AppCrash Viewer for XP, trying to locate a CTD error?

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

After 4 years of error free problems in FSX, I started getting some random crashes when using AS2012 on a networked computer with FSX. What happens is sometimes when I either lower AI while in flight, or make any AI adjustments, when the FSX screens is black and the AI reloading screen is present, when it gets to 100% it hangs and I end up with a CTD and the normal error message.

 

After reading thru some of the threads here, Jim recommends downloading AppCrashViewer to help diagnose the problem, however on that site it says its only compatible with Vista, Win7 and Windows Server 2008. Given this, is there another program which will essentially do the same thing? I've looking in the regular event viewer in XP when i get this crash and it doesn't seem to detect anything wrong or even detect the crash.

 

FWIW, I started noticing that this has been happening at random times since updating to some of the newer 301.xx series nVidia drivers. Prior to this I was running the 195.xx drivers and never had a problem. I suppose I could always try return to those, however I downloaded a racing game that requires the newer drivers.

 

Lastly, in the message that appears in the CTD it notes that is a d3d9.dll error. I have not been using ENB for the last month or so when I started getting this and that ENB d3d9.dll has been removed from the root FSX folder, so it can't be related to that. I have also flushed the Shaders cache and let FSX rebuild after a fresh driver install but that hasn't seemed to help.

 

I dont know if this could mean anything either, but on the networked computer in the AS2012 log, after FSX crashes I see an HRESULT: 0xC000013C error listed. I've contacted Hifi with a ticket but they dont have an idea except that I should try to go back to my earlier drivers and see if that fixes the problem.

 

As far as specs go, this in on XP 32bit, GTS 250 OC with the above mentioned drivers and FSX SP2.

 

Any help would be appreciated before I go ahead and try going back to my older set of drivers. I've already done a few driver reinstalls, used DriverCleaner in safemode, etc., but problem remains. Also updated to the latest DX9 files.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

POST EDIT: Forgot to mention that this only happens when running AS2012 on the network. When not running AS2012 I have no issues and can pretty much do anything and FSX wont CTD.

[Jim Young 2,356]

so when I started getting this and that ENB d3d9.dll has been removed from the root FSX folder, so it can't be related to that.

 

Did you remove the ENB.ini from the main fsx folder too? It's probably looking for that d3d9.dll you removed plus it runs the script in the .ini.

 

The HRESULT: 0xC000013C error usually indicates a Microsoft.net error. FSX was developed around version 2 and that was replaced by version 3.5 sp1. So you need to ensure you have version 3.5 sp1 of dotnet installed. This could be a false positive error though as dotnet framework software is used by developers to make sure their applications (FSX/Acceleration and FSX addons) run properly once installed (Microsoft Visuals are used by developers to properly install their software). So, if FSX/AS2012 is not running properly because of the enb.ini, then that error should go away once you remove the enb.ini.

 

If you are still having problems, then you need to check the Event Viewer. It's been a long time since XP so here is a link on how best to search the Event Viewer for any problems - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427. I would just use the 'find feature' and look for 'FSX'. That should give you all the CTD's or issues since you first installed FSX on your system. Once you find something, look over in one of the columns for copy so you can copy all the text then paste it here.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Best regards,

Jim

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Did you remove the ENB.ini from the main fsx folder too? It's probably looking for that d3d9.dll you removed plus it runs the script in the .ini.

 

Yes, all parts have been removed including the .ini, d3d9.dll, and also the custom ENB palette I was using. That should rule that out.

 

 

The HRESULT: 0xC000013C error usually indicates a Microsoft.net error. FSX was developed around version 2 and that was replaced by version 3.5 sp1. So you need to ensure you have version 3.5 sp1 of dotnet installed. This could be a false positive error though as dotnet framework software is used by developers to make sure their applications (FSX/Acceleration and FSX addons) run properly once installed (Microsoft Visuals are used by developers to properly install their software). So, if FSX/AS2012 is not running properly because of the enb.ini, then that error should go away once you remove the enb.ini.

 

On the FSX computer I have .Net Framework 2.0 SP2, .Net Framework 3.0 SP2 and .Net Framework 3.5 SP1. installed and have been for as long as I can remember. I also have these Frameworks installed on the computer that runs As2012 networked to the FSX computer.fsx

 

 

If you are still having problems, then you need to check the Event Viewer. It's been a long time since XP so here is a link on how best to search the Event Viewer for any problems - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427. I would just use the 'find feature' and look for 'FSX'. That should give you all the CTD's or issues since you first installed FSX on your system. Once you find something, look over in one of the columns for copy so you can copy all the text then paste it here.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Best regards,

Jim

 

I looked in the Event Viewer on the FSX rig under Application, Security, System, and Internet Explorer, then did a "find" for FSX and it only turned up a few things, but none from today when I had the CTD just prior to posting this.

 

In fact, every time FSX has had a CTD when "Refreshing AI" using AS2012, it has not yielded any result in any of the Event Viewer sections, whether it be System, Application, Security. The only things out of the normal in the System tab were some red X's that said DCOM in the Source column, but they weren't at the time or related to the time of the CTD.

 

On another note, prior to all this happening I had been having some issues with the rig that AS2012 is installed on and tried doing some system restores. I was eventually able to fix the problem I had been having on that rig, but wonder if that has something to do with it.

 

Like I mentioned, this only happens when AS2012 is running on the networked computer. If I just run FSX alone I can change locations, seasons, time, day, change AI and no CTD's, but trying to refresh AI from the networked rig with AS2012 causes the CTD.

 

Is it at all possible that the .Net Framework on the networked computer could be causing the problems and causing a simconnect disconnect, thus causing FSX to CTD? It seems that since AS2012 is being involved in the CTD perhaps I have some type of problem on that rig, but not sure if that would be enough to cause problems on the FSX computer when connected.

 

Would you advise that I reinstall .Net Framework 3.5 Sp1 again on the networked rig over the existing install of it?

 

Thanks for the help Jim. I am at wits end trying to figure out what has gone wrong after all these years of no problems using AS2012 over the network. To bad the event viewer is not turning anything up when I get this CTD.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Jim,

 

To add to this I was looking in the System section of the Event Viewer and found a bunch of red X's from back in June that show Source errors SidebySide. When I click on the error it says that there are some VC80.crt assembly errors and that the reference assembly is not installed on my system, also referenced that it was for .Net Framework 2.0.

 

Given this find, I wonder if there are some problems with a corrupted .Net 2.0 on my system? Although there are no errors for it since June, but on that day those error occupy almost a full page in the viewer. Funny though that I have been using FSX pretty regularly since then and have only had problems recently.

 

Do you think it would be safe or a good idea to uninstall all of those .Net Framework version and then reinstall them?

[Jim Young 2,356]

Do you think it would be safe or a good idea to uninstall all of those .Net Framework version and then reinstall them?

 

Here's a tool you can use to verify the proper installation - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2008/10/13/8999004.aspx.

 

Best regards,

Jim

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Thanks I will run that tool and see if there are any errors.

[Jim Young 2,356]

Is it at all possible that the .Net Framework on the networked computer could be causing the problems and causing a simconnect disconnect, thus causing FSX to CTD?

 

I think this is the issue with the networked computer and simconnect but I'm not familiar enough with networking and simconnect to give you any sound advice. I have read where simconnect has caused errors in the past when not properly working or configured. Here's a very recent link regarding ASE and simconnect - http://forum.avsim.net/topic/388176-completely-frazzled-with-simconnect-and-active-sky-network/. I think if you do a search on Google for simconnect fsx and networking you'll find a lot of discussions throughout the flight sim community regarding possible issues.

 

In regards to going through your Event Viewer and seeing red x's for system related issues.... those should be looked at ONLY if they persist. For instance, if there's a hardware problem, you should be seeing the error on a daily basis until the problem is fixed. If you do not have any recent red x's, the problem was probably fixed with a software driver update.

 

You might also look at your startup programs using the Run command and typing in msconfig. Sometimes these startup programs installed by software developers have a schedule and go on the Internet looking for updates and maybe automatically updating something in the background. This could be interfering with your simconnnect network. None of the startup programs are really needed. I have only one and that's the Bing desktop that loads at startup with a new desktop scene everyday. You might want to look in the Services tab too and check "hide all Microsoft services" as you don't want to disable one of them. Look at unchecking those non-Microsoft services too but be careful as there are a couple of services that relate to security for PMDG and other developers software to make sure the software is not pirated, etc.

 

Good luck!

 

Best regards,

Jim

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Ran the tool on both rigs Jim and came up with all version verified successfully. No errors apparently on either rig so I guess I can rule out an error with .Net Framework as being the problem.

 

What else do you think I should do/try before I try going back to my older drivers? This really has me confused and I would be even more so if I return to my old driver setup and the same thing happens.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Well Jim, after trying a few more things I kept testing by starting AS2012 on my networked rig, then FSX after it was completely loaded, selecting a flight at KFLL gate E4, 3:30 PM, and the NGX. Every time the flight would load fine and weather was depicted properly but as soon as I hit the "refresh AI" button in AS2012 then sim would reload everything and when it got to the 100% stage it would freeze then CDT with the fatal error message. I did the same test about 5 different times with the same CDT and hand at the reload.

 

As I was at my wits end, I decided to go into the control panel, delete the 301.xx drivers, reboot into safe mode, run the driver cleaner, reboot and install my old 195.xx drivers and nHancer. Set up the profile that I had been using months ago before all this started.

 

Went back into the networked rig and started AS2012, let it load, started FSX and set up an identical flight that I had used to test prior. Then came the moment to hit the "refresh AI" button in AS2012. As I held my breath not sure what to expect, the flight reloaded without issue as that had been what had kept crashing the sim before.

 

Its only been one time and I haven't tested further, but since the same thing brought the CTD during the 5 test sessions, I am hoping that I am finally back on track. I guess those newer drivers (301.xx), even though they are compatible with my card, OS, and FSX, just dont seem to agree somewhere along the line. I've read some articles on the net with some other people having some issues with the newer drivers as well and that they can be tricky to get installed properly. Maybe they just dont work as well with XP as they do with Win7 or older cards. Since I am in the process of building a new FSX rig I guess I will just have to wait until the new build is done and I have a more current video card and Win7 to use them on.

 

Hopefully after more testing and flights things will remain crash free and I dont have to worry about the CTD when I refresh the AI.

 

Thanks for all the help and suggestions Jim, much appreciated.

[Jim Young 2,356]

I'm happy to hear you got it to work after going back to some older drivers. I know it can be very frustrating trying to find the "fix". I was doing more searches on your issue and saw that the AI refresh was an issue with FS9 too but an SP supposedly fixed that problem. If you run into this problem again, I would post it in the Unofficial Active Sky Forum here at AVSIM. Sorry I couldn't be of much help but at least you got your dotnet installation verified.

 

Best regards,

Jim