FSX Crash and Gone

[Honus]

I had everything working with FSX Steam for a while and now when I start it up, it runs for a few minutes, then just disappears and there are no error messages.  It's just gone.  I'm running Win 11 on new HP All-In_One and have added my planes from Overland-Simmer's Sky and FS Commander.  FSX is installed in the Program 86  folder where it wanted to default.  It's become very frustrating as it had worked for years in  my old Window 7 system with no issues.   I'm putting a lot of time into this with little reward.  I see others have similar issue but  no real fix.  I don't even have an error report or any message when it crashes.  If there's any other ideas out there, I'm open to them.

[airernie]

3 hours ago, Honus said:

  I don't even have an error report or any message when it crashes.  If there's any other ideas out there, I'm open to them.

 

It won't fix your issue, but try installing AppCrashView.  It's free and essentially a way to look into the Events log.  It might give you some indication of what generated the crash if you open it after the crash.

[jorgen.s.andersen]

I am confused a bit - are you running plain FSX, and if so what version, or Steam? The Steam version does not install under C:\Program Files (x86)...

 

Jorgen

[Honus]

16 hours ago, airernie said:

 

It won't fix your issue, but try installing AppCrashView.  It's free and essentially a way to look into the Events log.  It might give you some indication of what generated the crash if you open it after the crash.

thanks, I'll do that

[Honus]

5 hours ago, jorgen.s.andersen said:

I am confused a bit - are you running plain FSX, and if so what version, or Steam? The Steam version does not install under C:\Program Files (x86)...

 

Jorgen

UH oh, that's what I thought.  I am running Steam and the install defaulted to c:Program Files (x86) so I left it there.  Not a good idea?  This was an issue on the older disc version and so I installed that one right into the  C root but this one wouldn't let me do that.   Where should it be installed?  Thanks

[loki]

10 hours ago, jorgen.s.andersen said:

The Steam version does not install under C:\Program Files (x86)...

 

The default location for Steam games is under the Program Files folder.

 

4 hours ago, Honus said:

This was an issue on the older disc version and so I installed that one right into the  C root but this one wouldn't let me do that. 

 

Steam does allow you to install games into other locations, it just does it a bit differently. You must add a new Library location, which can be outside of the Program Files directory, or on a different drive. The guide below walks through how to do this, as well as how to move Steam games between libraries. I haven't tried moving FSX Steam Edition, but it works well with other games I've tried. My big concern with FSX SE would be add-ons that create their own registry keys on install that could be broken if the sim is moved. Add-ons, like aircraft and scenery, that you manually downloaded and installed into the sim are probably okay though.

 

How to Use Steam’s Storage Manager to Quickly Manage Your Games (makeuseof.com)

[Honus]

46 minutes ago, loki said:

 

The default location for Steam games is under the Program Files folder.

 

 

Steam does allow you to install games into other locations, it just does it a bit differently. You must add a new Library location, which can be outside of the Program Files directory, or on a different drive. The guide below walks through how to do this, as well as how to move Steam games between libraries. I haven't tried moving FSX Steam Edition, but it works well with other games I've tried. My big concern with FSX SE would be add-ons that create their own registry keys on install that could be broken if the sim is moved. Add-ons, like aircraft and scenery, that you manually downloaded and installed into the sim are probably okay though.

 

How to Use Steam’s Storage Manager to Quickly Manage Your Games (makeuseof.com)

My issue is also addons.  I use Overland/Simmer Sky planes mostly,  AI Flight Planner, and ADE Airport Designer and FS Commander flight planner.  Any one of these could be a potential problem.  But I'll take a look at your link and work it from there.  It still seems a question whether Steam every works in the Program 86 folder but I really hate starting this all over again.  Thanks for the tips.

[loki]

16 minutes ago, Honus said:

It still seems a question whether Steam every works in the Program 86 folder but I really hate starting this all over again.

 

The issue wasn't that FSX never worked in the Program Files folder, with a plain FSX install working just fine when installed there. It was that the increased security placed on the Program Files folder would interfere with some add-ons and editing any config files.

 

Flight1 has a registry repair tool for FSX that can help with moving the sim. This won't fix any registry entries third party add-ons may have created though.

 

https://www.flight1.com/view.asp?page=library

[Honus]

18 hours ago, loki said:

 

The issue wasn't that FSX never worked in the Program Files folder, with a plain FSX install working just fine when installed there. It was that the increased security placed on the Program Files folder would interfere with some add-ons and editing any config files.

 

Flight1 has a registry repair tool for FSX that can help with moving the sim. This won't fix any registry entries third party add-ons may have created though.

 

https://www.flight1.com/view.asp?page=library

thanks, I'll check it out

[Honus]

On 11/10/2023 at 8:34 AM, Honus said:

thanks, I'll do that

Well I did  that and FSX continues to shut down when I change aircraft but registers no crash report.  See attached.  I notice the crash seems to come more often when I change aircraft.  My 'start' is the default 737-800. When I change to one of my user aircraft, FSX just down with no message or error report.

[airernie]

3 hours ago, Honus said:

Well I did  that and FSX continues to shut down when I change aircraft but registers no crash report.  See attached.  I notice the crash seems to come more often when I change aircraft.  My 'start' is the default 737-800. When I change to one of my user aircraft, FSX just down with no message or error report.

 

 

Hmm... Next step would be to have Steam validate your files and fix any that are possibly damaged.  Here's the steps from Steam; https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0C48-FCBD-DA71-93EB

 

I would then not alter any of the files if you're using Aircraft Airfile Manager to do so.

 

I wish there was a one step fix all, but since you've had problems with both the boxed version and now Steam I would get rid of any modifications and addons and run just the 'unmodified' base install and see how it performs.

[Honus]

15 hours ago, airernie said:

 

Hmm... Next step would be to have Steam validate your files and fix any that are possibly damaged.  Here's the steps from Steam; https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0C48-FCBD-DA71-93EB

 

I would then not alter any of the files if you're using Aircraft Airfile Manager to do so.

 

I wish there was a one step fix all, but since you've had problems with both the boxed version and now Steam I would get rid of any modifications and addons and run just the 'unmodified' base install and see how it performs.

I think you're right.  It seems to behave with the default 737-800 but when I try to load one of my own added aircraft (which have been modified by 'airfile', that seems to upset it.  The boxed version just wouldn't validate so that I could input the registration key.  It may have worked if I could get past that, but I never could.  I do appreciate these helpful tips.

[Honus]

16 hours ago, airernie said:

 

Hmm... Next step would be to have Steam validate your files and fix any that are possibly damaged.  Here's the steps from Steam; https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0C48-FCBD-DA71-93EB

 

I would then not alter any of the files if you're using Aircraft Airfile Manager to do so.

 

I wish there was a one step fix all, but since you've had problems with both the boxed version and now Steam I would get rid of any modifications and addons and run just the 'unmodified' base install and see how it performs.

Ok, followed these steps and 1st message said  '190 files failed to validate and will be reacquired'.   whatever that means.  It ran an update and so I checked again and it says the   '49,083 files successfully validated"    I'll play with it later today but I'm thinking my addon planes may be one of the culprits.  So do you not use any addon aircraft in your setup?

[airernie]

6 hours ago, Honus said:

 So do you not use any addon aircraft in your setup?

 

Yep, but the only file I edit is the aircraft's aircraft.cfg file when I add or delete liveries. 

 

BTW, once you're sure the base install is stable and doesn't crash then you can start to add your aircraft.  Just do it one at a time, so you can identify where the issue is and remove the offending add-on without having to refresh your system again.

 

[Honus]

1 hour ago, airernie said:

 

Yep, but the only file I edit is the aircraft's aircraft.cfg file when I add or delete liveries. 

 

BTW, once you're sure the base install is stable and doesn't crash then you can start to add your aircraft.  Just do it one at a time, so you can identify where the issue is and remove the offending add-on without having to refresh your system again.

 

 

1 hour ago, airernie said:

 

Yep, but the only file I edit is the aircraft's aircraft.cfg file when I add or delete liveries. 

 

BTW, once you're sure the base install is stable and doesn't crash then you can start to add your aircraft.  Just do it one at a time, so you can identify where the issue is and remove the offending add-on without having to refresh your system again.

 

Will do.  Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, airernie said:

 

Yep, but the only file I edit is the aircraft's aircraft.cfg file when I add or delete liveries. 

 

BTW, once you're sure the base install is stable and doesn't crash then you can start to add your aircraft.  Just do it one at a time, so you can identify where the issue is and remove the offending add-on without having to refresh your system again.

 

 

[pomak249]

If you are using AAM to simply install aircraft and repaints you are better just doing it yourself. You say you have many aircraft addons surely most of these come with built in installers so why the need for AAM? If however you are using AAM to adjust settings in the .air files of addons this is most probably where your issues are coming from.

[Honus]

3 hours ago, pomak249 said:

If you are using AAM to simply install aircraft and repaints you are better just doing it yourself. You say you have many aircraft addons surely most of these come with built in installers so why the need for AAM? If however you are using AAM to adjust settings in the .air files of addons this is most probably where your issues are coming from.

I only copied them from my older computer and pasted them into the new directory on the new computer.  It was quite easy but you're right that this may be my issue. My own user aircraft are exclusively Overland-Simmer's Sky aircraft.  There is an installer which I should probably go through that process again, adding the liveries later.