Well, I'm stumped .......(9.1 install problem)

[Cruachan 705]

Hi,I guess it couldn't last...LOL. FS9 was installed all that time ago and has never once given me grief. My simming friends envied my installation's stability and performance along with all its numerous addons and enhancements. Slowly but surely I have become lulled into believing it couldn't be broken..... providing, of course, I continued to take care in looking after the installation. Along comes Microsoft with their eagerly awaited update and suddenly my confidence is teetering on the edge :(http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94216.jpgCan anyone help me out here please?I've followed the instructions on the Insider site to the letter and have even gone as far as restoring all the original .dll files from CD2 in the modules folder. I've browsed the forum hoping for a solution, but no joy there either. Nothing seems to work and the installer always stops at this point.I know those of you who have had success will point the finger at my installation rather than at Microsoft and you may well be correct. One thing is for sure and that is any recommendations to reinstall from scratch ain't gonna be heard!Fingers crossed!Thanks.Mike

[W2DR 1,860]

Mike - I don't think it's a reinstall-from-scratch type of problem. The same thing happened here on the same file with a fresh install of both WinXP Pro (SP2) and FS9 on a just-reformatted drive. Three times. I don't have a clue what the problem was/is, but I can tell you that the patch finally installed on the fourth try. Reminds me of that famous line from the movie The Teasure of the Sierra Madre: "Patches, what patches? I don't got to show you no stinkin' patches."Doug

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Doug,Thanks for your input. Sadly nothing I do appears to have any effect - the installer always stops stubbornly at the same place.Okay, perhaps it's because I'm starting to feel just a little irritated, but the fact of the matter is that Microsoft's installer is singularly unhelpful in that when an error is encountered no clues are given as how to rectify the matter. As I stated I have followed their instructions to the letter yet this brick wall remains firmly in place with no apparent prospect of finding a resolution other than by doing a reinstall. Like most of us I am a legitimate owner of FS2004 and have spent a great deal of time, care and effort building the installation into a truly great simulator. I am perfectly entitled to enjoy the improvements offered by the update but, currently and effectively, their installer is preventing me from so doing. Those of you who have encountered no problems are the lucky ones, but your good fortune does not explain the apparent differences which must exist between our installations. This is despite the fact I have never allowed myself to be diverted from the various mainstream installation addons.Does anyone have any idea what ABLSCPT.DLL does and why the installer is hanging at this point? The version number of this file is 9.00.030612.02 which appears to be correct for the default version of this file that has been lifted off the installation CD2.If indeed I am out in the cold with this one then perhaps someone would be kind enough to provide a link to Microsoft's FS2004 Update Support Desk and I could give them a try. It's galling to realize that the development team are probably aware of this thread yet remain unable to help relieve the frustrations of this luckless simmer. I have to acknowledge that right now this addiction is one I would happily shake off, if I only knew how....LOL!Mike

[Guest daveg4otu]

If you read thru the many posts on the patch you will see that this "hang" is a common problem - I can only repeat advice already given - start the patch and go away -just leave it-take the dog for a walk- go to bed - go to the pub-whatever- but leave it alone - in some cases it seems to have taken a couple of hours- but done it in the end .Why - no-one seems to know but it happens to some while others instal in a minute or so.Dave

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Dave,I appreciate what you are saying but is it really a true 'hang' in my case:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94290.jpgWhen I click on 'OK' fs91upd.exe disappears from the Processes list in Task Manager. To me this simply means the installer was idling in a loop waiting for my input before terminating.Regards,Mike

[n4gix 4,947]

All you need to do is copy the ABLSCPT.DLL file from the original CD and then rerun the update installer.EDITED: I just remembered yet another reason why your installation may be failing... Check to make SURE that your FS9 installation is pathed properly in the Windows Registry. You can easily tell if you find a new folder that was created by the update installer. When it first runs, it copies some new scenery & texture files, before it tries to update the ABSSCPT.DLL file. If the installer can't FIND the file, it will stop and complain!... I encountered the same issue with the update to my "FS9_Flying" FS9 installation. I have three versions of FS9 on my development machine:FS9_VirginFS9_DevelopmentFS9_FlyingThe "virgin" is an unmodified, full install of FS9 I use for benchmarking. The "Development" install is used to test/develop one project at a time.Both the "Virgin" and "Development" updates ran without a problem, but the update of the "Flying" installation encountered quite a few "altered .dll files" that had - without my knowledge - been surreptiously replaced at some point in time by unknown add-on(s).ABLSCPT.DLLAI_PLAYR.DLLATC.DLLGPS_DLLGPS_EXPORT.DLLPANELS_DLLAfter replacing all of those .DLL files from the "Virgin" installation, the update ran perfectly. I immediately went to the Modules folder and have marked ALL the .dll files as "Read Only" so this will never happen again!I have been experiencing random CTD problems with the "Flying" installation over the last few months. In every case, the "fault" was listed as one of the above listed .dll files...Post-patch, the "Flying" installation has run for 123 continuous hours with nary a hiccup! :)

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Bill,Thanks for trying to help."All you need to do is copy the ABLSCPT.DLL file from the original CD and then rerun the update installer."......you will see that I have tried this already. In fact, just to be certain, I have just extracted that file again and installed it in the FS9Modules folder after deleting the original. Same result: the installer runs for about a second during which time the progress bar flashes red across its full length and I note '100%' appears a few times, and then it terminates while 'Processing: modulesABLSCPT.DLL'.You will also note that I have tried extracting all the original .dll files from the MSGAME3.CAB archive on CD2 into the fs9modules folder, but still no joy - exactly the same behaviour from the update installer. Hence you will perhaps understand my growing frustration over this matter :(Regards,Mike

[Guest abytrails]

I often read these forums, and especially so after an update of some sort. I have usually found them helpful and appreciate the information people put here. As to the patch update problem described here, I also had this problem, and got around it by doing the patch update on another computer where it went ok, then copying all of the updated files over to the problem computer. Runs fine. However, after the fact, I did discover the path to FS 9.0 (as identified in the Registry) was not correct - it had been changed to point to a Temp folder where I had told an aircraft or scenery executable install to put it's files, so I could move them manually to the appropriate places. Bottom line, one of the filles I had previously downloaded, to install an aircraft or whatever, had changed my registry path for flight simulator 9.So, find this registry entry and change it back to it's proper path, and the update patch may work.Not a Microsoft problem, but an independent developer's poor decision to alter any user's registry entry.

[Guest Mikerookie]

Hi Cruachan,I ran into the same problems as you do.Until I discovered MS localised the patch. Since I am using a french version of FS9, i had to download and install the french version of the patch. On the MS page, you have to choose the language....Could it be your problem ?Just my 0.02$Mike out.

[Guest edwardpat2004]

Hi to all:I'm also stumped, but in my case is the fs9.exe that apparently is hanging-up during the installation of the patch (and I said "apparently" because I cancel out the install process after I wait for three to four minutes at the % screen, with no changes on the progress bar of the update of the file fs9.exe). I'm very reluctant to risk to reinstall fs9 all over again by applying the patch. Does anyone has the same delays problems with the updating of the fs9.exe file? Does anyone know if the patch is reversible, i.e. can be unistalled without causing any dammage to your present FS9 installation, if for some reason the patch installation fails?.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi guys and, in particular, Bill and 'Abytrails'Looks like I should now be eating an ample dose of humble pie :( However, in my defence, it turns out that the cause of the problem was not mine directly and I remain of the opinion that Microsoft should have warned us of this possibility on their Insider site. I cannot believe they did not know about this potential pitfall. That notwithstanding I now offer them my apology for attempting to place the blame at their door.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94310.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94311.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94312.jpgIt should be noted that the file version is the one reported for the recently released unmentionable ;)I changed the EXE Path in the registry to D:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator 9 and all was well. The updater ran to completion without any complaint and I was delighted to be congratulated on its successful completion.What a palaver! In fact, had Bill and 'Abytrails' not posted when they did I would have been seriously looking at doing a reinstall. That's how much I care about this sim! Certainly, as it turns out, this would have fixed the registry entry, but what a waste of time it would have been with no guarantee that I would have been able to return everything to my current optimized configuration.A resounding thank you to you both!Best regards,Mike :-beerchugEdit: Ironically, the solution was within my grasp had I only realized it. I was browsing the registry a few days ago on another matter and I do recall seeing these keys and value data and, in particular, the EXE Path. It never occurred to me that this could be a potential problem lying in waiting as FS9 was running fine and there were no difficulties linking to the executable. Just goes to show, doesn't it?!

[Guest jumper]

Ok, I ran FS9 SP and it installed perfectly without errors. The whole process took less than three minutes. To verify the version, I checked FS9.exe in the FS9 folder and verified its currently 9.1.xxx. or Something like that..Anyways, the update has definetly resolved alot of flightsim issues. Textures load faster, no more blurs and increased frame rate. AT least by 15 to 20 fps, no joke. This all makes me estatic so I can imagine how others feel that are having difficulty getting the update installed...For starters, lets go back to basic MS troubleshooting:1.If not already done, run a virus check and a AD-Aware check2.Once completed, disable all firewalls virus programs3.Open MSCONFIG and disable the following: -Load StartUp Items -Load System Services -Process System INI4.Try to obtain a free copy of a file that could remove duplicate scenery copies in FS9. I beleive the file could be saved somewhere on Avsim.com. I do it often and its worth it. BTW, you probably want to get this first before the first three steps.Apart from this, my guess is to have the required .dll files in the respective places before installing the update.Well, thats my 2 cents worth. Good luckTroy

[Cruachan 705]

....as others may not yet have had a chance to see how it all turned out :)Mike

[Guest ogeva]

Same phenomenom but with panels.dll.It hangs, the goves me the error message.But on my system the exe_path key on the registry is correct.I also tried getting the original dll from the cd, and it doesn't work.Anyone has an idea?Oren Geva

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Oren,It might be worth extracting ALL the original files from MSGAME3.CAB on CD2 and replacing the existing files with the same names in the Modules folder. The Updater appears to work on them all during installation.Also look in the FS root folder for a Backup Folder and a file called 'FS9UpdateUninstall.exe'. Run the latter before finally deleting the Backup folder. The try the Updater again. In fact mine never got as far as creating either the folder or the file but both are there now after the solution was provided :)Good luck!Mike