active Devil's Tower & Monument Valley - minus the tower or monuments

[Brendan_]

Doogles,

 

     Thanks for your honest reply. I might have to do just that. I really, really don't want to. It means hunting down emails from 3 different email addresses for serial numbers and install links. Re-downloading from a half-dozen (at least) different sites. It means digging through boxes stored in my garage for boxed software... and then hours upon hours of installing, configuring, patching, updating, oh God, kill me now! All so I can get Objectflow to work properly with my ORBX scenery. Wouldn't it be simpler to just have some sort of way of figuring out what Objectflow's problem is, and fixing it? Am I missing something?

[Ripcord]

 

Others here will probably not agree, but there is really not a really good way to just 'edit the folder location' of FSX. 

 

Best thing to do here is build on a nice fresh stable FSX.

 

You can take a few shortcuts and save some time and headaches, here and there.  You'll want to save the content inside -- all the simobjects, all the various folders, effects, gauges, etc., and of course your scenery.cfg file -- all of it except  ORBX, and save it somewhere as a backup.  Probably wise to keep your scenery/world/scenery folder also and your saved flights in your documents folder.  Then blow it all up, delete and clean out FSX completely and start over.  

 

Just reinstall at that point.  You can then drop the simobjects back in, as long as you have all the gauges and effects and everything backed up, so you won't lose all your repaints and such, and probably the majority of yoru scenery will work that way as well, by just copying it back in and adding it back into the scenery config file.  But do all that after you get a good stable working copy of FSX with all your ORBX goodness restored.

[Ripcord]

 

Or ditch FSX and just go get P3D v3.  I did that and went to V2 and never looked back.  Probably will migrate onto V3 before long, after it's fully baked and all the addons are compatible.  But FSX is good too if you prefer that flavor.  Not wanting to start a debate over what is better, the internet world doesn't need another one of those.  But if you were considering it, now might be a real good time to do it.

 

 

[Brendan_]

Ripcord,

 

     Why P3Dv3? What does it have that FSX doesn't?

 

[Doug Sawatzky]

22 hours ago, Brendan_ said:

Doogles,

 

     Thanks for your honest reply. I might have to do just that. I really, really don't want to. It means hunting down emails from 3 different email addresses for serial numbers and install links. Re-downloading from a half-dozen (at least) different sites. It means digging through boxes stored in my garage for boxed software... and then hours upon hours of installing, configuring, patching, updating, oh God, kill me now! All so I can get Objectflow to work properly with my ORBX scenery. Wouldn't it be simpler to just have some sort of way of figuring out what Objectflow's problem is, and fixing it? Am I missing something?

 Brendan

I would bite the bullet and do it right this time....organize all your zipped downloads with their registration info on a storage drive for next time, make life easy for yourself moving forward, take your time and enjoy installing little bits at a time, get re acquainted with your system and software, exercise them skills in a more positive way, rather than beating your head against the wall with continuous new and reoccurring problems....just think how cool it will be to have a fresh awesome running FS....

[Brendan_]

And what happens if the problem re-occurs? SOMETHING caused Objectflow.dll to stop interacting with FSX. I don't recall any specific actions that I did that could have caused this - but it didn't stop for no reason. That reason could (and likely would) happen again if I don't learn what caused it this time. Especially If I plan on reloading everything again. I might even bring my problem with me if it belongs to some conflict within FSX - and not some weird Windows Mojo. I'd like to learn more about this before I commit myself to such a large expenditure of time and effort. For me, anyway. Am I the only one here who dreads a complete reinstall?

[Guest]

What is your version of Windows ?

[Brendan_]

Windows 7 64bit

 

[Brendan_]

Why do you ask?

 

[Brendan_]

I'd like to thank everyone for their input, advice, suggestions, and lengthy wisdom. I'd also like to thank Richard for his input. I'm a bit surprised that my only option appears to be re-installation of my entire FSX software - as apparently no other way to troubleshoot Objectflow exists. Actually, disappointed would be closer to the mark. But them's the breaks, I guess. Since I still have no idea what caused the problem in the first place, reinstalling seems a bit foolish -  to me, it's almost certain to result in the same problem. SOMETHING interfered with Objectflow in the first place... and since (apparently) there is no way to identify what that is, I believe it'll happen again. I guess you can close this issue... it's not resolved, but it doesn't look like there's further interest to figure out what happened and fix it.

[Captain Z]

14 minutes ago, Brendan_ said:

I'd like to thank everyone for their input, advice, suggestions, and lengthy wisdom. I'd also like to thank Richard for his input. I'm a bit surprised that my only option appears to be re-installation of my entire FSX software - as apparently no other way to troubleshoot Objectflow exists. Actually, disappointed would be closer to the mark. But them's the breaks, I guess. Since I still have no idea what caused the problem in the first place, reinstalling seems a bit foolish -  to me, it's almost certain to result in the same problem. SOMETHING interfered with Objectflow in the first place... and since (apparently) there is no way to identify what that is, I believe it'll happen again. I guess you can close this issue... it's not resolved, but it doesn't look like there's further interest to figure out what happened and fix it.

 

Hey Brendan_,

 

Sorry you haven't been able to figure out how to resolve the issue. I understand. Although I was able to fix my weird texture problem with the FTX/OLC thing, my original issue of having my ORBX airports display winter textures, and the rest of the world fall textures is still unresolved, as well. As it is now spring, I can fly worry free at the moment, but I suspect the problem will be waiting for me at the end of the year. Although, at that time, I may have finally upgraded to P3Dv3, once it's had time to mature, and 3rd parties have had ample time to convert their stuff over (of which ORBX is by far the champ in that race). The last time I had a major issue with FSX, where a full reinstall was the only apparent choice, I felt the same way as you did. In the end, I justified the misery of reinstalling everything with an upgrade, and made the move to P3Dv2. I have not regretted it once. I had watched youtube videos, etc....but I didn't truly understand until I flew in P3D what the fuss was about. The difference between FSX and P3D are a lot of little things, but it's the experience (in my opinion) that all those little things working together provides, that makes the difference for me. I could never go back to FSX now. It would just seem less real. But, I did watch a lot of videos about P3D, and read a ton of stuff online about it. I researched like mad, and was still unsure when I bought it and installed everything. So, with you being in a similar situation like I was, I would suggest maybe doing some research yourself. watch some videos, read some information. Find out the good and bad points, and different peoples opinions. Find out if you can live without some addons ( I guarantee some plane, airport, etc. is not compatible, but like me, you may find it worth it to live without).

 

Since this thread is about the Object flow issue, I'll stop here. But, if you have any question about P3D for me, please feel free to send me a direct message (I think you can do that on these forums, pretty sure anyways) and I'll answer what I can.

[Brendan_]

Captain Z,

 

     I've looked at P3d... but it doesn't seem THAT much better than FSX... plus they have a weird licensing procedure (uh... which one do I pick? I'm not studying to be a pilot... just want to pretend). It just seems like a lot of trouble and money to enjoy what I'm already enjoying for free (since I've collected so much payware scenery and aircraft, would I have to re-buy them all?). Anyway... I'm pretty disappointed I couldn't resolve this and continue flying. It seems ridiculous to me to reinstall everything to fix one problem. Previous posts have inferred that my installation is totally corrupted, but I disagree. I think Objectflow is corrupted. The rest of FSX works fine (great even) for me.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Brendan_ said:

Captain Z,

 

     I've looked at P3d... but it doesn't seem THAT much better than FSX... plus they have a weird licensing procedure (uh... which one do I pick? I'm not studying to be a pilot... just want to pretend). It just seems like a lot of trouble and money to enjoy what I'm already enjoying for free (since I've collected so much payware scenery and aircraft, would I have to re-buy them all?). Anyway... I'm pretty disappointed I couldn't resolve this and continue flying. It seems ridiculous to me to reinstall everything to fix one problem. Previous posts have inferred that my installation is totally corrupted, but I disagree. I think Objectflow is corrupted. The rest of FSX works fine (great even) for me.

 

You cannot blame ObjectFlow is corrupted if you reinstall again  FSX in the same default location C:/program files (x86)/Microsoft Games. Since Windows Vista, this location is known to have resticted permission of execution so some dll don't work. Have a look on Google to see most people on internet advice not to set FSX into the default directory.

Many copies of FSX and FSX-SE work fine with ObjectFlow, so I suggest you to have a special focus on your installation to have it compliant to addons.

[Brendan_]

Richard,

 

     The location may be bad, but it worked fine for 6 years. Suddenly, it didn't. Okay, as you're a developer, and I'm not, I'll believe your knowledge on this to be superior to me. " Special focus on your installation to have it compliant to addons" means... what? Exactly? How do I pay "special focus"? Can you tell me what I should do - specifically - (during reinstall, IF i go that way) to make my FSX "compliant to addons"?

[Guest]

Did you use ObjectFlow or any special dll 6 years ago ? No need to be a developer to keep tuned about what work and not. If you kept Windows XP, dll wouldn't work either because XP didn't have the right .NET. The point the trouble of permission with Windows 7 whereas FSX was made during XP era. Therefore, yes it can work for 6 years... without extra stuffs brought by dlls. That doesn't only concern ORBX but also other editor that provide advanced contents. If you wish to take advantage of them, you have to follow the advice of not installing into the default location.

[Ed Correia]

Check your root FSX folder, if you have a file called p3d.exe then delete it. 

Another potential issue which affected another user was their anti virus/firewall software that blocking the dll. 

[Jethro VH-JET]

Hi Brendan,

Following along with Ed and Richard, if you are biting the bullet for a proper reinstall into folders outside the OS protected folders (as advised) you should also, if you have not already set Win7 UAC (User Account Control slider) to "Never Notify"  as UAC has also been known to cause installation problems along with inconsistent usage of program features from 3rd party installers thereafter, (UAC is an interfering unnecessary Win7 security feature).

"Objectflow" along with many other installed features require an unobstructed installation pathway and unobstructed OS permissions for integration and communicating with the sim.

Caveat: if UAC had been set ON during the last 6 years where it got in the middle of an installation process, you won't simply be able to make everything right by switching it to OFF (Never Notify), it has already interfered with the install process. You could try reinstallation after switching UAC off, but please install outside the OS protected folders or better still on a separate dedicated drive, name the installation folder "FSX" ..

[Brendan_]

Richard,

 

     I've never used FSX on Windows XP. Only Windows 7. I installed it onto this machine once, and have never changed it. I did, recently (per your advice) move FSX outside of the default (at least, it was for me) location inside Program Files (x86). It now lies nowhere near any protected area. So why are we still talking about my install path? It's been moved. I uninstalled the objectflow module (both from dll.xml and fsx.cfg), and reinstalled it and trusted it again. It didn't seem to make any difference.

 

I started using objectflow (to answer your other question) whenever you guys did. I've bought and installed most of your software over the years, starting with ORBX Australia, and on from there. I own almost everything you guys have put out. I usually purchased your software within a few weeks of your release it... so when did you guys start using objectflow? Add a couple weeks... that's when I did.

 

By the way, I'm not arguing about it being a bad place to install FSX. I completely agree... that's why I moved it when you urged me to. At the time, when I initially installed FSX (sometime in 2008 or '09 I think - whenever Win 7 came out), I didn't know NOT to install it there. And you're right, Richard. I don't need to be a developer to keep up with the times. I have. I did. I just didn't want to move it since I hadn't had any problems until now.

 

again, can you tell me specifically what I should upon reinstallation to pay "special focus on your installation to have it compliant to addons"?

 

Jeff, I turned off UAC the first day I installed Windows.

 

Ed, I don't have any file called p3d.exe (or any derivation thereof) in my fsx main folder.

[Brendan_]

Could you, at least, give me an order I should install to? I'm not being flippant, I really would like to know what steps a new installation should include that makes it compliant to addons. I've never heard any mention of that, or advice on what special directives should be followed to make your installation of FSX work better with addons than the typical layman installation. Other than installing to a place separate from any Windows protected area. We covered that.

[Guest]

The only sensitive point is to install FSX anywhere else than the default location suggested by the installer.

Concerning order, none required for FTX addons. Before proceeding installation of addons, launch once FSX. Then do all your install and finish by the latest ORBXlibs. Before launching FSX, open FTX central and choose a mode, set Apply.

Beware of antivirus. Shoot it down or give him exception during the process

[Jethro VH-JET]

Hi Brendan,

I understand your frustration, but all you really need to do is make sure your Win7 is up-to-date with .NET & Visual Studio C++ and is working properly. Then install your sim to a dedicated HDD (the cheapest option, large capacity 7200rpm) or large capacity SSD, name the installation directory FSX then install the sim to there FSX and Acceleration pack, activate and test your sim, as well as set it up to display the scenery to your liking and hardware capacity, adjust the Graphics to display the highest most efficient settings for your hardware.

Thoroughly read through the Definitive guide v2 Here: http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/91868-version-2-of-the-ftx-definitive-guide-is-now-available/ or "Orbx Guide" in FTXCentral v2, follow the installation recommendations and I'm sure you will have a long lasting working Sim with Orbx working as intended.
Exclude your Virus scanner from scanning the simulator folders and executables while the sim is running. Disable Antivirus while installing but do not disable your firewall. Install and test each Orbx software after installation. Always install "As Administrator". Always install the latest libs after install this will install the FTXCentral v2 (if you have older products, the libs may be overwritten with an earlier product version so you should be aware of this while you are installing). Check FTXCentral for updates or install any service packs for products you have installed or from downloads you have already saved/archived. Always Agree to install the Objectflow.dll [trust] and any modules added to the dll.xml. Install FSUIPC. Begin installation with Global base, Vector, OLC, and any SP's, then Freeware global stuff (if you would like to see Monument Valley and Devils Tower to see Objectflow working, but make sure you are in FTX global mode and it is (active) "Apply Group". Then install Regions + SP's, then Airports + SP's, then TreesHD, Check the Regions and Airports for Objectflow CreatureFlow, PeopleFlow, SnoFlow, infact make sure it is all Flowing. Take some time to enjoy what you have reinstalled.

And finally once you are done Take full ownership Admin Permissions of your FSX folder by right clicking the FSX folder Properties General tab > uncheck the blue Read only attributes checkbox for Files Folders and Subfolders, let it run then click Apply then OK to finish.  Continue installing any third party scenery being mindful of their scenery library priority per the "Definitive guide" or Voyagers, Insertion Point guide: http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/107329-insertion-points/  .

 

Oh My wordy wordy wordy me, I hope you can follow all this, I got a little lost when the Forum editor started playing up. But that should just about do it I think. Good luck, Godspeed, and happy simming I hope. I do expect pictures of Monument Valley and Devils Tower when you get them installed, just to see how you are tracking with ObjectFlow.

 

[spesimen]

hey brendan you're not alone, my objectflow has stopped playing nice for some reason also, i first noticed after having some issues at the new KTEX and i double checked to discover that devil's tower has gone missing for me as well

will keep an eye on this thread and holler if i discover anything

cheers

-andy crosby

[Dan.McGoohan]

Hi Boys,

 

Confirmed every where here. A lot of my (frenchy) friends have the same issue. It's definitively an objectflow.dll issue that orbx has to solve now. In our FSX club, we have this issue what ever the configuration : FSX, FSX-SE, P3D, Windows 7, windows 8, etc... No Devil Tower (for me), no KTEX Ground for those who bought it (very frustrating indeed), seasonal grass disappear...

 

And the trick to set NA instead of Global does not work...

 

Cheers

[Brendan_]

Andy / Dan,

 

     I'm glad (sorry) I'm not alone. Misery loves company. So far, the corporate line has been "Reinstall everything to fix the problem". I'm not in a hurry to do that. For me, reinstalling would be a full-time job (literally). Over the years, I've purchased nearly every product put out by ORBX, Aerosoft, FSDT, etc. Just hunting through and gathering all the serial numbers would take me hours. Perhaps with more people experiencing this problem, ORBX will investigate further and find a solution to their issue (sorry ORBX, but I do think this is YOUR problem). Telling a customer to reinstall their entire flight simulator software just to fix an issue with one process seems excessive and unrealistic to me. Imagine if Microsoft just told people to reinstall windows every time there was an issue with PAINT or NOTEPAD. I'm sorry. Richard, you've been a huge help (as have everyone else on here). I'm not diminishing your advice or wisdom. I'm sure this issue (under normal circumstances) would have been fixed per your advice on the matter in short order. I have no doubt that reinstalling EVERYTHING *might* fix the problem - until it happens again that is. Since I have no idea the cause, your suggestion to treat the symptoms and not the disease baffle me. Again, I mean no disrespect to Richard, or the great folks at ORBX. When it comes to telling me to start over from scratch to make your scenery work correctly: I respectfully, however, disagree.

[Brendan_]

An odd thing... I checked objectflow.log and found the following:

 

Module started: 2016-04-15 02:31:55.952
Module name: ObjectFlow.dll
FS type: 4
FS version: 10.0.61637.0
Module version: 1.0.10.3 / 1.0.10.1
Scenery.cfg: C:\FSX\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\scenery.cfg

Placement XMLs found: 0

 

Shouldn't it point to the scenery.cfg that resides in "C:\Users\MY_NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX\"?

 

Or am I mistaken?

[Ed Correia]

Every instance of ObjectFlow not working was a particular reason specific to a user's installation:

1. Corrupt DLL.XML due to other third party not writing to xml correctly or user edits
2. An instance of a "phantom" P3D exe file in a FSX setup, most likely from some DIY migration
3. Firewall blocking ObjectFlow from working
4. Registry issues

I'll be blunt - the DLL works, it works for thousands of other users. The reason for it not to work is a unique situation particular to your setup.

[Ed Correia]

4 minutes ago, Brendan_ said:

An odd thing... I checked objectflow.log and found the following:

 

Module started: 2016-04-15 02:31:55.952
Module name: ObjectFlow.dll
FS type: 4
FS version: 10.0.61637.0
Module version: 1.0.10.3 / 1.0.10.1
Scenery.cfg: C:\FSX\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\scenery.cfg

Placement XMLs found: 0

 

Shouldn't it point to the scenery.cfg that resides in "C:\Users\MY_NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX\"?

 

Or am I mistaken?

Looks like a registry issue... the cfg should be Scenery.cfg: ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX\scenery.cfg

[Brendan_]

Ed,

 

     I believe you and agree. Perhaps I should have qualified my statements. I don't think Objectflow is to blame... I think objectflow on my particular computer is to blame. I'm certain it's something on MY system (and others) that cause the problems. How do I troubleshoot the registry issue? Where do I modify the values to point it to the right place?

 

[Brendan_]

Ed,

 

     Blame is superfluous. I'm not blaming you guys. I understand from my previous post it seems like I'm placing the fault on your shoulders. That's not what I believe. I fully realize it's something on MY system that's causing your software not to work correctly. *sigh*. Sorry... this has been a frustrating trip for me. I don't care what the cause is, I just want it fixed so I can fly. I am certain (at this point anyway) that it's a registry issue. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Where do I edit the registry to correct this problem (i.e. objectflow.log pointing to an incorrect location for scenery.cfg)

[spesimen]

brendan this was a useful clue that solved my problem.

even though all of my registry entries point to using Scenery.cfg: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX\scenery.cfg 

i also had an FSX-SE directory in there that presumably was not removed when i last uninstalled both and only intalled the steam version.

i think the objectflow is ignoring the registy and overriding it with the FSX-SE entries if that folder exists, even if they shouldn't be there and the sim isn't updating files in that directory. in fact this is the source since the scenery cfg in that folder did not contain the entries for the stuff i had installed

cheers

-andy crosby

[Ed Correia]

Happy to assist where we can Brendan. Can you post a Diagnostic Report here please.

[Brendan_]

Ed,

 

I followed your instructions, but do not see the diagnostic report option in FTX Central 2. It appears I don't have the updated version of FTX central. Where can I download and install it?

[Brendan_]

Ed,

 

      What determines the location objectflow looks for the scenery.cfg in? Where can I modify that to point to the right place?

[Ed Correia]

Grab the latest version from here 

I'll need to check with the OF developer why its looking at your root sim folder and not ProgramData.

[sjed]

Ed, how to unblock objectflow.dll from the firewall?

[sjed]

Ed, you can disregard the above question. I looked back over your replies and found that I had a phantom prep3d.exe file in my fsx root folder. Deleted it and that fixed my objectflow problem.  Thanks for the suggestion.

[nigelgrant]

Brendan

 

Check this one:

 

http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/100633-old-topic-monument-valley-terrain-errors-asking-again/#comment-909858

 

Nigel

Vancouver

[Brendan_]

Nigel,

 

     Thanks for the link, unfortunately I do not have any Utah scenery to conflict. The only entries I have that contain "UT25" are in monument valley\scenery\.

[Brendan_]

diagnostic report : ot2dd5df17dda830a44426863cffffb384

 

[Imperator]

Same problem. Prepar3D V3.2. How to enable objectflow.log?  How to check registry issues?