MiG29A not playing well with Pimax Play

[gwizairshows]

This mod has great potential.  Unfortunately it has some constant crash issues with Pimax Play resulting in game crashing to desk top. I have researched and tried numerous ways to comply with the online system crash advice, but nothing seems to work. Trying the old open XR and Pimax play start options initially start off fine, but then almost at the exact same spot taxiing from a cold start the sim crashes. It is very frustrating, especially considering the amount of time I have dedicated to learning this module. As far as my rig, I am operating a Cyber Power   Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-14900K, 3200 Mhz, 24 Core(s), 32 Logical Processor(s), with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090.  So handling this module and DCS should be no problem.  These crashes only happen with this MiG-29A module.  It appears something is wrong with this module and Pimax Play.

Anyone else having these issues?

[gwizairshows]

here is the crash log file: dcs.20240625-155127.crash

[Lt_Jaeger]

For me, everything is running fine with the OG Crystal. No crashes and very good performance. You might want to check if you run some unofficial mods or did do some fancy stuff to the finicky pimax software. A full repair of DCS might also help. 

[Brzi_Joe]

You may try to change order of OpenXR layers.

[sleighzy]

Can you please attach your DCS log file for when this occurs again. The log file will get overwritten each time you start DCS so make sure to grab it first.

[gwizairshows]

Well... I just may have solved the problem.  I went back to Open Composite, activated it and disabled Steam VR in the Open Composite option.  Activated Open XR and Tool kit programs.  Started Pimax Play, and in the Games section disabled in the menus any reference to Steam VR (including aspects regarding the DCS Game Start option) and hit Apply.  Then activated DCS from the Pimax Game option (with all the Steam VR stuff off).  

Held my breath, and to my amazement flew a complete 40 min solo Nav mission out of Maykop from cold start to shut down.  Everything worked perfectly!!

Therefore, I am assuming the problem is actually with Pimax, (not playing with) Steam VR and something to do with those two that relates to the Mig-29A module.  Of course that was only one flight.  Will try multiple flights soon and report if all is okay using the above process.  Again this whole problem only seems to be a factor with 29A module, all others are fine. 

As I am fixated on the 29A for the time being, guess this will be the new DCS start norm using the Crystal for me.

[sleighzy]

15 minutes ago, gwizairshows said:

I went back to Open Composite, activated it and disabled Steam VR in the Open Composite option.

Any reason why you're using OpenComposite? DCS is a native OpenXR game so shouldn't be used with that. And yes, Pimax should ideally be used with either the PimaxPlay OpenXR runtime or Mbucchia's Pimax runtime and not SteamVR.

[gwizairshows]

 

17 hours ago, sleighzy said:

Any reason why you're using OpenComposite?

Admittedly, I am not super computer software savvy. A while back I downloaded those three programs (and also Project Lasso).  My understanding was Open Composite regulated the options for OpenXR versus Steam VR.  Therefore, I assumed that in order to operate the subsequent programs of Open XR and Open XR tool kit properly, that Open composite had to be activated first in order to insure Steam VR would NOT be run.

Please educate me otherwise, as there is a bit of confusion in my mind as to the best way to get the bloody sim to work consistently.

BTW, I do find it a bit odd that Steam VR has always been a bugaboo.  I do realize that VR was not native core, but after all this time I would hope that these issues would have been ironed out!

[gwizairshows]

Update.  Did the exact thing I did yesterday.  Today, what worked yesterday did not today resulting in 5 system crashes in a row after 5 full and complete system reboots.  However, using the exact same mission, but dropping random other modules (Mig-15, etc.) in place of the Mig29A...everything worked perfectly.  

Giving up for the time being on the 29 until a fix comes out...sigh...

[sleighzy]

5 hours ago, gwizairshows said:

 

Admittedly, I am not super computer software savvy. A while back I downloaded those three programs (and also Project Lasso).  My understanding was Open Composite regulated the options for OpenXR versus Steam VR.  Therefore, I assumed that in order to operate the subsequent programs of Open XR and Open XR tool kit properly, that Open composite had to be activated first in order to insure Steam VR would NOT be run.

Please educate me otherwise, as there is a bit of confusion in my mind as to the best way to get the bloody sim to work consistently.

BTW, I do find it a bit odd that Steam VR has always been a bugaboo.  I do realize that VR was not native core, but after all this time I would hope that these issues would have been ironed out!

Nah, OpenComposite takes OpenVR games (not OpenXR like DCS) and "converts" (like a bridge) them to OpenXR. So basically is intended to "allow" SteamVR games to run using OpenXR.

Because DCS is already OpenXR none of that is needed. You just need to set your runtime of choice (PimaxPlay or Mbucchia's PimaxXR) as the default OpenXR runtime and it'll use that. If you have set SteamVR to be the runtime for OpenXR it will open SteamVR.

19 minutes ago, gwizairshows said:

Today, what worked yesterday did not today resulting in 5 system crashes in a row after 5 full and complete system reboots.

Drop another crash log zip file from one of those occurrences. If the system is rebooting then this means a Windows issue and not the game itself. Typically an issue with drivers or memory. Unless I misunderstood your comment and these are reboots you are doing manually. If Windows is rebooting and not a game crash then there likely won't be a crash zip. Run the Windows DxDiag tool, save the output, and drop that here as well as a DCS log file from a crash.

Edited Friday at 07:48 PM by sleighzy

[gwizairshows]

Appreciate the info.  I mislead you, sorry...Let me clarify, the game/sim crashed to the steam menu 5 times, normally after a good cold start and just upon power up on the runway.  I completely re-booted my system each 5 times to try and insure a clean system.  

In reference to the crash logs, I know they are in the saved games..., however the only ones I saw after the last crash was from a previous month.  I'll try again tomorrow.

BTW, thanks for your help!!

[sleighzy]

5 hours ago, gwizairshows said:

Appreciate the info.  I mislead you, sorry...Let me clarify, the game/sim crashed to the steam menu 5 times, normally after a good cold start and just upon power up on the runway.  I completely re-booted my system each 5 times to try and insure a clean system.  

In reference to the crash logs, I know they are in the saved games..., however the only ones I saw after the last crash was from a previous month.  I'll try again tomorrow.

BTW, thanks for your help!!

No worries. Yeah dcs.log file in there is good enough to attach here after a crash.

[gwizairshows]

More current crahses...:-(

dcs.log dcs1.log dcs2.log

[sleighzy]

4 hours ago, gwizairshows said:

More current crahses...:-(

dcs.log 140 kB · 1 download dcs1.log 104.39 kB · 1 download dcs2.log 105.96 kB · 0 downloads

Two of those logs show you've added Quad-Views-Foveated, recommend removing OpenXR Toolkit if you're running that in general.

The logs don't show a crash itself so it's more likely that Windows is killing the process. Can you run the Windows DxDiag tool, save the output, and then attach it here as well.

I'd highly recommend you remove your mods, run a repair, and delete your Saved Games\DCS\fxo and metashaders2 caches. Mods can cause issues so may be something conflicting with that module and not others.

Additional items:

• You can remove the "force_OpenXR" parameter from your shortcut as the game is entirely OpenXR. I'm assuming your other params are so you can have both VR and 2D shortcuts?
• You have core parking enabled. You can use the ParkControl software to disable core parking for your power management profiles. Having this enabled can cause stutters.

I'll wait for the DxDiag report as that will likely have more info re: system issues and if/why Windows is terminating this.

[gwizairshows]

Done.  

DxDiag Results.txt

[gwizairshows]

So to start the sim, I just use Pimax Play (which I re-installed) with the following settings:

Device Settings -> Refresh Rate 90Hz, Brightness 100, Eyetracking, 

Under Games:

Common Settings -> Image Quality High, GPU Upscaling- NIS/Quality, and Smart Smoothing

Under DCS World Steam Edition -> Image Quality High, GPU Upscaling- NIS/Quality, and Smart Smoothing

Also, I downloaded ParkControl and turned off Parking.  Yes I have been deleting FXO and Metashader2 prior to each game start.  As far as mods I have the WWII and Chinese Assets, UH-60L, A4E, and Bronco.  They work great so I am reluctant to mess with them unless really necessary!

Again, really appreciate the help and info.

[gwizairshows]

Interestingly, started a mission from scratch with the Mirage F1, then edited the mission by dropping in the Mig29A...everything worked perfectly. Mig flew excellently.

Then closed that mission and went to a saved MiG29A mission and activated it, as usual everything worked perfectly as I got through the cold start, taxied out, then...(and at almost the exact same spot each time of a previous crash)... taxing out the sim crashes to steam. The logs are below for ref.  Really weird if you ask me!

dcs.log debrief.log

[sleighzy]

9 hours ago, gwizairshows said:

Interestingly, started a mission from scratch with the Mirage F1, then edited the mission by dropping in the Mig29A...everything worked perfectly. Mig flew excellently.

Then closed that mission and went to a saved MiG29A mission and activated it, as usual everything worked perfectly as I got through the cold start, taxied out, then...(and at almost the exact same spot each time of a previous crash)... taxing out the sim crashes to steam. The logs are below for ref.  Really weird if you ask me!

dcs.log 487.94 kB · 0 downloads debrief.log 26.13 kB · 0 downloads

In this log, and one of your earlier ones there is an ANTIFREEZE event along with a plug event for a Samsung TV as the last entries in the log before it stops:

2025-10-05 21:41:04.147 INFO    APP (Main): Device plugged: [SWD] Samsung Q60AA 43 TV
2025-10-05 21:42:45.526 WARNING LOG (17080): 2 duplicate message(s) skipped.
2025-10-05 21:42:45.526 WARNING WORLD (Main): ModelTimeQuantizer: ANTIFREEZE ENABLED

What is this device and how is it connected to your PC?

Regarding the mission and changing the plane. Is this replicatable vs. coincidence? What happens if you do the reverse, take the MiG29A mission and replace it with the Mirage? Can you replicate this issue with other non-MiG missions and replacing the plane with the MiG? Just wanting to confirm whether or not it is an issue with that mission that is somehow triggering it.

[MAXsenna]

26 minutes ago, sleighzy said:

In this log, and one of your earlier ones there is an ANTIFREEZE event along with a plug event for a Samsung TV as the last entries in the log before it stops:

Nice catch. Windows 10, and I assume 11, is notorious for connecting to Samsung, (and maybe other brands), if one has enabled "network media player scanner" or something service. You don't even have to connect to the TV yourself. Windows just does it for you. I remember now that another user had a similar issue a few years ago, and solved the problem by either disabling some service or removing the TV from Windows.