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Game stops working

Printed From: Just Flight Forum
Category: Just Flight Products
Forum Name: Traffic X / Traffic / Traffic 2005
Forum Description: Discussion area for Traffic titles
URL: http://forum.justflight.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=31996
Printed Date: 28 Mar 2024 at 9:47am


Topic: Game stops working
Posted By: Darren
Subject: Game stops working
Date Posted: 28 Dec 2017 at 8:12am
Hi every one half way through a flight the game just freezes, you can still hear the sounds and also if you click on the menu in a flight to change the weather or even to save the flight half way through and I just get a dark blank screen and I have to get out of the game and start it up again. Which by this point I am close to putting my foot into the computer it is just so dam frustrating so please some one tell me why and and to fix it.

One very frustrated flight simmer.



Replies:
Posted By: Voice of Reason
Date Posted: 28 Dec 2017 at 10:31am
Darren, to get tech support from us contact our team via www.justflight.com/support/contact

They are best placed to help you get the issue sorted out.


Posted By: RayM
Date Posted: 28 Dec 2017 at 2:44pm
Darren,
you might want to look on the Internet for people commenting on problems arising from the file "uiAutomationCore.dll". I seem to remember discussions about this when FSX users suffered lock-ups after selecting Menu items.

-------------
A long time FSXA and Traffic X user


Posted By: freddy
Date Posted: 29 Dec 2017 at 12:32am
This could indeed be an uiAutomationCore.dll issue. However, if the sim is freezing before you begin clicking on menus, then perhaps it is something else.

Have you recently added anything? A new plane, new scenery, etc? Was it working well before? When did this start happening? What's changed? Did you alter any settings? Etc etc. If you answer yes to any of these, then try reversing those changes. For example, uninstall the new addon or scenery, reset the changes back to how they previously were, etc.

Based on what you've said above (you can still hear sounds etc) try pressing Alt+Enter to switch the screen between full screen, and windowed mode. See if that reveals anything.

If you haven't done the uiAutomationCore change, as suggested by Ray, then you should certainly look in to that.

Failing all of this, then the following information may help ...

According to the AVSIM CTD Guide ...

-----------------------------------------------

Freezes During Flight. Freezes are most commonly caused by:

• High application/display driver settings. Check.

• High settings within commercial weather programs like REX, ASN, and OPUS. Check. Some raise settings to the highest texture settings (4096 HD) within weather programs and/or texture programs like REX. This coupled with high applications LOD_Radius and Texture_Max_Load settings may take up too many resources and application will freeze.

• Complications with weather server updates. Application may try to update the weather and the weather server is down or cannot comply with a request.

• Running out of Virtual Address Space (VAS) especially on one hour or longer flights.

• Bad tweaks. BufferPools and or Affinity Mask are most often attributed to freezes. Rebuild the application configuration file (FSX.cfg) to see if this fixes the problem or disable the tweaks.

• ENBSeries Module – DirectX hack for better visuals.

• SweetFX Module – DirectX hack for better visuals.

-----------------------------------------------

Essentially, if you recently added something or made a change, then reverse that. Then try dialling the settings down, or going with a default FSX.cfg file ... and see what happens. From there, once it starts working again, you can then begin to re-add things, increase the settings again, and so on and so forth. Be methodical. Be systematic. A process of elimination should yield results. It's time consuming, but it is worth it to avoid the frustrations.


Posted By: Darren
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2018 at 7:09am
Hi Guys, no I have not added any thing, the only thing that has happened was that I had a computer tech out to increase the space on my c drive as I had run out of space to run my simulator. I was running 128GB's and in the end I had to always try and clear space on my c drive to run FSX, so this tech put a new ADATA and increased the giga bites, takes a bit longer to load up the game but since this it freezes mid flight but all the sounds are still going and I cant even get out of the game when I press escape so I have to switch of the whole computer and start it up again then start the game again I usually save the flight mid way through so if the flight freezes up I can go straight back to where the flight was when the game froze. Also some times and it has just started to happen is that during the game some times I loose all sounds so once again I have to get out of the game and start it up again. I did do a successful flight from Sydney to Darwin on Saturday and had no problems but I have not added any thing to the game.    


Posted By: Darren
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2018 at 7:15am
Guys what frame rate do you run your game at I have mine at 41 target rate.


Posted By: RayM
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2018 at 11:52am
Darren,
I run mine at 'Unlimited' and do not seem to suffer any particular problems when at this setting.

My system is-
CPU            i5-4460 @ 3.2GHz (4 cores)
RAM            4Gb
Graphics       GeForce GTX260 2Gb

-------------
A long time FSXA and Traffic X user


Posted By: Soaranden
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2018 at 8:24am
Hi, Darren,

Follow http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html" rel="nofollow - this link for an explanation of the two versions of the uiAutomationCore.dll files. It is critically important to use the correct file version for your system. The only way to know for sure is to try one of them and see if it corrects the problem. The explanation of the files and the links to download them are found in the CHAPTER 4, VERSE 2 section of the above linked page. The page was written with Windows 7 in mind, but I am now running FSX successfully on Windows 10 Pro; much of the information is still applicable.

Try the uiAutomationCore.dll fix rather than messing with your hard drives.

I have my frame rate set at "Unlimited," but the frame rate is unrelated to the freezing problem.

ADDED NOTE: Several years ago, I had the same problem that you and countless others have experienced. In my case, the "18000" version of uiautomationcore.dll was the fix. Don't be afraid to try it (unless you're afraid of losing all the frustration that comes with freezes).

Dan


Posted By: freddy
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2018 at 9:26am
NickN is extremely highly regarded when it comes to writing the "Bible" on FSX and how it works with "your" computer. That said, there are some who believe that he has it wrong when he suggests you should start with the "18000" version file first. I'm running FSX on Windows 7, and, for me, the "16386" version worked. Mileage obviously does vary. Nevertheless, I agree with Soaranden, you should certainly try this "fix". It very well may be the root cause (or should I say, fix) for your problem.



Posted By: Soaranden
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2018 at 11:33am
Just for the record:

I've replaced Windows 10 Pro by copying my former Windows 7 Professional backup (which included all of my installed applications) from an external hard drive. I wanted to return to the tree structure of the Windows 7 start menu. I had no reason to use an operating system (Windows 10) that can be used on a tablet PC and no reason to use an operating system that can be used on a touch-screen monitor.

After returning to Windows 7, it occurred to my that if I could see the user interfaces of Windows 7 and Windows 10 side by side (and if the numbers of each operating system could have been hidden from me, and if I had not seen the user interface of either operating system before) I would judge the Windows 7 user interface as being the newer and more-sophisticated user interface.  With the lack of a start menu tree, the Windows 10 user interface looks as though it is pre-Windows 95.


Posted By: freddy
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2018 at 12:08am
I am wary of side-tracking this thread in to a discussion about Windows versions. However, I didn't want to let Soaranden's observations pass without my own comment. I simply couldn't resist ...

Soaranden, I agree.

As someone who works in IT Support, I get to use Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 ... often all on the same day. (On some days I even get to play with Windows XP. Yes, some folks are still running that.) For its ease of use, better Start menu, and no "tablet app style" configuration screens, Windows 7 is by far the easier to use and more "consistent". There is nothing worse than needing to configure something (in Windows 10) and having the interface change from a Windows style interface to an app-style interface. That's not consistent and it's certainly not intuitive. Worse, if you find and click the "Advanced" LINK (not a button, a LINK), the OS shows you the Windows screen you initially expected to see, taken pretty much straight out of Windows 7.

I applaud Microsoft for what they are trying to achieve ... the concept is good ... and their desire to make it so simple to use that even Grandma and Grandpa can do it without needing a college education, is also good ... but Microsoft's implementation of those ideas is simply terrible. Windows 8 ruined the intuitive interface. An interface that was built up and improved over time from Windows 95 forward. Windows 10 acknowledged that Windows 8's interface was bad, so it tried to go back to some of the elements from Windows 7 and earlier ... but, despite this, Windows 10 still continued to be a mix of both Windows 7 and Windows 8. That Start menu is deplorable. And app-style screens in a desktop OS? Please! It fails.

Microsoft should have done this ... Windows 8 failed. Acknowledging that, Microsoft should have gone back to a pure Windows 7 style. Give it a (proper) Start menu. Give it actual windows for configuration screens and other elements. Make it both mouse or touch-screen controlled; fine. Done. And then, on top of that, make it the user's choice to go in to "tablet mode", by way of a one-click selectable option or a shortcut key combination. If the user chooses to run it on a tablet or phone, then so be it ... they tick a box or use a key combination, and voila, it runs on their tablet and phone, complete with those app-style configuration screens and all the user elements they'd expect to see on their phone or tablet. Want to go back to a desktop? Fine. Uncheck the box or use the key combination and bingo, they're back in desktop mode. But, no, Microsoft didn't do this. Instead they tried to "mix the two together", similar again to what they did with Windows 8. It didn't work with Windows 8, and it doesn't work with Windows 10. It is hopeless.

Getting back on topic ... I have to run Windows 10 at work, but at home, for ease of use and for Flight Simulator (see, that's back on topic), I still use Windows 7. I didn't get suckered in to all that "Windows 10 is free!" crap that they were pushing. I could see the writing on the wall - a benefit of working in IT Support. I didn't fall for their marketing and promotion, and I am happy. Windows 7 works like a charm, has a Start menu that's usable, and actual windows instead of app-style rubbish ... and, of course, it runs Flight Simulator wonderfully well.

Windows 10 is OK, once you get used to it. But that doesn't change the fact that it is a nightmare of mixed screen types and Windows Updates that you simply cannot turn off and which reboot your PC for no reason, right in the middle of your work - even if you've told it not to do that. Windows 10 is usable, but it can indeed be bloody frustrating.

I have no idea what to do once support for Windows 7 dries up and it reaches "end of life". I'll just have to bite the bullet, I suppose.





Posted By: Soaranden
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2018 at 5:30pm
I think that your above thoughts are outstanding, freddy. People should take the time to read them.

Unless Windows 10 returns to a Windows 7-like hierarchical start menu, many people will remain non-users and recognize Windows 10 for what it really is: Windows "8.2".

More than a few Windows 10 users had been using the freeware Classic Shell program to get a Windows 7-style start menu tree in Windows 10. However, because of the frequency of Windows 10 updates, and since Classic Shell kept breaking with each new Windows 10 update, Classic Shell updates have come to an end. The program will no longer be supported. If Microsft provided a similar shell for Windows 10, their Windows 10 updates (without updating the shell code, too) would break their own shell.

Unfortunately, Microsoft seems to be adament about having a single operating system that can run on tablets in addition to desktops and laptops. That leaves Windows 10 desktop and laptop users having to suffer the conquences of lowest-common-denominator tablet coding.

For me, Windows 7 won't be a "dead operating system" until I want to fly a flight simulator that won't run on it. In one regard, I'm looking forward to Microsoft ending Windows 7 support: Their chances to ruin a great operating system will be over.

Dan


Posted By: freddy
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 10:42pm
Originally posted by Soaranden Soaranden wrote:

... In one regard, I'm looking forward to Microsoft ending Windows 7 support: Their chances to ruin a great operating system will be over.

ROFL. I hadn't thought of it like that. That's a great point.

And you've also made another valid statement ...

Originally posted by Soaranden Soaranden wrote:

... For me, Windows 7 won't be a "dead operating system" until I want to fly a flight simulator that won't run on it.

With the advent of Aerofly-FS2, and with other offerings on their way or rumoured, I fear that the days of flight sims running on Windows 7 are indeed probably numbered. That said, I am still running FSX (on Windows 7) instead of something like Prepar3D. And, even despite Prepar3D recently going 64-bit, running better and being far more stable, I am still EXTREMELY happy with good ol' 32-bit FSX. It runs well on my 10+ year old PC, in Windows 7, and is open source enough for me to be able to do edits, updates, repaints, AFCADs, etc. I can keep it up to date as much as I want, with all of the 3rd-party tools that good people have provided for it. And, even once support for those tools dries up, the last available latest versions of those tools will always still run (on Windows 7) allowing me to continue to keep FSX up to date. The real danger comes from the day when you eventually might need to re-install Windows 7 ... you won't be able to get a key for it or Activate it. But, by then, despite one's views on piracy, I am sure there'll be a way to get it installed. And, on that same day, after reinstalling FSX, will one still be able to be Activate that? Or will Microsoft's activation servers simply not know about FSX any more? That could be a problem. Time will tell.

Long live the Start menu; long live Control Panel windows; long live complete control over when Windows Updates occur; long live a good OS. Huzzah!


(It's funny, you know. I never understood people who wanted to keep running Windows XP. I used to push them on that topic all the time. And here I am now, being a hypocrite, preferring to run Windows 7. Further to that, I never ran FS2004. I skipped that version and had a break from flight simming for a while. When I first installed FSX, I couldn't understand why so many people still wanted to stick with FS2004. For me, one always had to have the latest version. So why these people wanted to stick with "yesterday's versions of things" was beyond me. But, now I see. Here I am touting the fact that I will be happy to stick with Windows 7, and happy to stick with (32-bit) FSX as long as it keeps running on my PC. It's funny how time changes one's perception and understanding of things. Hmmm.)




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