CTD when using Free Flight

User Support Hub Crashes (CTDs)
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1

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ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
I get a CTD when using Free Flight. Its repeatable and happens every time. I have a clean install with no add-ons or third party scenery. Aircraft I have tried are both the B737 and Cessna 172. On KSAN it crashes when I zoom into the airport (to pick my parking spot). On KMSP it allows me to load the aircraft but crashes when showing the “ready to fly” screen. Also crashes with KSAC and KSEA.

Please note that I have followed the suggestion to delete the C:\Program Data\NVIDIA\NGX directory. I have also uninstalled/re-installed MSFS 2024.

Windows 11 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 26100)
13th Gen Intel(R) Core™ i9-13900K (24 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
64 MB RAM
RTX 4090 (driver vers 572.60)

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?
Yes and Yes.

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)? Every time.

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Launch sim
  2. Select Free Flight
  3. Select an aircraft
  4. Select a departure airport
  5. Zoom into that airport to select a parking spot
  6. Wait for Ready to Fly screen
    (crash happens at either step 5 or 6 depending on the airport)

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:
Xbox controller only. Disconnected everything else for troubleshooting.

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?
No

[PC, MSFS 2020 Only] Are you using DX11 or DX12?
n/a

[PC Only] Many issues may be due to an outdated graphics card. Please state your Graphics Card Driver Manufacturer (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD) and Version:
Nvidia RTX-4090 (driver 572.60)

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?
Windows 11 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 26100)
13th Gen Intel(R) Core™ i9-13900K (24 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
64 MB RAM

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.
I don’t have a screen shot because this is a CTD. I am attaching a MSFSReport.
MSFSReport.txt (19.2 KB)

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

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Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
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2

It’s possible your CPU is damaged. Intel released a microcode update which must be done through the bios from the motherboard manufacturer.,

It’s also possible it’s a driver issue as the latest Nvidia drivers, and possibly the Nvidia app, are causing issues for some. Suggest you use Display Driver Uninstaller and revert to 566.14.

3

Thanks for that info WaterLattice. CPU microcode update was previously applied.

It occurred to me that I should start looking at the Windows Event Log. The crash event implicates nvwgf2umx.dll so I went ahead and downgraded to NVIDIA driver v 566.14.

It still crashes at the same point as before but now the log is reporting nvgpucomp64.dll as the faulting model.

Should I go back to an even older Nvidia driver?

4

Okay, so after the hint from @WaterLattice34 that it may be CPU related I did some searching and eventually came to posts about CTDs and “high end” intel chips. Random CTDs on high end Intel chips? Check your bios settings and also some suggestion about decreasing the CPU multiplier. For instance, if its 56 then try 54.

Now, I have no idea what any of that is but I found this in the bios for my ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-E motherboard: “Performance Core0 Specific Ratio Limit”. It was set to 56 for Core0 so I bumped it down to 54 and set an option to sync the other cores with that new value.

Everything is fine now. I’ve launched different airports, different planes, and so far no CTD. I am somewhat reluctant to mark this as a solution because I don’t understand what changing this CPU timing value does or its impacts on performance but I changed it and it works. Next step will be upgrading from the older NVIDIA driver to current and reinstalling my add-ons.

This is an insidious problem because the error logs all point to a GPU issue but this turned out to be a CPU issue instead.

Thanks.

5

Glad you applied the microcode update. I have an i9-14900KF and so far so good.

You reminded me someone else posted about changing the multiplier from 56 to 54 but I don’t recall if it was for the same reason and I’m not sure exactly what it does. Fortunately, I have not had any CTD’s unless self induced. :upside_down_face: