FSUIPC Causing FSX to freeze?

[nguindon]

I've done a search of the forum but I cannot find anybody posting in regards to something specific I've been experiencing and has baffled me. After doing a new install and running my addons in FSX one at a time I've isolated to what I think may be my problem.

My set up is FSX under Vista 32 bit, using a quad core QX6850 OC to 3.3 and dual ultra's 8800. I've observed the following: FSX running by itself with no connected third party software works fine. When I connect Flight Keeper or my VA's own ACARS program either one causes FSX to "stop responding". I'm thinking anything communicating through FSUIPC eventually causes FSX to hang. I've observed when the ACARS program suddenly drops it's connection or stops communicating to FSX, FSX stops responding, sometimes if I close the program FSX resumes but most times it does not. So I get the impression that something with FSUIPC or something in vista is conflicting with FSUIPC to cause FSX to stop responding. I've tried both 4.25 and 4.26.

Anybody seen or experience this before? Any ideas to help me find what could be conflicting with FSUIPC?

Norm.

[Pete Dowson]

When I connect Flight Keeper or my VA's own ACARS program either one causes FSX to "stop responding". I'm thinking anything communicating through FSUIPC eventually causes FSX to hang. I've observed when the ACARS program suddenly drops it's connection or stops communicating to FSX, FSX stops responding, sometimes if I close the program FSX resumes but most times it does not.

If FSX is freezing, naturally FSUIPC freezes with it, so any program talking to it gets no response too. That's unavoidable. If doesn't mean FSUIPC is the cause, although most folks naturally always like to blame FSUIPC first.

In FSX it is very very unlikely to be FSUIPC itself, as it is merely a standard user of the Microsoft-supplied SimConnect interface. In previos versions of FS FSUIPC's job was a lot more precarious because of all the hacking it had to do to provide the facilities. In FSX the "hacking" has been done by Microsoft instead.

So I get the impression that something with FSUIPC or something in vista is conflicting with FSUIPC to cause FSX to stop responding. I've tried both 4.25 and 4.26.

FSUIPC isn't really much of a Vista or Windows user -- it is FSX which is using the operating system a lot. And SimConnect is very very dependent upon the system for its communications with FSX.

Do you have SP2 or Acceleration installed? If not I would strongly recommend that you update. If you haven't installed even FSX SP1 yet, then do that first. Then SP2. Or just buy Accelertation which will install both in any case.

Before SP2/Acceleration, SimConnect used TCP/IP for all of its interaction between itsself and FSX. If you are short on real memory, or have any sort of security programs running (anti-virus, firewalls, etc), then the TCP/IP system can get slowed down to the point where FSX stops or crashes. Do you have any direct SimConnect-using add-ons running too?

Some security programs are worse than others. AVG seems okay for anti-virus, and Windows XP/ Vistas's own firewall seems okay, but some of the commercial security programs seem to be a real nightmare for FSX. If you move to SP2/Acceleration, FSUIPC uses the later version of SimConnect and this doesn't use TCP/IP, so it bypasses all the security interference.

Next time you ask for advice, it would be useful if you you find and paste up the Log files from the FSX/Modules folder -- there's an Install log and a regular FSUIPC4.Log. Please close FSX first.

Regards

Pete

[nguindon]

Pete,

Thank you for your response. I'm not necessarily blaming FSUIPC at this point I'm totally open to any suggestion you may have. I've been using the process of elimination up to this point to try and pin point the issue. The most narrow I could get it is when I have come type of program interacting with FSX. FSX by itself does not encounter these freezes.

To give you some info based on your post. I do have SP1 and SP2 installed in FSX (I don't have acceleration, I installed the stand alone SP2). I have also install Vista service patch 2 with no problems, I was hoping that might fix the issue as it happened prior to Vista service patch but it still happens after the patch.

I don't have any bloatware running in the background. I upgraded to this machine strictly for gaming thus I've only installed AVG and a defrag program. However I do run system config and boot with very minimal services running in the background no AVG etc.... I'm relying on the Vista default firewall which I do not disable when running FSX. I'm running 4 gigs of RAM with the 3/gig switch. I've monitored memory usage while flying and that doesn't seem to be an issue.

As for addons using Simconnect directly I believe (I can be wrong as I'm not sure on this) I fly the PMDG 747 which I think relies on SImconnect and also have active sky X in the background generating weather. I haven't encountered freeze issues when those two addons are used only with FSX. If I add either Flight Keeper or my VA's ACARs program I experience freezes, usually after about 3 to 4 hours of flight, sometimes longer.

I'm not near my gaming machine at the moment but I will search out the log files you have pointed me to. I have no idea what happens in the background when the external programs communicate with FSX so I'm hoping with the direction from a knowledgeable person like yourself I'd get an idea of where else to look. I appreciate any light you can shed on the matter. Thanks again. I'll post back with some log file info.

Norm.

[Pete Dowson]

... I do run system config and boot with very minimal services running in the background

I wonder if one of the add-ons you are running needs some Vista service you've disabled? If you've set up a separate profile with a load of system services disabled, maybe running a test with the default profile would eliminate this as a possibility. However:

If I add either Flight Keeper or my VA's ACARs program I experience freezes, usually after about 3 to 4 hours of flight, sometimes longer.

3 or 4 hours of flight seems an inordinately long period of things being "okay" before a "freeze". It certainly sounds exactly like a memory type of problem. Something must be slowly (very slowly) building up towards it over such a time.

I have no idea what happens in the background when the external programs communicate with FSX so I'm hoping with the direction from a knowledgeable person like yourself I'd get an idea of where else to look.

Well, I'm really not at all knowledgeable regarding things than take 3 to 4 hours to go wrong. If you are sure real memory AND virtual memory (disk space on the swap disk) isn't running short (that's always been the problem with such symptoms before, not just FSX but all versions of FS), then I've very little else to offer in the way of suggestions. I assume the temperatures of everything are okay (processor, video card, motherboard?).

I have just corrected a weird bug I found in FSUIPC4 which affected a few of the offsets -- rather technical ones, concerned with pressure ratios and the like. I can't see anything it fixed being a cause (I can't see anything I could possibly do taking 3 to 4 hours to result in a problem!), but it might be worth you changing just in case. I've not released it yet. Download it from this:

http://fsuipc.simflight.com/beta/FSUIPC4271.zip

The only other thing I can think of which might be instructive is to enable SimConnect logging. Please see the "FSX Help" announcement above for instructions on how to do this. The log file you get over a 3-54 hour period will be absolutely HUGE, so make sure you send it to someplace with enough space. When the freeze arrives, it would be worth checking the last entries there -- also to see if entries are still being added, as this would show if that part is still active.

If you need to send me anything, ZIP it and send to petedowson@btconnect.com.

Regards

Pete