Failed to initialize database...

[Archive1]

Am significantly updating my campaign/mission files with lots of new stuff. Missions going well, but when I click on QC or Free Flight I get the dreaded "Failed to initialize database...data files are missing or corrupt." But I only get this with the FF or QC selections. I have edited down the QC file to only 4 aircraft (I've edited QC files often before without problems so I'm not a newbie at it). To repeat, there is no problem flying any missions. My QC file is as below:

[option.0]
OptionName=%FightersOption%
aircraft.0=Spitfire_VIII_43sqn
family_type.0=1
name.0=%Spitfire_VIII_43sqn%


aircraft.1=MG_BF109E3
family_type.1=1
name.1=%MG_BF109E3Name%


[option.1]
OptionName=%AxisFightersOption%
aircraft.0=MG_BF109E3
family_type.0=1
name.0=%MG_BF109E3Name%


[option.2]
OptionName=%AlliedFightersOption%
aircraft.0=Spitfire_VIII_43sqn
family_type.0=1
name.0=%Spitfire_VIII_43sqnName%


[option.3]
OptionName=%BombersOption%
aircraft.0=GC_He111H6
family_type.0=2
name.0=%GC_He111H6Name%


aircraft.1=B25D_Mitchell
family_type.1=2
name.1=%B25D_MitchellName%


[option.4]
OptionName=%FighterBomberOption%
aircraft.0=GC_He111H6
family_type.0=2
name.0=%GC_He111H6Name%


aircraft.1=B25D_Mitchell
family_type.1=2
name.1=%B25D_MitchellName%


aircraft.2=Spitfire_VIII_43sqn
family_type.2=1
name.2=%Spitfire_VIII_43sqnName%


aircraft.3=MG_BF109E3
family_type.3=1
name.3=%MG_BF109E3Name%


[option.5]
OptionName=%NoneOption%


[option.6]
OptionName=%AlliedOption%
aircraft.0=B25D_Mitchell
family_type.0=2
name.0=%B25D_MitchellName%


aircraft.1=Spitfire_VIII_43sqn
family_type.1=1
name.1=%Spitfire_VIII_43sqnName%


[option.7]
OptionName=%AxisOption%
aircraft.0=MG_BF109E3
family_type.0=1
name.0=%MG_BF109E3Name%


aircraft.1=GC_He111H6
family_type.1=2
name.1=%GC_He111H6Name%


[option.8]
OptionName=%GC_He111H6Option%
aircraft.0=GC_He111H6
family_type.0=2
name.0=%GC_He111H6Name%


[option.9]
OptionName=%B25D_MitchellOption%
aircraft.0=B25D_Mitchell
family_type.0=2
name.0=%B25D_MitchellName%


[option.10]
OptionName=%Spitfire_VIII_43sqnOption%
aircraft.0=Spitfire_VIII_43sqn
family_type.0=1
name.0=%Spitfire_VIII_43sqnName%

Dunno where the problem may lie. Any ideas? Maybe I am looking in the wrong file (QC), but if so which other one would be more correct? I have no idea how the FF code meshes with the QC code or the Airplane list meshes with either...though they must in some way be linked... so am at a loss where to dig to find the problem. And to which 'database' of several does the error message point?

Any new news re:Kelty...been about a month. Have to be hopeful.
Archive1

[Fibber]

I am, by far, no expert on the quirks of this game. However, a suggestion might be to get MK_cfs2_util and run it. Since you seem to have a lot of add-on planes the game "brains" might be overloaded and give up! I found that on some things the mdl names file also had to be altered to delete the planes in there that are no longer in your list.
I was getting a lot of that while trying to rebuild and I found that to be one remedy along with the utility by Morton.
I know some will say NO! but it seemed to work for me.

[Archive1]

Fibber:
Thanks for the reply. I've used MK_cfs2 for some time. Great time saver and error-preventer. Have pared my ETO CFS2 version down to about 65 planes by eliminating older versions and using Player aircraft in the AI positions wherever possible. I know, RAMI took the trouble to be accurate and I'm violating that, but getting multiple campaigns loaded into a single theater of ops means something has to give. I had some issues with too many aircraft earlier in my CFS1 and 2 days, but am now careful to limit them. Also took the trouble to be sure that the "entered service" date is far earlier than the date of the mission for each aircraft.
Dunno. Use the FF usually only to test new aircraft before I insert them into a mission so it's not a big drama, but still frustrating not to be able to get things to work correctly.

BTW - saw Kelti's Nov 25 (?) message re: new computer. Answered him and am glad of the news.
Archive1

[Fibber]

...do you use the cfs2overload patch? Removes that limit ceiling

[Rami]

Archive1,

I've had a very busy day, and am too tired to answer tonight. But I will do so tomorrow.

[Archive1]

Fibber:
Nope. Don't know about it. If you have a link, please forward it.

Rami:
Take your time. No urgency here. The coming Season is stressful enough without adding to it.

Thanks to all.
Archive1

[Captain Kurt]

The file limit also applies to object dps and to ships. Sounds like you have the planes under control so it is probably too many scenery and weapons object dps, or less likely, the number of ships. Try moving a batch of dps and/or ships to a temporary folder out of their CFS2 file folder and see if it fixes the failure to load. If so, start trimming the files you aren't using.

[Rami]

Archive1,

1) I've found the overload patch is not a complete cure, there are still some problems that can crop up because of it.

2) Captain Kurt already responded to this, but the limit for objects in an install, not including .cdp files, is right around 1,475 objects. Ships can vary, usually I find with a full install of 100 planes/repaints, that I can have about 85-90 ships. Sometimes with less aircraft, you can keep more ships.

3) Generally, yes. The "failure" message usually affects Mission Builder, Free Flight, and Quick Combat only.

4) If you have a backup of your quick combat file, you can get rid of the failure message by deleting all the .cdp files and all of the filelist.dat files from your install (use Windows search for this to save time) and replacing the quick combat file with the backup. If this works, you've solved your problem. If not, you'll have to continue looking with the tips given by those in this thread.

[No Dice]

For some reason, I get that when I go over the .mdl names limit ( what ever that is, I have never counted )

I delete a few and it seems to work. So I keep two files on hand.

[Fibber]

..link to the overload patch http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...49&linkid=6213

Also to delete file list and cdp's use these batch files ( I lost who did them, sorry)

[Archive1]

Thanks for all the comments. Here's what I've done:
Aircraft = 75
Ships = 68
Objects = 1,056
Deleted all .cdp and filelist files
Reduced size of .mdl list significantly
Cut qc to only two aircraft
Generally cleaned things up: e.g., found some old Pac Theater 'photos' in place, etc. (while I'm on that topic there is an old SCENEDB file "MP_RR_CFS1RWYS_CFS2" that refers to airbases related to some older campaign (I believe) but I don't know who designed it or which it is. Some of those bases are duplicated in newer SCENEDB and gsl files (e.g., Deelen) Any thoughts on how this might mess things up and how to find out which cpgn they are related to? I'd delete it but am unsure of the fallout. Maybe deleting it will tell me quickly which campaign it relates to when the program runs and I can remove that campaign too. Dunno.

...But (there's that awful word) no joy.
Don't want folks spending too much time on this. As I said, as long as campaign and mission files work, the QC/FF problem is only a frustrating nuisance and a basic personality need to problem-solve and get things to work properly.
Archive1

[No Dice]

That totally sucks,

Before I figured out that it was my .mdl names file, I moved my entire CFS2 from games to C:.
Then reloaded a fresh CFS2 into games...and one thing at a time moved from C: to games.

Being that mine ( in games ) is totally dedicated to the Vietnam project, that required a ton of moves.

I feel your pain..seems the last thing you check happens to be the entire problem.

the mdl names text was my very last thing............so it goes.

Good Luck Sir,

Dave

[Fibber]

..just curious here. Have you removed ALL the campaigns and missions from the game and then tried to restore them one by one? Could be a error in the campaign\mission that is giving you the error. Several times had to remove some of these and one by one go through what they were looking for. Pain-staking to say the least!

[Archive1]

No Dice: Yeah, well life is like that. You give it a try and then you die. (wisdom from this 82 y/o, Dice)

Fibber: Whoa...no. But I guess that's a project for some weekend...or week...or next life, maybe. Seriously, yes, I can do that; who needs to sleep?
Let me consider that. May just involve dragging and dropping each into a neutral file and then reversing the process.

It does presume, however, that the problem was initiated by one of the mission/campaign files, and I have a hard time fitting that into the programming structure
since the problem seems to be database triggered, and as little as I know about CFS2 programming organization, I have a hard time seeing a link
'tween the clear-cut linear program of a mission and any database organization/addressing program and 'calls'. Well, it may be the mission 'calls' the database address of
something needed in the mission and it's not there. But, we get that all the time with missing objects tho' and it's a simple fix. Hmmm. But again maybe it means that the
item called is not where it should be...ie, at the wrong address in the DBase, no? And that means the program sees the DB as 'corrupt'. So which database and how to correct it?

Maybe I'm way out of line.

Of course, one thing I'd like to avoid is crashing the whole edifice and having to start all over building the thing from scratch.

One could create a clean CF2. Then load into it each database one at a time - OBJECTS_DP, SCENEDB, SCENERY, SHIPS, AIRCRAFT, TEXTURE (are there more?) and then try running FF and QC and a mission or two after each install.
At least if that crashes, the original build is not lost.
Cordially,
-=Archive1=-

[Fibber]

.....just a thought here. Do all those planes have their own sound files or are they aliased to a sound of a plane you don't have?
Second; you say you are adding a lot of mission an updates. Are you doing this all at once or piecemeal, then test, then add moreo ?
I found to sample a mission for campaigns I just open, in missions, one with notepad, go to the end of it and see what the mission is calling for and if you have it. Usually it will be the same for all in that campaign. NOT always but usually. Sometimes it will be for a item that was specific to that mission author and not, or readily, available and you don't have.
Again, only suggestions.

[bearcat241]

Archive1, refresh your database by doing these steps:

1) temporarily reduce the A/C folder down to only the models listed in your modified QC file (to the sim's logic, these will represent your "default" aircraft)

2) delete ALL aircraft models from the mdlnames.txt file -- these are superfluous

3) temporarily remove all addons from the SHIPS folder and restore only original default ships and boats (you can reverse this later if the refreshing works)

4) delete the following database files from the main directory:

AIRWAY_INDEX
ICAO_INDEX
INDEX_FILE
LAT_INDEX
STR_INDEX
WAYPOINT_INDEX

5) boot the sim and go to FF

[Archive1]

Fibber:
Sorry for the delay: Add the missions in bulk and then test each individually. And have always been careful with sound files. Occasionally aliased, but with a large storage capacity I now prefer to put the best sound file I can find directly into the aircraft folder.

Bearcat:
Will look at each suggestion. Thanks.
Archive1

[Archive1]

I’m taking a break from working on my ETO initialization difficulties, but have been thinking about my recent problems. The recent reply from bearcat241 has refocused my thoughts even more.

Perhaps this should be a separate forum Thread called something like, “Why do we tolerate bloated versions of CFS2?”

Meaning this: If we decide to upgrade one of our theater of ops in CFS2 we are sometimes advised to start with a fresh or clean copy of CFS2. But we never use a ‘clean’ copy of the program, do we? We always start with a massive amount of preloaded database stuff specifically dedicated to the Pacific Theater that resides in the original program. Is there a way around this so we are can use a stripped-down version uniquely dedicated to the theater we are trying to isolate and create?

For example: I am now beginning to update my Spanish Civil War version using Capt Kurt’s excellent 2013 version. Let’s use that as an example of what I’m talking about. This is an example, not a criticism, please.

We start with a ‘clean’ CFs2 as he advises. Which means AIRCRAFT loaded with US and Japanese aircraft, SHIPS preloaded with similar ships, QUICKCOM preloaded, INFO/airbases with airfields that will be irrelevant (no one is going to fly from Cadiz to Wake island), SCENEDB with stuff probably mostly unused and OBJECTS_DP that may or may never be used (don’t need palm trees in the Eastern Theater for example)…and it goes on with MISSIONS, CAMPAIGNS, PHOTOS, LESSONS, SOUNDS, GSL. Bearcat suggested deleting the INDEX files in the main menu – and that is what prompted this piece.

I claim no background understanding of the programmatic organizing structure of CFS2. But can’t the user, for example:

1. Delete all the INFO/airbases and then just load the 75 or so airbases used in the SCW, starting with [runway.0], id=1000 and go from there?
2. Delete all the aircraft in the AIRCRAFT folder – except maybe the zero and the P-38 LIGHTNING that are used for so many SOUND file aliases – and just load the aircraft required for the SCW?
3. Edit the SCENEDB file to eliminate the preloaded runways and afdfiles that refer to Pacific areas not used in SCW?
4. Can one delete the cfs2.gsl in the original GSL file without messing with the underlying programming brain and just load in the spain.gsl?
5. Get rid of the *.jpn files in the SOUND file?
…and so forth…add your own thoughts for deletion.

It would be nice if there were a utility program that would go through all the mission files and create a compilation of the all objects that the missions required so we did not continuously always add more objects to the collection already there and create a bloated OBJECTS_DP: A utility something like mk_cfs2_util does for mission-required-aircraft that would search the list of objects at the end of each mission (see, "name_string.28"=AAGun, for example) and provide a list of all objects common to all the missions in a campaign and compare it with the objects present in the OBJECTS_DP file, highlighting those that are missing.

Several great contributors have worked very hard to provide the community with terrific campaigns, improvements and upgrades – Rami, Kurt, Kelticheart, Fibber, Shadow Wolf, high pockets, Xavier, etc – only a partial list and I apologize to the many others not mentioned. But the upgrade world becomes burdened with database problems, corruption error messages, failed initializations, CTDs, etc. I believe much of that is due to DBs that are too big and being altered by error-prone fingers (like mine) as they try to follow install directions provided by the designers.

OK, enough. Maybe too much. But I think, perhaps erroneously, that it might be a topic for exploration by those who know more about such things than I.
Archive1

[Rami]

Archive,

Hence why we build auto-installers now with everything included, so you can put it on top of a base install.

[Archive1]

Rami:
Ah, well, I'm not sure just what that means.
If it puts stuff "on top of a base install", doesn't that mean that the new stuff layers on top of the basic program...which means that the new stuff merely layers above what's already there and so the databases, all of them, in the program just grow larger? Maybe I'm ignorantly missing something here.
-=Archive1=-