FS9 won't boot

[Guest texcritter]

My copy of FS9 will not start due to a problem with the default flight's aircraft being corrupted. How do i change the default aircraft before FS9 starts, or failing that, get it to start with no default flight? i'm running XP. I read one post that said there was a way to start FS9 in safe mode, but couldn't find anything else on that. Any ideas?

[Opa 6]

My copy of FS9 will not start due to a problem with the default flight's aircraft being corrupted. How do i change the default aircraft before FS9 starts, or failing that, get it to start with no default flight? i'm running XP. I read one post that said there was a way to start FS9 in safe mode, but couldn't find anything else on that. Any ideas?

Use Notepad to open your FS9.cfg file - look for the line which says situation=It should be followed by the complete path to a saved flight.Delete everything on that line except the statement situation=Be careful not to go into the next statement.It should look something like this when you are done:PROMPT_ON_EXIT=1PageID=3OpenATCOnCreate=0SITUATION=SelectFlightLevel=0SelectFlightTitle=0Save your edit and start FS2004 - That will force FS to use the original default flight when it loads.All this assumes that sometime you have saved a flight and made it the default flight you see when FS has loaded.If so, the aircraft in question may have been removed and if FS cannot find the aircraft, it will balk at starting.Hope that helps.

[Guest texcritter]

Use Notepad to open your FS9.cfg file - look for the line which says situation=It should be followed by the complete path to a saved flight.Delete everything on that line except the statement situation=Be careful not to go into the next statement.It should look something like this when you are done:PROMPT_ON_EXIT=1PageID=3OpenATCOnCreate=0SITUATION=SelectFlightLevel=0SelectFlightTitle=0Save your edit and start FS2004 - That will force FS to use the original default flight when it loads.All this assumes that sometime you have saved a flight and made it the default flight you see when FS has loaded.If so, the aircraft in question may have been removed and if FS cannot find the aircraft, it will balk at starting.Hope that helps.

I guess that wasn't the problem. It says "Aircraft initialization failure Bell 430 N420GB". I have uninstalled the offending heli, and it still gives the same error. What .ini or .cfg file would this information be in, so I can find it and kill it. I already used Windows XP's search program to find N420GB inside any files in the fs9 directory, but no joy. Any ideas? Your help so far has been greatly appreciated, btw.Oddly enough, there was no fs9.cfg file anywhere on my hard drive. That would be unusual, right?

[scott967 62]

fs9.cfg is in a folder that by default is hidden. You have to change your folder view options to show hidden files/folders.To search for the offending missing aircraft you probably need to search in your "my documents\flight simulator files\" folder. That's where flights that you save are stored. You probably saved a flight and checked the "make flight default checkbox when saving. If you find your default "situation" in fs9.cfg, you can find the matching .FLT file in that folder. There will be lines in there like this:

[Plane.0]Aircraft=Beech Baron 58

except it will be referencing the Bell 430 that you are apparently missing. scott s..

[Opa 6]

Of course the "easiest" way to get up and running again is to disable your current FS9.cfg file by renaming it to something like FS9.cfg.original.That will force FS to build a fresh new one when it is started again. The settings will be all default settings (including the default flight) and you will loose any special tweaks you may have made.That is why I prefer the removal of the situation= line data - no tweaks are lost or have to be restored that wayTo the Original Poster: Once you have located your FS9.cfg file, Right click on it and select Properties and remove the "hidden" attribute. It is not needed and having it not hidden will make it easier to find in the future. Many of us who regularly make edits to that file also create a shortcut to it on our desktops.

[Guest texcritter]

Thanks to both Scott and David for your help. Naaah, Microsoft wouldn't make an important file like a .cfg file hidden, right? Oh, yes they would. It is fixed, FS9 loads again, and I am happy. Much appreciated!Terry