dolesrus

Pegasus1,There is a setting in ATI Tray Tools under 3D called Wait for Vertical Sync that you can set to always on. However, ATI Tray Tools may not install properly on your OS, as it uses unsigned drivers. Although there are tweaks to get around this, some users have reported problems with the proposed fixes.

If Bob's solution doesn't work, on March 18 I posted an alternative for an ATI 5850 that is simple and should work for a 5870, too. Basically, just download RivaTuner, although you don't need to use the RivaTuner application itself. In the RivaTuner folder (in Tools) there is utility called D3DOverrider. Open that application, set start with Windows On, Force Vsync On and Force Triple buffering off. I also suggest muting sound indication (get an X on the speaker symbol) and disable RivaTuner event logging. The solution takes only a few minutes to implement. It worked for another user (crashmax) who suggested triple buffering off. Vsync works now. With the ATI 5850, I'm running 8xAA 16xAF, usually locked at 40 fps with almost all sliders far right. My sense is better visuals, especially of clouds, than the previous NVIDIA, (an 8800GT). Frame rates are significantly higher with the new VC at higher settings. In short, worth a try and don't give up on the ATI.dolesrus

Yes, reverting to XP x64 is an option, albeit it's both a resource and time investment that I suspect many users will not want to make. Of course, the best solution would be for ATI to release a driver in which Vsync enables properly in Win 7 and Vista OS (I think problems have been reported in the latter, too) through the ATI CCC. I've filed a problem report with ATI, but am not holding my breath. This fix works fine for most of my flying purposes in FSX, which are largely GA/VFR flights, for example in the new PNW scenery, which is fantastic. I still use FS9 for LDS 767, etc., or heavy IFR. The switch from 8800GT to the 5850 has added 10+ fps (conservative estimate) in a couple of test flights I've run. Most sliders are set at max, and my sense is that the clouds are more realistic. I'm a RW pilot and am pretty particular on visuals. For others with ATI cards who may want to test this approach, the sound solution is even easier than originally posted. In D3DOverrider, there is an option on the bottom of the page (speaker symbol) that allows you to disable the sound alert. There is another option to disable event logging to RivaTuner, which for most users will be unnecessary. In fact, there is no need to run RivaTuner at all, as all that is needed is the D3DOverrider tool.Incidentally, in a little more testing with AA filtering options I'm not seeing either problems 2) or 3), i.e., it's a 100% fix. Right now I'm running 8x AA with the box filter and 16x AF. I'll do some more testing, but the bottom line is for other users of ATI cards with a Vsync problem the use of D3DOverrider is probably worth a shot.

For those of you with ATI 5800 series cards for which Vsync will not enable in either the ATI CCC with the option "Wait for Vertical Refresh" always on or using Ray Adam's ATI Tray Tools (this has worked for some) the following worked for me. My OS is Win 7 x64, which is where many users are reporting problems. I just upgraded from an 8800GT to the 5850 and found the texture tearing almost a showstopper. Steps:1) Download and install RivaTuner. The version I have is v2.24 - I believe that's the latest.2) Open the RivaTuner folder, on default installation it is in the Program Files (x86) directory.3) In the RivaTuner folder, open Tools, and look for D3DOverrider. Open that application - it may minimize into the apps tray accessed by the upward arrow (triangle) on the taskbar.4) Choose the options "Start with Windows", "Global" applications properties, and Vsync "On". I also have triple buffering "on" and application detection level set at "Medium". These last two settings are probably not essential, but they work for me.Following these steps on my system, Vsync is now on in FSX, with no more texture tearin. There is no significant impact on frames rates, which are much higher than for the 8800GT. The solution is not perfect because a few minor annoyances resulted, which to me are small compared to the Vsync problem. They are:1) When starting FSX and at certain other times an alert "chime" played because of the overriding. This has a simple solution. Go into the control panel "Personalization" option and select "Change Sound Effects". You can then change sounds, selecting "None" for the offending option. I honestly can't remember which one, it may have been "Asterisk", but with a little experimentation you'll find the right one to switch off.2) When opening FSX to the initial setup page, the frame where I used to see the default Trike is now black. Honestly, I don't really care about this, so I'm not going to worry about a fix.3) The only other issue I've found is that when opening a pop up (like the GPS, or initially opening the ATC window) there is a very momentary flash to black screen, which immediately returns to the regular view. Not perfect, then, but far better than having the Vsync problem, hence the 90%. I've only tested this in virtual cockpit mode, and I use TrackIR 5. Of course, everyone's system is different, so it may not work for all, but it may help some.

No problem, my pleasure. I think that what you've suggested is a possibility. The broader lesson I've taken from this is a point that you and Nick have emphasized often. In this case, there was nothing really "wrong" with the hardware or, for that matter, FSX. Rather, the problem stemmed from certain settings that led to a non-optimal interaction. This reinforces the point that care must be taken to ensure that the hardware and FSX are properly set up to work together. To do this well takes knowledge of both hardware and how the FSX code works. You and other experts on the forum have been of great help in providing this knowledge to our community. My thanks -

Problem resolved, perhaps the long way but this may be useful for someone in the future. I decided to reinstall FSX, but the first test after reinstall still did not give nav audio sounds. Checking the Sound settings again, I opened the Windows default sound folder to see the speaker set up. The default device was SB-X-Fi and speaker set up was 5.1, which is my configuration, although I generally use headphones with FSX (along with the usual option of enabling headphones and disabling speakers when headphones are sensed). As a test, I switched the configuration from 5.1 surround sound to Stereo. The Nav audio sounds returned, and I suspect that other sounds are improved s well, although I've yet to do much extensive testing. My guess (only that) is that the Nav sounds play through a central channel that doesn't work with the headphone set up {at least mine). The mild puzzle is why the same .wav sounds played for FS9 but not FSX - this is what initially led me down a separate track. I can only conjecture that sounds are somehow handled a bit differently between FS9 than FSX, so direct comparisons of this sort may not work. Those that are more expert than I might provide a proper explanation. But to summarize, the problem was missing Nav audio sounds with FSX - at least using headphones. Solution steps:1) Open Windows control panel, click on Hardware and Sound (or similar in other Windows versions).2) Open Sound panel, click on Speakesr and then on Configure.3) Set Audio channels to Stereo, and confirm sounds on both sides by clicking Test.4) Click Next a couple of times to apply settings and finish.In retrospect, I'm pretty sure if I'd taken these steps a reinstall could have been avoided. It may apply to similar sound problems, so may be worth a try if other steps have failed.

Thanks, Bob - I've greatly appreciated the expert advice that you, Nick and others have been giving over the years. I should have mentioned that I've tried all variations from one on to all radio audio switches on (lights illuminated). I did follow your suggestion and fired up the default Beech 350 King Air and switched all the nav radio audio switches to on (up). Tried a test at KDEN, set NAV1 to the 34L localizer (111.9) and NAV2 to DVV (117.9). Took off, flew the departure and downwind leg and heard no audio signal so switched to the default C172. Confirmed that all audio switches were still on and flew past the 34L OM and then back on the approach to 34L (172s not great at KDEN with traffic on, but that's another story). Flew the approach to landing but still no audio on NAV1, 2, or MKR. During the flight I was getting DME to DVV and tracking the ILS inbound. Marker lights illuminated when crossing the markers as they should, but no audio. I've flown a lot of instrument approaches in FS9, FSX (and real life), and panel set up looks okay, but I appreciate the suggestion and well worth double-checking. Another thing that I should have mentioned is that I'm flying FSX with SP2 and Acceleration - again, nothing new there that would have changed in the past few weeks. I use the default Mooney in set up, but generally shift to other aircraft for flights. Again, thanks for the suggestion and best wishes for the new year -

My FSX NAV radio ident sounds have gone out recently and I'd very much appreciate suggestions from forum members on possible fixes. The applies to all aircraft I've tested, both defaults and add-ons, with radios properly tuned and clearly receiving, e.g., NAV1 or NAV2 when tracking an ILS or VOR, MKR when the marker beacon lights are flashing for OM and MM, etc. All other sounds appear to be working okay (ATC, environment, flaps, gear, etc.), but for instrument procedures the aural NAV idents are very helpful. My basic setup is Windows 7 64-bit on an I7 and 6 gb RAM. l I've been using these functions fine with a Creative SB X-Fi card in XP, Vista and Windows 7 since late October. Until now FSX has been running without problems To check if it was a sound card failure I uninstalled the SB and drivers and used onboard RealTek drivers with no change in the result. The problem started sometime in the last few weeks, but since I fly a mix of VFR and IFR flights I'm not sure exactly when. I've had a hard time pinning down any specific changes in that period that might have been a cause/contributing factor. Some of the steps I've taken so far are:1) Confirmed that all boxes in the sound settings box were checked, levels set to default values (50%), and confirmed correct sound source.2) Confirmed that relevant .wav files in the root FSX folder Sound were working, e.g., OUTERMK and MIDDMK, by double-clicking on the files.3) Checked and confirmed that similar sounds were playing okay in FS9.Results 2) and 3) suggest to me that the problem is likely FSX-specific (sounds also play fine with Itunes, etc.). However, as mentioned above I uninstalled the SB card and got the same result with the onboard sound . A few other steps I tried:4) rebuilt the fsx.cfg file5) reinstalled latest directX (August 2009). No problems noted in dxdiag.6) uninstalled and reinstalled sound card drivers, and confirmed that only one source was enabled at any time. No IRQ conflicts are showing up in device manager.7) checked for similar settings in FSX and FS9 aircraft sound.cfg files. These appear to be identical on a couple of the aircraft I checked. It does not seem to be single add-on related as the missing .wav sounds are all located in the root Sound folder and the problem seems to affect all aircraft.I've tried a few other things, but am beginning to wander into areas beyond my expertise (.dll, .xml or other relevant files). The final option, of course, is to uninstall FSX and do a clean reinstall, and hope that his works. But with the number of aircraft and scenery files I have - and the fact that FSX is otherwise working fine - I thought I'd check first to see if anyone has encountered of aware of such a selective sound fault with the NAV radios and come up with a possible solution. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I have to agree with CryogenicPilot (CP) that this is a community with an amazing range of users. For those that want to just "kick the tires and light the fires", that's great. I have a father-in-law in his mid-eighties who enjoys this basic approach, and it doesn't seem to bother him if he crashes 10 times, as long as he lands OK once. Goodness knows, I often basically "kick the tires and light the fires" when I want to tour various parts of the world. A given weekend may take me to Italy, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Grand Canyon, etc. - try to do that in the real world! When I want to land, I look around for a nearby airport or just use GPS NRST function. Not much planning, other than the starting point. Some aircraft, like the SF-260, are also great for aerobatics training. I have RW experience in that as well, but have worked on maneuvers/sequences in FS that I haven't done in real life.I quite agree with comments by dbw1 (Dave). Aside from its training uses, FS also allows all of us to fly aircraft that we will never have the opportunity to otherwise do. And some of the simulations are amazing.I take the OP at his word without any analysis of motives. Overall, I'm not too concerned about one less-than-fully informed poster providing advice to another on FMC uses - because the only harm that's likely to result is "virtual". I think that RW pilots can be very helpful to those who are just learning to fly, for example, the young aspiring pilots that CP mentioned. There it is much more important to correct any bad advice. I think we can also give suggestions on more advanced uses, because FS can be very useful for keeping us sharp, as Dave's message illustrates. I also tried to give a few examples of how FS could be used, as well as a caution on a possible misuse.Overall, a good thread - thanks to the OP.

Like many of those who responded, my tickets are early '70s vintage. I came across FS long after. Having said that, I feel that FS could have been a very useful supplement to my training, particularly for the instrument rating, although FS would have also been useful for PPL for things like aircraft and airport familiarization, basic navigation skills, planning, etc. For IFR, I use FS often for conditions I would never fly in the RW (I hope). For example, last night I flew a flight from KMSP-KDSM first with icing on per FSUIPC in the SF-260 to simulate and deal with the consequences, then turned icing off so I could shoot several approaches to KDSM in fairly marginal conditions, including a go-around. Very good practice. I usually use RW weather per ASA (looking for the worst conditions AOA minimums), but will also fly approaches into heavy thundersnow with moderate/severe turbulence, strong crosswinds at minimums - something no sane pilot would do. All approaches are hand flown - very good practices for scans, etc. Again, FS is a great training tool if used wisely, but I certainly would not apply this adverse weather training to fly in anything approaching similar conditions in the RW. As the saying goes, there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots. Count me in the "old" category.Apologies for the thread creep, but perhaps this is still relevant with respect to advice -

Haven't given advice on the forum, but since you asked, ASEL PPL, Commercial, Instrument. Some time in gliders but no rating.