Newest FSX F.U.B.A.R.

[AH_Moggy]

(FWIW, I am a veteran of combat flight sims for approx. 6+ years, so I am not a complete idiot.  A near-idiot perhaps, but not a complete one)

The newest little surprise I found with FSX is that, during free flight, after approx. 1 hour of flying, my sound went "poof" and was replaced by a high-pitched squeal like the sound you get when you turn the AP off.  Nice.

Now I find that I can't get rid of the task-bar when I launch FSX.

What in the wide world of sports is going on with this game?  Can anyone help me out here?

[LeFeaoux]

(FWIW, I am a veteran of combat flight sims for approx. 6+ years, so I am not a complete idiot.  A near-idiot perhaps, but not a complete one)

The newest little surprise I found with FSX is that, during free flight, after approx. 1 hour of flying, my sound went "poof" and was replaced by a high-pitched squeal like the sound you get when you turn the AP off.  Nice.

Now I find that I can't get rid of the task-bar when I launch FSX.

What in the wide world of sports is going on with this game?  Can anyone help me out here?

My cousin has a very similar issue with FSX on his computer. His sound does not go out completely however, he DOES get the high-pitched squeals. HE SAYS it is due to FSX not liking his sound card (I doubt that though) but I have no clue of what does cause it. On his computer, if you hit the "ESC" key twice, it doesn't take you out of your current flight and eliminates the sound issue until it decides to come back at a later time.

Maybe someone else has a more "technical" answer for you but in the meantime, try hitting the ESC key twice the next time it happens and see if that helps.


As far as the "stuck" task-bar ... ?? You got me on that, never seen it happen before.

[AH_Moggy]

Thanks, friend.

[Brett_Henderson]

Now I find that I can't get rid of the task-bar when I launch FSX.

Do you mean the Windows task bar ?  ..  If so, you're not running in full screen mode. You can change that through the tool, bar (views / Full screen)... or the key-stroke to toggle full screen is, "Alt+Enter".

List your computer specs, too. Many FSX bugs are due to old/out-dated, hardware/drivers.

[dharris]

I also get this occasionally.  But my system will lock up, the squeel will be there and most times the keyboard is locked out, so I can not get to the task manager.  Also, most but not always, I will get a BSOD with an error , and memory dump, at that time reset is the only way out.  System is MSI Diamond motherboard, EVGA 8800GT 512mb, AMD 4800 x2, 2 gb Crusial matched ram, winxp pro sp2, Cheiftec case which runs at 42 C. normally and about 47-48 C. when in game 3D.  Air Cooled.  I have tried running various memory tests, game tweaks, O&O defrag, no overclocks.  Using rivatuner for fan control and temps.  Also use eNhancer to set up game options.  This was happening when I used my previous video card, evga 7900 gt.  I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2.  Have tried just using my motherboard sound card which has the audigy chip.  Same results with both sound cards.  Love the game, hate the lockups.  Any ideas are welcome.  Thank you.  

[Daube]

It looks like a lost of focus from the application.
The fact that sometimes the zoom keys do not respond anymore until you click on the cockpit.... while this happens, have you tried:
- any other key (gears etc )
- clicking anywhere else on the screen ?

My guess is that the focus (currently active application for windows) has gone to another app, perhaps because of a popup message or something like that, I don't know....

[AH_Moggy]

Now I find that I can't get rid of the task-bar when I launch FSX.

Do you mean the Windows task bar ?

[KA938]

Thanks, friend.  I'll try that.  I already found a work-around past another bug, that of losing the "zoom" keys periodically while in flight.  If I left-click on the instrument panel (anywhere), it enables the zoom commands to work again.  I'll try the "double escape" keys next time I lose sound.  Again, thanks.  

On the zooming part: you may want to try hitting "Backspace". That is the key that resets the zoom.... The way I think of the problem is that it is like the joystick when you start a new flight: you have to move something on it to get it to function...it won't be full throttle when you first start even if you had your joystick set that way. The Backspace key seems to work the same way as jiggling your throttle for the first time in a flight.

I don't know what to tell you about the sound. I have been stuck with the task bar but only once. If you, by any chance, mean the white one above your screen: press and hold the alt key and it will go away.

Hope you get that problem fixed. Good luck! If it happens to me I will share what I find.

[garymbuska]

The easy way to clear up the sound problem is to press the Q key twice this turns the sound off and then back on. 8-)

[AH_Moggy]

Thanks, bud.  I tried the "Q" key, but found that it was not specifically a sound problem, as the screech persisted, even after I quit FS.  It wasn't a memory problem, nor GPU over-heating.

I have a SB X-Fi sound card, and found a somewhat updated driver on Creative's site.  Installed that, but it was only a few months' updated from the original (at about the same time that FSX was released), so naturally that didn't solve it.

I found a different driver for it on microsoft's "update" site, and this one is much more current.  Installed that, and so far no problems.  I'm currently in free flight, letting the sim run until my fuel runs out, since the screech seemed to surface only after a time in the sim.  So far, so good but I'm under no illusions :-/  

[dharris]

Well, I have noticed one thing with my installation, and that is that it crashes most often when I am cycling through the different views.  It SEEMS, that if I pause at each view and don't rush right on past a couple, that my system is not hanging up.  I will keep trying this method and see if it is valid.  Take care.

[sbq]

I also get this occasionally.  But my system will lock up, the squeel will be there and most times the keyboard is locked out, so I can not get to the task manager.  Also, most but not always, I will get a BSOD with an error , and memory dump, at that time reset is the only way out.  System is MSI Diamond motherboard, EVGA 8800GT 512mb, AMD 4800 x2, 2 gb Crusial matched ram, winxp pro sp2, Cheiftec case which runs at 42 C. normally and about 47-48 C. when in game 3D.  Air Cooled.  I have tried running various memory tests, game tweaks, O&O defrag, no overclocks.  Using rivatuner for fan control and temps.  Also use eNhancer to set up game options.  This was happening when I used my previous video card, evga 7900 gt.  I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2.  Have tried just using my motherboard sound card which has the audigy chip.  Same results with both sound cards.  Love the game, hate the lockups.  Any ideas are welcome.  Thank you.  

Check your motherboard for bad capacitors that have blown, I've seen really weird crashing behavior from computers that have badcaps.  You can learn more about bad capacitors (including how to identify a blown capacitor) here: http://www.badcaps.net/

Here's some more info on the bad capacitor problem from some mainstream sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
http://www.news.com/PCs-plagued-by-bad-capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html