Curiously regular stuttering

[Caput_58]

Hey guys, I'm reluctant to start yet another stutter thread, but my problem seems a bit distinct from the usual DCS performance issues.

What I'm seeing is a very regular simulation time spike that occurs.  The spike is very narrow, and while the spacing is different between servers, it's very regular in a given server.  Anywhere from every 3 seconds to every 10 seconds.  After sampling about 10 busy servers, I've noticed that it doesn't appear on Enigma's Cold War Server, or a chopper SAR server, both of which don't have much AI plane activity.  It's also present in SP with a busy enough mission.  Also present in a locally hosted MP setup.  It does not occur as a MP client when you F2 around while not spawned in.  I didn't notice this problem at all a few months/patches ago.

Something very similar also shows up when refreshing a server list, though I'm not sure that it's  related.  Curiously it only shows up when I'm not filtering down to my 12 or so favorite servers.

I run a reasonably beefy system, 5700X with 4090 and 64gb of RAM running W10.  DCS is on SSD, with swap drive on different SSD.

Things I have tried so far:

Changing core affinity and process priority.

Setting graphics to silly low stuff. 

Updating nvidia drivers

Changing between frameless full screen and dedicated full screen

Disabling g-sync

Changing mouse polling.

Leaving TrackIR off.

Disconnecting all controllers

Disabling CPU Parking.

Turning off/on HAGS

Removing all mods.

Removing all applications in export.lua except SRS

Disabling Tacview

Running on secondary monitor

Trying various Modules

Removing the Super Carrier

Using the old single threaded .exe

Rebooting Router

Making sure DCS folders are in exception list for Windows Defender.

Disabling Power Management.

Disabling Trackfiles.

Turning off/on various fps caps and v-sync

Checking dcs.log for error/warnings (always some, but no new ones being generated during the performance hits)

Doing a full repair

Anyway, I'm running low on ideas.  I'm mostly hoping to find others with the same problem so we can compare hardware and software settings.

null

 

[Caput_58]

Well I've solved my own problem.  Turns out the secret was spending countless days troubleshooting every possible fix, then give up and post to the forum.

Right after I made the above post I tried two more things.  One, I updated some windows stuff, including net framework stuff.  At the same time, I also decided to dig into the scripting Hooks directory.  I figured most mods were already removed by renaming the Mods dir and eliminating all the references in export.lua.  I was wrong.  Renaming the hooks directory fixed the problem completely.

I drilled down a little further to figure out which file exactly was causing the problem.  Turns out it was the gunner export .dll and .lua that the otherwise excellent OH-6 mod added.  With them re-added the problem was back, with them gone everything is fine.

I like that mod, so I grabbed the newest version, which just released a few days ago.  They must have updated the .dll or the .lua, because with them back in hooks I'm still stutter free.  Well, as stutter free as anyone is in DCS.

Hope this helps someone else out there.

 

 

Also, it should would be helpful if DCS had a safemode with options to boot with an alternate (and empty) Saved Games\DCS directory.

 

Edited August 14, 2024 by Caput_58
addendum

[Trespasser]

We're like brothers in arms lol.

I spent days doing all the stuff you mentioned in yer first post. I still need to test, But yeah I just noticed those files after a repair and was like, you go now.  I even updated my bios and chipset drivers lol. My stutter was like a metronome. Every 2.73 seconds a split-second micro-stutter. You could set your clock by it. If only I'd seen this last week.

[LOW_Hitman]

Am 14.8.2024 um 04:38 schrieb Caput_58:

Well I've solved my own problem.  Turns out the secret was spending countless days troubleshooting every possible fix, then give up and post to the forum.

Right after I made the above post I tried two more things.  One, I updated some windows stuff, including net framework stuff.  At the same time, I also decided to dig into the scripting Hooks directory.  I figured most mods were already removed by renaming the Mods dir and eliminating all the references in export.lua.  I was wrong.  Renaming the hooks directory fixed the problem completely.

I drilled down a little further to figure out which file exactly was causing the problem.  Turns out it was the gunner export .dll and .lua that the otherwise excellent OH-6 mod added.  With them re-added the problem was back, with them gone everything is fine.

I like that mod, so I grabbed the newest version, which just released a few days ago.  They must have updated the .dll or the .lua, because with them back in hooks I'm still stutter free.  Well, as stutter free as anyone is in DCS.

Hope this helps someone else out there.

 

 

Also, it should would be helpful if DCS had a safemode with options to boot with an alternate (and empty) Saved Games\DCS directory.

 

 

where can i find the scripting hooks directory? Haven't seen it in user/documents and so on

[CaptHawk]

2 hours ago, LOW_Hitman said:

where can i find the scripting hooks directory? Haven't seen it in user/documents and so on

SavedGames/DCSOpen Beta/Scripts iirc.