Antonios Kastrinakis Posted January 24, 2019 at 09:36 PM Posted January 24, 2019 at 09:36 PM G'day, I posted this on the AVSIM website as well but have had no responses so far. Hoping for some help from the more appropriate forum! Please bear in mind that this is with FSX (SP1 + SP2). For about a month now I have been having terrible issues with vPilot (which used to be working fine). Basically, what happens are: 1. Constant disconnects from the Vatsim servers no matter which server I choose. The error message is: "Network error. The server has failed to respond to the authentication challenge. Disconnected from the network." (I have double checked my Vatsim status and my account is current). 2. Whenever I start vPilot (on the same computer as the sim itself) I get a stutter-fest peppered with long and short pauses. I usually just fly two aircraft while online (FSL A320 and the PMDG T7). The heavily degraded performance happens with both. If I disconnect from the network I'm back to my usual smooth experience. It's as if vPilot claims a huge chunk of CPU cycles for itself. Never used to be a problem before and I haven't changed anything in my sim. Graphics drivers are the tried and trusted 376.33 version. I tested with the latest drivers but saw no improvement and possibly a bit more of a load on the system. Any ideas what may be causing this as flying on Vatsim is virtually impossible for me now. IVAO does not seem to have similar issues. Cheers, Tony System specs: P8Z77-V PRO | i5 3570K @4.2GHz | 8GB DDR3 | EVGA GTX670 2GB | 500GB Samsung 850 EVO | 250GB Samsung 850 EVO |2TB Seagate | Thrustmaster T16000M HOTAS | CH Yoke | Win 7 PRO 64 | Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:33 AM Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:33 AM You can verify whether or not vPilot is actually using a lot of CPU by using the task manager. Can you do so and let me know? vPilot normally takes a tiny amount of CPU time. Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonios Kastrinakis Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:54 AM Author Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:54 AM Hi Ross, and thanks for the quick response! I will try setting up a flight asap and will report back on vPilot behaviour. Since you're here, may I also ask if VatSpy is working? I keep getting the following error: Error Loading Config. The following error occurred while attempting to load configuration object: There is an error in XML docomeent (0,0) I'm finding it really odd that out of the blue I am having issues with both pieces of software which had been functioning flawlessly for as long as I can remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:55 AM Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:55 AM That error means your vatspyconfig.xml file got corrupted. You'll need to delete it and let vatspy re-create a default configuration file for you when you run it again. Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonios Kastrinakis Posted January 25, 2019 at 01:11 AM Author Posted January 25, 2019 at 01:11 AM Check. One down, one to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonios Kastrinakis Posted January 25, 2019 at 02:25 AM Author Posted January 25, 2019 at 02:25 AM Started a short flight (NZCH - NZAA, FSL A320) and connected to Vatsim. Approximately ten minutes later I got my first disconnect from the server. Re-connected and continued the taxi. As you can see from the images (linked to my Dropbox) the vPilot memory footprint looks very reasonable. I noticed a slight jump when the disconnect occurred but it went back down on re-connect. However, having vPilot running did impact the fluidity of the sim. I am linking a short FRAPS vid to illustrate but I'm not sure if you will be able to make out the differences. There is one long pause at 00:16 lasting up to 00:21. I then shut down vPilot at approx. 01:05 at which point the sim reverted to a much smoother experience. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ic7nsmo8sphi2c8/vpilot2_taskmanager.JPG?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/efy4gu6ybt77nkm/vpilot_processexplorer.JPG?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/janfhtnqo0ky9po/vpilot_disco.JPG?dl=0 Vid: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bx6xqarxsanao4n/stutters.mp4?dl=0 Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted January 25, 2019 at 03:57 AM Posted January 25, 2019 at 03:57 AM Does this happen with default aircraft? Does it get better or worse depending on the number of other aircraft nearby? Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonios Kastrinakis Posted January 25, 2019 at 07:24 AM Author Posted January 25, 2019 at 07:24 AM Hi Ross, no idea if it also happens with default aircraft. I never fly those so it didn't occur to me to test that. I will. While on Vatsim I have my (MyTraffic) AI set to 0 and just rely on Vatsim traffic if it's around. However the choppiness and stuttering do manifest themselves during flight as well so I doubt if scenery complexity would play a part. Having said that, I do use ASN and SF3D for my Wx and textures during flights. The odd thing is that everything was working fine until about a month ago. I have fairly conservative settings in the sliders as both my usual go-to add-ons are quite heavy on the system. Any idea why I keep getting the disconnects from Vatsim? It can happen up to 15-20 times within 10 minutes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:16 PM Posted January 25, 2019 at 12:16 PM When I asked about whether or not the number of other aircraft nearby made a difference, I was asking about VATSIM traffic, (since that's what vPilot is responsible for,) not AI traffic. Let me know if the stuttering is worse when there are other VATSIM aircraft around. And let me know if it happens with default aircraft. Also, do you have any anti-virus or firewall software running? I have heard that in rare cases they can interfere with vPilot sending/receiving data to/from the sim via simconnect. Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonios Kastrinakis Posted January 25, 2019 at 10:13 PM Author Posted January 25, 2019 at 10:13 PM I'll be out of town for the weekend. Will resume testing from Monday. Regarding the stuttering I can confirm that it is present even when there is no Vatsim traffic in the area. As to whether it gets worse if there is, is something that will need to be checked. Also to be tested with default aircraft. I do have ESET Internet Security running on the sim computer which includes a very complicated (to these ignorant eyes anyway) firewall but as I have been running this software for the past 6 years, give or take, and have had no problems (that I know of) with it, it did not occur to me that it could be the cause of anything related to this very recent problem I've been having with the disconnects. As an aside, when I check the default Windows Firewall it says that this application is being managed by vendor application ESET Internet Security. I am wondering whether I should shut down ESET and simply enable Windows Defender (as an anti virus) and allow the default firewall to manage things for a while and see how it goes? Thanks for taking time to help me with this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted January 25, 2019 at 11:10 PM Posted January 25, 2019 at 11:10 PM Shutting down your firewall temporarily is worth a try just to see if it has an effect, in order to try to narrow down the cause. Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonios Kastrinakis Posted February 9, 2019 at 05:24 AM Author Posted February 9, 2019 at 05:24 AM Hi again, Ross, Apologies for the long delay getting back to you but the real world interfered (as it usually does) delaying further testing. The frames drops and stuttering continue, sometimes more and sometimes less but I think I am going to put that down to an aging machine and possibly something in the build nearing EOL. What I would dearly like to solve are the constant disconnects from the VATSIM servers. Any and all of them. Could it be something to do with my ISP and if yes, how could I explain what is happening to their techs so that they can understand what is going on ([Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming that none of them know or care what VATSIM is)? In other words, use technical terms that they would easily understand and point them in the right direction. I uninstalled ESET Security and tried with just Windows Defender running on the machine. It made no difference. I installed bitDefender (free edition) as added security in place of ESET and that also made no difference. Is there some way I can repair/re-install simconnect without going through the pain of going through an FSX wipe and re-install? Attaching an image showing the exact message I see in my vPilot window. https://www.dropbox.com/s/mk3x7k4rjvcdj9g/vatsim_disco.jpg?dl=0 Thanks, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted February 9, 2019 at 06:40 AM Posted February 9, 2019 at 06:40 AM I could try sending you a version of vPilot that gives the server more time to respond to the authentication challenge. Send me a pm with your email address. You asked about reinstalling simconnect ... are you asking about that as a way to fix this issue? It is definitely not a simconnect problem. Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Dietz 1177807 Posted February 16, 2019 at 11:13 PM Posted February 16, 2019 at 11:13 PM Hi there, i am experiencing the same troubles as listed above. It's really annoying. Also I recogniced it to be worse with lots of Vatsim traffic. Did you find a solution in the mean time? Best Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted February 17, 2019 at 12:54 AM Posted February 17, 2019 at 12:54 AM Can you guys let me know which server you typically use? Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Dietz 1177807 Posted February 17, 2019 at 10:09 AM Posted February 17, 2019 at 10:09 AM I typically use Germany or Germany 2. But makes no difference, just germany is a little bit worse. The problems came with the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted February 17, 2019 at 04:55 PM Posted February 17, 2019 at 04:55 PM The problems came with the update. What update are you referring to? Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Dietz 1177807 Posted February 17, 2019 at 05:00 PM Posted February 17, 2019 at 05:00 PM When I remeber correctly, there was an update in Dezember. Thats pretty much when the trouble started... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted February 17, 2019 at 05:03 PM Posted February 17, 2019 at 05:03 PM That's probably just a coincidence ... the authentication code hasn't changed in a very long time. Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Dietz 1177807 Posted February 22, 2019 at 04:20 PM Posted February 22, 2019 at 04:20 PM Okay, but still i got the error. Anything to do about that? Really wanna stay with vatsim, don't really like ivao... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carlson Posted February 23, 2019 at 05:25 AM Posted February 23, 2019 at 05:25 AM I've just released version 2.1.19 which should fix the auth timeout. You can get the new version through the automatic update if you have it enabled, or by downloading from the site: http://vpilot.metacraft.com/Download Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Dietz 1177807 Posted February 23, 2019 at 02:53 PM Posted February 23, 2019 at 02:53 PM Thank you so much! Works perfect again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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