FS Spotlights crashes sim

[Ross McDonagh]

Anytime I’ve had FS Spotlights installed (I’ve tried twice now) I get the “long frame” DXGI Device Hung error within minutes of loading into the A32X.  Once uninstalled, I can generally get by ok.  I have been using latest versions of A32X for P3D V5 and the latest FS SL installer from this website.  
 

 

I realize lighting is an issue in V5 and likely will be until 5.1.  I also have the same type issue with a few other addon aircraft another larger Airbus I’d like to be using (but which crashes as well) which comes with a “beta version” of a different integral lighting system and at the same time, I’m holding off on A. installing a Boeing/Maddog that I already purchased and B. Purchasing a certain carbon fiber Boeing jet because it comes with that same integral light setup.  
 

What I’m looking for is suggestions on what can be done to alleviate these CTD/GPU hangs in the meantime.  If you need my settings I’ll gladly post them when I get home.  Any advice is appreciated-I merely want to enjoy the Airbus as it’s meant to be flown/enjoyed.  

[Lefteris Kalamaras]

Ross-

if you are having the same issue with other add-ons, then it's not Spotlights, but dynamic lighting in general in your sim. After all, Spotlights only uses the internal dynamic lighting.

I think your issue has to do with airports that have too many dynamic lights added, and/or a combination of graphics drivers/tweaks/settings in NVidia control panel.

[Ross McDonagh]

2 hours ago, Lefteris Kalamaras said:

Ross-

if you are having the same issue with other add-ons, then it's not Spotlights, but dynamic lighting in general in your sim. After all, Spotlights only uses the internal dynamic lighting.

I think your issue has to do with airports that have too many dynamic lights added, and/or a combination of graphics drivers/tweaks/settings in NVidia control panel.

Lefteris, thanks very much for the reply.  I’m new to P3D after having flown FS9/FSX 11-12 years ago.  If I post up some settings might you be able to give me some suggestions?  I haven’t touched the NVIDIA control panel that may as well be hieroglyphics to me in there.  I’ve used the FSL optimizer each time it’s asked me to do something, but I’d really like to attempt to get this sorted without completely torquing my .cfg or turning things down too terribly much.  With a 10700K and 2080S I wasn’t expecting full sliders right as it were, but at least midway to partially right and it seems the other “light” developer has found the issue w their lights and says it’s a very complex thing but they’ve found it nevertheless.  
 

TLDR: 

Ive got no clue what specifically to turn down either in my addon airport settings (which btw work without Spotlights installed for some weird reason) or my P3D settings...

please help me  

[Ali Davy]

same issue

[Lefteris Kalamaras]

On 8/6/2020 at 4:16 PM, Lefteris Kalamaras said:

I think your issue has to do with airports that have too many dynamic lights added, and/or a combination of graphics drivers/tweaks/settings in NVidia control panel.

 

[Ali Davy]

my airport loww fly tampa . what can i do boss?

[Lefteris Kalamaras]

I don't have any suggestions for you, really, other than to go to the P3D support forum and ask for help there - they are supposed to fix their own issue as this is certainly an LM issue with long frames that cause the NVIDIA driver to time out.

[Ross McDonagh]

12 hours ago, Lefteris Kalamaras said:

I don't have any suggestions for you, really, other than to go to the P3D support forum and ask for help there - they are supposed to fix their own issue as this is certainly an LM issue with long frames that cause the NVIDIA driver to time out.

Want to hear something nutty?   
 

-I uninstalled FSL (left reg keys for reinstall) flew an entire flight PHNL-KLAX in a bigger Airbus-no issue, thought I had it licked... 
-Reinstalled FSL, was able to do circuits (SID->ILS)  at FT KBOS day and night with EA on and everything turned up.  
-flew a KDEN-KSFO (FB) tutorial flight in a 4 engine plane on vatsim-no issue thru the flight until I got to 10K on the arrival, turned on landing lights (this was JUST at sunset/dusk) bang.... DXGI 
-Reloaded P3D, tried to go from the runway-soon as the lights come on that’s it  

it seems to be indeed lighting... but does this mean wait for V5.1?  Don’t fly at night until then?  How is it others can fly no problem at similar or higher settings?  Losing my mind here Lefteris. 

[J0hannes Butz]

2 hours ago, Ross McDonagh said:

DXGI

Hi Ross,

I've had this in P3Dv4 when DL was new. For me a utility called "Driver Booster" (don't buy, just use the free version) managed to remove the DXGI error. If I remember correctly I also did a clean re-install with DDU of my Nvidia drivers in windows safe mode. I still run Driver Booster from time to time, haven't had this issue since, even throughout the years of Windows updates.

Also make sure all your motherboard-related software (Intel & Gigabyte drivers/utilities for you) is always installed in the latest version before you reinstall your Nvidia driver. There's smart software that scans through what is installed and what not, so I prefer getting everything fixed in the order of BIOS > MB drivers > GFX drivers > other drivers/software.

You can find this and other information in the Avsim CTD guide, it still gets updated and usually helps solve any issues I have in my sim. It will also come in handy in the future, when the ESP platform keeps finding various reasons to not function... 

Hope this helps...

[Ross McDonagh]

6 hours ago, J0hannes Butz said:

Also make sure all your motherboard-related software (Intel & Gigabyte drivers/utilities for you) is always installed in the latest version before you reinstall your Nvidia driver. There's smart software that scans through what is installed and what not, so I prefer getting everything fixed in the order of BIOS > MB drivers > GFX drivers > other drivers/software.

 

@J0hannes Butz thanks for your reply.  I have no idea how to do any of this-have you got a utility you can link me to that can check that and assist with it? 

[John Barnes]

Most driver update facility's will scan for drivers requiring updates but most will want you to subscribe/purchase to download them. I use Advanced System Repair Pro but it's payware.

[J0hannes Butz]

5 hours ago, Ross McDonagh said:

have you got a utility you can link me

Okay, theoretically Jetline should have given you all of the documentation that came with the parts they used in your build. But your forum signature here will also do for most of the driver-sourcing:

You can find the drivers for your motherboard and chipset here (I simply did one google search with the exact brand and component name). Those are the most important ones in this case.

Please make sure before you flash (update) the BIOS on your motherboard, that you have fully understood the process and won't do anything on your PC, even if it reboots and shows strange things on the display, etc. during the install. If you don't feel you want to mess with this (because this can f* up your MB for good) you should contact a professional to do it. That's a lot cheaper than buying a new MB...
If you decide to do it on your own download the manual from the link above, all steps should be documented thoroughly by Gigabyte.

For NVIDIA you go here, put in your information and you will get the latest version of your GFX drivers. This is for your clean reinstall after using DDU. Use the DDU website/guide before doing anything to your GFX drivers. Try your MB stuff first, it might already solve your issue.

Everything else should be updated by the free version of Driver Booster (link above) after you've installed it (pay attention, it wants to install a lot of bloatware with the installer). Driver Booster will tell you, also in the free version, which drivers have received updates and which it won't install because of the free version (mouse hover over "see more" or "expand" on the top right after you scan for new drivers. Then a short google search will be all you need to do in order to source the new driver.

[Ross McDonagh]

4 hours ago, J0hannes Butz said:

Okay, theoretically Jetline should have given you all of the documentation that came with the parts they used in your build. But your forum signature here will also do for most of the driver-sourcing:

You can find the drivers for your motherboard and chipset here (I simply did one google search with the exact brand and component name). Those are the most important ones in this case.

Please make sure before you flash (update) the BIOS on your motherboard, that you have fully understood the process and won't do anything on your PC, even if it reboots and shows strange things on the display, etc. during the install. If you don't feel you want to mess with this (because this can f* up your MB for good) you should contact a professional to do it. That's a lot cheaper than buying a new MB...
If you decide to do it on your own download the manual from the link above, all steps should be documented thoroughly by Gigabyte.

For NVIDIA you go here, put in your information and you will get the latest version of your GFX drivers. This is for your clean reinstall after using DDU. Use the DDU website/guide before doing anything to your GFX drivers. Try your MB stuff first, it might already solve your issue.

Everything else should be updated by the free version of Driver Booster (link above) after you've installed it (pay attention, it wants to install a lot of bloatware with the installer). Driver Booster will tell you, also in the free version, which drivers have received updates and which it won't install because of the free version (mouse hover over "see more" or "expand" on the top right after you scan for new drivers. Then a short google search will be all you need to do in order to source the new driver.

This stuff is so far above my head I feel the need to not even mess with it.  I put in my info on the nvidia website, but I merely did a “clean install” with what nvidia gave me. 

[J0hannes Butz]

6 hours ago, Ross McDonagh said:

clean install

Ross, please take following steps in exactly this order:

1. Install Driver Booster first and run it. After the scan it should ask you for permission to do it's thing, then it will install all the updated drivers for your system automatically. You won't need to do much more than click two buttons. I'd recommend you do this first and then see if your DXGI error comes back. If it does you need to perform the following step. If it doesn't please just ignore the following.

 

2. For a proper "clean install" of your GFX drivers you need DDU. This one is fairly simple, but take your time to read through the documentation before you go. You can find a video explanation here. You can't damage much in this process, if your PC doesn't give you video signals you can simply connect to your motherboards connector, install the drivers and you're back up and running. Also after you performed this you should check if the DXGI error is gone. If it persists take the following step as well.

3. Update your chipset drivers manually from the link above. You don't need to do much but to run the individual installers. See if the DXGI error is gone, if it comes back you'll need to perform the following step as well.

4. Check your BIOS version on the Gigabyte website I linked above to the number showing first on screen after you press the power button of your new PC. If it doesn't show you there, keep pressing the "Del"-key repeatedly during the initial starting phase of your PC (from the point you press the power button to when the windows loading screen usually comes up). The BIOS version should be somewhere on the first page.
If you need updating please consider the documentation to your MB I linked above as well as this video.

 

Since you fly complex airliners like the A320 I bet you'll be able to learn all of the PC maintenance steps pretty easily. You can find easy tutorials on youtube to pretty much everything, so feel free to search for the stuff I mentioned above on your own.