"A Fatal Error Occured"....WHAT???

[letsgetrowdy]

I've recently purchased a new 280GB hardrive for "Media" on my Vista, and took to an IT expert, who installed it for me and purchased some other programs to help my PC run quicker, eg CCleancer, Malware, Synctoy etc..
However, when the pc came back, there is now a problem with FSX. Whenever, I load up a free flight, at any airport, it runs smoothly for about two minutes, then freezes, closes FSX and reports "A Fatal Error Occured".
The guy who installed the new HD has not, as far as I know moved any FSX files. One reason why I got the new HD was to move my chunky scenery files across to it, so FSX would run faster and their would be more disk space on the OS. This worked, FSX does run faster - but for only two minutes before it fails. THIS IS SO ANNOYING!!!
Has anyone else ever had a "fatal error"???
If they have, could some one please tell me how to remedy it?

[SteveB]

If you have had fsx transfered from one HDD to another you might want to try reinstalling your fsx from scratch again, lets be honest fsx isnt that stable anyhow and if you have just moved it from A to B it prob wont like it.

Steve

[letsgetrowdy]

Well I may have to come to that, eeek! I idn't move any FSX files though- apart from addon scnery, so this shouldn't have this affect, should it?

[Thoe6969]

Did you search for and reactivate that scenery after you moved it to the new drive?

[letsgetrowdy]

I did indeed Thoe, and it worked much quicker than before, when it was on the OS. Just fails after about 2-3 mins of flight.

[Thoe6969]

I did indeed Thoe, and it worked much quicker than before, when it was on the OS. Just fails after about 2-3 mins of flight. Ok,just checking,that was the only thing short of a reinstall that came to mind.Hope you get it figured out.

[letsgetrowdy]

Do you reckon I could get away with just reinstalling acceleration?

[calypsos]

Try deleting your FSX.cfg file (it is in your documents and settings and may be hidden). FSX will make a new one when it fires up, you will lose your settings, and some gauges will require the 'trusted software' routine, but nothing else will be hurt.

Here is my location for example..

C:\Documents and Settings\User name\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX"

[Thoe6969]

This just hit me also,how is the temps of your pc now that you've added another hard drive? could be getting hotter.

[letsgetrowdy]

Real sorry, "temps"? I'm a wee but stupid when it comes to pcs.

[nio]

Temperatures.

Get this freeware to check that all is not running too hot.

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

nio

[letsgetrowdy]

Ok, I've just re-installed the whole b***dy FSX and and Acceleration, and loaded up the first default flight of the Ultralight in Friday Habour, and what do I get.... "A fatal error has occured". AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

[huub vink]

A temperature might be caused by the extra power needed for the hard-disk, but I would expect the complete PC to stop in that case.

Or it could be that the video card is having problem with less power. Perhaps try lower graphic setting first.

But a good point to start is always deleting the fsx.cfg file (Which might not be deleted by a un-install) becasue that is normally the place where Microsoft hides its failures.......

Goodluck!
Huub

[letsgetrowdy]

No, unfortunatly, the temp isn't especially high, as I have downloaded nio's link above and my pc hasn't been used for a little while, so it can't be too hot.
Also, I've got the graphics turned right down, and it still has a tantrum.
BTW Thanks for all your help guys.

[Oelwanne]

I had this Problem too (but after 10-12 minutes).
It was OOM Errors. For me this Tweak helped:

WINDOWS VISTA ONLY:

1. Open a command prompt with Administration rights. You find the command prompt box under "Programs-Accessories-Command prompt"

2. Right Click the command prompt and select "run as administrator".

3. Enter in the box at the prompt: (copy/paste if you wish)

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 2560

and press enter

4. Reboot

TO set that back to default in VISTA just start the command line prompt with Admin right again and type:

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 2048

Hit enter and reboot

Also the deleting of your Loogbook.bin could help.
For a complete Setup Guide for FSX look here: http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041

[SpaceWeevil]

Have you tried uninstalling the go-faster software that your tech guy installed? Or at least made sure none of it is running while you try FSX? Maybe it's a conflict with another program.

[letsgetrowdy]

Yes, Weevil I have, without luck.

Oelwanne, I've followed your steps, and so far (touch-wood) I've got past the average two min mark without fail. I dunno wether the bug's gone, or it's just lurking round the next corner I'm not sure.
Thanks for the tip anyway.

[letsgetrowdy]

Nope this ain't done the trick. This is gettin a real pain in the a**e! It running quicker, but worse!!! Thanks for your help though

[Thoe6969]

Maybe your power supply is not up to the task. would you happen to know what wattage the power supply is?

[letsgetrowdy]

No, sorry. but I've just spoken to the guy who tried to fix it, and he says that I ought to reset all the settings back to what I had before i started to encounter problems.

[BASys]

Hi Folks

Letsgetrowdy -
As it's a repeatable/every time event
it's probably easiest to take the PC back to him,
and demo the 2 minute crash to him.

Is this drive -
- internal or external ?
- If external, USB or network ?

Maybe check your settings
and ensure that any hibernation mode
is disabled whilst you're running FSX.

HTH
ATB
Paul

[letsgetrowdy]

Yes, hopefully tommorow I'm going to tkae my PC back to him and show him what happens. I've taken everthing off the new HD (which is internal BTW) and restored it to default settings. I'm still getting this failure now, last attemp about 10 mins ago.
Hidernation mode in Control Panel is completely disabled.

[Naismith]

lets be honest fsx isnt that stable anyhow.

Steve

I don't know where you get a comment like that from, I have had FSX since it was released over 3 years ago. I have filled it full of all sorts of add ons, even native FS9 sceneries and it plods along. I can think of only 2 occasions where it has crashed and each time was entirely my own fault not FSX. I have run it on XP, Vista and now W7RC64. Other times it has frozen have been OS issues and not FSX. The only dodgy bit is logbook corruption which happens easily and again is down to operator error most usually, i.e. trying to delete entries.
Nope FSX is certainly one of the most stable Flight sims I have ever had and I've been doing this since '92.
If I come across angry and I apologise. It is only because throw away comments like that give and entirely false impression and can only put off new people coming into the genre. Bear in mind there is not much else at the moment we can turn to other than X-Plane, the golden age of PC flight sims is gone and the future is none too certain.

[mjrhealth]

If you have moved FSX from one drive to another it needs to have its path fixed. Thgere is a file on avism that will do that. I think it is called FSXPATHFIX, cant remember, then you may have to delete the fsx.cfg and let it rebuild for some f the paths may be wrong or you can correct them yourself, then you would have to go nad make sure your scenery paths are correct, also reinstall any addons to make sure they know where their files are.

[letsgetrowdy]

mjhealth, I've haven't got any FSX files on the new HD, and it's still giving me grief.

[djscoo]

No, unfortunatly, the temp isn't especially high, as I have downloaded nio's link above and my pc hasn't been used for a little while, so it can't be too hot.

A PC can heat up extremely quickly to temperatures of close to 50 degrees C directly on the processor and video cards even while idling. If the hard drive is impeding airflow and generating more heat then the temperatures in the case can get higher, causing erratic behavior. Also if your power supply is not powerful enough to run two hard drives you'll experience erratic behavior. My PC used to overheat when I watched movies or played games. All it took was to move my video card up one PCI-e slot on the motherboard and it runs perfectly now.

Taking it back to the guy who installed it for you and showing him is a good idea.

Also, reading from the original post if he charged you for CCleaner and SyncToy, you better get your money back because those are free programs. :running:

[letsgetrowdy]

Also, reading from the original post if he charged you for CCleaner and SyncToy, you better get your money back because those are free programs. :running:

Bo haha we didn't pay him, he's a good mate of mine and my dad's and did what he could free of charge to try and improve our performance.

[harleyman]

Maybe have him flash your Mobo also if its possible for that..

it may also be a sata controller issue too with running an extre HDD..


Other than that have him RMA and replace the HDD


Google HWMonitor..get the version for your OS (32 or 64) Install and run it and check all your temps that way..

As mentioned its possible a HDD heat issue..

can be a simple as a funky sata cable too..have that switched out as well

[GT182]

Harley, it shouldn't be a SATA problem as it's faster and 2 HDDS shouldn't affect FSX. I'm running FSX on my FDrive (2nd SATA HDD) and no problems.... except for my stupid mistakes.

And I'm not implying you're making any of the those Rowdy. ;) Try a higher wattage power supply, and/or a hard drive cooling fan to the hard drive FSX is install in.

[harleyman]

Well it can be a sata problem, as in the controllers can not be up to par , hence the suggestion to flash and update drivers fot the mobo...Even though they can control one drive just fine

Sure SATAS are much faster than IDE drives, that still does not mean it cant be an issue with the controllers on the mobo though...


I,m sure its hardware related also , as I have Installed FSX in so many different array of HDDs that its not funny....Never had any problems just like you.....


But I still kind of suspect the HDD software also, as in a bad drive..

[letsgetrowdy]

well maybe you right guys, and it's something to do with the power input, will look into it :running:

[GT182]

Yeah Harley, thinking on it it could be a SATA problem. And as you said, it could be a bad HDD. I've seen that happen a few times myself.... not fun at all.

[letsgetrowdy]

Ahhhhhhh! All these wonderful new add-ons are coming out, and this piece of c**p still isn't working. I'm pratically crying because fs-recorder 2 is out, and I can't play with it lol

[harleyman]

Any news yet????????

[letsgetrowdy]

I've completely uninstalled FSX from the OS, then reinstalled it with only Sp1, and it still won't play ball. I haven't had the chance to send the pc back to the "mender" as he's been on holidays over Christmas. I thought, Oh well, although my FSX is down, still I've got Sony Vegas to play with. Unfortunatly, it won't recognise MOD files, which is what my JVC camcorder produces, so I coughed up $30 for an MOD convertor with my Christmas money, which didn't work either, producing cracly, pixelated footage, even on HD mode!!!! Me and computers aren't best buddies at the moment! I'm going to track down Bill bl***y Gates slowly....hahahahah...

Oh well, how's your Christmas been?

[RyanJames170]

OS reinstall might be in order

[Lionheart]

This happened with FS2004 with me today. I had the blue screen, that showed up and was flashing in millisecond intervals, and then nothing. The game (sim) wouldnt restart. Crazy... I even tried copy/pasting all the base files in the main FS2004 folder to get it going again. I finally deleted the config file for the game and restarted and that brought FS2004 back.




Bill

[letsgetrowdy]

Well I'm glad you got FS9 working again. Shame, becasue I deleted my FSX config, and it still hates me.

[mib]

appears to me the warning when I try to start FSX after I have changed some files wrong aircraft.cfg