Hello all,

On June 4th I had a catastrophic Motherboard failure (newly upgraded) which took out my CPU (newly upgraded) and my Drive C NVMe SSD 1TB (newly upgraded)

Just yesterday I had all of that replaced and am now ready to plow ahead. 

After re installing windows11, anti virus etc I then managed to joyfully recover my MSFS. This however, was woefully short lived.

My problem is now the dreaded black screen on launch. 

After downloading for install, I then proceed to click on "play" in Xbox following which I got the Introductory screen, syncing and launching. All seemed normal but after 14 seconds the screen went black and the computer appeared to have locked up as I could not access anything at all after about 40 minutes.

After a manual reboot, I did some research and found the cmd.exe fastlaunch which I carried out. Basically the same thing keeps happening. So, after a few fruitless uninstalls, reinstalls etc I got into task bar and noted on fast launch that MSFS was using 320mb but slowly kept climbing during the black screen event so I thought I would stick with it to see what happened.. Eventually (after about twenty minutes) it got to 640mb and I heard the Asobo explosion audio (still under black screen) but after that the mb usage stayed at under 640 for more than 2 hours after which I manually turned off the computer.

Digging further, I found the c/users/name/appdata/local/packages/823ky(etc) local cache remedy, I followed that and got tt the  3 folders  ie packages .... PC .... SceneriesIndexes as

well as the cfg file.All of these were empty and I am wondering if this might be the cause of my problems.

After that I discovered the "remove all USB devices" which I did to no avail, I have deleted and re-installed Xbox and MSFS many times and with no resolution. Basically this has been an absolute nightmare since the initial upgrade.

Essentially the only progress made was after using the fast launch and getting to the audio of the Asobo explosion. Previously as soon as the screen went black nothing was happening even after two or three hours and then discovering that the computer was locked up, I feel in retrospect that this was locking up almost instantly after the screen went black but I have no proof of that.

I do not know what the contents of the Packages/PC/SceneriesIndexes are supposed to be but these are empty as previously stated. The CFG file has 0kbs as well. Can you tell me what these are supposed to contain and maybe just a copy of the config file may resolve this issue.  

Any Ideas???

I have also post an edited version of this to HiFlyer who was helping me with an Oculus problem just before the catastrophic meltdown of hardware.

Regards

Tony

If you actually had a catastrophic mainboard/cpu/drive failure, the only thing to cause that would be power. Either the power supply is failing, or an electrical spike damaged it. It may still be running, but can easily fail under load, which this software does. 

Also, if BIOS did not receive updates from factory supplied, drivers not correctly installed, same potential issues. 

Memory timings could be wrong. 

I'd at a minimum run a some stress testing software, Cinebench etc. and go from there. 

OneOfMany,

Mate, Thanks so very much for your reply.

Problem was solved when I deleted GPU drivers and reloaded. Power supply (1000watts) is most certainly working properly. I am not very happy about playing around with BIOS settings and have relied completely on the Technician who did the reinstall. I rang him and he assured me that everything was updated. 

Given that updating drivers was one of the first bits of advice that I followed, it does seem a bit strange that an uninstall and reinstall of the GPU drivers would clear the problem.

Having fixed that though, on booting up MSFS I am now getting a message stating that my computer does not meet requirements. I press OK and the load proceeds normally. Once loaded however, I am finding that it does not recognize the contents of my Community folder (renamed Community.bak for the reinstall of MSFS) so I am now researching and working on sorting this out.

An absolute nightmare for an upgrade that I had saved for and anticipated for about three years.

Again, Thank you so very much for your suggestions .... I really thought I would depart this mortal coil before I sorted it all out.

Regards

Tony

On 6/27/2024 at 4:22 PM, himmelhorse said:

 All seemed normal but after 14 seconds the screen went black and the computer appeared to have locked up as I could not access anything at all after about 40 minutes.

If you cannot even tab out of MSFS (Ctrl-Alt-Del, then run task manager, this usually allows you to enter Windows Desktop when an application has frozen), then you likely have a computer problem and it's not a problem with MSFS.  When my applications freeze and it's on full screen mode, I typically do the Ctrl-Alt-Del and then run task manager method, to get out of the frozen application.

2 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

Having fixed that though, on booting up MSFS I am now getting a message stating that my computer does not meet requirements. I press OK and the load proceeds normally. Once loaded however, I am finding that it does not recognize the contents of my Community folder (renamed Community.bak for the reinstall of MSFS) so I am now researching and working on sorting this out.

I think MSFS creates a new Community folder when you rename your existing one. Weird that it does not recognize the content of it, I haven't had this happen to me before, unless the add-on in the Community folder is not compatible with the latest version of MSFS (but I mostly use scenery and maybe some livery add-ons, and scenery and livery add-ons are almost always recognized by MSFS, even if they are not up to date with the latest version of MSFS).

Edited June 29, 20241 yr by abrams_tank

Abrams_Tank,

" I think MSFS creates a new Community folder when you rename your existing one. Weird that it does not recognize the content of it, I haven't had this happen to me before, unless the add-on in the Community folder is not compatible with the latest version of MSFS (but I mostly use scenery and maybe some livery add-ons, and scenery and livery add-ons are almost always recognized by MSFS, even if they are not up to date with the latest version of MSFS)".

c/I have followed the renaming protocol since it was first mooted and with great success.

This time however it has not worked in that I did not get a new community folder with the reinstall. There was a suggestion that I go into C/users/user name/appdata/local cache/packages/community and import an aircraft into it. I then fired up MSFS and the aircraft was indeed in my aircraft selection list.

That is fine, but as I have installed MSFS indo Drive D, why has that been created in Drive C???

Also in addressing the graphics/computer does not meet minimums, I got into windows 11 and turned on Hardware acceleration, saved and rebooted. However, when I rebooted MSFS I went straight to black screen. I then got back into windows and turned off hardware acceleration and rebooted but MSFS still goes to black screen

So I uninstalled my amd graphics drivers and redownloaded and re installed the AMD Adrenalin software, and updated that within the AMD software which fixed the black  screen problem originally.. Still black screen so I got into  task manager and noted that flight simulator started and remained at 429mb, which again was the original problem. 

I am about to launch fast launch through cmd prompt again to see if that fixes anything.

I shall let you and all know what the result of that is.

Regards

Tony

Hello all,

Again, apologies for late response. I had to take my wife to her Oncologist in Surabaya (3 and a half hours away) and returned this morning after a really early start.

OK ... I did the Fast launch thing and I have again returned to building MBs in task bar with eventual audio Asobo explosion. This was done just after my last post and I left it running overnight to see if it would eventually open the programme. No such luck as the screen was still black this morning and the task bar reading motionless on 723MBs.

A restart and, suspecting my GPU (AMD 7900xtx) I downloaded latest version of Cinebench and did full tests with the following result.

GPU 13852 points

CPU Single core 110 points

CPU Multi core 1055 points.

Please note that I have no idea if that is good or if it indicates a problem with CPU or GPU, or if those figures indicate a reasonable MSFS2020 performance. Can somebody help me out with that information please?

Depending on the information forthcoming and CPU/GPU is normal, I think my next step will be to uninstall Win11 Pro and reinstall to see if that will help.

Second thought is that maybe my MSFS is reverting to and using the onboard Radeon (CPU0) and not using the 7900XTX (CPU1) as such. This may well explain the "Compuiter does not meet minimum specs" message. I am however at a loss to convince the software to default to CPU1 so any advice there would be appreciated.I have to admit that I am not a HUGE fan of AMD Adrenalin software. 

Also, whilst I am on the subject of Adrenalin software, can somebody give me some pointers on which settings to change in order to get away from default settings.

So, at this stage I am at your mercy and await some further information prior to Win11 uninstall.

Many thanks in advance of any responses.

Regards

Tony

 

 

2 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

Hello all,

Again, apologies for late response. I had to take my wife to her Oncologist in Surabaya (3 and a half hours away) and returned this morning after a really early start.

OK ... I did the Fast launch thing and I have again returned to building MBs in task bar with eventual audio Asobo explosion. This was done just after my last post and I left it running overnight to see if it would eventually open the programme. No such luck as the screen was still black this morning and the task bar reading motionless on 723MBs.

A restart and, suspecting my GPU (AMD 7900xtx) I downloaded latest version of Cinebench and did full tests with the following result.

GPU 13852 points

CPU Single core 110 points

CPU Multi core 1055 points.

Please note that I have no idea if that is good or if it indicates a problem with CPU or GPU, or if those figures indicate a reasonable MSFS2020 performance. Can somebody help me out with that information please?

Depending on the information forthcoming and CPU/GPU is normal, I think my next step will be to uninstall Win11 Pro and reinstall to see if that will help.

Second thought is that maybe my MSFS is reverting to and using the onboard Radeon (CPU0) and not using the 7900XTX (CPU1) as such. This may well explain the "Compuiter does not meet minimum specs" message. I am however at a loss to convince the software to default to CPU1 so any advice there would be appreciated.I have to admit that I am not a HUGE fan of AMD Adrenalin software. 

Also, whilst I am on the subject of Adrenalin software, can somebody give me some pointers on which settings to change in order to get away from default settings.

So, at this stage I am at your mercy and await some further information prior to Win11 uninstall.

Many thanks in advance of any responses.

Regards

Tony

 

 

 

2 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

Depending on the information forthcoming and CPU/GPU is normal, I think my next step will be to uninstall Win11 Pro and reinstall to see if that will help.

Yes, a reinstallation may help. The C drive and D drive issue seems really weird, perhaps a reinstallation of Windows may fix that.  But before your reinstall, make sure you are 100% certain of your motherboard and BIOS configuration. A reinstall of windows won't help if you have a misconfiguration with your motherboard and BIOS.

2 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

Second thought is that maybe my MSFS is reverting to and using the onboard Radeon (CPU0) and not using the 7900XTX (CPU1) as such. This may well explain the "Compuiter does not meet minimum specs" message. I am however at a loss to convince the software to default to CPU1 so any advice there would be appreciated.I have to admit that I am not a HUGE fan of AMD Adrenalin software. 

 

Make sure you are familiar with your motherboard and BIOS settings.  MSFS detecting the onboard Radeon and not using the 7900XTX would definitely explain why MSFS is detecting your hardware doesn't meet the minimum requirements.  I would think this is a logical explanation and this is probably the culprit.

Everything you have reported, from the black screen on launch, MSFS detecting your system doesn't meet the minimum requirements, etc, would be consistent with a motherboard or BIOS misconfiguration issue. 

 

Quote

 I am not very happy about playing around with BIOS settings and have relied completely on the Technician who did the reinstall. I rang him and he assured me that everything was updated. 

If you can get to the message where MSFS says your system does not meet the minimum requirements, if possible, ask the technician to come to your house, or at least send a screenshot of this to him. This is not normal, if you have updated all your drivers.  Just make sure all your drivers are updated when you send him this message.  Provided all your drivers are updated, I think there is something misconfigured with your BIOS or motherboard. I don't know how much of a computer expert you are, so I don't recommend that you change your BIOS settings if you feel you are not computer savvy enough, because doing random stuff with your BIOS can result in bad results.  Better to let the technician handle it.

Edited June 30, 20241 yr by abrams_tank

Mate, 

I actually disabled integrated graphics in BIOS and am now unable to reboot computer. I am now fairly convinced that the GPU is broken and the system is only using integrated graphics. However, the computer is now on its way to a technician in Tulung Agung (about 30km and 90 minutes drive away.) I have sent a message to the tech to reflash BIOS and to check that the GPU is working in all aspects.

If indeed the GPU is unserviceable as suspected, the entire upgrade package minus 2 x 16gb 6000 RAM has had to be replaced under warranty. Again, a wonderfully successful upgrade which has cost me in excess of AUD4000 and that equates to about 4 months Aged Pension.

Obviously I cannot update any information until I get the computer back in about two or three days but I most certainly will do so at the earliest.

Regards

Tony

This message has been sent by my gas powered kettle which is about the only effin thing working here LOL

I have the same issue, but I'm not willing to reinstall Windows to fix it.  I think there is something wrong with the latest update to MFSF which has caused this, as I have been unable to run the sim in almost two months.  I am looking at downgrading back to P3D.

Hello all

A final update (I hope)

Andy Johnston as You can see below this is not going to be helpful to you and for that I apologise.

OK The computer is up and running well and faultlessly.

My problem (all my problems stemmed from one simple mind alterating mistake on my part, and, basically so simple and stupid that I cannot believe it.  I blame my aged and feeble brain (of course)

I plugged my HDMI cable into the on board computer. The GPU was doing absolutely nothing because it was not connected to anything. What makes this worse is the fact that I kept saying that the computer was only using the onboard computer and did not think of what was actually connected. It follows, completely logically, that when I turned off the onboard graphics the screen went black and I still did not twig to what was going on.

When I picked up the computer from a very nonplussed technician, the first thing he said was he could not find a fault.HAHA He then asked me what port I was connecting to and I showed him and then instantly realized what I had done.  He said that they had run the computer for three days, constantly turning it on and off with no signs of a fault,  I still can not get over my stupidity and the horrendous cost of the technician (AUD5.00) to boot.

Never mind, I guess the lesson has been learned and therefore I have to extend my very sincere apologies for bothering everyone with this self inflicted problem. the "Woe is me" of the post title remains but it now refers to my brain and not the computer. To think that I trust myself to fly a Boeing 737 is now very problematic.

Anyway, I would really like to pass on my sincere apologies and even more sincere thanks to all who tried to help me.

Best regards to you all.

Tony 

12 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

Hello all

A final update (I hope)

Andy Johnston as You can see below this is not going to be helpful to you and for that I apologise.

OK The computer is up and running well and faultlessly.

My problem (all my problems stemmed from one simple mind alterating mistake on my part, and, basically so simple and stupid that I cannot believe it.  I blame my aged and feeble brain (of course)

I plugged my HDMI cable into the on board computer. The GPU was doing absolutely nothing because it was not connected to anything. What makes this worse is the fact that I kept saying that the computer was only using the onboard computer and did not think of what was actually connected. It follows, completely logically, that when I turned off the onboard graphics the screen went black and I still did not twig to what was going on.

When I picked up the computer from a very nonplussed technician, the first thing he said was he could not find a fault.HAHA He then asked me what port I was connecting to and I showed him and then instantly realized what I had done.  He said that they had run the computer for three days, constantly turning it on and off with no signs of a fault,  I still can not get over my stupidity and the horrendous cost of the technician (AUD5.00) to boot.

Never mind, I guess the lesson has been learned and therefore I have to extend my very sincere apologies for bothering everyone with this self inflicted problem. the "Woe is me" of the post title remains but it now refers to my brain and not the computer. To think that I trust myself to fly a Boeing 737 is now very problematic.

Anyway, I would really like to pass on my sincere apologies and even more sincere thanks to all who tried to help me.

Best regards to you all.

Tony 

No problem. Everything you mentioned suggested an issue with hardware, rather than a Windows issue. It seemed Windows and MSFS was trying to use the onboard GPU, rather than your 7900XTX. These types of things happen. Best of luck to you, hope you enjoy MSFS again.

abrams tank,

Downloading updates as we speak and thanks for your sentiments mate.

Tonu

On 6/30/2024 at 9:37 PM, andyjohnston.net said:

I have the same issue, but I'm not willing to reinstall Windows to fix it.  I think there is something wrong with the latest update to MFSF which has caused this, as I have been unable to run the sim in almost two months.  I am looking at downgrading back to P3D.

Hey Andy. Maybe you can make a separate thread for your problems. In my experience, MSFS is stable enough, if your hardware is in good standing, you're not overclocking, and Windows isn't corrupted, etc. I also had constant CTD problems with MSFS, and sometimes a CTD with Age of Empires 4, while another video game I was playing - Forza Horizon 5 - never CTDed at all.

Turns out that although my RAM was clocked to the frequency that it was designed to be clocked at, my CPU didn't support that frequency and only supported a lower clocking frequency. The computer shop that built my computer didn't know this (they should have known this and at least warned me if I wanted that RAM clock setting), I didn't know it, but I found out by running a memory test. That explained why MSFS frequently CTDed on me, and why Age of Empires 4 sometimes CTDed on me (but CTDed way less often than MSFS), and why Forza Horizon 5 never CTDed on me.  It looks like MSFS really pushes your hardware, whereas AoE 4 did not push the RAM as much but did push it enough for me to get the CTD once in a while, and Forza Horizon 5 pushed the RAM the least.

Best is to make a separate thread, give as much information as you can, and maybe some of us can help you (the more information you give, the better, like I didn't suspect what himmelhorse's problem was until he mentioned MSFS was likely detecting his onboard GPU and not his 7900XTX).

I had a separate thread, some people tried to help me, to no avail.  I just finished downloading P3D v6, and it crashes to the desktop as soon as I try to start a flight!  😠