The old Out of Memory error

[stankar]

There have been so many posts about this old error, but they seem to all apply to XP and 32 bit Vista. I couldn't believe when it started happening to me on my new super-duper computer running under Win 7 64 bits, - but it is, to the extent that its now impossible to fly the shortest flight without this happening. Have any of you had any experience of this under Windows 7, and if so do you have any suggestions?

Stan

[loki]

Have you installed any new scenery recently? Empty scenery folders can cause the errors as well. Also make sure you have the latest DirectX and driver updates for your system.

Also, under a 64 bit OS, 32 bit programs will still be limited to 2GB of memory for compatibility unless they have the largeaddressaware flag set. Only FSX SP2 has this flag set. Prior versions of FSX and FS9 need to be manually flagged. One program that will do this for you is linked below. Just be aware that not all programs react well to having this flag set (the app's developers should have set it if the program was written to handle the additional memory correctly).

http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php

[stankar]

Hi Loki
Yup, I've gone through all those things. I've had this problem with my old computer, but it has never given as many crashes as my new one under Win 7 64 bit. I've always relied on my autosave program, which has baled me out of trouble many times, but its now getting too much. Interestingly there is a lot about this problem on the net, but no definitive answer. So I'm wondering whether the Windows 7 is more vulnerable than XP or Vista - or indeed 64 bit versus 32 bit. I'm wondering whether I should fiddle around with virtual memory or any of the other settings. I have 12 GB memory so have plenty to play around with.
Thanks
Stan

[loki]

I have 12 GB memory so have plenty to play around with.

These errors have virtually nothing to do with the amount of physical RAM installed in your PC. Under Windows NT based systems (NT 4, XP, Vista and above), all 32 bit programs are given a 4GB virtual address space (under 32 bit systems half goes to the OS) to use no matter how much RAM is installed. The Windows memory management system will map these addresses to locations in RAM as they are used, but the program itself has no idea about, or contact with, the physical memory. Changing the virtual memory settings may help, but this will most likely just delay the error from occurring, not stop it.

Out of memory errors can come from the program if it has a memory leak somewhere, or they can be caused by bugs in drivers or system components like DirectX. Under Vista there was a patch for DX10 that helped reduce memory usage that was causing programs to hit the out of memory errors. There could well be something in DX11 under Windows 7, or the new video drivers from ATI or nVidia.

[n85988]

I used to get the Out-of-Memory error alot with FS2004 and FSX when I was using WinXP. After many months of troubleshooting I found thay MY errors were being caused by AI traffic bgl's (in my FS2004\Scenery\World\Scenery folder) that were looking for aircraft that were not in my library or that were in my library but had missing or corupt files in them. I used a tool called ACA2005 (v1.2) by P. van der veen. It scans your entire flight sim folder structure for all kinds of errors, user selectable, and saves the list to a file. I found so many errors that I would have never known existed. After I cleaned all the errors up, I haven't had any more OOM errors. Funny though, after changing over to Win7, I got the OOM error with FSX. ACA2005 doesn't work with FSX, but the newer version, ACA2007lite does, but it is a limited version, but I was able to address many errors, and my OOM error seems to have gone away. This is just my own experience. Your system may have other issues, but this might help you and others out. Even for those who don't get the OOM error, this program is worth checking out to see what kind of errors may linger in your systems.

N85988

[stankar]

Thanks, I'll check out that tool. At the moment I'm fiddling around with virtual memory. Maybe the paging sizes can be tweaked.
Stan

[mav316]

I got that same message a while back, I dont know if my computer had the cold or if it was under stress or something like that. But I have been filling it up with downloads and I havent seen that message in some time now! You might just be needing more memory! you never know!

[ubersu]

What is your system configuration? There is no way that you should be getting OOM errors with a Win7 x64 rig and patched FS9 or FSX. I've run flights of over six hours in patched FS9 with the PMDG 747 to airports like the old SimFlyers KDFW and LAX (real memory hogs) and the FSDT Chicago, JFK, etc airports, and have UT, GEP, RC, and ASV 6.5 running as well. OOM's are not caused by lack of virtual or physical memory so don't bother messing with those....

DJ

[stankar]

These are my specs

Gateway FX6802 64 Bit
Intel i7 2.67 GHz
12 GB RAM
1TB Hard drive
NVidea GeForce GTX 260

My system is now crashing every 10 minutes with OOM error. Impossible to fly.

Stan

[loki]

Is that with a clean install of the sim and no add-ons?

[stankar]

Oh no - I have lots of add-ons as we all have - but nothing new since I reinstalled in my new computer. I've just downloaded the latest DirectX, but haven't tested it yet. This seems to be a problem for which there is no definitive solution, and we have to live with it. I don't mind the odd crash, but like this, its impossible to fly.
Stan

[ubersu]

The last time I helped someone with similar problems, he had forgotten to replace the stock FS9.exe (put in by the installer) with the one he had patched to be large address aware... you might rerun the patch and make sure that you have the patched version installed. Also, I found that Win7 installs can do odd things with the scenery.cfg file - you might open it up and make sure that all of the entries are correct and properly numbered with no duplications; it's tedious (I have a couple of hundred entries in mine) but might be worthwhile. As I said in my previous post, there is absolutely no reason to get an OOM if everything is set up properly.

DJ

[stankar]

Hi DJ
Not sure what patch you're talking about. I'm using the fs9.exe version which allows you to run without disk 4.
Stan

[stankar]

In a previous response, member 85988 mention tools ACA2005 ACA2007lite that have helped him. I searched for these files on our forum, Avsim, and Google and couldn't find them. Where did you get them from?

BTW I downloaded the latest version of DirectX 11, and am still getting the same problem. Can't fly for ten minutes with an OOM error. Kinda frustrating.
Stan

[ubersu]

You need to run the tool at this link: http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php and point it at your FS9.exe file - it will make it so that it can use more than 2 GBytes of memory. The tool works on the no-cd version as well.

DJ

[loki]

Even with that patch I would still take a close look at the scenery folders the ACA2005 tool (linked below). Something is causing FS9 to run out of memory and patching the app to use more than 2GB is just going to delay the error from hitting. Basically just treating the symptom and not the cause.

http://aifs.pvdveen.net/

[stankar]

FIXED!! Thanks for all your valuable suggestions.

The suggestions to look for scenery clashes did it. I found that I had a CANADA scenery foder, which contained all the various airports that I fly too (being a Canadian). In addition to that, I had enabled each individual airport separatey. Stupid, but it just happened. When I disabled the Canadian folder, the problem disappeared. Flightsim Forum does it again.
I'm grateful to you all.
Stan