[SOLVED] DCS Not Launching

[ChrisU22]

Hello!

DCS is not launching for me, and I have tried almost everything apart from formatting my PC. If you have a unique solution, I would love to hear it. 

Please assume that I have read into this for quite a long time, and have a good understanding of PC software and systems.

Whenever I try to launch the game, it appears briefly in Task Manager and then the process ends. I have an EMPTY Saved Games/DCS.openbeta folder, apart from a lackluster Logs folder, which I have attached. 

My Specs: Ryzen 5 5600x, NVIDIA 1060 6GB, 16GB RAM, Acer 1920x1080 Monitor, 500GB SSD, 1TB HDD, TUFF B550-M PLUS, running Windows 64 Pro version 10.0.19045 Build 19045.

The game is NOT populating the Saved Games/DCS.openbeta folder (even after repairs/reinstalls), but it will create a new DCS.openbeta folder if I rename the other one.

I've installed it through Steam and the Standalone versions on both my HDD and SSD, as well as using Everything to clear remaining DCS files after uninstall.

All of the associated folders have access and exclusions.

I recently had a similar problem with Ace Combat 7 and after speaking with BANDAI Support at length, we found that using mpm11011 and WinkelCode's AC7 Ultrawide mod allowed the program to run on my system.

I have also made a support ticket, but I would really like to get help from the community as well. 

Thank you!

 

 

[SOLVED] DCS Now launches normally after Windows Refresh.

Please review Pastebin Troubleshooting List before Refresh: https://pastebin.com/fyBzx7s0

Before Refresh, I copied the Eagle Dynamics folder to my Hard Drive, then pasted it back to my SSD.

 

dcs.log

Edited January 31, 2024 by ChrisU22
SOLVED

[Maverick87Shaka]

This is really strange, is DCS actually installed on C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\ or it's on another path?

did you try to execute as administrator directly the DCS.exe that is inside the \bin-mt\ folder of the game?

[ChrisU22]

Thanks for the reply. 

Yes, this is the path: "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\bin-mt"

I have executed every file normally and as Administrator. 

[Maverick87Shaka]

logs doesn't help so much unfortunately, try to have a look at Windows Event Viewer for Windows Logs, if you can find some useful information.
Open DCS, wait until stop/crash, than look at event viewer.

Did you have an antivirus installed? ( I mean rather than windows defender embedded in windows )
 

[ChrisU22]

Sadly there are no related logs in Event Viewer. 

Also, I have updated the OP to include a list of the things I have tried.

I only have Windows Defender, so no outside antivirus.

 

I appreciate your help so far, I will not give up on this.

[BIGNEWY]

Hi, 

your GPU / graphics card is not being detected

what is your system spec?

Errors
Compatibility Mode
Disable compatibility mode on your DCS.exe.

Config File Corruption
Delete or rename Saved Games\DCS\Config\options.lua and try again.

[ChrisU22]

While the updater is open (or not when running the executable), there is 0% usage on my GPU. I feel like this should be expected as it is not loading any graphics or anything, really. I will keep looking into this one.

My GPU is a NVIDIA 1060 6GB and I deliberately have selected to use the card for DCS in the NVIDIA Control Panel, as per this post:

Compatibility mode was disabled. 

As per my screenshot in the original post, there is nothing in Saved Games\DCS.

Thank you for your response.

[BIGNEWY]

please add the fresh DCS log and dxdiag, we can look for more clues 

or you can contact DCS support directly here 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/

[ChrisU22]

I have attached a fresh DxDiag Log and DCS Log.

I already have a support ticket open, thank you.

DxDiag_DCS_SUPPORT.txt dcs.log

[Flappie]

Hi Chris. That's very unusual, your DCS stops very quickly:

2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): Command line: "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\bin-mt/DCS.exe"
2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): DCS/2.9.2.49940 (x86_64; MT; Windows NT 6.2.9200)
2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): Application revision: 229940
2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): Renderer revision: 24802
2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): Terrain revision: 24741
2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): Build number: 49
2024-01-29 07:37:04.174 INFO    APP (17436): CPU cores: 6, threads: 12, System RAM: 16271 MB, Pagefile: 19970 MB
=== Log closed.

The next step should be:

2024-01-29 19:18:36.061 INFO    ASYNCNET (12660): Login success.
2024-01-29 19:18:37.367 INFO    ASYNCNET (12660): Got auth data.
2024-01-29 19:18:37.545 INFO    APP (Main): Successfully got authorization data.
2024-01-29 19:18:37.576 INFO    EDCORE (Main): (dDispatcher)enterToState_:0

Try each of these steps if you haven't already:

1. Delete "C:/Users/your-login/AppData/Local/Temp/DCS.openbeta".
2. In your antivirus, add your DCS installation path root (/DCS World OpenBeta/) as an exception.
3. Browse to "C:/Program Files/Eagle Dynamics/DCS World OpenBeta/distr". You'll find two exes. Run both, one at a time. One of them may tell you that it won't run because everything is OK: no worries about it, it's normal.
4. Check the compatibility options of your bin-mt/DCS.exe executable: right-click on it, click “Properties”, then display the “Compatibility” tab.
   1. Ensure “Run this program in compatibility mode for” is unticked.
   2. Ensure “Full screen optimisations disable” is unticked.
   3. Ensure “Run this program as an administrator” is unticked.
5. Update Windows.

If nothing of the above works, create a text file called "dcs_variant.txt", simply write "banana" in it, then copy it into "C:/Program Files/Eagle Dynamics/DCS World OpenBeta/". Run DCS. You should now have a Saved Games/DCS.banana folder. Does it change anything?

Edited January 29, 2024 by Flappie

[ChrisU22]

Thank you for your response Flappie.

1. Cleared DCS and DCS.openbeta from Temp

2. Verified that it was already an exemption, still tried again.

3. Have done this, still tried again.

4. Verified executable Compatibility preferences.

5. I would rather not update to Windows 11, but I can if need be. Installed latest "Cumulative Update Preview (KB5034203)" 

6. DCS.banana is created in Saved Games. Although I have tried this already, it is very interesting that it created DCS.banana but won't populate the folder (besides the same exact Log folder/file, which I have attached).

dcs.log

[Flappie]

Maybe some software is preventing DCS to try and log in, and DCS won't go further. Can you please send me the list of your active processes?

1. Open a "cmd" window.
2. Tun this command: tasklist > list.txt
3. Retrieve the file (should be in "C:/Users/your-login") and send it to me in a PM.

[ChrisU22]

Sent PM.

I appreciate your help.

[corn322]

Did you have this issue before using mpm11011?

[ChrisU22]

Yes, but I will remove all associated files.

Thanks

[ChrisU22]

Here is the output from DCS.dmp: https://pastebin.com/rXgXwGKL

It indicates that the program encountered a breakpoint exception, which is interesting and could be helpful.

[Flappie]

I don't see anything funny or unusual in your task list.

I've just realized your DCS log says you're running Windows 8. Are you?

 

2024-01-29 07:37:04.173 INFO    APP (17436): DCS/2.9.2.49940 (x86_64; MT; Windows NT 6.2.9200)

 

If you're not, please double check you're not running DCS in Windows 8 compatibility mode.

[ChrisU22]

Sorry about that, I must have accidentally added that log without checking. I have attached the correct log and edited the post.

dcs.log

[Flappie]

OK that's better.

If you haven't rebooted your PC, try it out (I know a few people that are very proud of their PC uptime, and that's just wrong - especially with Windows).

Otherwise, try this:

1. Run "msconfig".
2. On the Services tab, click "Hide all Microsoft services".
3. Click "Disable all".
4. Recheck "Hide all Microsoft services" and ensure that all Windows services are still checked.
5. Click "Startup" > click the link to open the Task Manager.
6. Right-click on the apps you don't want to see started when ou open a Windows session, and click "Disable".
7. Close the Task Manager, go back to msconfig, click "Apply" > "OK".
8. Click "Restart" when prompted.

By the way, have you already tried and run DCS ST? (bin/DCS.exe)

[ChrisU22]

1. Rebooted PC (I have done this countless times)

2. Disabled services in msconfig

3. Verified that all startup processes are disabled (they have been)

4. I have tried to run every executable file

 

I also just uninstalled my NVIDIA Drivers with DDU in safemode without Network and reinstalled.

Examining the .DMP files is very interesting, the two most recent times I have gotten an error with World.dll and now a ntdll.dll error - which is very interesting.

 

[ChrisU22]

OK! Huge progress.

Alexander in my support ticket suggested to run DCS after rebooting in Safe Mode and it worked (for a bit)!

I was able to load into Close Air Support (easy) with 30seconds - 1 minute of input delay, then I quit to Desktop.

This is big progress and narrows the problem down a lot.

I have attached the DCS.log.

dcs_LOG_SAFEMODE.log

Edited January 30, 2024 by ChrisU22

[ChrisU22]

I have attached a log file from trying to run DCS Updater GUI Program.

Still trying to figure this out. It felt like I disabled every single application in Computer Management / msconfig with no luck.

If anyone else has any other suggestions I would be very appreciative.

It also seems that DCS crashes exactly 10 seconds after launching, according to the timer on the Updater GUI Program.

Thanks

ED Updater Utility v2.log

Edited January 30, 2024 by ChrisU22

[BIGNEWY]

8 hours ago, ChrisU22 said:

OK! Huge progress.

Alexander in my support ticket suggested to run DCS after rebooting in Safe Mode and it worked (for a bit)!

I was able to load into Close Air Support (easy) with 30seconds - 1 minute of input delay, then I quit to Desktop.

This is big progress and narrows the problem down a lot.

I have attached the DCS.log.

dcs_LOG_SAFEMODE.log 60.05 kB · 4 downloads

 

 

Your dedicated gpu is not being used here, I am surprised it started at all

GPU
Microsoft Basic Render Driver
VRAM
0 MB
Driver
embedded

 

[Flappie]

@ChrisU22 Since you're reluctant in going Windows 11, you should consider a Windows 10 refresh (at your own risk).

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/give-your-pc-a-fresh-start-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e

[ChrisU22]

I want to thank everyone for your help. I finally got it to work after a Windows Refresh. I copied DCS over to my HDD and refreshed my Windows installation on my SSD, then moved it back once it completed and it works.

I am sure that a combination of many things contributed to the game finally launching. 

Here is the list of everything I have tried https://pastebin.com/fyBzx7s0.

I hope that this forum thread is useful for anyone else that has similar problems.

Thanks again.