Crash to Desktop -- How to Troubleshoot

[renereimann]

How do you troubleshoot crash to desktop? What is the best way to fix CTDs?

[westview]

Delete the Uisel file. The way to find it depends on your OS, but you can always find it using a search that searches everywhere and includes hidden files.

[ndicki]

There's a thread on this in the Knowledge Base sticky.

Basically it comes down to:

1. Find the problem (there are only so many common ones)

2. Fix it (as a function of the problem you identify)



OK, I'll stop taking the mick - go and look in that sticky.

[renereimann]

I read your thread in the Knowledge Base sticky and also have tried deleting the uisel file. This did not work. How do you find the problem? Missing facilities, pylons, guns, weapons, etc?

Do you have a complete list of all possible common problems?

[ndicki]

Identify the aircraft you are flying as player (in the uisel) - open the xdp, list all weapons and pylons, and check you have them.

Check the sound alias of that aircraft is valid.

If that fails, delete the entire QC part of your uisel file and try again.

That should drop you at Fowlmere, with the P-47d-25, Bf109g-6 enemy, B-26 and Ju88 as possible escort/intercept choices. If you have deleted any or all of these, you are in trouble... The P-47d-25 aliases sound from the P-47d, so that's also necessary.

If that doesn't work...

Tell me what your install is. What have you deleted or added? Modified, etc? This may be a tall order if yours are anything like mine...

[renereimann]

Thank you for the trouble shooting steps. Unfortunately I still CTD. The mission is a DPC CFS3 Korea "HU-16 Mission". I checked the XDP file and had the one pylon and five weapons. The sound alias seemed OK. I deleted the QC part of the UISEL file and restarted the game.

I have many addon missions and several other addons. As you say, almost impossible to tell what is original. Do you have any other ideas to fix this CTD problem?

[ndicki]

Is this happening DURING a mission? If so, then the chances are that something is trying to spawn and can't.

It may be an aircraft type - these are either scripted in the mission, or spawning by themselves. If it's scripted, you'll crash/lock up at the same point each time you play that mission. The solution there is to open the mission file with notepad, list the aircraft needed, and check them one by one.

If it's a spawn, them the aircraft will appear normally under USA or Germany nationalities, as these are the only ones to spawn. It may be different in Korea (open country.xml and see which nationalities are in first and third places - they will be the ones to spawn.)

Then, the trick is to go into QC menu, and work one by one through all the aircraft listed under USA and Germany (or whatever it is) and check the loadouts on the UI screen. When it freezes, you've found a problem. Quit, fix it, delete the UISEL entry just to be on the safe side, start up CFS3 again, check the fix worked, and carry on until you've finished checking all of them...

Have a nice day...


(Happened to me a few days ago, so you have all my sympathy!)

[renereimann]

This CTD happens after I go to "Briefing". I can review the Overview, Waypoints, Assignments and Armament. The CTD always occurs after I press "FLY". It seems like the game is trying to load but hits a problem. This type of CTD has happened when I had a missing required item (facility, gun, weapon, etc.).

Do you have any more ideas? Thank you in advance for your help.

[ndicki]

Does it happen in just one mission (or series of missions), or with every mission including the stock ones?

[renereimann]

The current CTD problem is with a single Korean mission called "HU-16 Mission". I also have a Korean mission pack of 11 missions that all CTD (all 11 missions of "Operation Cherokee" CTD). I hope this helps.

[ndicki]

Let me just ask one stupid question - you are playing this in the DPC Korea install, aren't you?

No, that isn't meant as an insult - that really has happened...

I'm not sure then what the trouble could be, although it sounds as if something important is missing, which appears in each mission.

So, next steps:

Can you fly the designated mission aircraft normally in QC, with all its loadouts working?

Can you open the mission file in the Mission Builder? That might help you to find the missing or incorrect element. Sometimes the xdp file for an aircraft, vehicle, etc, is syntactically valid, but refers to a missing object, or is otherwise invalid.

Is the airfield valid?

And so on. Checking a mission to see what the problem is can be long and tedious. Ideally, use Windows Notepad to open it (if the MB doesn't help) and check it out line by line, looking for aircraft, vehicles, facilities, spawns, etc, etc, to make sure you've got it all, and that it is in working order.

[renereimann]

1. Yes, the mission is in "DPC CFS3 Korea" version of CFS3.

2. Can I fly the mission in QC? - No. I tried several times to fly in QC, Free Flight, Loadout = Clean and got CTD every time.

3. I had a ptoblem with Mission Builder, so I used XML Wrench and corrected a minor problem.
The mission file is OK with XML Wrench now.

4. Is the airfield valid? I am unsure how to check this. The airfield is in North Korea so I tried to fly the mission in QC with a Mig-15 and got another CTD.

Do you have any more ideas? Thank you again for all these trouble shooting steps!

[ndicki]

Wait a minute... You can't use that airfield in Quick Combat? That's the trouble then. There's something wrong with the airfield, though to be honest, without having Korea installed, I can't help you further. Can you fly from other airfields?

[ndicki]

RCAFmad has just pointed out to me that there may be a compatibility issue. Could you open the mission file with Windows notepad, and let me know the name of the airfield you start from?

Top of the page:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Combat Flight Sim mission-->
<Mission>
<Params Version="3.0" Directive="sweep" Country="Germany" Aircraft="bf109e3" Airbase="cafs26" Date="9/11/1940" Time="12:00" Weather="dr_cirrus_2.xml" Multiplayer="y" MultiplayerOnly="n"/>
<Title>Bf109E Sweep</Title>

[FireStorm II]

Hello Gentlemen,

As I read this helpful thread, I remembered that the "HU-16 Mission"
was written for CFS3 and not for Korean Skies. (I know, I know)

So the problem airbase is "abbe". I suppose if one could find a
similiar river in the KS arena, the mission could be modified to suit.

Now that leaves us with Operation Cherokee.....
Regards,
Kim

[ndicki]

Hello Gentlemen,

As I read this helpful thread, I remembered that the "HU-16 Mission"
was written for CFS3 and not for Korean Skies. (I know, I know)

So the problem airbase is "abbe". I suppose if one could find a
similiar river in the KS arena, the mission could be modified to suit.

Now that leaves us with Operation Cherokee.....
Regards,
Kim

That was the point that RCAFmad found... abbe2, I think it is, is Abbeville in the stock gsl.

[renereimann]

Ndicki & Firestorm II: Firestorm II is correct. HU-16 mission is for CFS3 and NOT for DPC CFS3 Korea. When I downloaded a large group of missions from this site, archive missions I assumed it was a DPC CFS3 Korea mission. The "HU-16 Mission ReadMe file did not specify which version of CFS3 the mission was for.

And we all know what happens when we assume anything, right?

The mission file said: Airbase="abbe"

I copied the mission file to my CFS3 and checked that I had the required vehicles and ships. The mission flys great and flying the HU-16 as a bomber works well.

Operation Cherokee is definitely a DPC CFS3 Korea mission package. So it's on to solve CTDs with these missions. I will use these trouble shooting steps and let you know what the problem is.