Classic British Flight Sim

Hi All.
This is the second time i have had this problem,the first time this happend i managed to fix it,but it took two weeks to get it fixed,and i dont remember what i did,as i tried so many things except a reinstall.
The problem is this,the ATC volumn is so low,that you can only just hear it,if the engines are shut down,but none of the settings in flightsim,or computer,or speaker volumns have altered,my sound card plays a music cd ok,so i`am thinking that DX9 has been corrupted some how.
Has anyone else had this problem,if it is the DX9,i know this is on disc 1,and it does seem like there are differences in the zip files size,is it posible to just reload this DX9 without upsetting all my sim,or computer settings.
All was well on the 29/07/08 but not on the 30/07/08,also i have to put my cd disc 4 in the drive more than 3 times,before it stays in,as the cd drive keeps ejecting it.
Regards alan. HELP

Alan,

The DX9 files on the FS9 install discs are way out of date. You can visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en to downloads the lastest version from Microsoft.

What sort of sound card are you usisng? Is there any software that came with the card? I once had a volume problem and found that the sound card's "Mixer" settings were overriding the Windows settings. Increasing the volume in the "mixer" applet solved my problem.

As far as your drive rejecting cd disc 4, does it happen with other cds as well? If not you might want to inspect cd disc and gently clean it. If it is scratched - now before I say this I will say I have not tried it so caveat emptor - I saw a tip on the telly that smooth peanut butter is good for removing scratches on cds! I am not making that up.

http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/things/e ... cd-or-dvd/ another source.

Oh, another tip for cds - you can use a cut-up coffee filter or the sleeve of an old t-shirt to wipe off the peanut butter, always from the center to the outside and NEVER in a circular motion like us older folks used to do with vinyl.

Hi Nigelb.
Thanks for info,but i think i will leave the peanut butter method alone,i know they said in the adverts,when cd`s came out,that they where virtualy indistructable,but they where lieing.
The cd being rejected by the drive a few times before it stays in,is not just the flightsim disc 4,it`s any cd i put in.
As for the mixer settings,they are all at max,which is where they have always been,the sound card as far as i am aware,is a creative sound blaster pci,and the video card is a ASUS 850 series,i had the computer made for flightsim use,so the cpu is a 3ghz,1.5gb of ram,although its begining to stutter under all the fs9 add ons that i have.
regards alan.

Alan,

I can't blame you for not spreading peanut butter on you CD! ;-) Since you say it happens with other cds as well, it probably is the CD drive itself. You could try a commercial cd lens cleaner, available at most electronics stores. How old is the drive? It sounds like your rig is fairly new and if so, check your warantee.

I also have a Sound Blaster and my problem was in the "Creative Surround Mixer" settings. For some reason I have two mixers - the one noted above and another called just "Cretive Mixer" which is the first one I checked and that did NOT fix the problem. Check your running processes and see if a program called "CTHELPER.exe" is running. My understanding is that this program helps co-ordinate sound settings between the Sound Blaster and Windows. You might try to lower the volume slider in the mixer and then increase it, just to see if that wakes it up.

Have you opened the computer and cleaned out dust, etc? Have you defragged your hard drive recently? Just some ideas to try - cleaning the computer insides is probably not the answer but it is good to this periodically anyway. Oh, you might try removing some of the recent add-ons one at a time (backup first) to see if they are the cause of the stutters

Ok, I am getting hungary so I am off to make a peanut butter and jelly on CD sandwich! Ok, got the peanut butter and the grape jelly, now where did I put those Barry Manilow CDs? :doho: :dance:

Cheers,
Nigel

I'd be tempted to cut out the middle man and go straight for a new DVD drive. I bought a new one a month or so back for £25 and I could have got one cheaper had I not opted for SATA format. It reads and writes in more formats than I've heard of (20X DVD) and even includes Lightscribe!! If your cd/dvd starts doing as yours is.. bin it sharpish ;-) If you're not fussed by flashy names (Sony e t c).. go for a Liteon. They can be a bit noisey but I've used em for years and wouldn't buy another make ;-)

Can't remember where I bought mine from now but it's a Liteon 20X.. Model No. LH-20A1L14C. I think the IDE version is about a fiver cheaper ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

Hi Nigelb & daveb.
I have a spare EMPREX DVD deul 16X,so if it is the drive,then i can use that.
I downloaded,but not yet installed from MS web site DXWEBSETUP,under the heading dx9c,HOPE THAT IS THE CORRECT ONE,i defrag on a regular basis,and i also about 6 weeks ago now,stripped and cleaned my computer,the last 4 programes loaded where PCTOOLS regestry mechanic &spywaredoctor,labtec software drivers for my new mouse,and posky legacy 600 and its paintkit.
I know the reg mechanic programe stoped my paintshop pro from working after it fixed the problems it found,and i had to undo the programes fix`s to get paintshop pro working again.
I supose i had better start getting ready for work,i only have this afternoon and tommorws afternoon before my hols start,then i can see what needs to be done,my computer cannot go back to where it was made,as the shop closed down last year,and my computer is about 4 to 6 years old,but original video card was replaced,when the old one burntout.
regards alan.

Three words I stick to when it comes to the registry - Leave Well Alone. If something bugg**s the registry up it gets removed - but that hasn't happened to me - (touch wood) so far....

Aside from manually disabling certain services and progs for faster startups, I would not let anything like registry mechanic near my system. You have proven the point that they cause as many problems as the (allegedly) fix!

Rant over

On your list of recent programs added, I would think that spydoctor runs in the background all the time. That might be a cause of slowing things down in FS. The posky aircraft should not be the cause, unless that was what your were using when you noticed stutters.

I use a freeware program called FSAutoStart to shut down un-needed background programs. You can select which programs and windows services to terminate prior to running FS and then you can elect to automatically restart everything on exit from FS. The program will also defrag memory if you want. On my system shutting down Windows Live Mail saves around 171,000k of memory and every bit helps FS run more smoothly because there is less pagefile usage. I also shut down a lot of Windows services that are not needed in FS and this frees even more memory up. Once you decide your settings, they can be saved so you only have to go through the set-up process once.

I am fairly certain that DXWEBSETUP is what you need, but set a system restore point before running it so you can go back if it messes things up.

Swapping the spare DVD player in should certainly tell you one way or the other if the other CD drive is the problem with loading discs.

Hi Nigelb & Daveb.
Fitted my new cd/dvd drive,and my atc is BACK i have not as yet updated the direct X drivers,just done a test of my sim,with captsims c130,in vc takeoff at kbfi,frame rate dropped to 8,a little bit of stutter but nothing that interfeared with the flying,and a lot better then with original drive,witch would freeze momentarily at that same spot.
Thanks for your help,much apreciated.
regards alan.

That's good news Alan ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab: