"Your computer has run out of available memory" - any troubleshooting tips?

[martinlest2 58]

Hi, thanks for the comments. Yes, I have got to the bottom of many an issue like that, starting with the most likely culprits and deleting the sceneries from the scenery.cfg file (I have multiple backups!). If that doesn't work, then I start with a 'clean' cfg file and add sceneries back a large bunch at a time (i have almost 1400 entries, so it's quite a task). I use an aircraft folder with only the default Cessna in it, which hugely speeds up loading times between restarts of FS9. When you find the right one scenery, you can then move individual bgl files out of the folder until the one(s) responsible are located.

 

What is a problem in this case is that the sim can't be relied upon to crash every time and it could take days to hunt down a bgl file, if any. As I said above, after the CTD en route to CYVR, I restarted FS9, with the help of AutoSave, at a point just before the crash. And things went fine, at least until another crash half an hour later (which would not have been caused by the same problem, I am sure).

 

Sometimes tempted just to ignore it and move on - I don't fly in that part of the world all that often! I will try a few more test runs around the point of the last CTD but it's so unpredictable I doubt I'll get any real clues as to what is responsible.

[pete_auau 1,154]

Thanks for the replies. I knew it wasn't anything to do with physical memory and 95% sure it was nothing to do with pages memory either (and 100% certain it had nothing to do with disc space!). My fs9.exe is the /3GB patched version, BTW.

 

As I mentioned, I have usually been able to cure these problems (fortunately rare) by locating the faulty bgl or bmp file and removing it, but that is a long process as it is often by trial and error, and is especially frustrating when the crash is intermittent and cannot be reproduced every time you fly the same route.

 

I am very pleased to get some specific advice therefore! Thank you Pete, but which file was the culprit? What is an 'orbox' bgl file? I have no files called 'orbox' anything in my FS9 setup, bgl or otherwise. Which scenery/update were you talking about?

 

Hope you folks have a good Christmas meanwhile...

 

 

 

http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/53664-ctd-near-cyvr/#comment-475371

 

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,8099.msg66636.html#msg66636

 

M.

 

 

If you havnt got fdst cyvr and orbx than it be a diferent issue you have than I had and others had

[martinlest2 58]

Yes, but those are for FSX only - and this is the FS9 forum. So it will be different, you are right! :-)

[martinlest2 58]

OK, another OoM crash. This time just east of EDRZ (I was flying from ELLX to LOWW). FS9 freezes (it doesn't crash, as such), but still 'works', inasmuch as the menu bar still opens when I press 'Alt' and all the options, like choose aircraft, show, but once I come out of full screen mode, the FS9 window is black, and is still if I go back to full screen. When I minimise the FS9 window, there is the cursed "Your computer has run out of available memory. Flight Simulator will now exit...." message. Well, there is still 11.5GBs of free RAM and 1GB of (unused) page file, so it has NOT run out of memory of course (as noted in an earlier post in this thread).

 

I run Windows 7 64-bit and have a 4GB patched Fs9.exe file. I thought I'd left these errors behind when I changed to 64-bit, some years ago now! Horrible to be getting them again. At least when I got OoM errors in FS with XP 32-bit, I could see that there really was no RAM left, and could always locate the bgl or bmp file that was to blame. Here, well, who knows??

 

Hard to think it's another scenery file error, but possible I suppose. I am using a recent nVidia driver - 359.06.

 

Any other ideas? I really am SO fed up of one problem after another with FS now (I seem to complete fewer than half of my flights without an error of some sort stopping me flying - different errors - and as fast as I fix one - or imagine I have - another comes up). If I weren't so addicted to FS I'd wipe the whole PC and forget it, it's hardly worth the frustration sometimes.

 

I suppose I could backup, uninstall and start afresh with a clean FS9.1, then add third party stuff bit by bit. Not much fun though, and it will take forever!!

 

What else could be causing these occasional OoMs? If it were every time, it would be easier to troubleshoot, and of course, if I reload the flight at the place it just crashed (not always easy with 3rd. party aircraft, they don't reload their panels state - reload the flight and the engines and electrics all shut down!), most likely it will continue quite happily from where it left off, so how even to begin troubleshooting this??

[Dave Morgan 68]

Hi.

 

Do I recall someone once mentioning that having landclass bgls in a scenery layer that also contains a texture folder can tie up your memory by forcing FS9 to hunt endlessly for non-existent texture files?

 

I don't suppose that's causing the problem is it? I guess that restarting FS9 and picking up the flight where you left off would probably kill the endless search and re-free the memory.

 

Regards,

D

[A32xx 129]

I once ran Process Monitor out of curiosity and was surprised to find my FS2004 was constantly searching for some tree texture or other, causing a memory leak. I created a notepad file and saved it in the main Texture folder as tree_su.bmp or whatever the name was and that fixed it.

[martinlest2 58]

Yes, Process Monitor has been very helpful in the past. Despite what I said (in frustration) I think this being down to a rogue file is the most likely. I am going to try again (last time didn't work) to get Process Monitor to run remotely, so that I can monitor things from a second PC on my network.

 

I have also let Windows create and manage its own page file. Even though it is not really being used, it could be a factor (??). Now got a page file of 16GBs.. if I still get OoM crashes, I'll put it back to 1GB, but I need to try everything to eliminate it from the possible culprit list.

 

Will keep you 'posted'! Thanks.

[Luke 782]

 

 

I have also let Windows create and manage its own page file. Even though it is not really being used, it could be a factor (??). Now got a page file of 16GBs..

 

It's not a factor.

 

Cheers!
 

Luke

[martinlest2 58]

Hi. Well you say it isn't, other folks on tech forums say the opposite. Usual thing :smile:  I tend to agree with you, but I'll try anything once!

[Luke 782]

The page file provides virtual memory to the entire system. If your commit charge (ie. total memory used) when FS9 crashes is substantially less than your physical RAM, the page file isn't being meaningfully used and therefore increasing it will not make a difference.

 

Cheers!

Luke

[A32xx 129]

The issue is not the size of the paging file, but the fact that it may have become corrupted in it's current state:

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/892610

 

Resetting the paging file size to default (which could also be smaller than current size) would hopefully clear any errors with it.

[martinlest2 58]

Yes, the page file has links to the way Windows operates in ways people don't seem to imagine (when they remove it entirely for example, because they imagine with 32GBs of RAM, a page file is obsolete).  I am no 'guru' in this field, but I am confident that the guys in Seattle are on the whole better informed about how Windows should work than most 'experts' posting their tweaks on internet forums. (I am not, I hasten to add, referring to anyone posting in this thread!!).

 

Although it's a bit silly to have 16Gbs as a page file (though I don't currently need the space on my C drive, there is still enough left), since I let Windows manage it, I have had no OoM crashes, though it's early days, I only very recently rebuilt the page file and changed the setting.

 

Thanks.

 

M.

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

I don't know if it applies to FS9, but with FSX the error you cited was fixed by Pete's FSUIPC.  Maybe give his website a search?

[gwillmot 31]

I don't know if it applies to FS9, but with FSX the error you cited was fixed by Pete's FSUIPC.  Maybe give his website a search?

 

Why don't you know if it apples to FS2004?  You DO use FS2004, don't you?

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Man, longing for the Ignore User button.