Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

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kumpel
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Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

Hello

I need some help in resolving a mysterious issue of a broken installation.

Everything seems to be fine, the plane is there as it should, yet the Payload Manager is not working correctly, and I can only load the Cub once, a subsequent attempt to load another livery makes P3D to crash (after accessing disk for a while).

With the Payload Manager all weight values remain 0.0, the passenger can be loaded but remains still (no motion other than eye blinking), and there is no sound other than the engine.

I tried to reinstall it a couple of times with no avail, it always ends up with the same problem; strangely enough the system remembered the state of the payload. I use a dedicated installer (not ORBX), each time it updated the plane and accu-sim to the latest version.

I have all add-ons installed on a dedicated drive in G:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v 5 Add-ons\, whatever is there works perfectly.

I must mention that I have also installed the Cub in the P3D v4 with exactly the same problem.

Peter

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hello Peter and welcome.

Sorry to hear about your issues getting up and running with the Cub.

There are few possible culprits, but typically issue like this are caused by other software preventing files from being written properly by Accu-Sim or by the sim not initialising the flight correctly.

For the first of these, please can you check to see if files are being saved to the "Documents\A2A\FSX\PiperJ3" folder. There should be a *log.dat file for each of the J-3 variants you've loaded.

If these files are present, please can you let us know whether you've modified the default scenario in P3Dv5, and if so, which aircraft loads in that scenario start up screen? We always recommend using a simple default aircraft to minimise the chance of issues.

Thanks,
Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

Thanks for prompt reply Nick

I managed to fix part of the problem by deleting old files in the folder Documents\A2A\FSX\PiperJ3.
Currently all the functions of various menus as well as sound work fine, except that the set values are not held and nothing is written to the above folder.

In the mean time an update to win 10 installed itself, with a new feature of Tamper Protection, but it has been turned off together with Controlled Folder Access (restricting access to Documents) and other such features.

My main problem at the moment is that I can only load one instance of PiperJ3, any attempt to load it again or another livery/model crashes P3D.

I wonder what options do we have to inspect the process of CTD from some log files?

Peter

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

I have just checked the PiperJ3 installation on my P3D v4.5. I can reload the aircraft there, but no log files are written either.

Peter

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

Ok, some more developments.

Firstly, I have set the default P3D scenario, regrettably PiperJ3 wouldn't load at all - neither by starting from the opening screen nor by changing vehicle.

Secondly, I have disabled the A2A_PiperJ3s.dll (renaming it with a dash in front) and voila ... the aircraft loads, I can use all the models and liveries. Things seem to be working (except for the Accu-Sim of course), still no DAT records.

After using PiperJ3 for a while SimConnect failure message pops up every now and then.

Peter

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by Nick - A2A »

Thanks for the additional info Peter.

For what it's worth, the default Windows Security options such as tamper protection shouldn't present any issues to the installation. I have all these features set to their default "on" states with my own setup.

However, it does sound like something on your PC is preventing the dll from executing code or from accessing your installation location. Do you have any third-party antivirus software or similar programs installed, or any apps such as ProcessLasso running?

Also, when you launch P3D, do you simply use the start menu shortcut, or do you use any third-party utilities to launch the software? Actually, could you list any other software which runs when you launch P3D so we have a better picture of what's happening on your system. For example, any global utilities like FSUIPC or ASP3D?

Regards,
Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

My PC is running Win 10 (1909) without any third party AV.

My P3D v5 configuration, together with all related files, is located on a separate SSD drive as follows:
G:\...\Prepar3D v5 - program installation folder
G:\...\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons - add-ons folder, following the structure of the above, for bulk installation of add-ons (whatever the installer)
G:\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons - soft linked to C:\...\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons
G:\Prepar3D v5 Files - soft linked to C:\...\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Files
the installed A2A products are located in:
G:\...\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\A2A\...
G:\A2A\... - soft linked to C:\...\Documents\A2A

My P3D v5 is started from a desktop shortcut and loads some utilities - XMLTools64, FSUIPC6, SODE (via ORBX), and Accu-Fell. I have since disabled XMLToos64 what helped with writing and reading the A2A .DAT files (they were not read with it), although no backups are made.

The problem with crashing P3D, when loading a plane after PiperJ3 had been used, still persists .
For instance - I can load different liveries of the same variant of PiperJ3, but when I try PiperJ3t (or any other plane) after that, P3D crashes.
The first instance of PiperJ3 loads instantly, like P3D planes usually do, but any subsequent one hesitates, then briefly flashes white the area of model display before loading the same variant, say PiperJ3 or PiperJ3t; once this flashing occurs no other plane can be loaded.
The P3D crash does not happen instantly, it is preceded with some frantic accessing of the HD, like searching for something.

Hopefully all the above is of some help.
Peter

Incidentally, I have exactly the same problem with A2A PiperJ3 on my P3D v4 installation (almost identical configuration to v5).
I have also installed P-40 and have the exact same problem as above (flashing & crashing), very strange.

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by Nick - A2A »

Okay, thanks for that Peter.

Your mention that disabling XMLToos64 has helped is interesting.

However, since the issue seems to be persisting, please can you just confirm what you mean by "G:\A2A\... - soft linked to C:\...\Documents\A2A"?

Do you mean that you've used a symbolic link (mklink command) in the "C:\Users\[UserName]\Documents\A2A" directory, with the contents of this folder actually being located in "G:\A2A" instead?

Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

Yes. Strictly speaking C:\...\Documents\A2A is a soft link to G:\A2A, so the actual content is on the G: drive, together with the simulator.

P-40 has no issue with that, creates .DAT files and backups without a hitch.

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by Nick - A2A »

Thanks Peter,

Could you try doing away with the symbolic link in "C:\Users\[UserName]\Documents\A2A" so that the *log.dat files are actually written to folders in this directory rather than a linked one. The issue is your case seems to be very unusual, so I think if we can rule out any unusual configurations like this, it won't do any harm.

Cheers,
Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

Ok, I tried to use the A2A folder structure directly in Documents, as expected makes no difference.

I have also made a little experiment using a development configuration:
Starting P3D in the window mode, loading PiperJ3 and trying to reload the plane (object in P3D); this way the plane is limited to its own environment.
Normally the reload happens instantaneously, with PiperJ3 it is delayed by about 3s; AccuSim becomes reinitialised or something else happens?
This woks fine until (1) the control or the manager popup is used to set any values, or (2) the P3D window is left to desktop and anything using memory becomes open, then a reload of the plane crashes the parent program P3D.

In a usual development practice, anything can be used beside P3D as long as there is enough memory - graphics design program, browser, programming tools etc. With 64-bit system and 24GB memory that means a lot of things.
Regrettably, for some reason, AccuSim doesn't like it and crashes the P3D.

I don't know what to think about it, without any ability to log what is actually happening it's all stubbing in the dark.
Peter

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

In extension to the above experiment, when A2A_PiperJ3s.dll is disabled (e.g. renamed) the plane reloads without delay, and opening other programs from the desktop, parallel to P3D, has no adverse effect. However, changing between PiperJ3 variants can still cause CTD.

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hello Peter,

It's a strange one indeed. Your P3D configuration is pretty unusual with the use of various symbolic links and the presence of add-ons such as XMLTools64 which seem to be affecting the dll. If this is completely disabled, it looks like something else on your system preventing the A2A_PiperJ3s.dll from reading and writing properly. It's difficult to guess what this is, but you mention a "development configuration" so is there other developer software running that could be involved? Also, could you clarify just what you mean by a "development configuration"?

My suggestion would be to remove as many third-party elements from the equation as possible when troubleshooting, and certainly to eliminate any symbolic links. While these are pretty safe when it comes to reading files, when it comes to writing them, they're not 100% reliable. I found this out when using one for the "C:\ProgramData\Package Cache" directory on my own machine.

Thanks,
Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

kumpel
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by kumpel »

Hello Nick,

By "development configuration" I mean running P3D in the windowed mode (rather than full screen), so at any time other software can be used as needed, together with the standard P3D function of reloading an object in use, when it has been changed - e.g. textures, gauges, cfg files etc. The advantage of this approach is that when the window is out of focus, the simulator is effectively going to sleep, not using power, what is convenient for longer working sessions.

Under closer investigation I have found out that doing the above was the source of the problem.
AccuSim simply does not like this type of treatment, it is loosing its bearing (in memory/file system) and reloading the aircraft causes P3D to crash. This is why eliminating A2A_PiperJ3s.dll seemed to help.

After loading/reloading PiperJ3 and P-40 multiple times, while sticking to the full screen mode, I had an odd crash once or twice, but generally things work as expected.

Nick, many thanks for you patience and persistence, hopefully we both learned something from this experience.

Best regards
Peter

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Installation broken - Piper J-3 Cub in P3D v5.1

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hi Peter,

Ah, okay thanks for that. I'd say that as a general rule, multiple reloads of the product in one sim session is something that shouldn't be needed by most customers, unless they're testing a new skin which they're creating or something along those lines.

Anyway, hope you're able to enjoy the Cub and P-40 and thanks for your patience in this topic too.

All the best,
Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

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