Hello,

I keep running into an API.dll crash. I have completely reinstalled FSX. I have UAC turned off. I run on very minimal settings and I have monitored VAS and it is peaking at 2GB and yet I am still running into API.dll crashes according to the event viewer log. The sim also sometimes CTD with an API.dll error on start-up, before I get to the loading screens. The same issues persist with the sim installed on the SSD in C:\FSX and in it's current location on the HDD.

Example crash log:

• Faulting application name: fsx.exe, version: 10.0.61637.0, time stamp: 0x46fadb14
• Faulting module name: API.DLL, version: 10.0.61637.0, time stamp: 0x46fadb58
• Exception code: 0xc0000005
• Fault offset: 0x0003afa2
• Faulting process ID: 0x2fa4
• Faulting application start time: 0x01d9aeaeab4a9ebe
• Faulting application path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsx.exe
• Faulting module path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\API.DLL
• Report ID: 310022d2-51c7-41ac-acaa-e6bdbc0050e5
• Faulting package full name: 
• Faulting package-relative application ID: 

I have a 2017 Medion P6661 gaming laptop:

• GeForce GTX 950M Graphics card
• 15.6 Inch Screen
• Intel Core i5 6200U Processor
• 8 GB RAM
• 1TB Hard Drive + 128GB SSD
• Windows 10

Any ideas on what could be causing the crash? 

Edited July 4, 20232 yr by Mattie941

Hi,

Others have ran into the same issue as well, including me. Most "probable cause" would have to do with memory issues, but reading your post that is clearly not the issue. Do you have times at which the sim does run smoothly, without any CTDs? Do you fly on VATSIM during an API.dll crash and if so, what pilot client do you use?

Sad news is that this could also be related to a windows update back in April, though this is not confirmed.

Personally I get this API.dll crash on VATSIM, when its busy around my aircraft. Sometimes I can do long hauls without problems, and other times I crash after take-off.

Let me know!

 

-jessy

Edited July 5, 20232 yr by jessy0506

The crashes first started happening for me at the beginning of May. However, I was away for April so the timeline works regarding the Windows update. 

I have since managed to complete a few ~2 hour flights offline. 

The crashes are definitely more frequent on VATSIM. I run the latest version of vPilot as my client.

I've had a error message from the FSX on startup "Flight Simulator has detected a problem with a third-party software program", blaming FSUIPC for thr crash.

Could this be an issue with FSUIPC or vPilot and the April Windows update? 

Hey,

To rule out any add-ons that could be causing your API.dll crash I recommend backing up your fsx.cfg, dll.xml and your exe.xml files. Investigating a CTD should always start on a clean fsx config file, to make sure that it's not caused by a setting of some sort.

The dll.xml and exe.xml are both created as soon as you install a third party add-on -such as FSUIPC- to register what add-ons your FSX should load on start-up. Backing up these 2 files allows FSX to start without any third party add-ons, which is good because we want to rule out that your API.dll CTD is caused by FSUIPC (or maybe any other add-on you may have installed)

Running vPilot and therefore flying on VATSIM can contribute to the load on the memory that's being used by the sim for sure. Although this is most likely not an issue with physical memory, but rather virtual memory or VAS for short. FSUIPC allows you to monitor your virtual memory, see the AVSIM CTD guide on how to do that. FSX only allows 4gb on a 64 bit and 2gb on a 32 bit system. I have 16 gb of memory, but only 4 of that will be used by FSX. 

Also deleting the dll.xml and exe.xml files (temorarily) should get rid of the CTD on start-up atleast.

So TL;DR

1) back-up your FSX.cfg, dll.xml and exe.xml to a seperate folder
2) then delete these 3 files and make sure they are not in %appdata% when launching FSX
3) try completing a flight and if successfull, start re-enabling each addon (starting with FSUIPC) one-by-one to see which addon is causing the crash (IF it's caused by an add-on which we don't know yet)

Also, I recommend getting a tool called Program Monitor, this will allow you to see exactly what FSX is reading, writing or using whenever you have it running. This can provide useful information because this way you can identify if your CTD occurs when trying to load a corrupt texture for example.

Keep me posted!

Edit: To add to this: I have both ran FSX without FSUIPC and without vPilot, getting mixed results. And, yes, I have been getting these crashes as well ever since the May-April Windows update unfortunately.

 

-jessy

Edited July 9, 20232 yr by jessy0506

I have been running FSX from a fresh reinstall. Therefore the FSX.cfg, DLL.xml and EXE.xml are all stock files. I have not been able to recreate the crash from the fresh reinstall at the moment.

I can only recreate the crash once I have installed FSUIPC and some addons to run using it: FSrealWX lite, FSFO v3, vasFMC 2.1, vPilot and Skytrack (my VA ACARS). The API.dll CTD does not seem to be related to any single one addon or combination of addons (I have tested with individual addons and combinations of addons). I have recreated the CTD on start-up when the simulator crashes while at the splash screen before I can load the menus:

• Faulting application name: fsx.exe, version: 10.0.61637.0, time stamp: 0x46fadb14
• Faulting module name: API.DLL, version: 10.0.61637.0, time stamp: 0x46fadb58
• Exception code: 0xc0000005
• Fault offset: 0x0003afa2
• Faulting process ID: 0x5ec
• Faulting application start time: 0x01d9b313f32959f4
• Faulting application path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsx.exe
• Faulting module path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\API.DLL
• Report ID: dc23c17b-fdb3-42dc-9e2d-66f93253de7d
• Faulting package full name: 
• Faulting package-relative application ID: 

From Process Monitor, the last file FSX tries to read before "Thread Exit" is the kernel32.dll file. The last file before "Process Exit" is the quartz.ttf file in the "Fonts" folder. However, in the Result column in Process Monitor, it reads "SUCCESS" for both. I'm not too sure what this means though...

Edited July 10, 20232 yr by Mattie941

John Dawson noticed that there is a mismatch between my FSX version and the Simconnect version:

•  31844 Running in "Microsoft Flight Simulator X", Version: 10.0.61637.0 (SimConnect: 10.0.61259.0)

I tried uninstalling SimConnect but the latest version on the FSX Acceleration SDK is 10.0.61259.0. When I reinstall and start the sim, I still have the same mismatch. Therefore:

• How do I remove 10.0.61637.0 so that the FSX version matches?
• Or where do I find/download 10.0.61637.0 to update my SimConnect version

I tried installing from Just Flight and from the Acceleration SDK. I run through the steps to install Acceleration SDK but when i run the SimConnect.msi, it still installs SimConnect 10.0.6129.0. It's strange because when I run the SimConnect.msi file, the "run as administrator" pop up asks if I would like to install SimConnect 10.0.61637.0 but then when I click "yes", the installer window appears it says SimConnect 10.0.6129.0. When I check for the version installed it is SimConnect 10.0.6129.0 and FSUIPC is still reporting a mismatch.

The file properties of the Microsoft.FlightSimulator.SimConnect.dll file in "...\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Core Utilities Kit\SimConnect SDK\lib\managed"says that it is version "10.0.616.37.0 (FSX-Xpack.20070926-1421)" and yet it does not install this version.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong?

1.  Found here: https://support.justflight.com/support/solutions/articles/17000100065-simconnect-files-for-fsx-p3d
2. 
3. 

A complete reinstall of Windows has not fixed the issue. Therefore I'm out of ideas...

Wish I could help, but I can empathize.  I've been fighting the problem for months and am fiarly certain that it's due to an Windows 10 update. At one time I found and uninstalled the first update that caused the crash and flew FSX for  a while... then Windows updated again and the new update was locked, so I couldn't delete.

One solution that was recommended was a locked copy of Windows that didn't have either update, but I'm in the middle of building a new computer and installing MSFS, so that's on the back burner.

Once the build is done I'll wiped the boxed version and install FSX:SE, so possibly I can get back some version of FSX.

Good luck..
Ernie

 

Hi,

It has recently been confirmed that the API.dll crashes (IF no corrupt dll.xml file) are being caused by a Windows update from a few months ago. I suspect this is also what is causing your crashes, since you have tried both a clean FSX copy and a clean Windows copy.

Unfortunately all we can do is wait for Microsoft to release an update that does not break the game, or switch to a different flight simulator.

Kind regards,

-jessy

Thanks. It's a shame. 

I recommend everyone that is experiencing the issue to submit a support request with Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact

This will help increase exposure to the issue and will hopefully expedite a hotfix. 

For those that are interested, SteveFx's suggestion in another thread has fixed my CTD issues: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/633405-appdll-crash-and-kb5025221/?do=findComment&comment=5039267