resolved CTD at same place every time. Terrain.dll

[AlphaTech]

Hello

 

I posted here several months ago with a terrain.dll issue that in the end was only resolved by totally reinstalling P3d v4.2. 

 

Up until now everything has worked fine, but yesterday, the same problem appeared;

 

departing from Belfast Aldergrove DCT BLACA, the sim will crash just as the aircraft starts to turn towards TRN. This happens in the same place every single time and is the exact same problem as before.

 

I'll be damned If I'm spending my time reinstalling P3d just for the issue to reappear in 2 months again. Below is the Event Viewer details. Has anyone any idea what the problem is. I don't get crashes ANYWHERE ELSE other than this location with Orbx Installed.

 

_____

Faulting application name: Prepar3D.exe, version: 4.2.21.24048, time stamp: 0x5a7c832c
Faulting module name: terrain.dll, version: 4.2.21.24048, time stamp: 0x5a7c8293
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000009ad3
Faulting process ID: 0xdb8
Faulting application start time: 0x01d406910b7c4a60
Faulting application path: F:\LM PREPAR3D\Prepar3D.exe
Faulting module path: F:\LM PREPAR3D\terrain.dll
Report ID: ae5680be-5ca8-41d3-b94d-edb3784dfc5d
Faulting package full name: 
Faulting package-relative application ID: 

____

 

Help is appreciated.

 

Paul

[AlphaTech]

To be clear - the sim does not crash when all Orbx software is not installed.

 

P

[AlphaTech]

No one? No response or help from Orbx, there must be something we can do to figure out why it is crashing my sim. 

 

 

[Smudger]

Hello Alpha,

have you switched off Crash Detection in P3D, are you using a traffic programme or 3rd party scenery that may include FS9 models ?

[AlphaTech]

Hey Smudger

 

Crash detection is switched off. I'm using UTLive, but I think it crashes with or without it on from memory. I will test. 

 

I'm not sure if that explains why it crashes at the exact same place every time though?? 

 

Thanks for your reply. 

Paul

[Smudger]

Hello Paul,

I don't know your actual flight path but I assume you are departing EGAA Aldergrove and not EGAC Belfast City and the crash happens as the aircraft starts to turn towards TRN.

At TRN VOR is X6TU airport and the Turnberry golf course. I have a 3rd party scenery, Scotland Turnberry but it is only for FSX.

Could you have a similar 3rd party software maybe involving X6TU ?

 

[AlphaTech]

Smudger 

 

Yes, EGAA DCT BLACA DCT TRN EGPF

 

The sim crashes always at BLACA as the we turn towards TRN. 

 

I don't have any other sceneries in the area that cause problems. I am using ProSim A320 with Orbx Base, Europe and Vector. 

 

Paul

[Smudger]

Paul

I can see now that you are nowhere near TRN, so that removes a possible FS9 scenery.

I have just flown EGAA - BLACA - TRN - EGPF in the default Baron without any problems.

Have a check of this link

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/530088-getting-terraindll-regularly/

 

Roy

[AlphaTech]

Hi Roy

 

Thanks a million for your response. I've done the whole delete your .cfg and the usual debugging P3D recommends which is not only poor and time consuming it's a bad way to find bugs like this.

 

Nonetheless! After I deleted the .cfg the first time, it did not crash, that was with everything fully installed as it was before. So I thought I'd do a restart to test again and the second test flight crashed just after starting the turn for TRN.

I am out of ideas. The one thing that I notice is that when the crash occurs it destroys frame rates down to 8/9 (usually fixed 30) so, I'm not sure if it's something to do with my graphics card or not. I'm going to try without any GPU overclocking now.

 

I'll report back. Have you any other ideas?

 

Paul

[AlphaTech]

Okay...So it's not the Overclocking GPU. It still crashed. I don't overclock the CPU so it can't be that either.

The facts are; 

 

1. A reinstall fixed the issue - so that means that something has again putrefied (best word for this nonsense!) by terrain.dll at BLACA or the surrounding area. 

 

2. If I remove ORBX the problem is gone - so that would tell me it's an ORBX problem.

 

3. NO ONE from ORBX cares that I am having this problem.

 

Not a happy camper.

 

P

[AlphaTech]

This wouldn't be a water detail issue by any chance? Does the terrain.dll controll that?

 

Going to test a lower (and higher setting)

 

Also - interestingly - the last crash just now increased the FPS to 99. Who knows!

 

P

[Smudger]

Paul,

 

Do you have any A1 shipping installed or a water program ? Try reducing your sliders to zero.

 

Everyone at Orbx will care that you are having a problem, but because it is only happening to you it would not appear to be associated with Orbx scenery, but a 3rd party software, not your settings unless it happens elsewhere.

 

There are far better brains than mine on this forum and the devs cast their eyes over each post.

 

Roy

[AlphaTech]

Roy

 

Thanks - I have nothing extra for water or shipping. Nothing fancy, just Base, Europe LC and Vector and various Orbx airports. I tried removing all the UK2000 airports in the area, but it made no difference.

 

However - as a last resort I deleted the shader file again (in case I didn't do it properly the first time) and I have tested it twice without a crash, so it appears that the issue was caused by a shader issue. I've still got no idea how this can happen out of nowhere and at the same location every time.

 

Best,

Paul

[Smudger]

Paul

 

I also am baffled how it could be a shader issue causing a CTD at the same place each time, unless you were running a seperate weather engine, but if that turns out to be the problem and it is solved, great.

 

Fingers crossed for you.

 

Roy

[AlphaTech]

Back to crashing again. I am totally out of ideas now.

 

[Smudger]

Paul, which aircraft and at what flight level is this occuring ?

I have done it twice without any problems, the default Baron @ 5000 feet and the Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 at 10000 feet.

 

Roy

[Doug Sawatzky]

54 minutes ago, AlphaTech said:

Back to crashing again. I am totally out of ideas now.

 

 

Paul

 

Are you able to provide coordinates from the Shift+Z keys to the location the CTD is happening? This would be very helpful.

 

Cheers

 

Doug

[AlphaTech]

Hi Guys

 

I'm flying the ProSim A320. It happens at FL150. The problem with the cordinates is that it happens at a slightly different place every time. But it's always either just before BLACA or just as the turn starts towards TRN. 

 

Paul

[Doug Sawatzky]

Have you tried a different aircraft?

[AlphaTech]

Yes, it crashes with any aircraft. 

 

I have just removed UK 2000 glasgow and Edinburgh to see if it's those loading in the distance causing the issue. Testing now. 

 

Paul 

[AlphaTech]

Right, so with Glasgow and Edinburgh UK 2000 sceneries removed there is no crash. 

 

But this makes no sense because there is also no crash when all Orbx products are removed. Yikes. 

 

It makes me wonder if Lockheed Martins troubleshooting directions aren't a total waste of time. 

 

Any ideas why UK 2000 sceneries would cause this and why it works when Orbx isn't installed? BTW, both Glasgow and Edinburgh have been used on my system for months with no problems, with all Orbx working. 

 

Paul

[Doug Sawatzky]

You can not uninstall FTX Global base from the scenery library by unchecking anything, FTX Global base is a texture replacement, not an addon, you can only deactivate Vector and your Orbx Europe region via unchecking in the scenery library....so it is very unlikely that this is an Orbx product issue.....I have been trying to replicate your issue by flying your above route all day now in different configurations and can not.

 

If you want to properly uninstall FTX Global base, you will need to do it from the uninstall function in FTXC3 and P3Dv4 will need to reinstall it's default textures.

 

Regards

 

Doug

[Smudger]

Can't help with the aircraft, I do not have that one, is it in the same mould as PMDG, resource hungry, and you are certainly moving  and climbing to be at FL150 by BLACA from Aldergrove.

You can only try it for a while without UK 2000 sceneries especially Glasgow.

Have you tried uninstalling UK 2000, testing for a while, then reinstalling UK 2000, perhaps a file has become corrupted.

Sorry I am not more help to you.

 

Roy

[AlphaTech]

Doug

 

yes, I did uninstall it this way, but I do concur with you. It doesn’t look like to be an Orbx issue now that I’ve tested 3 times without the UK2000 Glasgow and Edinburgh. It’s particularly frustrating because upon the process of elimination, the culprit always appeard to be Orbx. I digress.

 

Roy

 

Many thanks also. I am going to search around the UK 2000 forums for a link to similar and I thank you for your help. I will introduce the glasgow and edinburgh scenaries again to see what happens, as you say, something has clearly become corrupt. How? I have really no idea.

 

Paul

 

 

 

[AlphaTech]

Well, here I am again. With a crashing sim at BLACA.

 

Ive removed all airport sceneries in Scotland that could be possibly causing an issue and the sim is still crashing.

 

all that is installed now is Orbx. So here I am again thinking that it must be an ORBX problem. I know I could just remove and reinstall Orbx, but I’d quite like to know WHAT is causing this issue as I’ve had it before at the same point.

 

ORBX, I need someone to contact me about this. Support from this forum is good, but I need the developers to seriously take a look at my system, there is obviously SOMETHING that is making terrain.dll crash. 

 

Its not not my setting and it’s not airport scenery.

 

Paul

[Doug Sawatzky]

Hi Paul

 

Please go to your Orbx\Trouble Shooter folder and run the "MigrationTroubleshooter.exe" and post the results. 

 

[AlphaTech]

Orbx Migration Troubleshooter
====================================
REGIONS
    Australia                                         NOT INSTALLED
    Central Rocky Mountains                           NOT INSTALLED
    England                                           MIGRATED CORRECTLY
    FTX Global                                        MIGRATED CORRECTLY
    Ireland                                           NOT INSTALLED
    Northern California                               NOT INSTALLED
    Northern Ireland                                  MIGRATED CORRECTLY
    Norway                                            NOT INSTALLED
    Northern Rocky Mountains                          NOT INSTALLED
    New Zealand North Island                          NOT INSTALLED
    New Zealand South Island                          NOT INSTALLED
    FTX Global openLC Europe                          MIGRATED CORRECTLY
    Pacific Fjords                                    NOT INSTALLED
    Pacific Northwest                                 NOT INSTALLED
    Southern Alaska                                   NOT INSTALLED
    Southern California                               NOT INSTALLED
    Scotland                                          NOT INSTALLED
    Wales                                             NOT INSTALLED
====================================
All region files exist.
All files valid, MD5 hashes checked.

 

[Larry_R]

1 hour ago, AlphaTech said:

I need the developers to seriously take a look at my system

Hello

I hope you will allow me to make a few general comments. A developer is not the person to solve your problem. Developers spend their time developing; that's their area of expertise. Solving exotic problems with a variety of potential causes that can't be reproduced is not. Please believe me: Doug and Nick are the best there are when it comes to dealing with these issues.  Among various problems, those that can't be reproduced are among the most difficult.

[AlphaTech]

Larry

 

Thanks for your input but I don’t agree. Whilst I agree that Doug and Nick are probably the best people to deal with this kind of thing; what I have suggested is that there needs to be more effort on Orbx’s part to solve this issue. 

 

I wouldn’t call a terrain.dll an exotic problem, in fact far from. Developers should be on hand to assist and solve these problems for their paying customers, of which I am one. I do accept their time is better placed developing, but there needs to be a way for a developer to roll up their sleeves and be prepared to help someone that is struggling with an ongoing problem.

 

In my view; given that I’m a paying customer, the developer is the person who should be solving my problem.

 

Paul

[Doug Sawatzky]

Hi Paul 

 

All your  Orbx products are showing as properly installed and complete. Your issue would be considered exotic because you are the only one with these specific location based errors. So at this point there is nothing else we can do other than advise you to continue putting the serious effort into your issue. I would highly recommend you do a Google search using “terrain.dll error” as search criteria and look at other possibilities.

 

We all struggle with this hobby at some time or another, and it is not always someone else’s responsibility to roll up thier sleeves. The product has already been fully developed, and there is not always a mechanism for it to be altered for individual circumstances. We are here to help.

 

As I have mentioned previously, FTX Global base is the most unlikely culprit and has been one of the most reliable products we have experienced. 

 

Cheers

 

Doug

[AlphaTech]

Doug

 

thanks, I really appreciate the position here, but I’ve now been trying to resolve this for 3 days.

 

If i was to take Orbx out of the equation, what would cause a Terrain.dll crash at the exact same location every time...best guess?

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

 

I have read the whole topic and thanks are due to Roy for spending his time trying to replicate the problem.

While I understand your frustration, this type of problem is particularly difficult to diagnose.

You have so far ascribed it to P3D, Orbx and UK 2000 and it remains unclear whether it is due to any of them,

all of them, a combination of them or indeed none of them.

You started by telling us that you had cured it for two months by reinstalling P3D and you tell us also that

even you cannot replicate it every time or give an exact location where it occurs.

 

All of these problems have a logical answer and the starting point is to reproduce the error, otherwise anything

else is guesswork.

My guess, for what it is worth, would be the presence of an FS9 model that comes within the radius of your aircraft

around the point you describe, it might also be that it needs to be in view to cause the problem.

I have no idea what version of the UK 2000 airports you are using, version 1 certainly contains numerous elements that

do crash P3D. Gary has addressed all of these but you will need to have the latest versions.

I am not laying the blame at the feet of UK 2000 or anywhere else but I do fear that the problem is unique to your system

and will not be easy to discover.

[AlphaTech]

Nick

 

Thanks for your response. I no longer have any UK2000 installed in the sim, so I’m not sure the presence of an FS9 model is something that it could be.

 

i am hesitant to reinstall P3D because I have seen this problem before and I would actually like to know what the problem so that in the future it can be helpful.

 

Paul

[AlphaTech]

i deleted the Orbx Libs text file to force Orbx to download the libraries. There was 116mb of libs downloaded, is this the full library?

 

two test flights and no crash. Testing a third now. All via restarted pc.

 

Paul

[AlphaTech]

As a test I installed a scenery for Barcelona, to see if anything weird happened, given thats its far away from Scotland. It was all fine, so i flew another test flight over BLACA. The sim crashes again.

 

Because I’m getting a bit fed up here, I figured i would delete thr orbx libs text file again to see what happens. This time FTX downloads 44mb of files. 

 

Orbx - this is a problem for you. My sim crashes at BLACA, EVERY, SINGLE TIME, AT THE EXACT SAME PLACE. It isn’t cool.

 

 

[AlphaTech]

I didnt mention, that the sim didn’t crash when i removed the orbx libs text and when it downloaded the new files.

 

 

[AlphaTech]

Update again.

 

after three or four succesful flights with no crash at BLACA, this morning, the sim is now crashing again at BLACA.

 

There is obviously something at BLACA or the surrounding area that is causing the sim to CTD. Why can’t someone from Orbx take a look on my system files to see if anything obvious jumps out? It appears you are the only developer thath hasn’t offered to do this yet.

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

I am not clear what you mean by "take a look on my system files" and I wonder

which other developers might have done that and why?

[AlphaTech]

Oh Nick.

 

 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

is that an answer or a question?