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thrakete

FSX SP2 (Again)

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I just un-installed SP2, and that cured several irritating display problems I had noticed in the last week or so. The strange thing is that I don't believe I had these problems immediately after SP2 installation, (not sure-flying different airplanes now) so it may have just needed a reinstall, or a new Window update may have triggered the problems.However, before I try an SP2 reinstall, I want to be sure I need it. Some of the freeware stuff now states that SP2 is required, and I was wondering:(1) Is that true?(2) Do some or all of the Payware add-ons require it, and if so do they state this in their adds.I don't do multiplayer, so could see no real use for keeping SP2 otherwise.Regards,Thrakete

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There are many addons that require it both freeware and payware. If the addon was developed with the SP2 SDK then you will need SP2.

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O.K., Thanks. With SP2 installed I was getting black surf on the ocean, and solid black contrails. The default scenery, weather, clouds etc. are unchanged. The problems then went away when SP2 was un-installed. I realize that does not prove that the deficiency is in SP2; it could be any number of other things.I think I will try an SP2 re-installation, and if that doesn't cure the glitches just uninstall it again and leave it that way. After running FSX for 18 months I can live with the restriction of no additional add-ons.Regards,Thanks,Thrakete

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Guest firehawk44

"With SP2 installed I was getting black surf on the ocean, and solid black contrails. The default scenery, weather, clouds etc. are unchanged. The problems then went away when SP2 was un-installed. I realize that does not prove that the deficiency is in SP2; it could be any number of other things."I read somewhere (probably here) that if you have addon's and install SP2 or Acceleration, SP2 modifies the terrain.cfg and, for instance, people see water where land should be and vice-versa. So anything you had installed that uses the terrain.cfg could be affected. This includes payware/freeware aircraft as scenery textures may have also been modified by SP2. Anyone who has Ultimate Terrain installed needs to go into the UT setup program and do a repair whenever SP2 is installed/reinstalled/ or uninstalled. So the simple rule should be: keep FSX 'Microsoft' whenever upgrading to SP1 or SP2 and then install/reinstall your addon's. Best regards,Jim

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Hello Jim, I think I have solved my problem, but haven't operated enough to be sure yet. I un-installed SP2, did an FSX "repair" from the original disk, then reinstalled both SP1 and SP2. After that the several weird manifestations I was seeing went away, and everything looks normal again.I have also read that using the "repair' instead of a clean install before SP2 would not work, but it seemed to in my case.However, I still have no idea what caused this, so if the problem returns or turns out to not have been cured after all, I will temporarily remove the add-on aircraft and follow the rule you suggested.Thanks much for your reply,Regards,Thrakete

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Guest Luggage

would not surprise me if it's related to what's causing so many people to get d3d9.dll crashes after updating to sp2.Im one of those, its very consistent, sp1 nothing, sp2 install crashing on several things (menu's eg), deinstall fine again, install crash, deinstall fine. did it 4 times just to see just how consistent it is.currently running sp1 for this reason, but im trying to fix it still, too many sp2 servers online that I want to play on.and sp2 did fix some graphics glitches for me but added crashing features I went with the glitches ;)I was thinking of opening a new post about this but might as well put it here first.In all the threads i've come across about sp2 crashing etc. of which none produced a solution (with crashing anyway) I might add. Others blaming it on piracy (new trend? dont solve problems just assume they are pirates, less work that way?)anyway were was I, I never came accoss anyone who checked exactly what sp2 changes, severe problems like d3d9.dll crashes can be caused by a typo lol, and potentially only surface on some hardware combinations. (see it mentioned most with nvidia cards)Would it help if someone can supply a complete file list of what the sp2 update carries?sorry if its only a bit related, but im unsure of opening a new post since the only thing I can help with is providing said exposed content of the sp2 update.

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Guest Luggage

well i asked because I have a utility to extract the files, was hoping someone might be able to use it to pinpoint the ctd's.communities have often astonished me in the ability to fix software themselves, from tracing down crash causing typos in data files to changing an fixing scripts, I know this depends on how open the software is but I was surprised when I just started out fs a week ago how few people there are looking into it in depth.ah well Im shelving my saitek set for now, trying to enjoy fsx since I got it a goo week ago just drained the life out of me.

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Everyone seems to have a different experience with SP2.I haven't experienced any actual crashes (lockups) at all with SP2 that I could not tie to a particular add-on airplane, usually reworked FS-9 versions. I finally isolated all of my crashes to gauge problems, and reworking the XML gauge scripts using the Aces tool error detection feature cured the problems. The crashes only occurred when I was switching to the "bad' add-on within the sim.I'm sure you already know however, that the proper sequence in the installation of FSX and the Service packs is essential. If you have a non-compatible add-on already in your FSX installation before you go to SP2 you will get all sorts of problems.My system seems to be running fine with SP2 now.You mentioned Saitek-I am using the X52 without the "optional" software, which I found caused me problems.Regards,Thrakete

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Guest Luggage

I have only owned fsx for 10 days, I dont have any add-ons payware or otherwise. :)i never ran the optional software, it didnt want to install for some reason.The system is otherwise fine, i do 3d modelling on it, photoshop, I finished crysis and assassin's creed lately. The registry is clean, harddisk defragmented, clean of virusses, no background stuff running when I start fsx, 194mb in use out of 6 gig of which 3 gig physical ram, swap file is fixed size and completely defragmented.Drivers are all up to date running on XP SP2, checked my memory sticks with a 24hour run of memtest 0 errors.system specs:amd athlon x2 4200+msi k9n with nforce 570 sli chipset3GB DDR2 533MHz running dual channelxfx geforce 7600gt pciewd 320 gig sata2xp pro sp2 .net up to datedirect x latest redistlatest drivers for well everything now :)ah well the saitek stuff is on the shelf at the moment i'm a bit tired of spending the 10 days I own FSX on troubleshooting my system. I'm more used to troubleshooting other people's pc's.whats this aces detect tool? maybe it will help me out fining whats going wrong.

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From the description of your problem, and the fact that you do not have any add-ons, I don't see how this could possibly be applicable, but here is the info on the Aces program anyhow. I only mentioned the tool because loading aircraft with XML gauge script errors has so far been the only cause of any program crashes I have had since installing FSX SP2 months ago.The Aces tool is the Microsoft program that is furnished as part of the SDK to help build XML gauges. It's purpose is to make it easier to write the required scripts for the gauges. One of it's features is that it can detect and display script errors in XML gauges, both during creation and after the fact. It will display any script errors in add-on airplane gauges when you try to load the airplane (usually an FS9 conversion in my experience). You can by-pass the error message and load the airplane anyhow, and it will then usually function. However, I have found that if you try to change to one of these planes from another aircraft while inside the Sim, FSX will usually lock-up.The "tool", Aces.exe is located in the SDK Sim Object Creation Kit in the Panel and Gauges SDK, but as I said I don't think it will do you any good with your problem.Regards, Good luck,Thrakete

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