FSX CTD and now unable to open

[pbandpickleboy 0]

Hi all. This is my first post here and I'm looking for your wisdom.

 

A few weeks ago my FSX crashed in the middle of a flight. The Windows crash report said the faulting module was Fsuipc4.dll. Pete Dowson, the creator of FSUIPC, said the FSUIPC log indicated that it was closing normally in a sequence that involved SimConnect and FSX closing normally.

 

Ever since, I have been unable to open FSX and FSUIPC. You see, I could open it by declining to run FSUIPC, but I need it to run ACARS for my VA. When I try to open FSX, I get an error that says FSX has detected an issue with FSUIPC. When I attempt to load FSUIPC anyway, FSX closes and sometimes crashes. The first time and several times since, the Windows crash reports have said sim1.dll. The thing is, the past two times, I got one error in atc.dll and one in ai_player.dll. I'm not entirely sure what's going on. Pete said that the loading issue is a timing issue with SimConnect. A SimConnect log indicated that nothing was being loaded by SimConnect. He could not explain the crashes. He recommended reinstalling FSX, which I'd like to avoid, but I will try it if that's the best/only option.

 

I would appreciate any help since this has caused me to be unable to fly for my VA, which is what I always do anyway. If it helps, I am running Windows 10 64-bit. Thanks,

 

Mark

[Jim Young 2,356]

The AVSIM CTD Guide has some suggestions for these crashed:
 
AI_Player.dll - The faulting module was the ai_player.dll which is the module that controls your AI (a commercial AI program or the default).

• Could be something wrong with an AI model or object. If you have MyTrafficX, you can disable AI in the Scenery Library to see if this fixes the problem.  If so, then this is the problem.  If you have another AI program installed, then disable that program to see if the program is causing your crashes.
• Problem occurs occasionally in the Seattle area with FTX/Orbx Pacific Northwest. This may have been fixed by now but check the FTX/Orbx forums and search for AI_Player.
• Caused by freeware airports in the area that has static aircraft or their own AI aircraft and flight plans. Disable the add-on airport and see if problem is gone. If you have any FSDT, Flight Beam airports, do not disable them. They are not the problem.
• AI programs like MyTrafficX has AFCAD's for hundreds, maybe thousands of airports in the MyTraffic/Scenery folder. Anyone of these could be the cause of the ai_player crash. In this case, make sure you have the latest version of your AI program installed.

ATC.dll – Three possible solutions –

• It occurs on a change of frequency (TWR to GND for example) and is associated with other frequencies used in your plan.  Try entering removeatc=yes in the General section of FSUIPC.INI.
• There are minor issues where the file atc.dll, responsible for containing the viewing graphics display during game play, encounters errors in displaying multiple image streams, especially when it renders multiple overlays.  If you have multiple displays and/or multiple Windows open, there is probably a conflict or problem with the configuration.  Troubleshoot. 
• Make sure your memory modules in your BIOS are properly configured (i.e., match timings and voltages as some BIOS have been known to not manage these settings properly).  See CPU-Z, SPD Tab and make sure settings are the same in the BIOS.

Sim1.dll CTD – This crash is caused by a corrupted or incompatible aircraft texture, most likely the latter.  Look at recent aircraft installations, especially from previous versions of flight simulator.  Right click on FSX.exe in your main FSX folder and select ‘Properties’.  Once open, click on the compatibility tab and check “Run as Administrator”.
 
These "probable solutions" were what fixed the problems from your fellow flight simmers throughout the flight simulation community and not just AVSIM.
 
How can you start up FSX and have the option "by declining to run FSUIPC"?  Everything in your dll.xml is loaded during startup unless you have the item in the dll.xml disabled per page 3 of the AVSIM CTD Guide (change false to true in the disabled line).
 
Make sure you have FSX set to start up with admin privileges for ALL users.  Go to the main FSX folder, right click fsx.exe, select Properties, then open the Compatibility tab.  Look all the way down and make sure FSX will start up with admin privileges for all users.
 
You did not indicate where FSX is installed.  Is it installed in the default folders (Program Files (x86)) or in a folder like C:\FSX?
 
If you have the uiautomationcore.dll placed in your main FSX directory, move it to a temporary folder.  It could be the wrong version or, in most cases, it is not compatible with FSX.
 
Make sure UAC is turned off - http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-turn-off-and-disable-uac-in-windows-10/ This should have been off when you installed FSX as well as any anti-virus programs. These programs are used to help protect you from evil people. Unfortunately, they also sometimes get confused and deny access to files and do other things like not putting a proper entry in the system registry.
 
Make sure you have the most recent version of FSUIPC.  Older versions are definitely not compatible with FSX when running certain addons.

 

Make sure your FSX.cfg does not have any tweaks in it.  None.  Zero. 

 

Pete had a good idea about reinstalling FSX which is no fun but some say simply moving your fsx.cfg to a temporary folder and restarting fsx is the same as reinstalling fsx as settings are too high or there are some improper performance parameters employed that do not work.  To bring your system to the default, move the fsx.cfg and scenery.cfg to a temporary folder.  They will be rebuilt back to the default when you restart.  Perhaps you did not trust something when you first installed an addon.  There could be a bad addon scenery installed.  If the problems go away, then there is something wrong with one of these two files.  The dll.xml can be moved over too but it will not be rebuilt as it does not come with the default FSX but is installed when you install your first addon that uses it.  You already know the FSUIPC entry causes your crashes.  It could be corrupt. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards,

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Excellent post Jim!

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thanks Dave!  I hope it helps him.

 

Best regards,

[pbandpickleboy 0]

The path to FSX is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

 

I set it to run as administrator for all users. I also run it in compatibility mode for Windows 7, which I also set for all users.

 

I moved uiautomationcore.dll to a temporary folder.

 

I'm a bit nervous about doing so, but I disabled UAC via the Control Panel.

 

I should have a new version of FSUIPC.

 

I don't recall tweaking FSX.cfg, but I can post it if you'd like to verify.

 

Later when I have more free time I can try moving fsx.cfg and scenery.cfg to a temporary folder and opening FSX. I do have one addon scenery and a bunch of addon aircraft, but none have caused issues before. We shall see.

 

Thanks for such a long post and all your suggestions. I really appreciate it.

I looked ahead but haven't tried anything yet since only a few minutes have passed  :smile:

 

Should fsx.cfg be in the main FSX folder? I don't see it there.

[jmdriskell 178]

I think you will find the fsx.cfg in Users(you)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX. 

[pbandpickleboy 0]

Thank you jmdriskell. I found both fsx.cfg and fsx.cfg.txt. Is the text file of any significance?

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thank you jmdriskell. I found both fsx.cfg and fsx.cfg.txt. Is the text file of any significance?

The text file is written when you have an error in FSX.  It was supposed to be sent to Microsoft to troubleshoot whenever anyone got a crash but we all know that Microsoft stopped supporting this product and that never happened.  It is okay to remove the txt file.

 

Best regards,

[pbandpickleboy 0]

I deleted the text file. I then moved fsx.cfg and scenery.cfg from AppData\Roaming etc. to a temporary folder. I thought we might have made progress, but still no dice. Maybe I need to move the scenery.cfg in the main FSX folder? I can also try deleting the addon scenery and addon aircraft.

 

This is a link to a picture of the error I've been getting, since you kind of asked about it.

 

http://i68.tinypic.com/qz22k1.png

[Jim Young 2,356]

Maybe I need to move the scenery.cfg in the main FSX folder? I can also try deleting the addon scenery and addon aircraft.

 

This is a link to a picture of the error I've been getting, since you kind of asked about it.

 

http://i68.tinypic.com/qz22k1.png

There is a scenery.cfg located in the same hidden folder as where your fsx.cfg is located.  This file should never be moved or deleted.  If the scenery.cfg in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft\FSX folder is deleted or moved, then the scenery.cfg located in the FSX.cfg folder will be used to rebuild the default scenery.cfg.

 

The error message you are getting in the link indicates to me you have the wrong fsuipc.dll installed. Go to the FSX/Modules folder and open up fsuipc4 Install and see if there are any error messages there.  If not, then delete everything in the Modules folder.  Go to the following link - http://forum.simflight.com/topic/66139-updated-modules/ and download version 4.948 and install the module.  If you can, open into your dll.xml (double-click to open and select Notepad if it asks for a program to open it).  Look down for the fsuipc.dll entry - it should look like this:

 

<Launch.Addon>

    <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

    <Disabled>False</Disabled>

    <Path>Modules\FSUIPC4.dll</Path>

</Launch.Addon

 

You can delete these lines and save the file (move any entries below the last line up first).  I would save a copy first before making any changes by saving it as dll.xml.orig then go to File and open dll.xml.  Now delete the lines above and then save it.

 

Now reinstall the FSUIPC.dll

 

Best regards,

 

[pbandpickleboy 0]

The one I moved was the one in the hidden folder, which seemed to rebuild itself. When I moved the one in the main FSX folder, I couldn't open FSX. It's safe to say I put it back immediately.

 

I uninstalled my one addon scenery. When I tried to load FSX, it said there was an error with scenery.cfg because Area 121 could not be found. Now there is no Area 121 in either scenery.cfg. I'm not sure if it removed it or it wasn't there in the first place. I may have uninstalled the scenery while the scenery.cfg in the main FSX folder was missing, if that could be a problem as well.

 

I deleted everything from the Modules folder except FSCopilot.dll and FSSound.dll, which I believe are not FSUIPC-related. There were two entries in dll.xml that seemed to apply to FSUIPC. I deleted both and moved up the following lines so there were no gaps.

 

I downloaded and installed FSUIPC v. 4.948. The new install log looked fine, but it did say that there was already an entry in dll.xml. There are two once again, which appear to be the same as the two I deleted. The first one looks like this:

 

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>Modules\Fsuipc4.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

 

This is the second one:

 

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>Modules\FSUIPC4.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

 

There is an entry in between if that makes a difference.

 

I tried to open FSX. This is when I got the error about Area 121 in the scenery.cfg. I still got the same error about FSUIPC after that. Where do we go now?

[Jim Young 2,356]

Did you reinstall FSUIPC?  If the dll.xml is still showing more fsuipc.dll entries (it should not), then copy and paste the contents of your dll.xml here so we can take a look at the entries.  There should be only one fsuipc4 entry.

 

The scenery.cfg error indicates you uninstalled an area and the entry was not removed from your scenery.cfg.  So, at Area121, FSX is looking for a scenery and cannot find it as you deleted or moved the scenery. 

 

It is getting to look more and more that you will have to completely uninstall and then reinstall FSX and all of your addons.  Your installation appears to be corrupted.

 

Best regards,

[pbandpickleboy 0]

I did reinstall FSUIPC. This is what my entire dll.xml looks like.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>

 

<SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0">

  <Descr>Launch</Descr>

  <Filename>dll.xml</Filename>

  <Disabled>False</Disabled>

  <Launch.ManualLoad>False</Launch.ManualLoad>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>Object Placement Tool</Name>

        <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Mission Creation Kit\object_placement.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>Traffic Toolbox</Name>

        <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Traffic Toolbox SDK\traffictoolbox.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>Visual Effects Tool</Name>

        <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>Modules\Fsuipc4.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>as_connect</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>as_srv\as_btstrp.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>Modules\FSUIPC4.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSCopilot</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>Modules\FSCopilot.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

</SimBase.Document>

 

Ugh, I was hoping I wouldn't have to uninstall and reinstall, but if that's what enables me to fly again with FSUIPC, then so be it. Hopefully the code works again.

 

Just out of curiosity, what could have caused the corrupted installation? As I probably said before, everything worked fine for over a year at least. It was just after the CTD that I had these problems. I'm just wondering what could have corrupted the installation.

 

Thanks so much for your help thus far. I appreciate you examining everything and attempting to give solutions instead of just claiming that your software has nothing to do with it, as Pete did. Thank you so much.

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

I did reinstall FSUIPC. This is what my entire dll.xml looks like.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>

 

<SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0">

  <Descr>Launch</Descr>

  <Filename>dll.xml</Filename>

  <Disabled>False</Disabled>

  <Launch.ManualLoad>False</Launch.ManualLoad>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>Object Placement Tool</Name>

        <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Mission Creation Kit\object_placement.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>Traffic Toolbox</Name>

        <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Traffic Toolbox SDK\traffictoolbox.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>Visual Effects Tool</Name>

        <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>    Change this line to <Disabled>True</Disabled>

        <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>

        <Path>Modules\Fsuipc4.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>as_connect</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>as_srv\as_btstrp.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>Modules\FSUIPC4.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

  <Launch.Addon>

        <Name>FSCopilot</Name>

        <Disabled>False</Disabled>

        <Path>Modules\FSCopilot.dll</Path>

    </Launch.Addon>

</SimBase.Document>

 

Ugh, I was hoping I wouldn't have to uninstall and reinstall, but if that's what enables me to fly again with FSUIPC, then so be it. Hopefully the code works again.

 

Just out of curiosity, what could have caused the corrupted installation? As I probably said before, everything worked fine for over a year at least. It was just after the CTD that I had these problems. I'm just wondering what could have corrupted the installation.

 

Thanks so much for your help thus far. I appreciate you examining everything and attempting to give solutions instead of just claiming that your software has nothing to do with it, as Pete did. Thank you so much.

 

Make the change to your dll.xml as I show in RED in your quote above.  The second one appears to be the correct one.  When you make this change to your dll.xml, then only one fsuipc4.dll will load.  I had crashes some time ago when I had two entries for a PMDG product.  Removed one and the crashes stopped.

 

You may want to disable FSCopilot too.  That module is known to cause problems unless it is explicitly installed correctly.  If the crashes continue, then change it back from True to False on the Disabled line.

 

Best regards,

[pbandpickleboy 0]

I made the fix and the problem still came up.

 

I think I need FSCopilot on my laptop since I run FSInn on another, but correct me if I'm wrong.