Flight Simulator X IS Crash Prone: An Analysis

[matthewdev]

Interestingly, while I have never had crashes on my computer, my brothers computer had regular ctd's, I'm not sure why though. It did seem to be only when he was flying in an area with addon scenery(???). Never did work out why, he has a new computer now and he no longer has the problem!

[usapatriot]

Don't rule out some latent instability in a 50%+ over-clock, either .. especially on a 64-bit O/S and its drivers..

System is stable with every other game I play and has been seriously stress tested using LinX (far more stressing than FSX).

Interesting....I've never had it CTD on me.

You are in the miraculous minority. But the funniest thing of all is, it's most crash prone on Windows 7, which is ridiculous.

I found this solution if you haven't found it yourself already. Quit your bitching  and see if this works for you. 

I've been searching in vein to find this fix, and seems to work, at least for me, and others who have tried it.
For some reason, the core problem lies with the uiautomationcore.dll library in Windows 7. I can't speak for crash's in other OS versions, but from what I've read, its mostly with Win 7 (x64), where Vista and XP work fine.

The trick is to use the Vista version of uiautomationcore.dll and place it into the Flight Simulator X folder. Some said that you have to register it, but just dropping it in the main directory where fsx.exe resides seems to work fine. Also, registering it is probably NOT a good idea, because it would then force any program running under Win 7 to use that Vista version, and may cause a crash of its own. You only want fsx.exe to use it exclusively.

To my understanding, when an executable file is run, it will first look for any dll's locally in the same folder, then through its sub folders, then if it can't find it, the program will then look at the "system path" for it. In this case, the Vista version of uiautomationcore.dll would be in that local location, load that library, and ignore the Windows 7 version.

Note that its very important to NOT delete or replace uiautomationcore.dll in the System folder.

FYI, the Windows 7 version number of uiautomationcore.dll is 6.1.7600.16386 (733kb). The Vista version is 6.0.5840.16386 (155kb). Here's a link to the Vista DLL.  http://www.search-dll.com/dll-files/download/uiautomationcore.dll.html

Just to be sure I place the Vista verion in the Flight Simulator X folder, but temporary renamed it (*.dllx), and ran fsx until it crashed (almost a certainty). I then changed it back (*.dll), and of the half dozen times I've ran fsx, it hasn't crashed yet (see crossed fingers).

I actually did this yesterday after experiencing this very same crash. I also set FSX to run in Vista compatibility mode and run as admin. Fingers crossed.

All the FSX crashes I've had have been related to add-ons or unstable overclocks. This is on Windows XP, Windows 7 on a multitude of different systems. It seems to me that there must be a compatibility issue that only effects some computers due to software configuration or something. Keep trying fixes, you should be able to find one that works...

Try installing .net framework 2.0 (do not uninstall old versions of .net framework either).

also

download and install this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/259403

If that doesn't work try reinstalling FSX and installing add-ons slowly and testing them. This might require you to uninstall all the addons however and I have no idea if it would work.

Windows 7 won't let me install .Net Frame 2.0 saying it's already integrated in the OS, I tried the vcredist thing though but I recall doing that a while ago on my old system to no avail....

Thanks for all the tips guys, but FSX is still crash prone and very hard to get running smoothly. Sad the ACES team was disbanded.

[Brett_Henderson]

System is stable with every other game I play and has been seriously stress tested using LinX (far more stressing than FSX).

Mine was stable too.. with every OTHER game.. at 3.8Ghz.. but caused somer grief with FSX... Backing down to 3.6Ghz  fixed it.. It's not just stress..but complexity.. maybe some of your RAM timing is on the edge, and FSX pushes it over..

A 64-bit O/S and a CPU at 150% of stock speed is where I'd be looking..

[basys]

Hi Folks

usapatriot -
Please take the following with its light-hearted intent.

[olderndirt]

BASYS
Didn't understand a whole lot of what you said but really admire your response

[hhomebrewer]

I run FSX with all sliders at or near max, and it works pretty well for me. I have not have it crash to Desktop-- ever. It does take it a long time for the screen to come up. It doesn't come up until about 82% of the first window is done. I think that window is scenery, traffic, et cetera.

[JBaymore]

[quote]Hi Folks

usapatriot -
Please take the following with its light-hearted intent.

[Lima-Victor-Mike]

I used to have CTD's, and a multitude of other crashes and errors before. Solution? I upgraded my PC and did a reinstall. It's no use reinstalling FSX and just throwing all your giant addons back in. You have to be selective. Do I really fly this regularly? If not, uninstall and reinstall for a day if needed.
In my case, it just turned out I was asking to much of my system, it'd go into overdrive and say ---- it, I'm quitting or I'll overheat. Therefore, updrading my PC and keeping the same graphic settings solved my problem. I don't think I've had any real crashes since then.

And no, FSX isn't perfect in every way. But it's the best there is, so we try to make the best of it and have fun.

[usapatriot]

If your computer is overheating under max load you've got other issues...

[XxRazgrizxX]

well USA im with u, i would say that 1/3 of every time i use FSX it ends up crashing or geting froze or a fatal error...its horrible, thats why i still use FS9...NEVER had a problem with it

[PilotGonzo]

Interesting....I've never had it CTD on me.

You are in the miraculous minority. But the funniest thing of all is, it's most crash prone on Windows 7, which is ridiculous.

I found this solution if you haven't found it yourself already. Quit your bitching

[Sean Grenyer]

I take it you've read and done the suggestions by NickN (can't remember the link sorry - just google it). They make a big difference. I've never had a CTD, just plenty of graphics card driver probs!

Sean

[ShaneG_old]

I take it you've read and done the suggestions by NickN (can't remember the link sorry - just google it).

No need for that, they're stickied here, above this thread.