GSX Couatl Constant Restarts

[grouner]

I have been doing some experimenting to figure out why the Couatl keeps restarting. First, I went thru KORD, adding jetways from GSX, adjusting vehicles at each parking spot, aligning all the aircraft on the parking spots, and aligning all taxi and paths so the AI aircraft are following on the centerlines, using ADE. When I initially started I had all AI aircraft on and at 50%. When in "customize airport position" in GSX, I noticed that when I selected "Y" to bring the GSX menu customization menu back up, it was very slow to respond then the Coualt keep restarting. So, I turned all the AI aircraft off. GSX performed perfectly and quickly. Once I had completed all the updating, I selected "restart Couatl and rebuild airport cache". Again, everything went fine. I then added back the AI aircraft at 50%. Couatl began it's issue of restarting. I then turned off the AI aircraft and the scenery was fine. I then started adding aircraft at 25%. Program worked fine, I then moved to 35%. Again, everything worked fine. I moved to 40%, then 45% then finally to 50%. All was working properly. I shut down P3Dv5 and restarted it at 50% traffic. It is still working properly! I have no idea why.  I am curious, since there are 212 gates (I think) and it takes more than a few seconds for all the gates to load, could the program being timing out because the jetways are taking a long time to load (10 to 15 seconds) and this is causing the Couatl to react the way it was?

What I know about this kind of stuff you can put on the back of a postage stamp in 3/4 inch letters. I am just trying...

[virtuali]

That's possible. For the next update, we raised the timeout to 60 seconds and, have added a couple of checks to be sure the restart is not triggered while you have the menu opened after pressing ESC, or you are in the settings, but those are things we can check.

We have no much control over the sim is just "slow" to respond, other than just raising the timeout further.

[grouner]

Thanks Umberto!

[Ray Proudfoot]

This is happening for me at KORD. Every 20 secs the rebuild starts. Hopefully a fix is imminent.

[virtuali]

This is happening for me at KORD. Every 20 secs the rebuild starts. Hopefully a fix is imminent.

And again, what "rebuild" means ? I'll copy the part of my previous reply with a plead of trying to be accurate in your reports:

You just need to try to make some effort to be more precise in your reports.

I keep saying the term cache "refresh" or "restart" used liberally, when in fact there are two very different things so, I'll try to make it clear:

So, in your case, what is a "rebuild" ?

[Ray Proudfoot]

And again, what "rebuild" means ? I'll copy the part of my previous reply with a plead of trying to be accurate in your reports:

You just need to try to make some effort to be more precise in your reports.

I keep saying the term cache "refresh" or "restart" used liberally, when in fact there are two very different things so, I'll try to make it clear:

So, in your case, what is a "rebuild" ?

I think you’re being a little pedantic. It is the automated action reported by the OP which is occurring every 20 seconds. If I am in the middle of choosing a different parking position the menu disappears and a message appears in a green banner top left of the screen. It’s only visible for a few seconds so reading it is not easy.

Is that clear enough?

[grouner]

Ray,
I am not sure if what I did will help you with your issue but maybe it's worth a shot.
From my post above:
"I have been doing some experimenting to figure out why the Couatl keeps restarting. First, I went thru KORD, adding jetways from GSX, adjusting vehicles at each parking spot, aligning all the aircraft on the parking spots, and aligning all taxi and paths so the AI aircraft are following on the centerlines, using ADE. When I initially started I had all AI aircraft on and at 50%. When in "customize airport position" in GSX, I noticed that when I selected "Y" to bring the GSX menu customization menu back up, it was very slow to respond then the Couatl keep restarting. So, I turned all the AI aircraft off. GSX performed perfectly and quickly. Once I had completed all the updating, I selected "restart Couatl and rebuild airport cache". Again, everything went fine. I then added back the AI aircraft at 50%. Couatl began it's issue of restarting. I then turned off the AI aircraft and the scenery was fine. I then started adding aircraft at 25%. Program worked fine, I then moved to 35%. Again, everything worked fine. I moved to 40%, then 45% then finally to 50%. All was working properly. I shut down P3Dv5 and restarted it at 50% traffic. It is still working properly! I have no idea why."

I had suggested that due to so many jetways at KORD, the Couatl may be timing out, causing this restart, not reload, of Couatl. Umberto replied that it might be and on the next update they will extend the time limit. Until this happens, you can try what I did as far as starting with no AI present, then gradually increasing. I am attaching my AFCAD file and 3 GSX ini files for you to try. So you know, I am running P3dv5. If you are running something different I can't say if this will work. When installing these files ensure you make backups of your current in the event mine do not work. The ini files on my system are located at: C:\Users\User name\AppData\Roaming\Virtuali\GSX. The KORD file is located on my system at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Addon Manager\FsDreamTeam\KORDV2\scenery. I hope this helps!

GRouner

[grouner]

The new update out so I would try it first.

[Ray Proudfoot]

@grouner, thanks for your suggestion. Today was the first time in a couple of months I flew out of KORD. It might be another month or two before I do it again.

I’ll update and see what has changed. This is the first time I’ve had this problem at KORD so hopefully the update will revert to the original settings.

P3Dv5.3HF2.

[reddishknight]

I used to be getting the same message every 30s and now with the update pushed today it's still happening but at 60s intervals.

[virtuali]

I used to be getting the same message every 30s and now with the update pushed today it's still happening but at 60s intervals.

Well, at least we know you got the latest update...however, it's not normal ( doesn't obviously happen here ), why your simulator stops responding.

Before the update, it was possible to trigger a restart if you press the ESC key and just stayed there for more than 30 seconds, but now this condition is detected as well so, the restart doesn't happen until the simulator is really running.

Checking the code again, it seems it might happen if the model cache couldn't be created, or it took longer than 60 seconds to be created, which seems to suggest a VERY slow PC with a VERY slow hard disk, or possibly antivirus interference that would make that process abnormally slow.

However, without a model cache, nothing will work basically so, I guess if this was the case, the restart wouldn't be the biggest problem, more like no objects from GSX even showing up, because if the model cache is really taking longer than 60 seconds ( shouldn't be more than 2-3 seconds ), if a restart happens in the meantime, it won't ever complete, so nothing will really work.

As usual, it's ALWAYS best to clearly indicate which simulator you use, because this is very different between FSX, P3D 4 and P3D 5.

[reddishknight]

Yeah, which makes it weird. I never had a problem with GSX until I updated Jan 4th and again yesterday after not running the update since July 2022. Currently have a pretty fast rig pushing 5.2 all core 9700k and an overclocked 12gb 3060 with all M.2 storage and nothing's changed on the PC since 2021ish. Running P3D v4.5 with the latest FSLABs. This did occur once with the PMDG and the Leo Md88 but haven't tried it since. Last night the restarts were about one every 3 -4 mins. If the cache didn't load properly and failed it did it repeatedly but when it did load right after a PC restart it was on the longer side of the spectrum. There's no crash log even though it's being asked.

There's no antivirus or anything that could interfere. I'm slow to update things since work.... but the only variable that's changed in the equation is the update of GSX in the last few weeks.

[Ray Proudfoot]

Umberto,

Sorry to resurrect an old topic but it covers my current situation with a new fast PC. Details in my sig.

P3D v5.3HF2, SimWings EGLL and FSL Concorde.

I'm running a frame rate test. To do this I have all engines running and slew up to 500ft AGL. I then press 3 on the NumPad to start a longtitudial rotation through 360 degrees. This is a test I learned from Pete Dowson many years ago as a good test of performance.

Bearing in mind I'm not positioned at any gate. I'm above the 27R entry point. I keep getting "Airport Cache Successfully Reloaded" message in the green banner around every 20 seconds.

Just prior to this there is a brief stutter when fps drops below 30. I have a 30Hz monitor with VSync enabled.

If I disable GSX from the menu the message doesn't appear and the sim retains 30fps throughout the 360 rotation.

GSX keeps loading the airport cache but I don't know why. Is it responding to Ai on the ground? I have AIG Ai at have set Ai traffic density to 100%. Without GSX enabled that can be maintained even at 100% Ai.

The stutters appear to be down to GSX rather than my P3D settings.

I appreciate this is not how you fly in P3D but it's a useful way of getting settings to a realistic level.

[Ray Proudfoot]

Umberto, an update. I tried the same test at 3rd party LFPG, FSDT KJFK and FSDT LAX. All very busy airports with lots of Ai. 100+ at each.

I didn't get this repeated restart issue at any of them. How strange. The fps was a constant 30 during the 360 rotation.

So I went back to Heathrow and did it again. The restart message appeared for a minute or two but then everything settled down and I get a constant 30 with 120+ Ai.

Can you offer any reason why it only happens at Heathrow but then settles down after a couple of minutes?

[Ray Proudfoot]

I'm reasonably sure I've found the 'culprit'.

Two settings in SODE v1.7.1 - Enable Aircraft State Triggered Auto-Docking and Enable Ai Traffic Detection were both enabled.

I've set them both to disabled and the repetition of restarts has ceased.