I believe there may be a graphics problem when using the LDS 767 or PMDG 744. After starting FS9.1 and loading either of the two mentioned aircraft all seems OK initially. After task-switching to the desktop to fiddle with the weather add-on I task-switch back to FS9.1 and the ATC text box is empty (ATC is still working, I just can't see the text inside the box). If you then select the "P" key to pause the simulation a nice red box appears at the lower left of the screen but the text is blank there as well. SHIFT-S for the FPS indication is completely blank

I started getting this problem after using ASV. When I return to the sim after confging to weather ATC text disappears. There is a disscusion about this over at PMDG.Dave FisherCYYZP4 Prescott 3.2e 478p 800mhz 1mg CPUP4P800S Asus Motherboard1.0 gig PC3200 DDR RAM 400MHZGeforce Ti 4200/128Maxtor 40 Gig ATA 133 HD x2WDC WD800 80 Gig HDhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpghttp://fs2crew.com/linepilot.jpg

Hi Dave,Yes, if you check the "FS9 ATC Disappears" thread at the new PMDG forums you'll see my posts at the bottom. Not too many folks chiming in with helpful suggestions at the moment but I imagine someone will offer some helpful comments.If you hear something please post here or on the thread at the PMDG forums.Thanks!DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB)2GB DDR SDRAM74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) & 120GB SATA (D: )256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 5.7)Audigy 2 ZS SoundMS Force Feedback 2WindowsXP Pro (SP2)DirectX 9.0c

Hmm...I had that VERY same problem after FsP....BTW, what vid card are you using? mine is ATI Rad. 9800pro//Michael

Hi Michael,Check my sig for machine specs. I'm using an ATI Radeon 256 MB X800 XT card with Catalyst 5.7 drivers.Not sure I know what you mean by "FsP". Please explain...Thanks for your time!DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB)2GB DDR SDRAM74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) & 120GB SATA (D: )256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 5.7)Audigy 2 ZS SoundMS Force Feedback 2WindowsXP Pro (SP2)DirectX 9.0c

Have this problem now and then - with the Level-D 767 and PMDG 737 (nb not 744, which I don't have). I doubt it's aircraft related - but do have 2 suspects.1) I have ASV - but I have a feeling it isn't ASV as such, but any program that feeds text weather reports into FS. Do you have such a program? Might try turning text weather reports off.Could text weather reports be overfilling a text buffer or file?2) As with many people, I'm constantly fiddling with graphics settings. Recently, I went into FS settings and turned "Render to Texture" on from its off position (don't ask me why, I don't know!)When I went back into FS, text all gone just as you describe.Didn't reappear when I turned Render to Texture back offCould be coincidence....Maybe not just that particular setting, maybe it's just fiddling with display settings generally.Either of those ring a bell?

Thanks for the reply!I initially suspected there was an issue with ASV so I did all my testing last night without any weather programs. Since the problem repeated, that eliminates ASV as the culprit.Since I use DXT (I believe that's the right acronym) textures for some of my addons I must have "Render to Texture" enabled in FS9.1. This was never a problem before the LDS767 and PMDG744 came along. And another thing... the problem only occurs after I've task-switched to the desktop and then back to FS9.1. If I just stay in FS9.1 and never go back to the desktop the problem doesn't appear.As for fiddling with graphics settings, yes , I must say I'm guily. But... these problems are occuring after a complete system rebuild over the weekend so everything is essentially default at the moment. I wanted to eliminate any "tweaking induced" problems and start looking for the problem from a known good starting position. That said though, I did install Ultimate Traffic/Terrain (USA) before the testing. Maybe I should remove them a restore the Scenery and Texture folders to default and test again.DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB)2GB DDR SDRAM74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) & 120GB SATA (D: )256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 5.7)Audigy 2 ZS SoundMS Force Feedback 2WindowsXP Pro (SP2)DirectX 9.0c

Doug,Shot in the dark here.Have you tried 'Start/Program Files/Microsoft Games/FS9/Troubleshooting/Reset Defaults'.?Dave T. .........On the lovely warm Devon Riviera and active 'FlightSim User's Group' member at http://www.flightsimgrpuk.free-online.co.uk/

I have had this problem with the PMDG NGs, though it was solved with the version 3 patch, but it happens occasionaly when I switch from full screen to window using the Reality XP Garmin 530. So it is not likely your rig - I've had it happen on different graphics cards. Not sure what causes it, but you are not alone and you probably don't need to rip apart your system again.

Thanks for the comments Colin. I agree with you, no more pulling the system apart... but a good, fresh rebuild is not a bad thing to do once or twice a year :)Dave T: I tried your suggestion (which I believe just forces creation of a new FS9.cfg) and got great results... at least right after I did it! Managed a terrific flight from KSFO to KDEN with no problems. Not sure how doing this is any different from starting FS9.1 after a fresh reinstall, but so far so good. I'll do another flight tonight and see how things go.DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB)2GB DDR SDRAM74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) & 120GB SATA (D: )256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 5.7)Audigy 2 ZS SoundMS Force Feedback 2WindowsXP Pro (SP2)DirectX 9.0c

I just may have stumbled on a "trick" you can do to sidestep the problem, but this trick doesn't really reveal to me exactly what the problem is. The more I test this the more I'm certain it has to do with screen resolutions between what you run in FS9.1 and on the desktop. I don't understand all the technicalities of this but there might be something here.I discovered when I reset the FS9.cfg file to default that the problem would not occur. So, while in the sim after a "default cfg" startup display resolution reverts to the default... 800x600x32. Task switching many times to ASV and other applications at no time resulted in the ATC text disappearing. That said, and without shutting down FS9.1, I reset the display properties to my preferred (1600x1200x32) and the sim runs great with zero ATC text problems.Now, if I close down FS9.1 and restart with the display resolution set at my preferred, and then task switch to the desktop and then back to the sim, the ATC text disappears.Now for the trick :) ... I manually reset (edit in Notepad) the FS9.1 cfg file to the default resolution (800x600x32) and start the sim normally (FSAutoStart starts ASV then I manually start FS9.1). After FS9.1 starts I reset the display to my preferred resultion and off we go!So far this has worked every time with no problems. Yes it