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P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

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Aucery
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P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Aucery »

Hello,

I have a frustrating problem with my P3D crashing to desktop without a trace at Dover AFB. I have all of the MAIW regions installed and whenever I start a flight at Dover, the simulator crashes unexpectedly without an error message. Even the windows event logs don't show anything related to the crash. If I disable/uninstall MAIW region North America the crashing does not occur at all, so perhaps it has something to do with the MAIW NA package?

I am able to replicate the crash by setting my date to July 19th 2017 at 3:00 PM local time at Dover AFB. After about 10-15 minutes of sim time, P3D closes completely without an error message every single time. Other dates and times have also produced the crash. I haven't flown huge amounts in North America, but I haven't encountered crashes anywhere else yet. My traffic slider is at 100% but the CTD occurred even when I lowered it to 42%. Is anybody else able to reproduce the crash on their system with these settings?

I've experienced similar "no error message" type crashes before in P3Dv4 and that was because I had scenery installed that wasn't added to the add-on.xml. Those crashes were quickly fixed after I gave all of my scenery proper add-on.xml entries.

I'm running Prepar3D v4.3 with ORBX Global, OpenLC North America with AIG and MAIW traffic.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Greg »

Thanks for the report. I'll have a look at Dover and let you know if I find anything.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Aucery »

Greg wrote: 21 Feb 2019, 12:24 Thanks for the report. I'll have a look at Dover and let you know if I find anything.
Hey Greg

I was able to solve this problem by disabling every .bgl file related to Patuxent River NAS (KNHK). In the NA region manual it says something about the problems with KNHK's coastline so I figured it might cause a crash for some reason and it actually worked! Before disabling them I had crashing at KNHK too and Dover is close enough to be in the reality bubble so I guess the problem is somewhere in KNHK's files.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Greg »

Thanks. I'll try to reproduce the issue but I can't say I ever had any crashes there. Maybe I just wasn't staying long enough.

If I can't reproduce it, I may need your help to narrow the problem down.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Aucery »

Sure thing! Keep me updated.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by jimrodger »

P3Dv4 unmodded with just the MAIW stuff..no ORBX/AIG, no probs at all.

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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

Am getting the same sort of crash after about 10 mins at Dover.

P3Dv4.4
Matrix + ORBX BASE + AIG

Dover & PAX River both are the MATRIX releases. Am trying to narrow it down a bit & will get back to you !!
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

I think I may have discovered the culprit (At least on my system)

Once the file "KNHK_ADE9_HU_GP.bgl" was removed from my D:\Military AI Works\MAIW_NA\MAIW_NA_AIRBASES\Scenery then no more crashes.

Greg, could you confirm that that file should be in the folder as my setup is not quite pure MATRIX as I have changed several ADE files (not the KNHK files) to suit my needs and added variuos non MAIW military traffic files and there associated paints.

Having found the file it appears to be an FS9 ground polygon so was wondering if there is an incompatability with P3Dv4. I believe the texture file that goes with this bgl is "PAXRIVER_GP.dds" which seems to be in DDS DXT5 format could that be the root cause of the crash ??

Regards


Edit: may have spoken too soon just crashed again. Back to the searching !!
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

I am still trying to find the root cause of the crashes I'm seeing and a couple of things I have noticed that may or may not be part of the problem.

There are several textures in the NA Airbases Texture folder that are DDS DXT3, Should these be DDS DXT5 ? and will it make any difference.

There are also textures in the NA Objects Texture folder that are DDS DXT1 but when opened in DXTBmp they show as having an entry in the Alpha Channel. Is this correct?? I was under the impression that any texture that had an Alpha element should be in DDS DXT5 format ??

Any ideas ???
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by John Young »

Pete,

Dxt1 is a 4 bit image that comes in two options - with or without a single tone 1 bit alpha channel. The alpha option is used for things like trees where the background needs to be totally transparent.

Dxt3 is an 8 bit image that has a wider tonal range than Dxt1. It has a 4 bit alpha channel that means the alpha can be used for variable transparency but in areas were a smooth transition is not important.

Dxt5 is also an 8 bit image but it has an 8 bit alpha channel which gives a greater tonal range and better blending. Dxt5 textures are more commonly used on aircraft for things like reflection maps and canopies.

Dxt1 has an 8:1 compression while DXT3 and Dxt5 have a 4:1 compression. That gives a greater tonal range for Dxt3 and Dxt5 but at the expense of double the file size compared to Dxt1.

All 4 formats can be used in FSX/P3D scenery, but Dxt3 and Dxt5 in particular is a bit of an overkill because of the number of textures usually involved and because most scenery textures don't need a variable alpha.

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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

Thanks John. I was fairly sure that would not be the cause of the crashes but I wanted to eliminate it anyway for peace of mind. I have had another look this morning but I still get a CTD after anything from 12-25 mins when at Dover AFB. Still not sure whether its a scenery or AI Aircraft thing but will keep trying to find the cause.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Firebird »

The only thing that I know that causes a crash after a period of time is an effect linked to an aircraft that is not AI-safe.
Now it goes with out saying that P3D could be different from FS9/FSX but my guess would be it has not changed that much.

To rule this out as a cause, remove ALL traffic files and then sit at the scenery again at the same time as before for the same amount of time. If it still crashes you have ruled out an aircraft having a duff effect, if it doesn't crash you have found the cause and you just need to find the aircraft.
Please remember that error can be up to 100 miles away from where you are sitting. For example, I was getting a crash at the very nice Lakenheath scenery and the cause was a burner effect on a Jaguar spawning for Coltishall.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

Yeah I think thats where I’m going to have to look next !
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Greg »

I can't reproduce this error.

Can someone who's experiencing the CTD run P3D with ProcMon and show me the output for Prepar3D.exe (in particular the last files that are called by Prepar3D.exe before it crashes)?
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

Hi Greg

Still trying to get my head around this one this is the logfile for the most recent test when it crashed. I think I have narrowed it down to possibly 4 aircraft but I'm not sure why and those same a/c present in a different area do not cause a CTD. I'm confused by this one.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Greg »

Hi Pete.

I can't see any log file. Could you post it again?

Also, if you just let ProcMon run while Prepar3D.exe crashes, it should show you what the last file was that Prepar3D.exe called. That way, you won't have to go through the tedious process of elimination.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

Damn. won't let me attach a zipped file coz its 420k and max is 256k !!
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by Greg »

Send it to greg at militaryaiworks dot com.
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Re: P3Dv4 CTD at Dover AFB with no error messages

Post by petebramley »

Will do
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