aaronwhite

Well, mixed bag now. Did the full repair and then launched it with XMP turned off, and the game was running fine, with a few little stutters of a half second or less, where you could hear the fans kick up a bit then it would go back to the training mission. Made it through the F-4 first training mission just fine, loaded up the 2nd one to see, and managed to get through a few minutes of that one, but then there was a stutter and eventual freeze before the computer rebooted. I ran this log through the Discord log checker, and it just recommended turning down some settings, and wasn't flagging the IC failure, so I'm not entirely sure what caused that. I do still see a bunch of random ERROR messages, like "ERROR ED_SOUND (Main): invalid source_params(F4E_PILOT_COCKPIT:aircrafts/f-4e/cockpit/f4e_ecs_int_fl): gain" in the log pre-crash, and after the handoff of controls, but I'm not sure if that's related. This is all post a full rebuild, which is still all running on a full clean install from just last night with nothing else installed into the game. I've got Saved Games and my DCS folder excluded from Defender, and no signs of any files being quarantined or anything like that. I'll spin it up again and see if I can fly around in the Apache mission I created. dcs.log

Not a bad idea! I'll give that a shot, since I've got meetings until I can test it until lunch. I've noticed that one popped up a few times, which is odd, since this install is clean from last night and hadn't been run until this morning. I'm going to block the directory from Defender just to be safe, even though I haven't noticed any indicators that Defender has been quarantining files.

Alright, hopeful update. Disabled XMP in the BIOS and started up my previously-crashed Apache mission on the Caucasus map. There's not much going on, just a few AI flights and then some client slots I can jump into for helicopters. Anyhow, I had created a FARP and had some AI AH-1W's take off from there, so I just left the camera there while logging into work, and after about 5 minutes, they took off and flew off. Noticing there hadn't been a crash yet, I jumped into the Apache slot and started the startup process and got through startup as best as I could (I didn't have my TrackIR going or my HOTAS on my desk, so it was all just mouse clicking) and it didn't crash at that point either. I'm cautiously optimistic the XMP may have solved it, but I'll give it the ultimate test on my lunch break by testing out the F-4 training mission to see what happens.

Good morning! There's a long list of crash logs in my F-4 thread, as initially, I was thinking the crashes were just unique to the F-4 from Heatblur, however through testing, I've discovered that they aren't and are happening through DCS as a whole, and also happening with the model viewer at times. My system specs are as follows: Processor: Intel® Core™ i9-14900KS Processor (8X 3.20GHz + 16X 2.40GHz/36MB L3 Cache) Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z790-V WiFi - WiFi 5, ARGB Header (3), USB 3.2 Ports (1 Type-C, 3 Type-A), M.2 Slot (3) Memory: 64 GB [32 GB X2] DDR5-6000MHz Memory Module - Certified Major Brand Gaming Memory Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER - 16GB GDDR6X (DLSS 3.5 – AI-Powered Performance) PNY VERTO OC Power Supply: 1000 Watt - CORSAIR RM1000e - 80 PLUS Gold PCIe GEN 5, Fully Modular Primary Storage: 1TB WD Blue SN580 M.2 PCIe GEN 4 NVMe SSD I've tried a variety of solutions so far. I have re-installed a clean DCS copy about 6 times now. I initially started with DCS on my primary SSD, but moved it over to my spare SSD to see if maybe the SSD itself was causing issues. I've tried rolling back my GPU drivers, lowering graphics settings to the lowest possible, and just trying to run a few small missions to see, all without any luck so far. The crashes still happen, and I still see a few odd messages in the error logs. This morning I wanted to see if the SSD move helped, so I fired up a little mission I threw together with the Apache and still crashed about 10 minutes into startup. With the F-4 I had been testing previously the most, I was trying out training missions and custom made missions, and the crashes also happened randomly then as well. Yesterday's crash was a hard crash that required me to completely hard-reset the computer, while the one this morning just crashed it to the desktop. Here's the link to my previous thread with a handful of crash logs in it. I'm going to run a test on my RAM just to eliminate that option, but the computer is brand new and only seems to be running into problems with DCS, which is a bit of a bummer, as it's the game I was most looking forward to flying on the new computer. Anyhow, interested to see if anyone has any ideas about a potential cause. Just to recap my fix attempts: No mods installed, full repair multiple times, full clean install multiple times in different locations, attempted to run MT and standard DCS, rolled back and updated GPU drivers. I think that's everything I can think of. Thanks! dcs.log

I support this mission, if for no other reason than to happily have some VsTerminus tutorials on the F-4!

Good news/bad news for me and Heatblur. I hopped into a mission I'd created before upgrading to my new computer just to fly the Apache, and once again, was greeted with a crash, only this time the thing just locked my computer up to the point that I had to hard reset. No idea what's causing this, but I guess I'm going to go spend some time trying to sort that out. I'll throw what came up in the log just in case it's useful to anyone. I guess my dreams of stutter-free flying with the beefier computer aren't being realized as much as I was hoping they would be. Might have to go try and dig the old one out of the dumpster for the time being. dcs.log

Alright, one more thing I thought to try to see if it would affect the issue. I made sure I was specifically running the MT launcher for DCS. Sadly, no change there. Still crashed in the training mission a few minute in (shortly after connecting external power). Tossed the log in, and from what I'm seeing, it looks like more of the same error messages. dcs.log

At this point, I think I'm going to hang out and wait and try the F-4 after the next patch. I might give a few flights a try this week, but so far, it seems none of my changes have worked, so it's possible it's a game/F-4 issue, or just something I haven't sorted out quite yet. I do need to spend some time in the Apache on the new computer still, so I might give that a try while waiting.

To continue spamming this thread myself, I went ahead and pushed out my blue camo F-14. Hopefully it's not the worst, but if anyone finds any glaring issues, let me know and I'll get it sorted. It's definitely not perfect, and doesn't represent any specific F-14 (hence why I left off the main registration numbers and everything to keep it as a nice generic skin) but I'm happy to address any of the problems people find. If you're interested, you can grab it here. Now I'm going to give the splinter camo a try, which definitely is looking to be more interesting than the blue camo, since getting these lines all straight across some of these panel lines might get challenging. This is all early WIP with only about an hour of effort on there. I'm still trying out colors to see if I can get it to look right in game, so the colors here likely aren't final, nor are the patterns. As always, I'll endlessly update until it's done.

I wonder if those would be better with supplementary videos on Youtube that you could watch beforehand, just so you get a bit of a walkthrough of the entire landing process explained and shown to you, before you jump into the cockpit and try it yourself.

Final test. Guess I'm out of ideas after this one, so I'll just have to wait and see. I dropped most everything in graphics to low, though the computer should be able to handle it (I haven't had issues in any other games so far, and the GPU stress test I ran didn't show a problem anywhere). I've got ~40GB of page file memory allocated, rolled back the drivers and fired up the taxi training mission. I was able to complete the mission, which was a first, granted it was a bit tough with the graphics turned down since I couldn't read the panels well. Anyhow, got to the end of training, took off just to see, and while rotating out i crashed on me again. I'll throw the log in here. dcs.log

That's obviously nonsense because they've already been working, quite openly, on the AI flight models and combat behavior. Saying they don't care because there's no money in it for them makes no sense, because they've already been working on it and showing their efforts.

Alright, I rolled back my drivers to some older GPU drivers, so we'll see how it works tomorrow morning. I did a quick test just opening the training mission and letting it sit while I ate dinner, and I came back about 30 minutes later without a crash. I'll try and actually get through the training tomorrow morning and see. Edit: Well, it seemed promising at first. I got about 10 minutes into the training, but then it crashed again on me. I've attached the log for this recent one as well. Still seeing the same ERROR ED_SOUND (Main) issues that seem to pop up just before the previous crashes, not sure if there's any relation. dcs.log

Hey, no worries! Rome wasn't built in a day, and the digital F-4 wasn't either. It's the first time I've really had any crashing issues with DCS, fortunately, so it's just something I'll keep plugging away at until something I do fixes it, or a patch can, assuming it's related. I rolled back my GPU drivers just to see if maybe a recent update caused any issues. I'm going to hopefully get some flight time tonight and test it out.

Ha, funny you mention the complexity. I was watching the video for the radar back when that teaser was released and told my friend "This is all incredible, and I can't imagine the work that goes into doing it, but it's got to make sorting out bugs a real headache at times". For my crashes (Here's a link, since I forgot to mention it previously) I was noticing a similar issue with the error logs, but not entirely sure how to make heads or tails out of it, not to hijack this thread. I tried a few different things in the thread without much luck so far, but I'll keep an eye out for future patches.

Reminds me of the Hornet when I was learning it. I wouldn't get the gear up quick enough when I was doing full afterburner takeoffs and would constantly rip the gear doors off on the nose.

"fix should be available in the next DCS update" That's great news. Any information on what the crash pertains to? I've been documenting all of my crashes as best as I can, with the logs, but I haven't heard much back yet in terms of any information on what might be causing it. Here's hoping my issue's included in the patch. I'm enjoying the F-4 and learning when I can, but the crashes have made it pretty tough to fly consistently, so I've had to shelve it for now.

Good question. I wonder if the F-14's wings were just already complex enough? Or maybe with the wing sweep being handled by the system, the wing would normally be in an auto mode that would pull the flaps in to sweep the wing anyhow? I'm curious to see what people say.

A skin I've been working on to give the F-4 some company.

I think I might be finally ready to push this thing out the door. I made some custom pilots and tried to modify the flight suits and helmets a bit based on references I found online. I was thinking of doing some "generic" versions without a lot of wear or grime and no numbers, then maybe making some more specific skins based on one or two combined references with numbers to look a little more realistic. The skin definitely isn't perfect, and I'm sure someone with more expertise and better reference material will spot some errors, but it will hopefully fill a gap until the official Heatblur version is out with some better made skins than mine.

While I've had a ton of crashing issues to deal with that I'm working on documenting with the hope that Heatblur can sort it out, the module still feels incredible. The crashes make learning it a bit tough, but it's still a blast to just fly around when I can. Like the F-14, I wasn't really super excited for the F-4 when it was revealed (heresy, I know) but I picked it up just wanting to support a developer in DCS that continues to create great work and really push the envelope for what's possible in DCS. It's definitely a bigger learning hurdle to clear compared to the modern "smart" planes with detailed HUDs and much simpler avionics and HOTAS controls, and the crashing makes it tough to actually progress, but damn the thing just makes you want to get in and fly.

@BIGNEWY Question for you too, since you may have seen this in the past, but do you know if the crashes that I see referenced in Windows Event Viewer pointing towards ModuleName edCore.dll with the ExceptionCode c00000fd would be an indication of anything in particular concerning DCS? From what I can tell with some light Google searching it appears to be tied to stack overflow issues, but I'm not sure if that would just be the way DCS would crash if it was anything. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a bigger issue. It does still seem like I'm only experiencing this with the F-4 in particular, but I just didn't want to miss the forest for the trees.

Last one for today. Tried a training mission and then just threw my F-4 onto the tarmac to practice some landings. Forgot to grab the logs the first time, but here's the one from me just dropping it onto the Caucasus map at Tbilisi. dcs.log

Interesting. I'll see if Windows Defender has any logs that might point that way. I can't imagine Defender would be blocking anything, but it is pretty aggressive with removing files it sees as malicious, even if it's a false positive. Edit: Searched through my Windows Defender logs and the EventViewer just to see, no luck finding anything there for my case. Double Edit: Digging through a bit more, it looks like most all of the crashes reference in Event Viewer reference ModuleName edCore.dll. Looks like ExceptionCode c00000fd which as far as I can tell from some Google searching is potentially tied to stack overflows. Not sure if that helps, but I'll keep digging around. TRIPLE EDIT: Okay, I'm going to test something more. I would hope that the 64GB of RAM my system is already using would be enough on top of the NVMe SSD, but just to be safe, I went ahead and used my two spare SSD's that are installed in the machine to set as system assigned page files. My current total page file size is 28GB, on top of the RAM, so I'll try and run a test mission tonight and see if that turns up anything.

@HB_PainterHope you don't mind the ping, just wanted to let you know I've got a small handful of logs for you now. Let me know if there's any testing ideas you've got that I could run through to give you all some better information to work with.