To all,

My FSX has developed a very strange memory leak / freezing issue.

Using flight plan from Sao Paulo (SBGR) to Oakland (KOAK) I periodically

check memory usage with "Process Monitor" (Private Bytes, Working Set and

Virtual Size columns) and can watch the usage slowly increase for the first

4 hours of the 12 hour flight until FSX freezes. The memory increase doesn't

appear to start on the ground (at SBGR). It appears to start after about 20

minutes of the flight, but I can't be absolutely certain of this due to the slow

nature of the leak. I have very little experience using Process Explorer and

Process Monitor and don't know how to better isolate the problem, or if this

is even possible. Any tips would be appreciated.

Seems very odd that flying the route in reverse (KOAK-SBGR) using nearly

identical waypoints is trouble free.

The Routes:

 

SBGR-KOAK >>

SBGR CGO1A.SCB DETUB MOMVA UZ21 SAVMO MUGOT UL655 ISUDU EDVEP VLH RON BOGUR

POMEZ MUTAL PPE J93 PDZ J50 LANDO PXN3.AVE MYFUT MITOE KOAK

 

KOAK-SBGR >>

KOAK SKYL4.AVE LANDO J50 PDZ J93 PPE UL655 ASOKU MUTAL RON VLH EDVEP ISUDU

ESTER LIVER KALER MUGOT SAVMO MOMVA SCB TEPAB 5NM BCO KOVLA PER GILGO IG SBGR

 

Things I have tried for troubleshooting:

1. Other (different) aircraft. The original AC used was the PMDG B777. Also have

tried the PMDG MD11 with same results.

2. Disabled "My Traffic". Also tried assigning a new AI traffic period, but no help.

3. Alternate routes to bypass waypoints in the suspected trouble "zone" by a few

hundred miles to the east. Also tried bypassing to the west via an SCEL flyover

and then north to KOAK.

 

The issue appears to be only in South America, and only when headed North.

There are no problems in USA, Australia, Europe, etc.

Some of my specs > Win 7-64 SP1, FSX Acceleration, FS Global 2010, ASNext (latest

build). Also use navdata from Navigraph in just about everything ~

 

Happy Holidays to all,

Ken Boardman

You are definitely running out of VAS. Any flight over two hours with high settings is difficult to obtain without running out of memory. See the AVSIM CTD Guide regarding OOM's and VAS. If you own the PMDG 777, you can also read about it in the Intro Guide for the PMDG 777, starting about page 19 or 21. In the AVSIM CTD Guide, we show how to setup the VAS monitor using the FSUIPC utility (freeware or payware version). I log my usage to the fsuipc.dll and, after a crash or flight, I can open it up and take a look at how much I had at the beginning of the flight and how much at the end and also look at the VAS during the flight too as it will fluctuate going up and down depending on the views. With the advent of high powered computer systems, we are seeing this type of crash more and more often. Hopefully P3DV2 will offer a 64 bit version where VAS will be virtually unlimited and then you can max out everything.

 

Best regards,

Hi Jim,
 Thank you for the tips. I'll work on figuring out how to use the VAS monitor. Don't know too much about

it,  or about P3D. I've been a MSFS addict since early 90s ~  But I'm SURE WITH YOU regarding

expanded memory usage for the flight sims.

  Since 2011, Ive routinely flown long haul routes using the PMDG planes with no problems at my
current settings (ie. YSSY-KEWR, SBGR-WSSS, KOAK-OMDB, etc). My Process Monitor readings

(Private Bytes, Working Set) during my flights with PMDG planes are typically between 1700mb and

2200mb from start to finish and FSX performance is smooth.  I have even flown this (problem)

route several times with the PMDG T7 with no issues.  So I was wondering if the present issue

might be due to corruption somewhere > maybe nav data,  landclass scenery, mesh, etc. 

and was hoping to isolate the problem to an FSX file(s),  add-on,  etc.  So I could replace the

faulty files or folders, or reinstall an add-on,  and thus avoid a dreaded FSX rebirth.

Best regards,

Ken 

So I was wondering if the present issue might be due to corruption somewhere

There could be some heap corruption (see page 7 of the AVSIM CTD Guide). I have to see your crash reports in order to see exactly what is faulting (see Page 1 and 2 of the AVSIM CTD Guide). This is the same report that Microsoft techs would receive in the event they were still developing the product (plus a copy of your scenery.cfg and fsx.cfg and dll.xml would be sent to them too)(I don't need to see those right now). This is why I recommend individuals who are suffering from crashes first go back to the default configurations as shown in the CTD guide (i.e., move your dll.xml, fsx.cfg, and exe.xml to a temp directory, restart fsx, and the fsx.cfg will be rebuilt. I have also learned since the guide that you can move the scenery.cfg to a temp directory and the default will be rebuilt). If the crashes end, then you need to start moving the files back into FSX. Maybe the scenery.cfg first until you find what file is causing the problem. It could be a tweak in your fsx.cfg that is not employed correctly (the Bufferpool tweak is the biggest culprit), a corrupted dll.xml (the guide shows you how to disable them individually), or a scenery.

 

Best regards,

Thank you for the valuable troubleshooting tips Jim.

A new observation regarding my issue :

Flying the identical (troubled Northerly) route with the Feelthere A320 progresses normally

to well past the problem area of mid South America.  Successfully completed the following

A320 flight SBGR - SKBO :

 

SBGR CGO1A.SCB DETUB MOMVA SAVMO MUGOT KALER LIVER ESTER ISUDU EDVEP VLH RON

BOGUR MASON LANCE JURIS AKTOR PABON POTBA SIMAT DABAX ESARO MUGBU ABL3B CF13R

URULO SKBO

 

Have you seen faulty nav data cause a memory leak? I have not, but at this point

I may try updating all my nav data bases and if that doesn't solve the problem I may

try reinstalling an older PMDG nav data base and retest the SBGR-KOAK route in the T7.

Best regards,

Ken

Have you seen faulty nav data cause a memory leak?

Memory leaks are sort of old fashioned with today's modern computer systems. I have never heard of a memory leak in NavData but I suppose it could happen. If it is happening to you though, it is happening to thousands of others as most of us use the same navdata from Navigraph.

 

Long flights will result in loss of VAS and have absolutely no affect whatsoever with your installed RAM or Page File. VAS is completely separate from everything regarding memory. When you run out of the 4GB's of VAS everyone has on their system (it is limited by Windows, not FSX or any other program), then you system will crash and there's no known way to prevent it other than to turn down all of your fsx and display driver settings and, if overclocked, reduce those settings.

 

Best regards,