FS9 hangs: 'Loading Scenery' = 0% & CPU = 0%. Why?

[martinlest2 58]

I tried today to fly from PKMA, Marshall Islands and found that, although I didn't get a CTD, FS9 stops working as it tries to load the scenery files... it never gets past 0%. At the same time I can see in Task Manager that the CPU usage also drops to zero, and stays there...

 

Thought it might be my 3rd. party addon for the Marshall Islands, but no, without that scenery, just the same thing happens. So I spent hours, well, a couple at least, tracing the problem by trial and error (I was sure it was a problem due to an addon I have, as an 'out of the box' FS9 installation has no problem, whether the 3rd party Marshall Island scenery is installed or not) and eventually found it was FSGenesis mesh. Delete that entry from the scenery.cfg file, and all is OK.

 

So, another hour to track down the precise culprit within FSG, which turned out to not be the Marshall Island mesh, oddly, but the terrain mesh "dem76m_pacificisl_micronesia...". Remove those files and all is OK: put them back, FS9 won't load at the Marshall Islands, it just goes dead in the way I've explained. Tried several times to be sure... no doubt about it.

 

It's not the first time I have had to remove a bgl file which causes a problem in some other part of the world (sometimes very remote), and not the first time it's been a mesh file. Can anyone say why, in this case, an FSG mesh file for Micronesia might stop sceneries from loading in another part of the world and cause FS9, basically, to stop, even though the FS9 window remains open" (no FS9.exe activity at all in Process Monitor)? I'd be interested to know what might be going on: even if I fixed the problem by removing some bgl files, I don't know what is actually happening within FS9.exe

 

If you have the FSG mesh files above (there are three: I removed them all though maybe only one is to blame), maybe you could try to see if you also get this problem? As I say, it seems to happen with the default scenery too..

 

Thanks.

 

Martin

[vector 7]

I would ask the question "Why are you loading a mesh from a completely different part of the world from where you are currently flying?".  Do you, by any chance, have other sceneries active in the sim's library which are not relevant to where your aircraft is currently situated?  If so then maybe you are just asking FS2004 to load more than it can cope with?  I only activate libraries relevant to where I am currently flying and the sim flies happily onwards and upwards.

 

Dijvid

[martinlest2 58]

 

"Why are you loading a mesh from a completely different part of the world from where you are currently flying?"

 

Because you install FS Genesis mesh from the CD-ROMs and they go into their own folder - you don't (can't) install and uninstall bgl files continuously according to where you are flying. It's not even clear from many of the names the geographical areas that they govern.

 

 

Do you, by any chance, have other sceneries active in the sim's library which are not relevant to where your aircraft is currently situated?

 

Yes, that's usual. I suppose 99% of people will have, that's the FS9 scenery library. I used to use Scenery_Align to do what you do, but only on my spare FS9 laptop: unless you have a very feeble PC, it's not necessary - it gives me no performance gain, just extra hassle before I can fly.

 

 

If so then maybe you are just asking FS2004 to load more than it can cope with?

 

No, it copes brilliantly with everything I throw at it, even in FSX for the most part. The reason for the problem is nothing to do with resources - this problem is very specific and caused by a couple of 'rogue' bgl files.

 

 

 I only activate libraries relevant to where I am currently flying and the sim flies happily onwards and upwards.

 

Your choice, but for most modern PCs, it's quite unnecessary to do that, I assure you. It's loading a lot of aircraft (especially if you have a large AI collection) that takes the time and resources, not scenery. You could try removing all but the default C172, leaving every airport scenery active - FS9 starts up in a fraction of the time. You can also see what's loading with Process Monitor as FS9 starts up - lots and lots and lots of aircraft files...

[netshadoe 144]

It's been a long time since I've used FS9 Martin, but I seem to remember having to delete all the .WX files out of the FS9 Flight Sim folder in your Documents folder (where the saved flight plans, and situation files are located) wen this happened. 

 

Try backing them up somewhere else if you really want to keep them, otherwise you don't need a WX file to load really.  They are just saved weather from the saved situation file.

 

Other than that, good luck!! 

[martinlest2 58]

Never heard of that - I can certainly try it. But I doubt I have any wx files, as I am fairly sure they are created along with .flt files, when you save a flight - and I load my flights from flight plans these days, not saved flights.

[vector 7]

Because you install FS Genesis mesh from the CD-ROMs and they go into their own folder - you don't (can't) install and uninstall bgl files continuously according to where you are flying. It's not even clear from many of the names the geographical areas that they govern.

 

 

No so, I suggest!  I have Many FSGenesis mesh areas and I have installed each one them where I want them to go and not where the developer thinks they should go [in a dedicated folder of their own].  It's quite easy to do.

 

As for all the other scenery BGL files I have [excluding the default FS2004 ones] it is not at all difficult to work out where they should go.  All my airport and scenery files are placed by country and then airport within that country on my hard disk which makes it very easy to just select and load those relevant to where I wish to fly.  Having set all this up at the point of initial installation, and backed it up as well, means that it's a once and for all job and I don't subsequently have to continually install and uninstall BGL files.

 

If we didn't live so far apart I'd be only too happy to show you my set up and just how easy it is to operate.

 

Dijvid

[martinlest2 58]

That's OK, but thanks for the offer! As I say, I used to do that in days gone by, but with a proper PC running FS9/FSX (rather than the Dell XPS laptop I used to use) there's no advantage - I get no discernible performance gain (I've tried it).

 

My airports are also arranged by country, all in separate folders. In fact, like you perhaps, my whole setup is highly 'automated' with scripts I have written and so on. But I still have enough setting up to do with all my addon software without adding on extra 'work' (labour of love though it may be) by selecting which sceneries to activate/deactivate before I fly. The only advantage would be that, with the FSGenesis bgl files for Micronesia absent, I wouldn't have had the issue at the Marshall Islands - but it's so rare as to be not worth the change. I posted here to see if any 'guru' could explain why the files might be preventing FS9 from loading scenery, at an 'under the bonnet' level.

 

By the way, do you use Scenery_Align, to activate/deactivate sceneries? It is a great tool for automating that, if that's how you like to work things in FS. I still use it to align the scenery numbers in the scenery.cfg file after adding new scenery (I can't do it in the FS9 interface - I went way of the maximum visible there years ago).

 

Thanks again.

[vector 7]

By the way, do you use Scenery_Align, to activate/deactivate sceneries? It is a great tool for automating that, if that's how you like to work things in FS. I still use it to align the scenery numbers in the scenery.cfg file after adding new scenery (I can't do it in the FS9 interface - I went way of the maximum visible there years ago).

 

Thanks again.

 

Ah well, each to their own, as they say!!  It doesn't matter how we organise our sim - the main thing is that we are content with how it all works!!

 

I don't use Scenery_Align as I do the activating/deactivating directly in the sim.  As for renumbering the scenery.cfg files I use something called "RSC" which as far as I can make out stands for Renumber Scenery Configuration!!!!  Wouldn't be without it.  And it checks for syntax errors as well.

 

Cheers.

 

Dijvid

 

[martinlest2 58]

 

I don't use Scenery_Align as I do the activating/deactivating directly in the sim

Worth having a look maybe - it allows a lot more options than doing it in FS9 and it just takes a mouse click or two to activate/deactivate multiple scenery files. It's in the file library.

[martinlest2 58]

 

Ans inside the x86 folder will cause ZERO issues in Win7.

Please can you copy me some links where this exact point is explained (by someone who knows, like Microsoft, rather than is expounding an opinion). Maybe you just meant it has caused no issues in your setup. It's written everywhere not to install FS into one of the C drive programme folders, and I think most people have gone along with that.

 

All this separating and putting scenery folders inside and outside of the install and on desktops and other hdd etc etc etc results in one thing.....trouble.

Very possible, which is why I don't do it...

 

Delete everything and install it all over again..

:biggrin: Basically, you've got to be joking.  :smile:  I don't have a spare six months to do that (+ reactivating licenses online etc. etc.etc) and I see no reason to anyway. The problems come from what is installed, not where. Basically, I have everything installed where it should be/"wants to go" anyway.

 

Yes, after so many years adding 3rd. party stuff my FS9 setup is huge and very complex and so I expect to have some problems from time to time... though I agree, I do seem to get something new at least once a week! Mostly nothing 'serious' - probably amazing that so much disparate software works together flawlessly so much of the time! As I said here, I just posted this thread as it'd be good to know exactly how the bgl files might be interacting with each other in this way. I manage to sort out the problems myself (or with people's advice on this forum) 99% of the time..

[gwillmot 31]

Anyone ever hear of a bad scenery/texture file?  It has happened in the past .... with many a download.  Usually, I can redownload it goes away.  If not, I simply delete the offending scenery/file and I'm no worse off than where I was the day before.

Delete and reinstall ?????? Communist plot, I say!

[DuntoiRab 0]

Just for information, my 5 year old FS9 install is default.

W7

i3 CPU and a cheap GPU.

 

Never had any issues.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it is my motto.

 

So,I don't fanny about with selecting sceneries prior to flight, it would look wierd if I never saw any airports crusing from Glasgow to Larnaca for example.

 

Yes, lots of a/c causes a long load time, I just put the kettle on and have a smoke!

[vector 7]

What would Microsoft know? Snake oil merchants. Rob from the poor, and infect the rich with dumb updates.

 

 

Nobody is forced to use Microsoft products - dumb updates or not.

 

You can use Linux instead of Windows, XPlane instead of FS2004 and there are plenty of excellent and free third party offerings for web browsers, e-mail clients, word processing, spreadsheets .... da,da,da,da!

 

Personally, I use WIndows7 because it's a good operating OS and I'm very familiar and comfortable with it, and FS2004 because I have a huge investment in it.  As for everything else I use third party software like Firefox, Thunderbird, etc., which don't cost me a penny.

 

Dijvid

[gwillmot 31]

Personally, I use WIndows7 because it's a good operating OS and I'm very familiar and comfortable with it, and FS2004 because I have a huge investment in it.  As for everything else I use third party software like Firefox, Thunderbird, etc., which don't cost me a penny.

 

Dijvid

 

+1 .... Except:

Personally, I use WIndows XP because it's a good operating OS and I'm very familiar and comfortable with it, and FS2004 because I have a huge investment in it.  As for everything else I use third party software like Firefox, Thunderbird, etc., which don't cost me a penny.

[martinlest2 58]

 

Martin? Disable some scenery and work your way through the the problem.

Thanks, but if you (please) read what I originally posted you'll see that I did exactly that before I even wrote anything here, and fixed it -  I gave full details. I posted, not to get help with the (solved) issue, but because I was interested (as I keep saying) to know if anyone with a technical knowledge might know what there could be in the mesh bgl files that would stop FS9 loading scenery. Maybe I should have posted this in the scenery design forum...

 

Great people bother to reply, but probably good idea to read the earlier posts first - or at least the original one?  :smile:

 

And no, I'm not into the 'fad' of knocking Microsoft either. I am ever grateful that they gave us this flightsim. And Windows 7 is pretty wonderful to boot (so to speak!)