FS2004 Blue Screen With WideFS 6.10

[westes]

I'm using WideFS 6.10 with the Project Magenta TCAS on a remote computer. I start FS2004 on the server in 2048x1536x32 resolution and all seems well. I can change views and everything redraws relatively quickly.

I start up WideClient 6.10 on the client computer and almost immediately the view in FS2004 on the server computer becomes corrupted. I see part of several different perspectives interlayed on the video. As soon as I terminate WideFS Client, FS2004 on the server computer returns to its normal view. If I start WideClient again, then I get the strange view on the server computer again. About 40% of the time when I terminate WideClient, I get the blue screen on the server computer.

On the server computer I'm running a RADEON 9500 Pro under Windows 2000 with 2GB of real memory and dual 2.4GHz CPUs.

When I run WideServer 6.10 on the server computer by itself, with no client computer, I still have problems. The gauges do not redraw, and I have to resort to hitting the Pause button for long periods to let them catch up. Eventually on the server computer I get the blue screen of death after maybe 5 to 20 minutes of this strange pausing behavior.

As soon as I remove WideServer.dll from the modules directory, everything corrects. FS2004 redraws in a timely fashion and there are no blue screens.

I get the distinct feeling that WideServer is not releasing control of something in a timely fashion, and this is preventing Flight Simulator from drawing correctly.

Is this a known condition and how do you work around it?

[Pete Dowson]

I start up WideClient 6.10 on a remote computer and almost immediately the view in FS2004 becomes corrupted. I see part of several different perspectives interlayed on the video. As soon as I terminate WideFS Client, FS2004 returns to its normal view. If I start WideClient again, then I get the strange view again. About 40% of the time when I terminate WideClient, I get the blue screen.

How odd. The Network part of WideFS, which will be invoked when Wideclient connects, is totally independent of FS and runs in its own separate thread. Can you clarify -- does this happen with ONLY wideClient running, or is there a client application running as well (pmTCAS, or whatever)? If the latter, can you try things with JUST Wideclient connected, nothing else?

I'd also like to see WideServer and WideClient LOG and INI files, please -- if they are long, ZIP them and attach them. If it ONLY happens with the application running (pmTCAS?) also enable IPC write logging in FSUIPC and let me see the FSUIPC Log.

I get the distinct feeling that WideServer is not releasing control of something in a timely fashion, and this is preventing Flight Simulator from drawing correctly.

There is nothing WideServer "owns" which FS would want and which needs to be released. There is, in fact, nothing in WideServer that has anything to do with any operations in FS at all, certainly not graphics. Even when it needs to write FS variables it does this through FSUIPC, not directly.

Let me see those files and we'll take it from there.

WideFS has been going now, relatively unchanged, for about 6 years and I've never heard of anything like this before. So one thing that occurs to me is a possible corrupted WideServer.DLL, or similarly network drivers or Winsock components in Windows. Maybe you could try re-downloading and installing WideFS in any case, just in case. We may then need to proceed to uninstalling your Network card and re-installing it, and finally, if necessary, trying some Windows repairs, although there I start getting lost.

Regards,

Pete

[westes]

I duplicate this result with just WideClient running, although as I posted I get a lesser but equally deadly result with no WideClient running at all. I do NOT need to run pmTCAS at any point in the process to duplicate.

How do I turn on the maximum logging levels for WideClient and WideServer? That might help some.

[Pete Dowson]

I duplicate this result with just WideClient running, although as I posted I get a lesser but equally deadly result with no WideClient running at all. I do NOT need to run pmTCAS at any point in the process to duplicate.

How do I turn on the maximum logging levels for WideClient and WideServer? That might help some.

It is sounding as if it is not really anything to do with WideFS. What prompts this "equally deadly" result?

Maximum logging data is produced by setting Log=DebugAll in the [user] section of the WideClient.ini, and Log=DEbug in the [user] section of the WideServer.ini.

But I'm not sure any logging will tell you anything about FS graphics changes -- all the logging is to help discover what data is being exchanged across the Server-Client link. With only a client running and no applications, this only amounts to a handshake.

Pete

[westes]

How do you get to the conclusion that it has nothing to do with WideFS?

I put WideServer.DLL into the FS2004 Modules directory, and FS2004 blue screens after some period of use. I take out WideServer.DLL and everything works perfectly.

How do you get from that to the conclusion that the blue screens have nothing to do with WideFS?!?

I'll try to get you the logs next weekend.

[Pete Dowson]

How do you get from that to the conclusion that the blue screens have nothing to do with WideFS?!?

a) Because WideServer is not doing anything at all when you don't run WideClient to connect to it -- and you say you have problems without running WideClient too. Remember? You said this in your previous message.

b) Because it has been in use for six years and never once before having any such problems.

It sounds as if EITHER your WideServer DLL is corrupted, i.e. not the same as the one I released -- which you could ascertain by re-downloading it and re-installing it, as I suggested, OR something is badly wrong below, in Windows, the network card drivers, or the network card itself.

When WideServer is running it is of course linked through Winsock and the network drivers to your Network card. When there is no WideClient connected it is merely listening for a connection. there is no traffic. so, if FS is crashing or stopping there must be something fundamentally wrong in that area. There is no other area for it to be wrong in.

The most likely thing is some sort of IRQ conflict between your Network Card and your Video card, or bad or corrupted network drivers, or, just possibly, a Network card which is causing problems directly.

I did make several suggestions for you to try before, which you seem to have ignored. I really don't think the logs will show you anything of use, especailly as almost nothing will be happening without WideClient connecting.

Regards,

Pete

[westes]

Peter, you were right. :)

I finally decided to bite the bullet, completely uninstall every trace of every video driver ever on my system, reboot, and then install the ATI RADEON drivers from scratch. This fixed whatever it was that caused the bizarre symptoms I was experiencing.

I have since discovered that after installing enough FS2004 add-ons of various kinds, the video driver somehow corrupts again. I am now able to reliably fix it by completing obliterating all traces of the driver, rebooting, and installing from scratch.

Who knows why or how utilities that do not touch the video driver can corrupt it. Just one of those Windows things, unfortunately....

[Pete Dowson]

Peter, you were right. :)

Thanks for letting me know. Glad you sorted it!

Pete