 5.252kB ).I wonder...Am I at the end of the possibilities of the program FSNav? Or what could else be the reason why that program with these figures refuses working?Is there anybody who can tell me what could have happened, and moreover, what I can do now? Stop using FSNav? Or is there a trick somewhere so that I can continue using that, apart from this incident, excellent program?Please help me?GreetzJive1

What happens when you add the 1000th scenery the "usual" way (using the Scenery Library dialogue within FS) and not via the FSNav database dialogue?1000 enhancements - just have to ask how many of them do you fly in or out of in any given week?

[Jive1 2]

What happens when you add the 1000th scenery the "usual" way (using the Scenery Library dialogue within FS) and not via the FSNav database dialogue?1000 enhancements - just have to ask how many of them do you fly in or out of in any given week?

hey!When I install the 1000th scenery in FS9 itself, everything goes fine, even did I install a 1001th scenery and everything went fine as well.The big disadvantage of FSNav no longer working is, that I am now wiyhout the flight planner of FSNav, which is really a big disadvantage...And... I don't even consider to take away some of the sceneries, even when I don't fly there every week. It took me lots of time and everything works extremely fine, so I don't want to take some away! If need be, I could consider to bring some sceneries in one sigle folder, that is something that I can do, but if then, one day, a better solutiion rises for a certain area, I'm in trouble when I want to modify that folder....I'm already searching for another flight planner, if this one refuses to work.GreetzJive1

[Opa 6]

Guess I mis-understood you - are you saying that when you add anything over the 1000 mark that the database builder refuses to work (all the way to it's normal conclusion) ?I have no way near that many addons and the only time my database builder refuses to work is when it encounters an airport which has "overlay" afcads - which are used for some specialized AI traffic such as choppers.Just curious.EDIT Added: I just checked my two database files - 000 is 11,343 KB and 001 is 9,263 KB currently.

[Jive1 2]

Hey!What happened was the following...I wanted to add a scenery, using FSNav database system, and after I introduced the folder name of the scenery the FSNav program crashed.I closed the program and reopened it. At that moment I saw that the database window of FSNav was empty. Not one single scenery of all the sceneries I did install over a period of time via this system was still visible in the FSNav database window.Strange! So I went to my Explorer and watched the FSNav folder in the Modules folder of FS9, and I saw that the two files scenery.000 and scenery.001 were together exactly 10 Mb as I told already above. Watching the scenery.cfg file of my FS9, I saw that exactly 999 sceneries were in the database of FS9, which was the same as in the database of FSNav.So, at that moment I tried to add the planned scenery, but nothing worked anymore in FSNav. As a result I was not able to add the scenery, which happened to be the 1000th scenery, via FSNav...When I wanted to add that same 1000th scenery to FS9, using the Settings of FS9 itself, there was no problem, I was even able to add more sceneries, over 1000!Nothing seems to be wrong with FS9, on the contrary, it works fine as never before. The only thing is that FSNav does not work at all.GreetzJive1I just see now that your database files together are over 20 Mb, so it must be that something else is causing the crash of my FSNav, and not the fact that those two files together are to great, they are only half the size of your datafiles...So I think I will try a new install of FSNav! I'll let you know what happened....

[Jive1 2]

Hey!I think I've been a bit too quicky...After seeing that Opa's database was almost double as big as mine, I decided to reinstall the FSNav program...You know what? It works fine!I don't really know what happened on the moment of the crash of FSNav, it certainly must have been one of those crazy things that make computers so ununderstandable... haha!What made me thinking that the program would have been at the limit of its possibilities, was the fact of those 10Mb and of those 999 sceneries. These figures made me thinking in a wrong way...Sorry for the troubles caused!GreetzJive1

[hjwalter 25]

David wrote:I have no way near that many addons and the only time my database builder refuses to work is when it encounters an airport which has "overlay" afcads - which are used for some specialized AI traffic such as choppers.Hey there David,When your FSNav data base builder "refuses to work" when it encounters "overlay" afcads. What does it (not) do ? Does it hang on such airports or does it crash ?Mine hangs at certain airports and the only way of getting around this is to uncheck them from the list.Hans

[Opa 6]

David wrote:I have no way near that many addons and the only time my database builder refuses to work is when it encounters an airport which has "overlay" afcads - which are used for some specialized AI traffic such as choppers.Hey there David,When your FSNav data base builder "refuses to work" when it encounters "overlay" afcads. What does it (not) do ? Does it hang on such airports or does it crash ?Mine hangs at certain airports and the only way of getting around this is to uncheck them from the list.Hans

Mine just "hangs" - unchecking the airports which have the overlayed afcads seems to allow it to do it's thing.

[Jive1 2]

Hey! I have the same problem: sometimes the FSNav databuilder just hangs, and only unchecking that particular scenery makes it working again after restarting it. Sometimes it helps when the sequence has been changed. Eg, when I move that particular scenery a few numbers higher or lower, then it works. I don't know why that is....Anyhow, my main problem is gone now....GreetzJive1

[John Hinson 23]

Hey! I have the same problem: sometimes the FSNav databuilder just hangs, and only unchecking that particular scenery makes it working again after restarting it. Sometimes it helps when the sequence has been changed. Eg, when I move that particular scenery a few numbers higher or lower, then it works. I don't know why that is....Anyhow, my main problem is gone now....GreetzJive1

Just my three-pennyworth - I have 1107 scenery layers which I almost always install through FSNAV's system and have never experienced any such crash. But the "hangs" do seem to increase as you add more and more scenery.On the "hangs" when generating the database I have found some solutions to get round it.1. Re-arranging the scenery layer up or down a level often cures the problem (don't ask me why!).2. Some scenery libraries (such as the MAIW Scenery Objects) simply will not be fixed by the above method (not for me, anyway) can be temporarily de-selected during the building of the databases. Scenery libraries will not leave the map deficient in any way.3. Some directories take a long time to be read and look as if they have hung when they haven't. One needs to patient!There can also be a problem when building the database for the map if there are multiple files with AFD data in the same directory. Sometimes the map will display info for the taxiway signs file rather than the taxiways and parking positions. For this, I have an additional scenery level specially for AFD files above all sceneries, and move the AF2 or AFX file concerned there in these circumstances.For me, the above solves all the shortcomings of the system.Hope this is useful,John

[out 769]

sometimes the FSNav databuilder just hangs

Yes, that's just the way it is. And I've noticed there are some specific sceneries that will give me this problem each time I have a new system or new FS9 install (so it's not about a one-time corrupt install). Examples being: the well-known freeware scenery of Tel Aviv Ben Gurion (a very good one) or the freeware Thessaloniki Makedonia.Another problem that may occur is an airport not seen by FSNav at all (so you cannot include it in the flightplan). An example I remember is KORD by FSDT. The work around is to move or rename (just for the install) some bgl files and after finishing with the FSNav database build get them back.FSnav is a great application but it's not supported anymore, so we'll have to deal with some trouble on our own.

[hjwalter 25]

Hi guys,When trying to get to the bottom of this strange hang problem I see the following:During the DBC hangs there is still a lot of CPU activity going on according to my Process Explorer program which monitors the following:CPU usage history: 50.77% average for both my CPU cores. Each one is has different moving graphs and both are "busy" with FSNav DBC. CPU 0 is on average far below 50% while CPU-1 is far above it.Commit history: 236.6 Mb. Whatever that means.I/O bytes history: 16.2 Kb. Whatever that means.Physical memory history: 399.7 Mb.There does not seem to be very much difference in the above figures between when DBC is running or hanging.As soon as I abort the data base creator I see the following:CPU usage history: 1.54% average. Both cores show a barely visible activity line but with some small spikes here and there.Commit history: 254.5 Mb.I/O bytes history: 16.2 Kb.Physical memory history: 373.9 Mb.Hope this information will create some new ideas as to what's going on.Oh yes, the Ben Gurion airport is definitely such a "hang" airport but there are more, at least in my FS9.Hans

[hjwalter 25]

In addition to my post directly above this one, I want to add the following:It may be just beginner's luck but:I found a file in my addon Brazillian Afonsos (SBAF) airport in the Rio de Janeiro area, named: SBAF_Farol.bgl. When I disabled this file, my DB creator ran as it should and even processed the previously always hanging addon Ben Gurion (LLBG) airport correctly, including some others.The program ran on until it hung again at my addon UK Manchester (EGCC) airport which was also a known hang point in my FS9 setup.In this scenery I disabled a file named: DM_EGCC_jetways.bgl and now the DB creator ran correctly right through to it's normal end. Again and again without problems and with all of my very many sceneries active.Strange that the DB creator should hang on seemingly normal scenery placement BGL files which should theoretically have nothing to do with the navigational world map which the DB creatoris trying to create.However, both these airport sceneries did previously display the called objects correctly. A beacon tower at Afonsos AFB and seven jetways at Manchester airport.I hope one or more of you technical guys out there can now come up with some new ideas because I have the feeling that what I did is just a band aid and not the real solution.By the way: My Scenery.000 file is 12728 Kb and my Scenery.001 file is 9730 Kb.Hans

[John Hinson 23]

In addition to my post directly above this one, I want to add the following:It may be just beginner's luck but:I found a file in my addon Brazillian Afonsos (SBAF) airport in the Rio de Janeiro area, named: SBAF_Farol.bgl. When I disabled this file, my DB creator ran as it should and even processed the previously always hanging addon Ben Gurion (LLBG) airport correctly, including some others.The program ran on until it hung again at my addon UK Manchester (EGCC) airport which was also a known hang point in my FS9 setup.In this scenery I disabled a file named: DM_EGCC_jetways.bgl and now the DB creator ran correctly right through to it's normal end. Again and again without problems and with all of my very many sceneries active.Strange that the DB creator should hang on seemingly normal scenery placement BGL files which should theoretically have nothing to do with the navigational world map which the DB creatoris trying to create.However, both these airport sceneries did previously display the called objects correctly. A beacon tower at Afonsos AFB and seven jetways at Manchester airport.I hope one or more of you technical guys out there can now come up with some new ideas because I have the feeling that what I did is just a band aid and not the real solution.By the way: My Scenery.000 file is 12728 Kb and my Scenery.001 file is 9730 Kb.Hans

The sceneries I use for LLBG and EGCC may well be different to yours so it would be difficult to compare, but I would definitely recommend re-arranging the layers a little to see if it makes a difference. I find this resolves about 90% of the FSNAV database problems, but really have no idea what is in the system that causes certain files to give problems sometimes and not at other times. I have never had to resort to renaming files, even temporarily.Best wishes,John

[hjwalter 25]

John,Just like you I've been re-arranging my FS9 scenery library priority levels but strangely enough, this sometimes caused hangs on unrelated other airports onwhich hangs had never occured before. There's definitely something fishy going on here especially as I have discovered that "normal" object placement BGL files can sometimes cause the DBC hangs and that during such hangs there's a lot of CPU activity going on. Why and how, I have no logical explanation but there may be a possibility:Have you or anyone else ever used a program which searches for duplicate addon scenery texture files and deletes those found when they are already present in the main FS9 texture folder ? With the modern use of MDLs in library.bgl files, combined with object placement BGLs (using GUIDs) and related very specific texture.bmp files, the results of this program could indirectly have something to do with this whole hang problem. I hope you or any technical gurus can comment on this.But going back to LLBG which was previously a notorious hang airport, I see my tweaked correct airport layout on the FSNav map but down on the bottom right, near the beginning of runway 30, I see 4 other airport reference points stacked on top of each other. These are placed there by 4 scenery folder files: LLBG-Signs.bgl, LLBG-Signs1.bgl, LLBG-Signs2.bgl and LLBG-Signs3.bgl.Now I know from experience that duplicate Afcad files and/or some types of Afcad errors, kan cause a host of unexpected problems, e.g. system crashes and CTDs even in far away places, so my first suspicions are directed towards these 4 files. When I de-activate all 4 of them my AI traffic still goes on as usual, I can fly in and out of LLBG quite normally, the DBC runs without a hang and the FSNav map seems to be OK. So why are these files there ? What do or should they do ?Any comments are welcome.Hans