Something curious has happened....

[Cruachan 705]

Hi,Couple of days ago I attempted to start FSX and, after 20secs of loading, was greeted with the "MS FSX has encountered a problem and needs to close, etc, etc," message.This occurred quite out of the blue and after months of successful loadings.I tried again several times, without rebooting, and the result was always the same :(As we know, the first load of the day always takes longer, in my case around 30secs to get to the initial screen. Subsequent loads without a reboot take about 8secs, which is great when you're tweaking and testing.I tried everything I could think of to track it down:1. Filemon - stopped when the message appeared but nothing helpful, to my eye at least, other than a bucket full of Dr Watson entries.2. Event Viewer - clean3. Examined the created diagnostic file 'dxdiag.txt' and all appears well - no errors detected and all registry entries okay.4. Nothing new in the other created diagnostic files - 'fsx.CFG.txt' and 'scenery.cfg'. The 'fdr.dat' was only 1KB in size and appeared to be empty, or rather I couldn't reveal anything in Notepad.5. Deleting and rebuilding 'fsx.CFG' - still no joy! The only entries created were a couple related to sound at the head of the file.6. I ran a diagnostics on my SB Audio 2 ZS and all tests passed. (Tried FS9 and no problems - never had to reinstall since I first bought it several years ago - even survived a computer upgrade! Correction, I did reinstall it to re-establish the registry entries and then deleted the folder before using my original install as the foundation for the rebuild of the sim with all my addons.)After many fruitless attempts I decided to shutdown, waited a couple of minutes and then rebooted. Still the message appeared around the 20sec mark! By this time I was becoming resigned to reinstalling/repairing the sim the following day, so I shutdown and went to bed thinking about all I needed to do to ensure a clean uninstall - works like a charm - like counting sheep..LOL!The next day I booted up and fired up the sim for one last time before the grand reinstall. You've guessed, it loaded!!! Throughout the rest of the day FSX loaded and reloaded umpteen times without a glitch. I was flummoxed, but shrugged and got on with my life.....until today.....when the same thing happened again!!!FSX again was refusing to load with that dratted message appearing at around 20secs.This time I simply shutdown the system, waited a minute, rebooted and then reloaded...and it did!!! Moreover, it continues to load/reload without incident. What is going on?!Does anyone have any theories? I'd appreciate your input.Thanks.MikeEdit: I'm always forgetting to add my specs to posts such as these :(ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, AMD Athlon 64X2 4800+ (2400MHz)(Toledo), 2GB Crucial PC3200 DDR400 Ram 3-3-3-8 (2T)(Dual Channel), (PCI-E)Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB (Catalyst 7.1 WHQL), Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17" TFT LCD 20ms Digital Monitor (1280x1024x32), SB Audigy2 ZS Platinum (Drivers version 5.12.0001.1196 WHQL), WD Caviar SE16 250GB (WD2500KS) SATAII + Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 ATA133 UDMA-6 (320 GB), ASUS DRW-1608P2S Optical Drive, Antec P150 case with NeoHE 430W PSU, CH Products USB Yoke, Pedals and Fighterstick, Plantronics Headset and Mike combo, TrackIR Pro ver. 4.1 (build 29), Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse, Windows XP Home Edition (SP2), DirectX 9.0c

[n4gix 4,947]

There are many little things that can cause such problems, so while it might be possible to list 'em all, that'd hardly be useful.However, that said, let me state for the record! that the very last thing anyone should ever do is to "uninstall FS and then reinstall." The vast majority of the time folks do this the same problem they had will still be present!Why is this? Because MOST of the time, the problem lies in a config file somewhere. Here then are the "diagnostic steps" I take whenever confronted with this type issue:1) Open the fsx.cfg file and delete the "SITUATION=xxx.FLT" entry. Try to start FSX. If you have a corrupted "default flight file" this will prevent the sim from starting. If the sim starts, load your C172 a/c and save the flight, making sure to check of the box "Make this flight the default flight?"2) Rename the fsx.cfg file and start up FSX, allowing it to build a new fsx.cfg file from scratch. If the sim starts normally, exit FSX and carefully copy-paste the config entries from your renamed fsx.cfg file to the new one, particually the entries in the "Trusted" section, and any custom "tweak entries" you've made.If neither of the above will allow FSX to start, post a question here stating the precise circumstances and wait for replies. Do NOT continue to make efforts to "fix things" until at least one or more folks have replied and their suggestions have failed. :)Just to underscore the significance of this advice, consider this:Since installing FS9 shortly after its release, not ONCE have I had to "uninstall and reinstall" FS9!Likewise, with FSX since its release, in spite of having installed/uninstalled four SP1 beta versions and then the final SP1 RTM version... :)For what it's worth though, my current "best guess" based on your reported experience would make me suspect that its a "heat releated problem..."

[Wildblue 244]

That's a handy tip, the first one Bill. I would have never thought of this, i think. I bookmark this for if i ever need it. Thanks.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Bill,"my current "best guess" based on your reported experience would make me suspect that its a "heat releated problem...""Thanks for your advice. Next time it happens I'll certainly try again using your helpful "diagnostic steps".Couple of comments, if I may:1. I doubt whether heat is the issue here for the following reasons:Before running FSX,a) Normal idling environment temp = 42-45

[PhilTaylor 45]

You've disabled Catalyst AI? And reverted drivers?

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Phil,"You've disabled Catalyst AI? And reverted drivers?"No to both. Catalyst AI is on 'low' as it has always been since installing the Catalyst 7.1 WHQL drivers. These drivers have proved to be rock solid on a rig that is not devoted exclusively to simming.Mike

[PhilTaylor 45]

We have determined that the crash in atiumdag.dll is due to Catalyst AI, and disabling it makes the crash go away.

[Cruachan 705]

"We have determined that the crash in atiumdag.dll is due to Catalyst AI, and disabling it makes the crash go away."Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this file is found on Vista systems. I have XP Home (SP1) and a search for this file turns up empty.Mike

[PhilTaylor 45]

Uh, no.Fromhttp://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/top10-9.htmlTip 9: Enable ATI Catalyst

[Cruachan 705]

"A little googling can be real helpful"Hey Phil, steady on! LOL! I was not referring to Catalyst A.I., I was referring to the driver file atiumdag.dll and I can assure you that it isn't present on my system - XP Home (SP1) and, yes, the search engine is configured to show hidden files and folders.I did Google "atiumdag.dll" before replying and the only references on the first page of results appeared to be related to Vista systems, hence my speculation.The main driver for my Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB PCI-E is "ati2dvag.dll". Perhaps you are using a different ATI GPU?Catalyst A.I. is configured in ATI Tray Tools at the default "low" setting. I have not changed it since installation of the 7.1 WHQL Cats shortly after they were released. Mike

[PhilTaylor 45]

Ok. And interesting. It wasnt clear from the reports that this was a Vista only issue. Its worth trying it completely off, just to eliminate it as a variable in the equation.

[FlyingsCool 3]

I'm having the same issue.I have occasionally been having a BSOD when accessing menus in the startup screen of FSX. Otherwise, the system has been stable in all other programs and use of FSX. Not a single software or hardware crash other than when I try to access a menu at startup.My system is an E6600/DFI InfinityX/G/EVGA 8800 GTS 640 OC/2GB Kingston HyperX 800 MHz ram/10K Raptor 150GB. I'm using the nVidia 165.01 drivers. The system is overclocked to 3.34 GHz (FSB 370 MHz) with the memory 1:1 divider at 742MHz at 5/5/5/16 (normally runs at 4/4/4/12 at 4:3 divider). SP1 is installed. System CPU temps have been around 45C with FSX at full blast and Google earth running, too. Max Northbridge temp is around 59C.Up to this point, no problems. Tonight, I was accessing the change aircraft menu and I got a BSOD/reboot crash. When it came back up, I now get a window saying there is an error in activation, and I should reinstall the software or call support. I didn't notice it at first, but my system time was also reset to December 2002 11:37pm or so by the crash. So I reset this. I checked the registry entry and it already says PartMgr. This installation has been running since February, and successfully went through an SP1 upgrade. I was just really starting to have some fun with it.I'm talking to tech support now.I tried deleting the FSX.cfg file. That didn't work. Any thoughts on what to do?Thanks!Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[FlyingsCool 3]

Ok, I spoke to tech support. Their solution was for me to reformat my disk, reload the operating system and everything else, and then reload FSX... Stupid.There has to be a solution for this. Some file or registry entry is corrupt and needs to be replaced. Why can't I just reactivate the software with a separate program, without having to reinstall the whole package? We are talking hours and hours of work here. Why would any sane person go through with that?Phil - Please continue to keep people working on this. Looks like I'm out of action with FSX until this problem is solved. And I'll be strongly warning people about this problem.Do you want me to send you my box so you can look at it?BTW, the system is aircooled by a Zalman 9700. I'm going to look into cooling the Northbridge better.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Phil,"Its worth trying it completely off, just to eliminate it as a variable in the equation."Okay, I'll keep that in mind should the problem rear its head again. Meantime, another night has passed, I've cold booted and the sim has loaded again without any issues. Fingers crossed!Certainly a strange one :-hmmm Thanks.Mike

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Thomas,Just a thought, have you tried running a repair on the sim and then reinstall SP1 before attempting to reactivate? Be sure to backup what you can't afford to lose first.I totally sympathize with your reaction to the advice you were given by tech support. I sometimes wonder just how skilled some of these guys are, and it's not exclusively a MS problem either. In the past I have found their approach very blinkered and is clearly dictated by protocols they have to follow. It gives you the feeling they are just not interested as you listen to them delivering the mantra. Having said all that, I have come across one or two who do make that extra effort and, when it happens, it is certainly appreciated.Mike