PFPX Crashing

[Bachian 10]

Hi,

 

I have the Bundle PFPX + Topcat, but I'm having a problem. PFPX freezes all the time I try to set the Aircraft Performance File to integrate with Topcat. I made a video to show what's happening:

 

https://youtu.be/6oDkdJldo54

 

Anyone had the same problem? Any idea how to solve it?

[Jim Young 2,356]

I think that if there were many others having this problem, it would have been reported as a bug by now and fixed.  But it may be a permissions problem.  Have you tried starting up PFPX in Administrative Mode?  Is UAC disabled?  When you installed it, did you right click the installer and select Run as Administrator?  Was your anti-virus/malware programs disabled? 

 

I think I'll move this over to the FSX forum so it will get more coverage.

 

Best regards,

[Bachian 10]

Jim,

 

I'm running PFPX as admin and UAC is disabled.

 

It´s installed under a different drive (d:\) than Windows.

[SteveW 1,792]

I'm not suggesting permissions or running as admin is the cause of this issue but it is a possibility. Since it is a reasonable line of enquiry, I paste below a post from my forum:


Adjusting UAC or Running as Admin does not enable permissions.

Permissions are enabled per User or Group. If we don't have permission, we apply the permission to a User, or to a Group. When we log into Windows, we become a member of the Users group. So if we give permission to a folder or file for the Users group, then we automatically gain that permission when we log onto Windows.

"Run as Admin" may elevate permissions to members of the Admins group, which any first Windows user is a member of, so they can add more users. But Admins don't necessarily have permission or access rights to all things.

If we make our own folder, that folder becomes owned by the maker. If we are not the original User to create the folder, then unless we belong to a group with permission, we don't have permission. There are many circumstances where Admins do not have permission, and no adjustment on the UAC slider will make any difference either.

If we install software that wants to allow its program files to be written to or created by any user process, we add Modify permission to the Users group on that program folder. If we make a folder that we subsequently use Windows Installation routines to install apps, then we should add Modify to the Users group first. This way we can install software like FSX into the default program files location, add Modify to the Users group, and never run into permissions and rights issues with FSX, or its folder and anything in it.

The fact is, that making a folder outside program files or on another drive *only appears to fix* the permissions issue *in most cases*, and may fail to work as imagined, sooner or later.

Programs that make system changes, like NVidia inspector, elevate permissions when we run them. An installer may not necessarily be flagged as Admin Only, and run with regular permissions, but then it checks the permissions status of the process, and asks the user to accept elevated permissions to continue if required. Only then may the program create folders, copy files, and make system changes from there on.

A problem can arise with Run as Admin when programs interact with one another. If one program runs as admin, and interfaces with another process, they must both have the same permissions or certain operations cannot continue, even non-secure ones, for example where one app programmatically instructs another, maybe simply to update an edit box or control the appearance of a window.

1. Add modify permission to the users group on any folder I create that I intend to install software into. The Write permission is added automatically with the Modify permission.

2. Add modify permission to the Users group on any program folder I think may want to allow other programs write access to files and folders. For example "C:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3".

3. If we run one program as admin, for example FSX, then we must ensue that other exe programs Run as Admin too, depending on what they do, some features may not work otherwise.

Windows permissions and security is very complicated, but the above advice will save us from 99% of problems.

[Bachian 10]

Hi Steve,

 

Thanks for your answer. I'm not sure if I really understood, but I tried to set all permissions for both folders  (PFPX and Topcat).

 

Here is what they look like:

 

 

 

Still freezing... :(

[SteveW 1,792]

That's OK, was definitely worth checking. It seems permissions were not causing the freeze, but even so I would uncheck Full Control and leave the permissions set as they are, that's perfect. Problems due to permissions come up on some systems and is always worth setting up properly.

 

Probably not the reason for your freeze problem but:

 

"I'm running PFPX as admin and UAC is disabled."

 

"A problem can arise with Run as Admin when programs interact with one another."

 

 

Once the proper permissions are in place there's no need to run as admin, but if you run PFPX as admin also run TopCat as admin. Programs need file access by permissions to folders, not by being given admin privileges.

 

 

 

Note: If you do not run as admin and have trouble exporting PFPX plans, then it is possible the folder you are exporting to requires the modify permission for the Users group, this is preferred to running as admin since admin won't always work.

 

Apps like NVidia inspector, and Installers elevate privileges because they make system settings. User apps only write out files to user accessible areas. Since anyone logged into Windows is a member of the Users Group, allocating the Modify and Write permissions to a folder automatically provides write access to that folder without compromising system security.

 

I may be able to get time to have a closer look later...I've got PFPX and TopCAT.

[Bachian 10]

Hi Steve,

 

Both are running as admin, but wasn't when I realized the bug, so I started trying to change permissions. To be clear, PFPX still freezes if I run it as admin or not, always worrying to set Topcat the same permissions.

 

I don't have any problem to export the flight plan.

 

It looks like it's something else. Any other clue?

[SteveW 1,792]

I will have to install them later and see what I get. I've got them on the old rig, never saw any issues. However, I'm trying to think back, is there something like a setup file or other needed to be created by one or the other before they work together properly? Could be stuck waiting for a file that cannot be found. Back later...

[SteveW 1,792]

Just running the latest versions of PFPX and TOPCAT, and at the Edit button the TOPCAT performance module selection works fine, no hang.

 

You do have a plane added in topcat?

[Riche 5]

I had pfpx hang during initial start up, tried all sorts , reinstalls etc etc, then right clicked pfpx.exe / properties / compatability / & ran the troubleshooter , applied what ever fixes it did, & seemed to fix my problem, maybe worth a try. (This was win 10 x64)

Cheers

Riche.

[Bachian 10]

I will have to install them later and see what I get. I've got them on the old rig, never saw any issues. However, I'm trying to think back, is there something like a setup file or other needed to be created by one or the other before they work together properly? Could be stuck waiting for a file that cannot be found. Back later...

 

 

I don't think so. I just installed both and it suppose to work.

 

 

Just running the latest versions of PFPX and TOPCAT, and at the Edit button the TOPCAT performance module selection works fine, no hang.

 

You do have a plane added in topcat?

 

 

Yes, both have the same registration as you can see:

 

 

I appreciate all attention you are giving to this issue. Much more than I have from the official support. Thank you so much.

I had pfpx hang during initial start up, tried all sorts , reinstalls etc etc, then right clicked pfpx.exe / properties / compatability / & ran the troubleshooter , applied what ever fixes it did, & seemed to fix my problem, maybe worth a try. (This was win 10 x64)

Cheers

Riche.

 

Unfortunately it did not work Riche. I tried all different options possible:

 

 

Nice try anyway.

[SteveW 1,792]

I've been unable to recreate the problem.

 

 

Can you for argument's sake, uninstall and remove completely, folders and all, PFPX and TOPCAT. Then Add a new regular user to the Windows system, and log in with that profile. Then install PFPX and TOPCAT logged in as that user. Then use the apps with that user to test.

 

When running the installers do not right-click on the setup exe and "Run as Admin", first see if they pop up the question box to elevate privileges, if so press OK to that and allow the install. If they do not ask to elevate privileges, close the installer and right-click on the setup exe and choose "Run as Admin".

 

If the programs work OK, it could be your usual profile is corrupted or has mis-managed permissions. You may find that when you log back in as your usual self, the apps may run OK.

[Bachian 10]

Just for your information, this is the message I received from the official Aerosoft support:

 

"we´ve now been able to reproduce the issue - will be solved with next release."

 

I don't know how, but it seems they could reproduce the issue. The problem is, when a next release will be available? It can take months…

 

I'll try do what you said and I give you the feedback.

 

Any solution for me would be good.

[SteveW 1,792]

Yes, the programs do work on most systems. Do you have English date time and number formats set? Maybe it is a language problem in some formats.

[nante 0]

Hi, I've the same here and Windows 10 report "PFPX has stopped working" 5 to 10 minutes since open. I don't know if Windows 10 the problem but i can remember in Windows 8.1 has freezes also. I can see in your video you have PFPX on Windows 10.

This is a fresh install of FSX and Windows 10 on a top end ASUS ROG Gaming PC 32GB RAM SSD etc.

 

TOPCAT also is being blocked always with PMDG777-200 when calculating TLR. 

I just buy the bundle only for the PMDG 777 but TOPCAT is in beta without 777-300 for a long time.

 

I hope this have a solution as soon as possible because it's unusable for many users including me..

 

Thanks