FSX Freeze - AppHangXProcB1 - The Solution

[Jim Young 2,356]

I was flying from Chicago to Washington Dulles in the PMDG 777-300ER, ASN, ProATC-X, GEX, and UTX USA V2.0 loaded. About halfway, around Cleveland, OH, FSX froze while in wingview. The weather was sort of heavy with a complete overcast below me.  I also had FSDT Chicago, FlightBeam KIAD, and MSE V2 Baltimore/Washington HiRes Photoscenery loaded.  Here is my AppHang reports (please note my added comments in RED in the report):

Version=1
EventType=AppHangB1
EventTime=130666123049388900
ReportType=1
Consent=1
UploadTime=130666123049658916
ReportIdentifier=c608bac4-a418-11e4-bd03-74d02b2c1fc8
IntegratorReportIdentifier=c608bac5-a418-11e4-bd03-74d02b2c1fc8
WOW64=1
Response.BucketId=751282487
Response.BucketTable=5
Response.type=4
Sig[0].Name=Application Name
Sig[0].Value=fsx.exe
Sig[1].Name=Application Version
Sig[1].Value=10.0.61637.0
Sig[2].Name=Application Timestamp
Sig[2].Value=46fadb14
Sig[3].Name=Hang Signature
Sig[3].Value=f7fc                      NOTE:  This hang signature is quite common in most freezes (whether it be fsx or another game or a application).  It is probably the memory address where the freeze occurred and impossible to detect the exact module or file that was at this memory address when fsx froze up.  Fortunately, I know the exact reason for why FSX froze up.
Sig[4].Name=Hang Type
Sig[4].Value=2304                   NOTE:  This Hang Type is quite common in most freezes (whether it be fsx or another game or a application).  It tells you nothing other than many individuals using FSX get this hang type.  Even Microsoft techies would be puzzled over who in the heck came up with this "Signature" when Windows was programmed. 
DynamicSig[1].Name=OS Version
DynamicSig[1].Value=6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
DynamicSig[2].Name=Locale ID
DynamicSig[2].Value=1033
DynamicSig[22].Name=Additional Hang Signature 1
DynamicSig[22].Value=f7fc88831a14516a1a53b7dc654b9c89
DynamicSig[23].Name=Additional Hang Signature 2
DynamicSig[23].Value=f3d5
DynamicSig[24].Name=Additional Hang Signature 3
DynamicSig[24].Value=f3d55c16b65012e01598a03e518668c0
DynamicSig[25].Name=Additional Hang Signature 4
DynamicSig[25].Value=f7fc
DynamicSig[26].Name=Additional Hang Signature 5
DynamicSig[26].Value=f7fc88831a14516a1a53b7dc654b9c89
DynamicSig[27].Name=Additional Hang Signature 6
DynamicSig[27].Value=f3d5
DynamicSig[28].Name=Additional Hang Signature 7
DynamicSig[28].Value=f3d55c16b65012e01598a03e518668c0
UI[3]=Microsoft Flight Simulator® is not responding
UI[4]=If you close the program, you might lose information.
UI[5]=Close the program
UI[6]=Close the program
UI[7]=Close the program
State[0].Key=Transport.DoneStage1
State[0].Value=1
FriendlyEventName=Stopped responding and was closed
ConsentKey=AppHangXProcB1
AppName=Microsoft Flight Simulator®
AppPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsx.exe
ReportDescription=A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

 

I had plenty of VAS remaining when the freeze occurred (about 875 MB's).  Nothing fantastic like previous flights with just photoscenery enabled (over 2GB's), no autogen or UTX USA loaded, but still plenty of VAS and it was not being depleted.  It was hanging around 875 MB's when I got to cruise level (FL280).

 

Here's what caused the freeze/hang:  UTX USA V2.0 with dense autogen loaded.  I can disable UTX USA and I'll have over 2GB's of VAS and high fps..  With UTX USA and dense autogen, fps hang between 1 and 18 in the PMDG 777 VC and go up to 30-40 fps in wing view.  Without UTX USA, fps in the VC is over 30 and VAS is above 2GB's.  So what happened?  I do not think it was VAS that caused the crash but looking at the fps, it was jumping back and forth from high fps to almost 0 fps.  I think it actually did hit 0 fps and fsx froze up.

 

What killed the fps?  In my case it was clearly turning on Autogen to dense and increasing my UTX configuration beyond the default settings set by the developers (i.e., I raised traffic on just freeways to all roads.  I also maxed out some other settings as I was getting massive fps (in the 80's and above) when flying the RealAir Turbine Duke around Seattle and figured there was no impact.  For some reason, the same UTX settings used for the Duke are completely opposite when you load a heavy like the PMDG 777.  I mean, it is night and day.

 

Right now I can jump into the PMDG 777 and fly the same flightplan but without UTX USA enabled and Autogen turned off and I'll have over 2GB's of VAS throughout most of the flight (until the approach phase) and 30-50 fps throughout the flight.  So I am confident this is the cause for my freeze/hangup.

 

Most likely unrelated, but I decided to check my Windows Experience (computer performance) after the hangup.  I normally got 7.9 for all areas but this time, for memory, graphics, and gaming graphics I got a 6.0.  Huh?  I have a GTX 780 and 1600MHz memory modules and they dropped from 7.9 to 6.0???  I discovered I had several Windows open as well as my browser during the assessment and shut those all down and ran the assessment again.  This time, all 7.9's.  Whew!  Sweating bullets here.  I don't have time to be replacing my graphics card and memory modules!!  So having a lot of Windows open is detrimental to system performance (I did not have any other Windows open when running FSX).  I'm just passing this on as many think they can have several Windows open with a gauge open in another monitor or in the same monitor during a flight and then fsx hangs up and they simply cannot understand how this could happen.  It must be something in the FSX.cfg and maybe a BufferPool tweak will fix the problem (not!) (mine is not tweaked; just LOD_Radius at 6.5 and Texture_Max_Load at 4096).  Yes, those are high but not the cause of my freeze/hangup as those were my settings when I disabled autogen and UTX too and flew the same flightplan over photoscenery.

 

So bottom line:  It's high autogen settings and possibly high settings in an addon like UTX USA V2.0.  I guess I'll reserve my use of UTX USA (which I think is an awesome product) to just flights using smaller aircraft like the Duke Turbine or Duke V60.

 

Best regards,