FSX Performance and Graphics Problems - MS Hidden Switch
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Thread: FSX Performance and Graphics Problems - MS Hidden Switch

  1. #1
    SOH-CM-2021 BendyFlyer's Avatar
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    FSX Performance and Graphics Problems - MS Hidden Switch

    PERSPECTIVE and BACKGROUND: First this is related all to a Win7 64 bit operating system. I have 4GB of RAM (DDR) and 2GB of Video Card GPU power and generally it has run FSX smoothly but as you add stuff particularly these days then the demands on the graphic display system increase. More objects bigger texture files more complex models etc. By comparison to other systems this is fairly low end but as I said, it ran smoothly handled complex models such as produced by PMDG, Capt Sim and A2A and others. Along with ORBX scenery. GSX ground services and real weather connection etc. So that describes the load the CPU and GPU were carrying constantly. Over the time I have had FSX I have carefully followed the wisdom contained with Nicks FSX Bible re how FSX works vis a vis MS O/S's. I have tried a number of so called tweaks with little effect, some made it worse. In short apart from a few additions to the FSX.cfg of some things that ACES should have put in but did not I have run a basic FSX system as per the box, adjusted to suit my CPU and GPU - or so I thought.

    One thing that Nick mentions is that FSX will never be 'glitch' free and it is the nature of the beast, which is why you get little transitory display issues or memory issues from time to time. If you have tuned your hardware, sorted out the bloatware and configured the program to your system, you will still get the occasional glitch. I always shutdown the virus program when simming and always run as administrator to start. I keep AI low but otherwise all high settings except for autogen which I turn down and I don't tend to fly into our out of big cities very often. Recently say over the past few months I have added a lot more scenery, airports, object libraries, new terrain meshes and LC files etc. Effectively I rebuilt the scenery in my FSX to a date back in time of some 50 years ago, because that is era and the aeroplanes and the sort of flying I like, But I also manage my scenery differently but follow advice that I think came from NickN re ordering and storing scenery outside of FSX. What was happening was this:

    FSX load times began to increase from startup to menu display. Loading the sim completely was resulting in white screen flashes and delays in texture loading and there began to appear interruptions when it was obviously a point for FSX to reload scenery files or critical model texture files, again sometimes white screens, not responding messages then it would self rectify and go along ok then do it again, there was no particular timing pattern but merely texture complexity. I knew that there was a bottle neck of sorts between the CPU and the GPU and had begun to conclude that the card was not up to it and really it was time to get a new system altogether. I also spent a lot of time chasing down and checking the Video Card to try and see if it was an indication of an imminent hardware failure or degradation of the cards performance. One day I had left plugged in and running another program that required video resources and a peculiar error message appeared about driver failures and resetting it no error code was displayed on the message. Checked the drivers all up to date no issue there. Checked all the hardware connections no issues there, checked the performance by tests of the cards no issues there.

    So began a search of the MS database to see if this was common or could be rectified. This took awhile but eventually I came across a support page entry which outline precisely the issues described above. IN THE FINE PRINT WAS THE ADVICE THAT WIN 7 WILL SHUT DOWN OR SUSPEND A PROGRAM WHEN A BOTTLE NECK BETWEEN THE CPU AND GPU IS IMMINENT OR APPEARS AND THAT IT WILL RESTART THE OFFENDING APPLICATION. With respect to FSX because of the autosave function and cache the shutdown and then reinstatement may take between a few seconds to longer but the restart does not tell you this is what actually happened.

    THE FIX? You have to go into the Operating System Registry burrow down several layers and find a particular class of driver entry and modify it with a hexadecimal entry and this would clear the issue and allow the CPU and GPU to work together better or in other words stop the O/S stopping and starting the application.

    OUTCOME - did it tried it and no more flashing screens, no more glitches, FSX runs smoothly and load times have all improved markedly in other words no more glitches.

    Now when I go the Microsoft on or to paste the relevant hyperlink to page with the fix details it has vanished and I am returned a standard error code 404.

    But as a matter of commonsense I always write down with a pen and paper this sort of change so If it all goes pear shaped I can fix it again.

    So here is how it works:

    in the start menu open up REGEDIT.EXE
    Go down the list until you find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    then go down to SYSTEM
    then go down to CurrentControlSet
    then go down to Control
    the go down to GraphicsDrivers
    in that directory will be file TdrDelay
    select it but not open it
    NOW select EDIT from the drop down menu bar of REGEDIT
    select NEW -> QWord (64bit) Value - right click

    A pop up box will appear - it will be showing 0 (zero)

    change or add in the value 8 in the box (hexidecimal not binary)
    Close it and it will save automatically with the new value.
    Get out of Registry Editor
    LOG OFF and REBOOT the machine.

    Done. This apparently stops WIN7 from shutting down FSX and or other applications and expands the pipe between the CPU and the GPU.

    Oh yes, it worked for me but I make no promises and that was the footnote on the MS page about it as well.

    I never suspected that MS had put a control on the transfer of data between the two processors I guess to protect low end GPU's from being overloaded, overheated or damaged but at 2GB mine could actually handle it.

    Anyway the improvement on my system has been well remarkable for stability and it stays smooth all the time now. My only comment how many countless hours and changes have folks made to systems, tweaks, hardware etc when actually it was an O/S control and could be fixed or bypassed? Makes you wonder.

  2. #2
    Interesting.

    For the nosy, just to save you the time, I ran a search in W10 registry. TdrDelay does not exist in W10.


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  3. #3
    Thanks for the tip, will probably give it a shot over the weekend... my load times from start up to menu have become glacial....

    Craig
    "Thou shalt maintain thine airspeed lest the ground shalt rise up and smite thee"

  4. #4
    I have been trying your suggestion,
    but the TdrDelay file is nowhere to be seen.

    Anthin.

  5. #5
    SOH-CM-2021 BendyFlyer's Avatar
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    No suggestions there to help you Anthin other than to check in folder views that you don't have not show hidden files selected. You sure your using REGEDIT.exe to go to that area? Driver File was on my system (Win 7 - 64Bit). Nothing is selectable via the normal point and click method in REGEDIT you have to select via the EDIT drop down menu after navigating down to the relevant folder in the Registry.

  6. #6
    Thanks.I will try this this morning.

    Anthin.

  7. #7
    Just so you know, the entry TdrDelay in the Registry isn't a "file" or even a "folder".
    It's a Key Value.


    You won't find it no matter how hard you look. All it is is a registry entry. The only place you'll see it is in the Registry.

    Hope this helps you a little, Anthin.
    Pat☺
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  8. #8
    SOH-CM-2021 BendyFlyer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PhantomTweak View Post
    Just so you know, the entry TdrDelay in the Registry isn't a "file" or even a "folder".
    It's a Key Value.


    You won't find it no matter how hard you look. All it is is a registry entry. The only place you'll see it is in the Registry.

    Hope this helps you a little, Anthin.
    Pat☺
    Thanks for clearing that up for me as well, appreciated.

  9. #9
    Thanks.
    I have given up.My poor old brain is
    not coping anymore.
    My loading times are pretty good anyway.

    Anthin.

  10. #10
    Hi Bendy,

    I also went in with spade and had a dig down for this key (always looking for ways to improve system speed) and also couldn't find it anywhere. I have show hidden files and folders enabled, etc.
    A screenshot shows my registry layout to the point you located.

    I followed Nick_N FSX Bible to the letter when I installed win 7 64bit and FSX so wonder if his methodology has already excluded this Key from being even present as many servics are switched off or not even present following his sage install policies.

    Afterthought Edit: It would be possible to create a new Key in the last folder in Graphics Drivers ( UseNewKey ) but wonder if One should when it is not present anyway.

    Jim
    NAVIGATION; The art of knowing where you are without having to crash into it first.

  11. #11
    A little later;

    A search around found this:

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...-registry-keys

    and this;

    https://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield...ce_last_patch/

    From those two sources I would opine that a look through the System Event Viewer Logs following an FSX session, should inform as to whether this fix is required by the individual user. i.e; if you don't get the entry; “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” issue and/or "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered." in the Event Viewer Logs then the addition of this key is unnecessary.

    Thanks for posting Bendy, and well worth the investigation.
    Jim
    NAVIGATION; The art of knowing where you are without having to crash into it first.

  12. #12
    SOH-CM-2021 BendyFlyer's Avatar
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    Ganter. I used to get display driver interruptions and failure messages regularly until I applied that change recommended by microsoft. That was the reason for posting in the first place in case others had the same issue. I have an unusual video card (Its an Intel supplied by HP with the system and it is not to keen on sharing or multiprocessing especially if FSx is running) so most of the graphics stuff that people suggest cannot be done with this card but the clue to making it work was to allow FSX to set it up based on their logic tables and keep it that way bar a few small tweaks to adjust my 64 bit operating system and multi-core cpu yo the 32bit world of FSX.

  13. #13
    Bendy,

    It certainly looks like a good fix for those with unusual cards or who come up against those crashes described. Nice one!
    Jim
    NAVIGATION; The art of knowing where you are without having to crash into it first.

  14. #14
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    Bendy - I am up against a similar issue to what you've posted about, I think. FSX loads fine and will run w/o problems until usually about 20 mins or so into a flight when it will instantly CTD, then retreat to its icon on the desktop. Pressing the "enter" key will bring the display back; pressing "p" will then pick up the flight from the place where it left off. This will continue for possibly another 40 or so minutes when the process will repeat. I went to "Event Viewer" and found the Log name is "Application" (in this case, FSX), Source "MS Installer", Event ID 11316 (this same number keeps reappearing in multiple shutdown reports), Task Category "None", Level "Error," and the Keyword involved is "Classic." I have a number of CalClassic airliners on my sims and am wondering if there is something in those files that is causing problems. At any rate - will applying your fix you've described above take care of this issue and result in smooth sim operation again? I've always known this recurring problems had to be caused by some sort of "kink" or "funnel" in the works between the CPU and the graphics card.

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