Constant freezes and hangs in VR mode, multiple headsets, high end hardware, used to be fine!

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
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Hello,

REAL quick intro then I’ll get to the meat. MSFS 2020 worked and continues to work flawlessly in VR. MSFS 2024 USED to work as well pre-SU2, but there were so many VR UI bugs that I stopped flying for about a year. I’ve recently come back, and I can’t seem to get even a single flight to work without massive (multiple seconds) freezes or outright hangs of the application that require a restart of the PC to get out of.

Hardware:
CPU: Ryzen 7950X3D
GPU: RTX 4090
RAM: 64GB
Drive: M.3

Headset configuration - I have tried multiple completely different setups with the exact same issue:

  1. Quest 3 + Virtual Desktop (OpenXR)
  2. Quest 3 Tethered with Oculus Link (OpenXR)
  3. Varjo Aero with Steam VR

All three setups exhibit the exact same freezing and hanging, so I am seriously doubting it is one simple thing like virtual desktop. Additionally all three setups work perfect with FS2020 so the problem really seems to point to FS2024 specifically.

Things I have tried:
In addition to trying the three different setups above, I have:

  1. Tried multiple driver versions, including rolling back to the previous driver, and installing a community recommended one 566.36
  2. Set VR graphics to absolute minimum (This should absolutely NOT be necessary, as I got perfectly smooth performance on near max previously, but I did test it nonetheless)
  3. Uninstalled and reinstalled MSFS2024
  4. Uninstalled most all 3rd party aircraft and other mods
  5. Disabled things like TDS, Navigraph
  6. Used the Windows Update Reset feature
  7. Currently testing SU3 beta but so far not noticing any difference in this issue, except maybe that it “recovers” more often where as SU2 would just hard freeze and die.

I am unable to reproduce any similar issues in 2D mode. I don’t even need to be in the air or moving for this to occur, in fact I often get a complete freeze ending my flight before I even get that far :frowning:

I am at my wits end here, and have no real idea what to look at to further diagnose or troubleshoot this. I can find nothing special in event viewer, and we all know MSFS doesn’t do logging like normal games so nothing else really to go on here.

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I’m with you. If it’s any comfort, you are not the only one… you are not alone. I fly with various groups and a lot of people I know are suffering the exact same for the last month or so especially.

However, some are not. So it’s baffling. I am starting to suspect AMD processors. Seems those with Intel (even older ones) don’t get this.

But for me, it’s especially bad (almost un-flyable) in any photogrammetry now.

It is something in the world data. That’s as far as I’ve nailed down. Proved by a group flight the other day when a friend and I had the exact same pauses at the exact same spots as we flew in close formation.

I get between 2 and 10 second pauses (complete system freeze, but Discord Audio continues to work) — this happens sometimes multiple times per minute, and it’s almost guaranteed to happen when I turn my head so new photogrammetry has to be loaded in.

It happens much much less often flying in lighter locations, but it does still sometimes happen even then.

It’s the main thread just completely losing the plot. I guess it’s connected with the audio glitch that had also recently been introduced (though I’ve actually not had that happen to me so much if at all since I turned off ReBAR in my Bios).

There is nothing else I’ve found that can make this nasty thing go away. I don’t want to run the sim without some of the more “global” or “utility” / “driver software” type of stuff I run. Asobo really really need to solve this!

It is the main thing that is ruining my enjoyment of 2024 now.

Perhaps I need to try without these things, but I kind of want/need them all:

  • Bijan Seasons Enhanced
  • Mamu Powerlines & Solar Farms
  • Mamu Marinas
  • Mamu Ski-lifts
  • Seafront ships stuff
  • Sky4Sim
  • Little Nav Map VR
  • Location Manager 2
  • Coloured Nameplates
  • Moza FFB software
  • Logitech panel drivers
  • SimShaker for Aviators
  • FS Realistic
  • Active Sky (usually not running this anyway)
  • Eco Soundscapes (usually not running this anyway)

Obviously Virtual Desktop is something I can’t drop (never got any other method to work as well).

I doubt it is our hardware setup. Why would it TOTALLY STOP if it was just some sub-optimal config? And why would friends have the same issue in same places.

There is a spot on the Mach Loop (not photogrammetry) that still has the same pauses as it did in 2020. And another in Goodwood. Guaranteed. But the same thing is everywhere around the world.

This photogrammetry hitching is something new and something different though (I think).

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Well if it is photogrammetery, then disabling that in the online options in theory should fix it. I’ll give that a try later however I’m hesitant to say this is the issue given I have had most of the freezes happen before I even got rolling, so nothing new should be loading at that point.

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Yes I think turning off PG would “fix” it. I might try too just to test but there is no way I’m playing with PG off. One of my favourite things to do is checking out PG cities low’n’slow.

I have already turned off aircraft traffic, ships, animals and put trees on low. Terrain and Object LOD @ 100. If I also have to have no PG I might as well go over to X-Plane at that point.

My system (in my profile) should be able to cope! It’s the sim engine or something to do with streaming I’m sure.

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Sorry I should have said work around not fix.

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We might be seeing symptoms of different things though, or a blend of each others. I never have this what you wrote. It is stable. Honestly not had that many CTD’s in 2024 really. Some, yes, but it’s pretty solid.

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No not a CTD which is a Crash of the application where the application just goes away.
What I see is a hard freeze or complete hang where the application is still there, with a frozen image but you can’t close or or interact with it in any way. Any windows behind it will be stuck behind it. The only way to fix it when this occurs is either A) If you were in windowed mode, with at least part of the monitor visible you can bring up task manager on that bit of the monitor not covered by the simulator and force terminate the simulator, or B) Restart the PC.

These are what I’ve been calling “hard” freezes. There is no recovering from them. There are also “soft” freezes, which are either a freeze for a few seconds (but longer than what you’d call a stutter) but then it recovers on it’s own (so sort of like a very long stutter) or a freeze where it won’t recover on it’s own but if I alt-tab, then alt-tab again it will recover. Both of these are annoying but recoverable and don’t end the flight. The hard freeze means your flight is over no matter what.

In SU2 I get mostly just the hard freezes, or maybe one soft freeze before the hard freeze. In SU3 beta so far I’m seeing it soft freezing more often, and the flight lasting longer before a hard freeze.

Just now I turned off Photogrammetry and actually managed to complete a short flight in the TBM 930 from Fresno to San Fran. I had a couple 3 or 4 soft freezes, one requiring the alt-tab trick, but no hard freeze. Need more testing and tomorrow I will try thee Starship which frankly I’ve never even managed to get off the ground more than one before a hard freeze so it will be a better test.

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Exactly the same issues, and I fixed it by disabling Process Lasso and setting the power plan to Balanced.

My rig:
CPU: Ryzen 7950X3D
GPU: RTX 5090 drivers 576.88 Debloated
RAM: 64GB
Drive: M.3
Headset: Varjo Aero.
HAGS: Off
R-Bar: Enabled

Now everything is smooth as butter. One more thing, install the latest BIOS and chipset for AMD motherboards. Here is the link for the chipset.

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When you say disable Process Lasso do you mean quit it completely or something else? I have FS2024 set in plasso to use affinity on the proper die, and governor disabled.

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Quit completely.

11

Then how do you ensure FS ends up on the VCache CCD?

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Now it will be using all cores.

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Huh I wonder if they’ve just in general improved the drivers since I last messed with this and now Windows schedules the threads a lot better.

So I updated the drivers, from AMD and then quit Plasso. Turned Photogrammetry back on and was able to complete a whole flight from KSFO to KSBP in the Starship with only minor stutters. One time might be a fluke, and since I changed multiple things at once I need to do some more testing to see if I can narrow it down, but the optimist in me wants to say this is good :smiley:

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In my case, no more CTDs or freezes since I quit Plasso, some stutters, but they are part of the beta. :+1:

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FWIW I have a 7800X3D with a 4080s and do not experience crashes. Not to say it’s never happened but it is rare.

I flew last night with PG on in the Quest 3 with VD in DLSS quality for about 2 hours with no real issues. I have a similar experience with Quest link as well.

I haven’t updated the chipset drivers in a couple months, maybe I’m on some older drivers than you guys? I’m using the latest GPU drivers and swapped to the latest DLSS. I can fly in TAA as well without crashes just less performance.

I will say when I had the most issues I was running my second monitor off of the IGPU (monitor plugged into mother board). I thought I would get better performance since I do not use that monitor for gaming, but it caused a lot of issues. I’ve since completely disabled the IGPU.