Framerate drops with FSUIPC V3.40

[MvT]

Hello Pete,

I’m having a problem with FSUIPC (I think). Normally my framerates are between 20-24 frames/sec. Every time there is a weather change (About every minute when I fly mach .78 at FL360), my frame rates drops to 4-10 frames/sec, and it looks like a slide show. This is for about 10-15 seconds. After that, the frame rates go back to 20-24 frames/sec.

I can reproduce this with realtime weather (Active Sky of FS9 default), or when I choose a FS9 weather theme and move the “rate of change” slider to extreme.

If I remove FSUIPC.DLL from the /modules/ directory, the problem is solved.

Also turned smooth wind change off, removed FSUIPC.INI, even installed original textures, installed another video driver, etc. It didn’t solve the problem.

When I press Shift-Z in FS9, every time the frame rate drops, the wind is changing.

I have many add-ons (maybe it’s an add-on which is using FSUIPC, I already de-installed FSNavigator and Flight keeper), if you want I can post the complete list.

I can’t remember I had this problem with earlier versions. I’m using FSUIPC V3.4 registered.

I’m not the only one. I know somebody else also has this problem. I hope you can help us.

My specs:

AMD 64 3200+

MSI K8T NEO-FIS2R

2x512MB DDR400 PC3200

Asus 9800XT

Win. 2000

FS9.1

Thanks,

Marcel

[Pete Dowson]

I’m having a problem with FSUIPC (I think). Normally my framerates are between 20-24 frames/sec. Every time there is a weather change (About every minute when I fly mach .78 at FL360), my frame rates drops to 4-10 frames/sec, and it looks like a slide show. This is for about 10-15 seconds. After that, the frame rates go back to 20-24 frames/sec.

Ugh! That's not nice.

If I remove FSUIPC.DLL from the /modules/ directory, the problem is solved.

Strange. I know of no reason for that. Possibly Weather logging is enabled (FSUIPC Logging page) and either the disk is very full or fragmented, or you have Windows write caching turned off?

Also turned smooth wind change off, removed FSUIPC.INI, even installed original textures, installed another video driver, etc. It didn’t solve the problem.

Ah, well if you removed FSUIPC.INI it would have generated a default which, of course, would not have Weather logging enabled.

Do you have any Weather gauges which might be trying to read the weather during the changes? The other thing which can slow things down is when there's an unaccredited program attempting to access a non-registered copy of FSUIPC, but since you have access to the wind smoothing that can't really apply to you.

Can you check the log file of FSUIPC for me, please? Are there streams of errors reported? If so it is likely that you have a partially-installed FS9.1 update. For this please check my announcement at the top of the Forum.

I have many add-ons (maybe it’s an add-on which is using FSUIPC, I already de-installed FSNavigator and Flight keeper), if you want I can post the complete list.

Well, certainly try temporarily removing any non-FS DLLs from the Modules folder, other than FSUIPC. Also test with a default aircraft, no add-on gauges, to see if it may be an add-on gauge killing the frame rates.

I can’t remember I had this problem with earlier versions. I’m using FSUIPC V3.4 registered.

There's no change in weather handling in 3.40. What was your previous version? Have you updated your FS9 to FS9.1?

Regards,

Pete

[MvT]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the information. Yesterday I've test the whole day, and I have good news. I removed FSUIPC.DLL from the modules folder again to be sure and I could reproduce the problem. It's not FSUIPC that's causing the problem. Sometimes there is no problem, mostly the problem is there. I had no problem the first time I removed FSUIPC.

Bad news for me is I haven't solve the problem.

Maybe you can do me one more favour, and look at the log-file, if you see something stange. Only strange thing I see is "Results: FS98 Cloud1: type=0, from 0ft to 0ft (+/- 0ft), cover 0, turb 0, ice 0", I'm not sure if this is normal.

I still think it has something to do with the weather. When I choose a weather theme (Gray and Rainy) and I leave rate of change to none, I can't reproduce the problem. Doesn't matter how many clouds there are. It only happens when I move the slider to extreme.

If you don't see something strange in the logfile, I'm affraid I'll have to deinstall the patch, and if that won't solve the problem, I'll have to do a complete reinstall.

Here I have a problem after about 5 seconds after I clicked OK in the weatherbox:

42874015 ClearWeather Button Pressed

42876187 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34898: dir 0T, vel 20

42876672 Clearing All Weather

42876750 Weather cleared by user action

42876750 External weather discarded

42876750 >Change: Pressure=1013.2 mb (Target is 0.0)

42876750 >Change: surface wind: to alt=2000ft AGL, dir=0T, vel=0.0, gust=0.0, turb=0, shear=0, var=0.0, Flags=0, AMSL=2113

42876750 >Change: No upper wind layers

42876750 >Change: Visibility[0]: range=100.0sm (160934m), from=-4921ft, to=15000ft

42876750 >Change: No cloud layers

42876750 >Change: Temperature[0]: alt=0ft, Day=15.0 C, NightVar=3.0 C, DewPt=5.0 C

42876750 Results: Visibility[0]: range=100.0sm (160934m), from=-4921ft, to=15000ft

42876750 Results: FS98 Pressure=1013.2 mb

42876750 Results: FS98 Wind0: ground (751ft) to 1361ft AGL, dir 0M, vel 0, gust 0, turb 0

42876750 Results: FS98 Wind1: 2112ft to 215009ft AMSL, dir=0T, vel 0, gust 0, turb 0

42876750 Results: FS98 Vis: range=100sm, (raw value=10000)

42876750 Results: FS98 Cloud1: type=0, from 0ft to 0ft (+/- 0ft), cover 0, turb 0, ice 0

42876750 Results: FS98 Cloud2: type=0, from 0ft to 0ft (+/- 0ft), cover 0, turb 0, ice 0

42876750 Results: FS98 Temp0: to 751ft, Day 15.0C, NightVar 3.0C

42876750 Results: FS98 Temp1: to 0ft, Day 0.0C

42876875 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34898: dir 1T, vel 20

42877812 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34898: dir 1T, vel 19

42878984 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34904: dir 1T, vel 18

42879922 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34914: dir 1T, vel 17

42880859 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34921: dir 1T, vel 16

42882031 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34931: dir 1T, vel 15

42882968 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34937: dir 1T, vel 14

42883906 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34940: dir 1T, vel 13

42884953 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34947: dir 1T, vel 12

42885922 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34954: dir 1T, vel 11

42886953 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34957: dir 1T, vel 10

42888125 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34960: dir 1T, vel 9

42889062 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34963: dir 1T, vel 8

42890000 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34967: dir 1T, vel 7

42891172 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34970: dir 1T, vel 6

42892109 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34973: dir 1T, vel 5

42893047 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34977: dir 1T, vel 4

42894218 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34980: dir 1T, vel 3

42895156 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34980: dir 1T, vel 2

42896093 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34983: dir 1T, vel 1

42897265 Results: FS98 AmbientWind at PlaneAlt=34983: dir 1T, vel 0

Here are the answers you asked for:

Possibly Weather logging is enabled (FSUIPC Logging page)

Weather logging is off normally. Only using this to trace the problem. Problem is there, even with logging off.

either the disk is very full or fragmented

Last time was 1 week ago, I've done it again yesterday. Didn't solve the problem. I'm using a seperate harddisk for flight sim. 49MB used, 100MB free.

or you have Windows write caching turned off?

Can't turn this on or off. The checkbox is gray. I've test the harddisk performace, and everything is according specifications.

Do you have any Weather gauges which might be trying to read the weather during the changes? The other thing which can slow things down is when there's an unaccredited program attempting to access a non-registered copy of FSUIPC, but since you have access to the wind smoothing that can't really apply to you.

I have Active Sky (with contains active radar) and Reality XP 500 (weather radar). Both deinstalled. Problem is still there.

Can you check the log file of FSUIPC for me, please? Are there streams of errors reported?

No, every thing is alright. No errors.

If so it is likely that you have a partially-installed FS9.1 update. For this please check my announcement at the top of the Forum.

Checked, every thing is alright.

Well, certainly try temporarily removing any non-FS DLLs from the Modules folder, other than FSUIPC. Also test with a default aircraft, no add-on gauges, to see if it may be an add-on gauge killing the frame rates.

Removed all non-FS DLL's for the modules folder. Yesterday I have done all tests with default Learjet 45, default panel, etc. Didn't solve the problem.

There's no change in weather handling in 3.40. What was your previous version? Have you updated your FS9 to FS9.1?

Previous version V3.30 (registered).

Yes, I have updated FS9 to FS9.1.

Thanks for your time,

Marcel

[Pete Dowson]

I have good news. I removed FSUIPC.DLL from the modules folder again to be sure and I could reproduce the problem. It's not FSUIPC that's causing the problem.

Well, of course, certainly that's good news for me, but ...

Maybe you can do me one more favour, and look at the log-file, if you see something stange. Only strange thing I see is "Results: FS98 Cloud1: type=0, from 0ft to 0ft (+/- 0ft), cover 0, turb 0, ice 0", I'm not sure if this is normal.

That's simply the result of the weather being cleared. You have weather logging enabled in FSUIPC, so it logs changes it sees at assorted levels. The FS98 interface is the original FS98-compatible weather interface. It is still maintained in FSUIPC for old programs. The ambient wind changes logged are the results on the wind at the aircraft of the Wind Smoothing option.

When I choose a weather theme (Gray and Rainy) and I leave rate of change to none, I can't reproduce the problem. Doesn't matter how many clouds there are. It only happens when I move the slider to extreme.

I must admit, I've NEVER set that slider to "extreme". It sounds as if that is causing continuous activity in the Weather DLL and the result is the slow downs you see? Why not simply refrain from using "extreme", which seems rather unrealistic in any case?

If you don't see something strange in the logfile, I'm affraid I'll have to deinstall the patch, and if that won't solve the problem, I'll have to do a complete reinstall.

Just so you can use "extreme" changes? Seems rather excessive. Ah -- because it always happens with your weather program, is that it?

I'm using a seperate harddisk for flight sim. 49MB used, 100MB free.

Only 49MB used!? For FS2004? Are you sure you don't mean GB? Megabytes are hardly anything these days. I think the default full install of FS9 is about 2.8Gb (i.e. 2800 Mb). My FS2004 installation is about 30 Gb (30000 MB) at present, and growing! :wink:

[LATER]

I just tried the "EXTREME" change setting with the gray and rainy theme, and the frame rates seem to sustain well. I really cannot understand what is happening on your system. Could it possibly be something to do with Win2000 with video drivers really optimised these days for XP? Win2000 is getting long in the tooth, and I'm wondering if there may be some inefficiencies creeping in with the new DirectX and drivers with these ultra-fast video cards.

Regards,

Pete

[MvT]

Hi Pete,

Sorry for my late reply, but I've been very busy with tracing the problem. I'll write here what I did, maybe it's useful information for anyone else.

Just so you can use "extreme" changes? Seems rather excessive. Ah -- because it always happens with your weather program, is that it?

Yes, that right. I also have the problem when I use my weather program. This is the best way to reproduce the problem when I am not using my weather program.

Only 49MB used!? For FS2004? Are you sure you don't mean GB? Megabytes are hardly anything these days. I think the default full install of FS9 is about 2.8Gb (i.e. 2800 Mb). My FS2004 installation is about 30 Gb (30000 MB) at present, and growing! :wink:

Again you're right. Mb=Gb :oops:

Win2000 is getting long in the tooth, and I'm wondering if there may be some inefficiencies creeping in with the new DirectX and drivers with these ultra-fast video cards.

I agree with that. For some reason I couldn't install driver V4.7 on Win2000. Earlier and later versions are working fine. So this could be the problem. I'll send an email to the other person who is having the same problem to see if he is also using Win2000 or WinXP.

This is what I did (did a lot more, this is the most important):

First I've copied the original .CAB files from CD to harddisk. In the about-box in FS9 I saw I had FS9.0 again (without update). Tried several other things but the problem remains. Then I replaced my harddisk, and installed win2000 again and FS9. I could already reproduce the problem after I installed the patch, active sky 2004 and FSUIPC V3.4. Uninstalled the patch, activesky 2004 and FSUIPC V3.3, didn't solve the problem.

So I think it's always been there, I have never noticed it. (I bought a TrackIr3 2 weeks ago, maybe that is the reason why I noticed it last week). I also had download another weather.dll when I was using FS9 without update, don't think I can use this anymore because the update also contains a new weather.dll. Maybe that's why I never noticed it.

The only solution I found is to move the sight distance to 100mi/160km and the cloud draw distance to 40mi/64km. The problem remains, but it never drops under 10 frames/sec, so it's acceptable.

I tried to restore my old installation, but I broke to much (couldn't use a lot add-ons anymore), so now I'm (almost) finished installing all add-ons on my new installation.

I had my old installation, so I could do some tests (working fine with default planes). I removed my Ati 9800XT and replaced it with an Ati 9500 pro. Used the same setting (display setting in windows and FS9). On the ground, I had 15 frames, but with the weather theme "gray and rainy" it drops to 7-8 frames/sec. Sometimes I saw a framerate drop to 1-2 frames/sec, but it's hard to see because the fps were too low. Only way to have acceptable fps was to move almost all weather slider to the left, and then I can't reproduce this problem. Tried other whether themes, and I didn't have a problem. Only display setting that affact fps when you fly at +FL300 are the clouds. This means the weather theme "gray and rainy" has a big impact on fps. Can't see this when I'm using my 9800XT because I have 20-24 fps.

So I think you can only see this "problem" when you are using a highend videocard, and you move the sliders Sight distance and Cloud draw distance in the weather setting at more than 50%. It looks like my PC can handle it (normally have 20-24 fps), but for some reason every weather change I have this problem.

It looks like FS9 is sending too much data at ones (draws too many clouds?, wind change?) so now I'm going to change some settings in FSUIPC and/or Active Sky, maybe I can reduce the problem. If not, then I move the weather sliders to the left and live with it. Or maybe it's just my mainboard that's causing the problem (already replaced memory and disabled as much as possible in the bios (also updated the bios).

I already tried to check "Set only one layer" option within FSUIPC, but the problem is still there (not even 1 fps better). Even after 5 minutes, when all other layers are gone.

Thanks for all information and time, Pete. Very much appreciated.

Regards,

Marcel

[Pete Dowson]

So I think you can only see this "problem" when you are using a highend videocard, and you move the sliders Sight distance and Cloud draw distance in the weather setting at more than 50%. It looks like my PC can handle it (normally have 20-24 fps), but for some reason every weather change I have this problem.

...

I notice you have a very high screen resolution set (1600 x 1200). Is the problem perhaps related to video settings? Try a lower resolution, or possibly different anti-alias or other settings?

All this sort of thing boils down to trial and error for me (and you too, by the look of things), but there are folks taking a more professional and scientific approach to setting up computers correctly for best results. They aren't free, but they seem to have good testimonials, so they may be worth a try. Look at the FSGS Support Forum, not far from here.

Regards,

Pete