"Failed to intialize the databases" error message?

[Strafing_run]

Hi all,
I have completed an install for Battle of Britain period. All missions and campaigns etc and scenery for these seem to be working really well. However, when I try to intitiate a Free Flight or Quick Combat session, I get the dreaded error message. I have attached pics of both. I only have 58 aircraft so am well clear of the 100 mark I have heard of. Any suggestions? Worst case scenario, I will just stick to single mission or campaigns and freeflight in another install.

[gavinc]

Hi Strafing_run,
You say you only have 58 aircraft installed, does that include all the different paint schemes installed?
For instance if you have 1 Hurricane installed and it has 5 different paint schemes CFS2 will count that as 5 aircraft.

Gavin

[Ian Astill]

This is a post I made in a similar thread:-


You either:-

A) have too many planes installed. The limit is around 100. Remove some or ''mothball'' them (store them in a seperate folder so you can add or take away planes when you need them). As shadow wolf mentions this includes planes with multiple textures (i.e. each different texture counts as a plane)

B) You have a plane which is missing something. Look up one of the stock planes to see what your aircrafts folder should contain. 90% of the time this is either nothing in the sound file or the sound is ''aliased'' to a plane you don't have. Check any planes you added recently and make sure they either have their own complete sound pack or they are aliased to a plane that you have in your aircraft file

(If a plane is aliased the sound folder will only have the sound.cfg doc in it. If you open this up in notepad it should read something like=

[fltsim]
alias=A6M2_Zero\sound

The name should be a plane (folder name) that you have in your aircraft folder)

You may want to change this anyway to a more realistic plane. Personally I have most of the excellent sound packs from Lawdog and OBIO and I add them to every plane I have just for simplicity and because I have plenty of disk space. Instead of Aliasing your plane you may want to do this. All you have to do is download the pack you need (This (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?22689-Are-you-sick-of-the-stock-Zero-sounds&highlight=Zero%2C+sounds)thread by Rami is an excellent resource for engine sounds), then you copy and paste everything into your sound folder

If you don't solve the problem after trying these two solutions then I'm not completely sure what it may be so I'll let someone else advise you

[simonu]

If you eliminate the number of planes issue, the second most likely cause of this error is a duplicate dp name. For example if I copy a dp from a ship and paste it into objects_dp I get that error when I try and load a free flight... So there are many possible reasons why one could end up with 2 dp files with the same name in two different folders and it does not matter if the dps are in use, i.e loaded or called by an aircraft.cfg. I can copy a dp from one aircraft folder to another and there is no problem, but if I copy a weapon.dp from objects_dp and drop it in an aircraft folder I get the error, So I think it most likely there is a weapon dp that is left in one of your aircraft folders and also appears in Objects_DP.

[CrisGer]

That is a very disheartening message, it has cut my adventures in CFS2 short three times. It can also happen from having too many objects listed in mdl names. I think the only way around it is to have seperate installs for ETO, MED and Pacific and even then you may need to do regional installs. The CFS2 engine is OLD old old. good luck.:guinness:

[Rami]

Believe it or not, I'm having the same trouble with one of my Mediterranean installs at the moment...

[Strafing_run]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Simonu, I will have a look for your suggestion - that's a definite possibility that I hadn't considered. Rami, good luck - if you can't fix it then I don't know who can - oh, and if you do, please tell me what your fix was :icon_lol:

[simonu]

It can also happen from having too many objects listed in mdl names.

Any idea how many is too many Chris?

[kwb737]

I had the same problem a while back and my my mdl names.txt file size exceeded 40kb and once I got rid of all the duplicate entries and got it down to 34kb all was fine. Looks like below 40kb is the magic number. Not saying that is causing your problem but that's what caused mine.

[misson]

I had the same problem a while back and my my mdl names.txt file size exceeded 40kb and once I got rid of all the duplicate entries and got it down to 34kb all was fine. Looks like below 40kb is the magic number. Not saying that is causing your problem but that's what caused mine.

i am agree with u kwb737 , specially about magic.

[Rami]

Strafing_run,

I fought with it for two days and couldn't lick it, so I ended up installing a new version to my desktop. I added in the planes, testing them individually, then added the ships and so forth. Nothing in that respect caused a problem, so I am guessing one of the core files got corrupted.

My Early Med install is back up and running, the best of luck to you! :salute:

[Strafing_run]

CrisGer and kwb737, you were bang on the money with the mdlnames file size. I went back and checked mine and saw it was 46kb. I went in and rechecked it all and found double entries, deleted all those which brought it back to 36kb and VOILA - free flight back in business!!! Many thanks! :icon29:

[kwb737]

CrisGer and kwb737, you were bang on the money with the mdlnames file size. I went back and checked mine and saw it was 46kb. I went in and rechecked it all and found double entries, deleted all those which brought it back to 36kb and VOILA - free flight back in business!!! Many thanks! :icon29:

Very glad I could help.

[sc7500]

... Just wanted to add something to this.

In MY case, I was under the impression that simply "semi-colon-ing" an unneeded item in the mdl_names was enough to make things right.

Obviously, I was unaware of the file size rule !

Checked my most troublesome installation [BoB] - 53K. Deleted all the entries with semicolons - 32K.

No More Crashes.

Well Done ! :salute:
sc
:kilroy:

[erufle]

I started having this problem when I started using Windows Vista. After discussing the issue with several members I discovered that having too many items in the OBJECTS_DP folder was the problem. I fixed this in two ways. First, I went through and deleted all the CDP files from the folder. Next, I eliminated all the weapons DP files I wasn't using. By the way, unless I'm doing a lot of mission building I NEVER ENTER ANYTHING INTO THE mdlnames file. Just flying the sim does not seem to require it, but it is a good place to keep track of what weapons you DO have installed. This also requires going into the dp files of aircraft and making some changes to the weapons they are using. Think about what weapons packages you will need the most for a particular install and limit yourself to one big one and maybe a couple of small specialty weapons. By the way, the stock weapons are great but they require an update package and my feeble mind can't remember the name of it or who made it. You can also keep unnecessary items out of the sim by deleting stock items you will not use. For instance, if you are creating a European install you may not want many of the stock aircraft. To delete them you not only delete the files in the AIRCRAFT folder but also any reference made to the plane in the mdllnames file, descrip.dat file (in the INFO folder), and I think that's it. I don't recall ever having to take a plane out of the qc_plane file (found in the QUICKCOM folder) to fly missions and campaigns, but it's probably necessary to fly in quick combat mode.

The sim seems to be less sensitive now that I've upgraded to Windows 7, but that's probably only because I keep my installs as clean as possible. I put all unnecessary aircraft into a backup file I call "HANGER". I delete all mission and campaign files I'm done with and use a program called "Wipe Gauges" to keep the GAUGES folder clean. I backup all of the gauges into a folder inside the HANGER folder. If I want to reinstall one of the aircraft I just drag all of the gauges from the backup folder back into the GAUGES folder and run Wipe Gauges again when I'm through. There are a number of other programs out there to help you keep CFS2 running great. I do use the cfs2Overload_patch_v1, found here at the Outhouse, even though it was not meant to be used with Windows 7. It does not seem to hurt anything. There is a package of utility programs called CFS2 Utilities V5 GOLD that's somewhat comprehensive. It is the biggest single package of useful utilities I know of. I think I got it at Simviation if not here. You should also look into CFS2_filelist_eliminator found here at the Outhouse. I bring up Wipe Gauges amd Filelist Eliminator because I have never understood why we have these great programs that work so well, yet we don't have a program to keep the OBJECT_DP, EFFECTS and other folders clean. why not commission a programing stud to make such programs?

Obviously I have had a few problems, mostly because CFS2 was not made to run on Vista or Windows 7. What I learned was to keep your installs clean- every folder! :a1451:

[Rami]

I started having this problem when I started using Windows Vista. After discussing the issue with several members I discovered that having too many items in the OBJECTS_DP folder was the problem. I fixed this in two ways. First, I went through and deleted all the CDP files from the folder. Next, I eliminated all the weapons DP files I wasn't using. By the way, unless I'm doing a lot of mission building I NEVER ENTER ANYTHING INTO THE mdlnames file. Just flying the sim does not seem to require it, but it is a good place to keep track of what weapons you DO have installed. This also requires going into the dp files of aircraft and making some changes to the weapons they are using. Think about what weapons packages you will need the most for a particular install and limit yourself to one big one and maybe a couple of small specialty weapons. By the way, the stock weapons are great but they require an update package and my feeble mind can't remember the name of it or who made it. You can also keep unnecessary items out of the sim by deleting stock items you will not use. For instance, if you are creating a European install you may not want many of the stock aircraft. To delete them you not only delete the files in the AIRCRAFT folder but also any reference made to the plane in the mdllnames file, descrip.dat file (in the INFO folder), and I think that's it. I don't recall ever having to take a plane out of the qc_plane file (found in the QUICKCOM folder) to fly missions and campaigns, but it's probably necessary to fly in quick combat mode.

The sim seems to be less sensitive now that I've upgraded to Windows 7, but that's probably only because I keep my installs as clean as possible. I put all unnecessary aircraft into a backup file I call "HANGER". I delete all mission and campaign files I'm done with and use a program called "Wipe Gauges" to keep the GAUGES folder clean. I backup all of the gauges into a folder inside the HANGER folder. If I want to reinstall one of the aircraft I just drag all of the gauges from the backup folder back into the GAUGES folder and run Wipe Gauges again when I'm through. There are a number of other programs out there to help you keep CFS2 running great. I do use the cfs2Overload_patch_v1, found here at the Outhouse, even though it was not meant to be used with Windows 7. It does not seem to hurt anything. There is a package of utility programs called CFS2 Utilities V5 GOLD that's somewhat comprehensive. It is the biggest single package of useful utilities I know of. I think I got it at Simviation if not here. You should also look into CFS2_filelist_eliminator found here at the Outhouse. I bring up Wipe Gauges amd Filelist Eliminator because I have never understood why we have these great programs that work so well, yet we don't have a program to keep the OBJECT_DP, EFFECTS and other folders clean. why not commission a programing stud to make such programs?

Obviously I have had a few problems, mostly because CFS2 was not made to run on Vista or Windows 7. What I learned was to keep your installs clean- every folder! :a1451:

Edrufle,

I learned this Vista lesson the hard way. In XP, the standard solution is to delete all the filelist.dat and .cdp files once you identified what the problem is, (objects, mdlnames, aircraft, ships) and then swap out your quick combat (.qcb) file with a backup, and that cures it without a reinstall.

However, once it's corrupt in Vista, it stays that way. So, I have a current backup of all seven theatre installs on my backup drive, ready to go at a moment's notice if I screw the pooch.

[Ghostrider]

Anyone else able to just "click through" acknowledge the error messages, then click "Fly Now" again, and no problem? That's what I do. And no, I don't use the overlimit patch.

[Rami]

Anyone else able to just "click through" acknowledge the error messages, then click "Fly Now" again, and no problem? That's what I do. And no, I don't use the overlimit patch.

Ghostrider,

Mine will not allow me to do so. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. :icon_lol:

[erufle]

Anyone else able to just "click through" acknowledge the error messages, then click "Fly Now" again, and no problem? That's what I do. And no, I don't use the overlimit patch.

Three out of four times I can just click through the messages. I'm not sure at what point the sim decides, "Hey! This Bozo doesn't know what he's doing so I don't want to play no more." Some of us are more anal retentive, in a perfectionist way, than others. Me, not so much. But lately I've been making more of an effort to dot all my i's and cross all my t's. Doing so will give you a better simulation experience so I'm following up on the messages. :running:

I only get frustrated when I get an error message and have to follow up on it by reading the readme file that came with the object file that is needed by important scenery and I realize I may need to go through about 25 more readme files before I figure out what I missed. :isadizzy:

The way to avoid all of this mess is by reading and following the installation instructions and do EVERYTHING it says. Or as we say at the Outhouse, read the @#$%ing manual (****). :icon_lol: