MCE Crashing

[halobiont 5]

Hi,

MCE is crashing on every flight about 60 minutes in.  It fails with PMDG 737 and 738 with P3D V4.1.

MCE just freezes up and crashes.  I've updated to the most current version.  I run as adminstrator.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Doug

[charlie130 196]

9 hours ago, halobiont said:

Hi,

MCE is crashing on every flight about 60 minutes in.  It fails with PMDG 737 and 738 with P3D V4.1.

MCE just freezes up and crashes.  I've updated to the most current version.  I run as adminstrator.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Doug

Hello Doug. I experienced this a couple of MCE versions ago. It happened when I repeated a command, specifically altitude changes, to the FO. It was like my repeated command locked up the FO. I could see my speech text on the screen, but the FO was AWOL? Subsequent flights seem ok. I have done many hours testing the CRJ and have had no stoppages. But there again I am on Win 7 and P3dv3.

New version MCE appears ok. Could you tell if the stoppage, you have,  was during an action or flow?

If all else fails, I use "appcrashview", a little utility which will help diagnose some anomalies. 

Cheers.

 

[FS++ 707]

10 hours ago, halobiont said:

Hi,

MCE is crashing on every flight about 60 minutes in.  It fails with PMDG 737 and 738 with P3D V4.1.

MCE just freezes up and crashes.  I've updated to the most current version.  I run as adminstrator.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Doug

Difficult to say why at about 60 minutes.

All I can suggest is to check the following.

Go to \Prepar3D v4\ installation folder.

What version of "fsInsider64.dll" you've got there? (Right-click the file and check "Properties)

Open <MCE dlls> folder.

Again, check file version for "mcpmd73X.dll" which is the file through which Fo interacts with that particular aircraft.

Suggest you reset MCE to factory settings.

Start->All Apps->Multi Crew Experience->Restore factory settings.

No need for speech training when going through the wizard this time.

If using a USB headset plug it straight to the back of PC and not via a USB hub or the front connectors.

Go to Windows device manager and Ensure USB device isn't set to go to sleep after a while.

MCE runs the entire speech engine within the "mce.exe" process.

Any malfunction with speech engine, like losing the link to USB headset built-in audio device because the latter went missing for a microsecond will result in MCE AppHang or crash.

I do experience with my wireless dongle. Every now and then it just disconnects and then reconnects for no reason, or perhaps after moving the extension cable to which it is attached. Its USB connector has become loose as a result of multiple connection/disconnection cycles..

This is one of the reasons we don't run the speech engine inside the simulator via a gauge like our competitor does. In that case, It would probably cause an early flight termination.

At least, with this design, your flight, the most important thing stays put. And you are guaranteed your FO presence on arrival, since you can restart MCE mid-flight. FO will automatically adjust to the flight phase you're in, because it's not a "scripted adventure" with lots of assumptions. It's like he's gone for a toilet break.

Obviously more annoying when that happens on approach

I encourage everyone who flies the PMDG 737 (FSX or P3D any version) to eventually chime in to check that the issue hasn't surfaced as a result of the update.

[halobiont 5]

I'm still having this problem.  I tried a complete reinstall. Please see below.

 

Difficult to say why at about 60 minutes. Occurs randomly now

All I can suggest is to check the following.

Go to \Prepar3D v4\ installation folder.

What version of "fsInsider64.dll" you've got there? (Right-click the file and check "Properties) 2.7.4.2

Open <MCE dlls> folder.

Again, check file version for "mcpmd73X.dll" which is the file through which Fo interacts with that particular aircraft. 2.0.6.2

Suggest you reset MCE to factory settings.

Start->All Apps->Multi Crew Experience->Restore factory settings. Did that, still crashing

No need for speech training when going through the wizard this time.

If using a USB headset plug it straight to the back of PC and not via a USB hub or the front connectors. It was always plugged straight to the computer

Go to Windows device manager and Ensure USB device isn't set to go to sleep after a while. Checked that and still crashing.  It was not set to sleep.

MCE runs the entire speech engine within the "mce.exe" process.

Any malfunction with speech engine, like losing the link to USB headset built-in audio device because the latter went missing for a microsecond will result in MCE AppHang or crash.

I do experience with my wireless dongle. Every now and then it just disconnects and then reconnects for no reason, or perhaps after moving the extension cable to which it is attached. Its USB connector has become loose as a result of multiple connection/disconnection cycles..

This is one of the reasons we don't run the speech engine inside the simulator via a gauge like our competitor does. In that case, It would probably cause an early flight termination.

At least, with this design, your flight, the most important thing stays put. And you are guaranteed your FO presence on arrival, since you can restart MCE mid-flight. FO will automatically adjust to the flight phase you're in, because it's not a "scripted adventure" with lots of assumptions. It's like he's gone for a toilet break.

Obviously more annoying when that happens on approach

I encourage everyone who flies the PMDG 737 (FSX or P3D any version) to eventually chime in to check that the issue hasn't surfaced as a result of the update.

[halobiont 5]

According to the event viewer: "faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntldll.dll" version 10.0.16299.64

Thanks,

Doug

[Helix1250 3]

I have had the ntldll dll error a few times, it's not a issue with MCE, it's a issues more with Windows. I'm my travels I have found it to be a issue with either having settings set to high, or there is scenery that's causing the crash.

I would firstly reduce your settings a little and give that a try, maybe even try them at default. Just remember to back up your current config do you can go back to it.

If that fails try removing the scenery your flying over one at a time and see if that works  

One other thing that can cause it is AI traffic, it might be worth trying a few flights with lower or zero AI to rule that out as well.

I hope that helps and gives you a few things to try.

Regards Rob 

[Helix1250 3]

Also forgot to mention that it might be worth making sure your graphics card drivers are upto date. I had issues with them once causing a ntldll.dll crash.

Rob

[halobiont 5]

Thank you.  I'll try those things and report back.

Doug

[halobiont 5]

I updated the graphics card drivers, changed the settings and MCE crashed again early into the flight.  Everything is fine then the co-pilot doesn't answer and I know it's gone.  I've uninstalled, re-installed.  I give up until I can get something else from support.

A shame because I really liked the flexibility vs fs2crew.  I don't know what else to do.  Back to flying solo.

Doug

[FS++ 707]

9 hours ago, halobiont said:

I updated the graphics card drivers, changed the settings and MCE crashed again early into the flight.  Everything is fine then the co-pilot doesn't answer and I know it's gone.  I've uninstalled, re-installed.  I give up until I can get something else from support.

A shame because I really liked the flexibility vs fs2crew.  I don't know what else to do.  Back to flying solo.

Doug

ntdll.dll is a core Windows file.

Any software running on your machine will eventually make use of that dll at some point. That includes applications, drivers and services.

Could be an instability problem that manifests itself only when audio is taking a stream in.

If you have overclocked your system, go back to default clock speed. A successful overclock is one where ALL components are happy to run under.

Without speech recognition, audio device only plays audio OUT. When you add speech reco, the speech engine, which runs inside "mce.exe" gets busy handling speech input. There could be a glitch there.  And that would manifest itself as MCE app hang or crash, since the speech engine is running inside "mce.exe".

If you have USB 3.0 on your system, make sure they have the correct drivers.

If you have choice, plug the USB headset to USB 2.0 type of ports. Windows 10 support for USB 2.0 is native and rock solid. No need to install anything

Just to rule out a shaky joystick button possibly constantly disabling MCE commands (switching to ATC mode) and enabling them without your knowledge, suggest you disconnect all joysticks, start the sim and start MCE. Is it stable in that configuration?.

 

[halobiont 5]

I bought a new headset.  Still crashing.  Tried a different yoke, still crashing.

[FS++ 707]

10 hours ago, halobiont said:

I bought a new headset.  Still crashing.  Tried a different yoke, still crashing.

We could eventually do a remote desktop support session. When ready for it, get in touch with support.

Thank you

 

[halobiont 5]

Hi,

After re-installing and other attempts to fix this, MCE continues to freeze at seemingly random points but usually within 10-15 minutes of startup.

The FO will follow a few commands but not respond then it will freeze completely.

I'm using Prepar3d v4.5 but this has happened across several versions.  Nothing shows up in appcrashview because it doesn't completely crash.  It just goes to "not responding".  

I've tried everything above.

Any new ideas?

[Ausflight 32]

How did you updated the P3D to v4.5 did you use client and content?Check you have the correct versions in uninstall programs in windows.Also temporarily disable your AV and see if ok.

Regards.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Ausflight

[FS++ 707]

On 5/10/2019 at 10:41 PM, halobiont said:

Hi,

After re-installing and other attempts to fix this, MCE continues to freeze at seemingly random points but usually within 10-15 minutes of startup.

The FO will follow a few commands but not respond then it will freeze completely.

I'm using Prepar3d v4.5 but this has happened across several versions.  Nothing shows up in appcrashview because it doesn't completely crash.  It just goes to "not responding".  

I've tried everything above.

Any new ideas?

Waited for some time to pass to see if it's a common occurrence.

Since it's not, I believe something might be wrong with your audio system or equipment.

MCE runs externally to the sim, that's why it's freezing without affecting P3D.

For example, if you have a very shaky USB headset connection, and you have a bad contact even for a micro second where the device goes missing, MCE will lose all connection to the audio system, and you'll get that behavior (app freeze)

Are you using a USB headset? If that's the case, plug it straight to the back of the PC (NOT a USB hub or front connectors which may drop power or get interference from other devices connected to it).

If it's a conventional headset with 3 mm jacks connected to a Realtek audio device, suggest you un-install Realtek drivers, re-start PC and let Windows assign its own drivers for the device.