resolved Unable to use Add-ons menu

[justin48 1]

Just purchased and installed the 430 and 530 v2, but I am having real problems trying to use them.  Installation seemed to go well, but once I start FSX:SE and try to access the rxp entry in the Add-ons menu, the program appears to attempt to run, but freezes in a weird format  and crashes FSX.  I have tried to attach a photo with no success but can send it to you if this is the first you've heard of this problem.

I am running Window 10 Pro, 64-bit, the latest version of FSX:SE, on an i7 960 with 12 Gb of ram and the GeForce GTX970 Graphics card.  I was using the F1 GNS set of gauges with no problems.

Happy to send any files that might be useful.  I had your legacy gauges and loved them.  Sure would like to get these working.

Thank you,

Justin Friedland

Edited May 10, 2018 by RXP

[RXP 2,338]

Hi,

I think there has been probably a couple such reports at the time we've initially released the GNS V2 (FltSim), but it seems our successive updates had solved this (given the feedback on the forum).

Is this happening right when you select the RXP menu entry, or after you've made selections in the GUI task-oriented assistant and press APPLY/ACCEPT?

Are you running full screen or windowed, if the former, could you please cross check with ALT+ENTER to exit full screen first?

Are you running as admin? If so, in general (not RXP related) you shouldn't have to, and in fact it is worth in that it redirects every gauges/modules to other parts of the windows file system and registry.

A screenshot might probably help a lot too. You'd have to 'host' the picture someplace and link to it in the message.

[SteveW 1,792]

I'm not sure if it's related but on a fresh system with only FSX:SE installed only the X-PACK simconnect is installed from the legacy interfaces. FSX:SE is not a regular copy of FSX that has been upgraded with Acceleration.

It is worth installing SP1 simconnect with FSX:SE because that's installed with all boxed FSX and works on those without Acceleration installed.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FSX\SDK\Core Utilities Kit\SimConnect SDK\LegacyInterfaces\FSX-SP1\SimConnect.msi"

[justin48 1]

Thank you, Jean-Luc, for the quick response.

Happens as soon as I select the RXP menu entry.

Running windowed.

Running as admin.  Also did the installation as admin and made sure my Avast was turned off.

 

Image is, I hope, included with this response.

JF

Edited May 10, 2018 by justin48

[RXP 2,338]

A picture is indeed worth a thousand words! We've never got a report like this yet.

First, it looks like a video card / DirectX bug of some sort. It is as if the normal window 'rendering' gets 'stretched out' of it's enclosing window. I've failed to find a probable root cause online, but we can try eliminating probable causes 1 by 1 and find out.

1) Please don't install nor run as admin. Like I've indicated, unless you are installing and running an admin-level application/tool, you shouldn't do this. No plugin/addon shall require the user to run as admin either since Vista.

Running as admin as adversarial effects not only because it redirects the system path and registry to different locations than when running as normal user (which means a program fails to find its file in admin, whereas it find it back in normal user), but also because it opens a potential security hole to your system.

2) Have you changed the Windows settings for something like "High DPI", or have you changed in any way (if ever possible) the desktop 'scaling' ?

3) Can you please review your video card control panel for any particular setting which could have an incidence on the 'desktop scaling'?

[justin48 1]

I will reinstall without specifying "Run as Administrator."

Have not changed any Windows settings.  No other program reacts in this way.  This computer is used only for flight sim.  No word processing, etc.  Desktop resolution is normal for the monitor.

I will check the video card nvidia driver settings, but they have been set as they are for over a year with no other conflicts.

As I said, I do also have the F1 GTN installed, and that comes with its own version of the Garmin Trainer.  Is it possible that there is a conflict between that installation and the more recent "Lite" trainer version?

 

JF

Edited May 10, 2018 by RXP

[RXP 2,338]

Not only install as normal user, but also run the sim as normal user.

Otherwise, the issue you are seeing is not related to the trainer. It is solely the GUI Panel Assistant which gets told by Window to draw say 200 pixels wide, while the window is only 100 pixels wide?!!?

[justin48 1]

just uninstalled both 530 and 430, found  updated versions and installed them as normal user. 

 

I have always run FSX as admin based on advice from other providers (box is checked in properties) but I can uncheck it and run as normal user.  

I will try to get to this in the morning and report back.  Very frustrating.

 

JF

[RXP 2,338]

53 minutes ago, RXP said:

No plugin/addon shall require the user to run as admin either since Vista.

 

[SteveW 1,792]

9 minutes ago, justin48 said:

I have always run FSX as admin based on advice from other providers (box is checked in properties) but I can uncheck it and run as normal user.  

I will try to get to this in the morning and report back.  Very frustrating.

 

The main thing is to have equal privileges between communicating apps. Although it might seem better to run as admin to gain higher access priority it's not guaranteed to provide all the required access rights. Equal privileges are guaranteed between members of the authenticated Users groups but not between admins. Problems can come from the simulator running as admin and a resource like an addon not having the same privileges. This in turn requires all the addons to run as admin or risk some part not working. The problem is often from simply requiring Modify access to a folder that comes installed read-only to the Users group and has not been granted the permission in the setup. When all that's required is file or folder permission it's best to provide the permission to a user group than force all-and-sundry to run as admin. Addons insisting on forcing the sim to run as admin mostly are unsure they will acquire the permissions they need.

With a system currently set to run as admin it's probably better to leave running as-is and continue in the same manner, but when installing let the installers elevate privileges. Of course, none of that might be anything to do with your problem.

Addons require a solid system that has a million ways to be problematic for any addon. We have to give them some slack if they hit a bump in the road and check out our system - considering eliminating non-essential apps and dlls, basically simplifying the setup is usually a good place to start.

 

[fppilot 4,360]

No way to predict the outcome here, but in my experience here over the years the immediate and consistent support response has me smiling!  A number of developers have over the past 18-24 months turned the corner on tone and turnaround on support requests. Rewarding to watch.  This is a great example!

[justin48 1]

12 hours ago, fppilot said:

No way to predict the outcome here, but in my experience here over the years the immediate and consistent support response has me smiling!  A number of developers have over the past 18-24 months turned the corner on tone and turnaround on support requests. Rewarding to watch.  This is a great example!

I am in full agreement with you, Frank.  The support on this issue has been outstanding.  I'm sure it will get resolved.  The frustration is that I am eager to get back to flying and using this terrific product, and moments spent in tracing down the problem (which probably is the result of a flight sim packed with add-ons and extras) take me out of the cockpit and into the land of ones and zeros.😉 Hoping to get back to this soon and resolve it.

[RXP 2,338]

@justin48 I've sent you a PM with a build to try out.

[RXP 2,338]

Hi,

This is a quick update so that other customers having a similar problem could find a solution. Finally, with Justin's help, we've identified the issue was solely related to the latest NVidia drivers on his system (397.64). Justin's reported that 376.33 is the one he will stay with for now.  It is possible that 378.78 might be stable for him as well.

There are threads reporting a number of errors/problems with this driver version (try google "24.21.0013.9764 release notes"):

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/1052670/official-397-64-game-ready-whql-display-driver-feedback-thread-released-5-9-18-/?offset=297

For illustration purposes, here is another picture of how the problem shows up:

 

[justin48 1]

Dear Jean-Luc,

Well, it's happening again.  Same problem. When I ask for the configuration menu, it comes up as all blocks, freezes, I get the spinning wheel of death, and then the program just quits...no options, no further dialog, it just quits and returns me to my desktop.  Still running 376.33 (had to reinstall as Nvidia likes to self update, so it had gotten to 398.82) but even with the new install, a reboot, shutting down EZDok, the results are the same when I call for the add-on menu.  Am I still the only one?