Hi all,

 

I'm currently having a major headache with FS9. After a few months of no simming I returned to FS9. I am now having freezes. Through task manager it appears to be a ntdll.dll error. It seems like this error has happened to other users but I cannot find a solution that has worked. If anyone has any ideas that I haven't tried to prevent me having to reinstall that would be great. The only hardware change I have made since FS9 ran fine is a graphics card update to EVGA 970. The drivers are updated and from searching forums I cannot find anyone else who is having issues with this card. So far I have tried the following:

 

- removing all AI (was using WOAI successfully for many years).

- disabling add on scenery.

- changing locations in FS.

- Ran DSK Check.

- Ran a driver uninstaller to check there were no bits of an old driver left that were causing a conflict.

- HD defrag

 

Any help greatly appreciated! Thanks,

 

Kev

If your new graphics card is an nVidia, you should be using nVidia Inspector to set it up instead of the nVidia driver settings. A full description and instructions can be found at:

 

http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:NVIDIA_Inspector

 

Thanks A32xx. I've already done this. I've tried FS9 running with and without nvidia inspector additional settings and still get the crash. Thanks anyway for the suggestion.

ntdll.dll error is a rather generic core error.

 

There should be a diagnostic installed with your dx drivers. Open a command line or do a Start, run dxdiag.exe that will put your video card through its paces. See if any of those video tests bring up the system error. You may have to log on with admin privileges.

 

You can also bring up via Control Panel's Admin Tools the Event Viewer. Click on Application and a the event log opens up with the latest events at the start in reverse order. Then click action/ clear all events so you keep the list down. Now run your tests and/or FS until you get the crash. Look through the event list to get a trail (latest at the top) to the sequence that caused the crash.

 

You can also click on the System list which gives you the most detail and might be better. Right click on any red-X events and select properties to get an explanation of  what the event means and the error it recognizes.

 

You mention changing locations in FS. If you move files around make sure any registry entries regarding those are updated.

 

The only time I experienced the ntdll.dll error that I recall was during an installation of a core utility from a DVD. It is rather generic as I stated but is often the last link in a defective component in the flow that causes it.

 

Good luck

 

 

Another source are the nvidia drivers forum at http://forums.guru3d.com/. They also supply NVidia beta and WHQL certified drivers in their download section. Browse the forum to see if anyone is having a problem with your version of the drivers.

One cause of this dll error is reflections in specific aircraft - try with REFLECTIONS in Settings > Display > Aircraft turned off and RENDER TO TEXTURE in Settings > Display > Hardware turned on.

 

John

Thanks John and Ronzie. Reflections are off. I bit the bullet and reinstalled FS9 and the problem remains. I'm therefore thinking it is graphic card/driver related. I might try putting my old graphics card back in to see if I can further narrow down the cause. My system seems stable with all other programmes/games/applications so I'm thinking the new nvidia drivers aren't keen with FS9.

Did you try running dxdiag.exe? Check the active version of dx running.

Hi Ronzie. I have run the dxdiag.exe. It says there are no problems found. The current dx version being used is direct x 11.

I have had this error in the past. Not recently though.

For me it s the result of a memory issue or when the sim is overwhelmed and can't keep up and crashes.

I guess there is nothing to do about it.

Ghiom

Thanks Ghiom. It seems strange as the sim has run flawlessly for years with lots of complex scenery, aircraft and ai add ons. I've reinstalled FS9 and with the basic vanilla programme I am still getting the ntdll.dll crash. Thanks for your suggestion anyway. This is a very frustrating problem!

Thanks John and Ronzie. Reflections are off. I bit the bullet and reinstalled FS9 and the problem remains. I'm therefore thinking it is graphic card/driver related. I might try putting my old graphics card back in to see if I can further narrow down the cause. My system seems stable with all other programmes/games/applications so I'm thinking the new nvidia drivers aren't keen with FS9.

I agree that it must be an external factor to FS causing your problems. By modern standards, FS2004 is a lightweight piece of gaming software and in "vanilla" form should work without issue. I appreciate your frustration but can't really think of further suggestions.

 

It may be worth poring over a search engine using the keywords "fs9 ntdll" or "fs2004 ntdll". There will be no shortage of results!

 

John

Thanks John. I've already exhausted all the fs9 ntdll.dll search results. I think my next steps are:

 

Reinstall vanilla windows and fs9 on a different hard drive. At least this will rule out a hardware problem since all other programs seem to be running normally.

Try putting my old graphics card back in, but I think this is unlikely to solve anything since I cannot find any other fs9 users having a similar problem with the 970gtx.

 

Thanks again for your help. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!