Strange Problem with Vehicle Selection...

[Cruachan 705]

Hi,

I realise that to date I’ve been addressing my responses to the inimitable Elaine (Poppet), but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t welcome with open arms any insightful contributions from anyone else. 

It’s galling to be thinking that such a small issue could be threatening to force a major reinstallation but, right now, that’s the way it’s looking 🙁

I could try the LM forums, but past experience has left me feeling less than optimistic that I would receive a response. If nothing comes of it here then, of course, I will do so rather than be tempted to throw in the towel prematurely. After all, the sim remains fully functional in every other respect.  Just stuck meantime with flying the venerable F-22!

Perhaps I should spend some more time experimenting with folder permissions as, if set incorrectly, does seem to be the likeliest cause that could be preventing access of the sim to the SimObjects folder. However, if this theory is correct then why does the F-22 Load with the Prepar3D Default Scenario and why do other default aircraft load successfully with their associated Scenarios? If considered relevant then some expert guidance here as to the expected correct Prepar3D folder settings would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Cruachan 705]

31 minutes ago, gaab said:

Hi Mike,

I took a look to your simobjects.cfg and noticed the last entry is pointing to the 32bits programs entry of Windows ???

Mine as only nine entries, all only refering to genuine P3DV4 directories

[Entry.10]
PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Ideal Flight Professional\SimObjects\Misc
TITLE=IF10SimObjects
ACTIVE=true
REQUIRED=true

I suggest deleting it - and checking Ideal Flight support forum.

Hi gaab,

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I tried doing exactly that last night and it made no difference. I’ve reinstated the entry meantime. I presume it was placed there by IFPro10, either during initial installation or during first run of the program.

Regards,

Mike

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

Hello Mike,

you could try disabling the individual entries in the simobjects.cfg (ACTIVE=FALSE,  REQUIRED=FALSE), just to make sure that it isn't a specific vehicle causing this.

You should be able to fully uninstalled 4.3 and install the complete 4.4. This usually doesn't do any harm to addons, except some ORBX, which have to be reinstalled. The P3D uninstaller only removes files it knows about = native P3D. All the others remain behind. But as some ORBX products overwrite files in the simulator core folders, those files are lost and have to be reinstalled. Unfortunately, if your issue is a config file or a simobject, even this procedure won't help.

Did you use any program lately that disables liveries or something like that? Did you check your aircraft.cfg / sim.cfg files?

If you need an external vehicle selector, I can make one for you (not that this is the correct solution of course).

Best regards

Edited December 5, 2018 by Lorby_SI

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Oliver,

I will try your suggestion re. the individual entries in SimObjects.cfg and see what happens. Thanks!

 

Ideal Flight Pro v 10.027ed10

Don't know why I didn't think of trying this before: I have just fired up IFPro and it seems to be seeing all my installed aircraft! This confirms the problem lies with the base Prepar3D installation and not the SimObjects folder. I imagine this also applies to the SimObjects.cfg file and content.

 

If I did end up having to perform a full uninstall/reinstall of Prepar3D v4.4 then what is the best way to perform the uninstallation?

You see my dilemma. Should I use the Prepar3D v4 Academic (09/11/2017, v4.1.7.22841) entry and will it also uninstall the v4.4 versions of the Client/Content and Scenery?

 

Did you use any program lately that disables liveries or something like that? Did you check your aircraft.cfg / sim.cfg files? - No

If you need an external vehicle selector, I can make one for you - Wow!!That is indeed a very generous offer. Hopefully it won't come to that, but I will certainly keep it in mind.

 

Best regards,

Mike

 

 

[Cruachan 705]

 

Please Note:

Regarding the files ContenErrors.txt and SimObjects.cfg I received a PM from a member kindly advising me that my email address was being displayed on the download page. This came as a complete surprise as I've been using the FilesAnywhere facility for years and hadn't noted this potential problem. My fault, not FilesAnywhere which is a service I cannot fault and has always served me very well.

Anyway, here's another lnk to both files and this time it has been properly configured!

https://backup.filesanywhere.com/fs/v.aspx?v=8d7265885a5e73b9a698

Mike

 

 

[Cruachan 705]

6 hours ago, gaab said:

Hi Mike,

I took a look to your simobjects.cfg and noticed the last entry is pointing to the 32bits programs entry of Windows ???

Mine as only nine entries, all only refering to genuine P3DV4 directories

[Entry.10]
PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Ideal Flight Professional\SimObjects\Misc
TITLE=IF10SimObjects
ACTIVE=true
REQUIRED=true

I suggest deleting it - and checking Ideal Flight support forum.

Hi gaab,

Further to my last response I felt I should add a few words about IdealFlight Pro.

My understanding, from conversations with the author in the past, and based on first hand usage is as follows:

IdealFlight Pro is a bona fide Prepar3D program. Even though it is 32 bit (only uses around 64Mb and only around 32Mb when running Prepar3D), 64bit is not required as it is unnecessary. The entire point of IdealFlight Pro is to do nothing to the simulator nor to the system, and yet it can accomplish everything the simulator can execute. It can press all the buttons in the simulator providing the simulator is functioning correctly. I often use it as an extremely capable and comprehensive 'front-end' to Prepar3D and, as such, potentially it could negate any requirement to resolve the issue dominating this thread. However, resolving the problem remains my priority. I hate loose ends..lol!

The idea that you need a 64bit program to access a 64bit program is flawed. Ideal Flight Pro includes a sophisticated x64-x86 bridge, so this is most likely out of the question for regular developers and consequently they will choose to compile their application as 64bit.

From the Author: "The simulator adds the IdealFlight entry for the installer otherwise errors can creep into that file as it contains special characters. The entry describes the location of the 'IFProbe'." The author will need to be approached for clarification about that particular subject.

Regards,

Mike

[zak01 4]

Not sure what version you are using but in V4.4 Hardware Acceleration has been turned back on. I had a similar issue with one of the aftermarket post processing injectors.

Try turning it off as follows;

- Open regedit, e.g. via Windows Run (Windows + R)
- Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics
- Right click in right pane of regedit window (where column Name, Type, Data are)
- Click new DWORD (32-bits)
- Name this new value 'DisableHWAcceleration'
- Give it value 1 (double click on the newly created DWORD line)

Worst case is you just have to delete the new reg entry.

[Cruachan 705]

4 hours ago, zak01 said:

Not sure what version you are using but in V4.4 Hardware Acceleration has been turned back on. I had a similar issue with one of the aftermarket post processing injectors.

Try turning it off as follows;

- Open regedit, e.g. via Windows Run (Windows + R)
- Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics
- Right click in right pane of regedit window (where column Name, Type, Data are)
- Click new DWORD (32-bits)
- Name this new value 'DisableHWAcceleration'
- Give it value 1 (double click on the newly created DWORD line)

Worst case is you just have to delete the new reg entry.

With respect, am I missing something or has this post found it’s way into the wrong thread?

Mike

[zak01 4]

Hi Mike

Sorry, no. I was having a display problem in the vehicle select menu, not exactly the same as yours but similar. I was just thinking that for the sake of adding a registry key it may help. Probably not, but may be worth a try, if it doesn't work, just delete they key.

[Cruachan 705]

Okay, thanks Zak. Still a tad confused, however - at my age that can happen..lol

Shouldn’t hardware acceleration default to being enabled? Run Dxdiag.exe and you will see what I mean. Also, with hardware acceleration disabled I’m guessing Prepar3D may not recognise my GPU. It may be you are simply suggesting this as part of the troubleshooting process rather than with the intention of the change becoming permanent. I’ll certainly keep it in mind if all else fails.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

21 hours ago, Cruachan said:

If you need an external vehicle selector, I can make one for you - Wow!!That is indeed a very generous offer. Hopefully it won't come to that, but I will certainly keep it in min

Hello Mike,

I did it anyway, it is just a small project. Send me a PM if you want to try it. You have to somehow load P3D so you are in the 3D world. Then you get a treelist of all simulator assets that have a "panel". When you doubleclick one of them, it is displayed in front of you in the sim. Then you have two options: either Shift&Ctrl&E to the Avatar, walk up to it and board it by pressing Shift&Ctrl&E again (standard P3D functionality) or you press a button on my tool. In both cases you will end up sitting in the selected model.

Best regards

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

22 hours ago, Cruachan said:

Should I use the Prepar3D v4 Academic (09/11/2017, v4.1.7.22841) entry and will it also uninstall the v4.4 versions of the Client/Content and Scenery?

Yes, that is the main module. It uninstalls the Client, Content and Scenery too. But if your problem is caused by an incompatible model or broken cfg file, it will remain.

It would be interesting to know if you can force an aircraft to appear - by adding "IsSelectableVehicle=True" to the [General] section of the aircraft.cfg...

Btw, did you (delete and let P3D) rebuild your prepar3d.cfg? There is a list in there which objects are user selectable too.

Best regards

Edited December 6, 2018 by Lorby_SI

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Everyone,

I am happy to report that some encouraging progress has been made! This has been quite frustrating for me as I have been very time limited this past few days. This coming at a time when I just wanted to crack on with the troubleshoot. Anyway, I squeezed in an hour this evening and you can all be the judge after I present the evidence.

First, my thanks to Oliver who seeded an idea earlier in this thread and to Steve for his very helpful suggestions via PM. Also, Simbol for one of his posts in another recent thread...

(https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/546290-p3d-v44-default-airplanes-will-not-load/

...that convinced me that pursuing a particular line of investigation was most likely to produce a positive outcome.

1. SimObjects (1):  [Entry.0] SimObjects\Airplanes (ACTIVE=false, REQUIRED=false). All other Entries = true

2. Vehicle initialization has failed:  Message appeared during loading of Prepar3D signifying absence of the F-22 Raptor.

3. Add-ons (1):  3 Add-ons enabled: A2A, RealAir Legacy and Turbine Duke

4. Select Vehicle (1):  Success!  Select Vehicle screen now populating without any entries from the Airplanes folder. A2A, RealAir Legacy and Turbine Duke Add-ons not visible in image, but confirmed present higher up the listing.

5. Airplanes (F22 and F16):  SimObjects\Airplanes folder copied and depopulated bar folders for F-22 Raptor and F16

6. SimObjects (2):  [Entry.0] SimObjects\Airplanes (ACTIVE=true, REQUIRED=true). All other Entries = false

7. Select Vehicle (2): No 'Vehicle initialization has failed' message during loading of Prepar3D. F-22 and F16 entries along with A2A, RealAir Legacy and Turbine Duke listed correctly in Select Vehicle screen.

So, this confirms that the problem aircraft must be in the SimObjects\airplanes folder.

Identifying the culprit/s should be relatively straightforward: Restore half the folder content of SimObjects\Airplanes and test. If fails then remove and restore remaining half of the folder content which should succeed. Then restore half the folder content that failed and test. If fails then remove and restore other half which should succeed.....and so on until the rogue a/c folders are identified. Should work, but will have to wait until tomorrow...time to turn in for the night.... 💤

Mike

Edit:

Oliver, I would love to check out your External Vehicle Selector project! it's very good of you to have gone to the trouble of creating this utility. You never know, it could come in handy. I'll be in touch.

 

 

[gaab 111]

21 hours ago, Cruachan said:

Oliver, I would love to check out your External Vehicle Selector project! it's very good of you to have gone to the trouble of creating this utility. You never know, it could come in handy. I'll be in touch.

Hi Oliver,

I would also be VERY interested. I find the P3D vehicule selection screen so awkward 😞

Regards

Gérard

[odaber 4]

Likewise I'm very interested.

Regards

Odaber