René Bongers 19 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hello, I seem to have a subscription to strange situations lately. After installing the new Aerosoft Bremen airport (FS9), everything looked OK. Movements around the field and a circuit flight with a Cessna did not reveal any problem. However, approaching the airport from the UK later on with an A320 (Wilco) at dusk, I was in for a surprise: The runway lights were there and the ILS was working properly, but for the remainder there was only grass (and a few parked AI aircraft). At the end of the 'runway' I changed views a few times and this brought the scenery back. Un- and reinstalling the airport didn't help. At the end of a subsequent flight I could not even load the scenery with viewchanges. As no one else has mentioned such a problem (yet), it seems as if I'm doing something wrong. I would very much appreciate any suggestions as to what that might be... (System: AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 2GB RAM, NVidea GeForce 7900 GS 256 Mb. Installed: ASv6.5, Ground Environment Pro, Real Environment Pro.) Best regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmk2005 0 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hi René, I also get this problem, just see the papi lights and AI..... I have the same first name surely that can't be the reason..... Peace René Kelleway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hello René Thank you very much for your input. It is comforting to know that this is not just something 'accidental' at my end. Looks like an issue the developers of this (otherwise excellent) scenery have to look into. Best regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure 21 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hello René and René do you have the old Bremen from German airports 3 installed? That could be the problem. If yes, remove all EDDW*.* files from GA3 Scenery and Texture folders and remember to also remove the old AFCAD (AF2_EDDW.bgl) and the LC file (don't remember the exact name) for Bremen. I flew from LHBP to EDDW yesterday and everything was great. Regards, Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hello Jure, Thanks for your help. I have thought about that too. Even more so, with the experience of Hamburg still fresh in mind, I had already removed everything related to the old Bremen before I started my first installation of the new scenery. Nevertheless, you may be right, in that I've possibly missed the odd file in the removal process. In any case, since you do not encounter the problem a new 'hunt' for old files seems a good thing to do. The LC file you mention is certainly a suspect. I will certainly keep everyone posted about the result and I'm very curious as to how things work out for my namesake... Best regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hello again, Further investigation and trials have revealed the following: The Bremen installation programme detects the presence of scenery (bgl) files belonging to the old Bremen, where ever they are, and renames them into *.bgx, thus disabling them effectively. This applies also to the landclass file, which I eventually found (aerosoft\GA3_LC\scenery\eddwarealc.bgl, now reading eddwarealc.bgx). Yet, I removed it, and a few others I had overlooked. A subsequent test flight EDDK-EDDW showed no improvement, as the attached screenshots (taken at 1200 ft, 300 ft and on the ground) demonstrate. So, I am back at square one. In conclusion (at this point): There is a problem, it's not a common one (as Jures post proves), it presents itself to more than one user and it is not caused by old files. To be continued... Best regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure 21 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 René, what if there is an exclude file active somewhere? If all else fails, can you try and disable all other scenery in scenery.cfg and then see if EDDW loads correctly? I am using the excellent scenery manager by Hans Hartmann. It is very easy to remove all the check marks and disable all add-on scenery except Bremen. File name scm2004.zip at AVSIM library. By the way, I am flying to Bremen right now. Let's see if it loads. Regards, Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Jure, Your concern and help is very much appreciated. As for 'an exclude file somewhere': It is difficult to understand why such a file would only be active on approach and not when using the airport as a departure location. The idea of switching everything off except Bremen is worth considering, although I doubt whether scenery in e.g. the UK or Scandinavia has any influence on Bremen. The nearest scenery consists of the airports of Hamburg and Hannover. I might try to switch these off and see what happens. It is indeed a fact that sometimes a piece of add-on scenery does not smoothly work together with another one nearby, even when they are 'family', so to speak. I discovered this with the airports of Heathrow and Gatwick (UK2000 Xtreme). Using one of them without problems means switching off the other. Regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure 21 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Good morning, René, It is difficult to understand why such a file would only be active on approach and not when using the airport as a departure location. Ah, ok, I must have overlooked this... so on departure the airport is always there? That IS strange... My flight went well, everything was OK, Bremen loaded normally. As for certain files from scenery packages influencing other scenery packages I can only tell you that I've had my share of "funny" .bgl's that afflicted half the western hemisphere! One of them was a poorly written exclude. I am out of ideas, sorry... I sure hope you resolve this. Good luck! Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Fletcher 570 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Hello René, Can you try disabling all other 3rd party scenery including the Add On scenery folder in the scenery library regardless of its location except for Bremen, then try the flight again and see if the airport is there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 Good afternoon Shaun and Jure, I have followed the advice both of you gave me: with the help of scm2004 (excellent tool indeed!) I've deactivated all third party scenery, except Bremen. The complete add-on scenery folder has also been put out of action. Made a test flight from a very dreary looking Cologne to Bremen (A320, Wilco/Feelthere), arriving runway 27. The result: ILS working, papi lights working, but otherwise: just grass again. So the good news is that I don't have to go through the elaborate process of activating each layer one by one (or maybe in groups) in order to find the 'criminal' . I'm beginning to come to terms with the thought that I can only use Bremen as a departure airport. Yet, it would be a bit sad.... Regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Fletcher 570 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hello René, I can assure you that it works when you go there. Can you check the scenery library to make sure that you dont have a duplicate entry for German Airports 3 - Bremen_SC If you do try deleting one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hello Shaun, Would have believed you even without the picture, but now you are really teasing me . I've checked the library again and again; there is really only one entry for German Airports 3 - Bremen_SC.... Kind regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Fletcher 570 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hello René Try this as a last resort, remove the entries for the scenery library for Bremen. Then un-install Bremen, then follow the advice here and re-install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hello Shaun, No luck with your procedure I'm afraid. As this was the last resort, I think we'd better 'call it a day'. Thank you very much for your help. Regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Fletcher 570 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hello René, When you fly to the airport what happens if you use the refresh scenery button, you may need to allocate a keyboard command for it. If it loads when you start a flight there but disappears when you fly there from a different location I'm wondering if there is some other scenery loading that may be cancelling it out with some erroneous file that may exclude it, hence making sure every other scenery you have installed was disabled. Have you tried to move the scenery up to the top of the scenery library so it has the highest priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hi Shaun, 'Chapeau' for your dedication! I'm a bit puzzled with regard to the scenery refresh button; in about twenty years of FS experience I never learned that it existed, but I'll no doubt find it. As for your next question: I thought we had ruled out the possibility of interfering other scenery (or exclusion files) by switching off everything in the library, except Bremen and the default scenery. I cannot think of any other interfering files. Ground Environment Pro is active, but it is unlikely that this has anything to do with the problem. Airports in the vicinity (Hamburg, Hannover, Cologne) are working as they should. And, as I wrote earlier to Jure: why would an interfering file be active only when approaching the airport, and not when it is used as a departure location? Regarding the priority in the library: Bremen SC is number two, after the AES base pack. Obviously I can try to put it at number one. After some browsing on the internet today, I synchchronized the scenery.cfg files in the root directory of FS and the one in the Documents and Settings folder. The latter had a status of mid-January 2009! Another testflight proved that this action brought no improvement either. That flight, by the way, started in Bremen. The airport was there in all its glory. I flew about 50 NM to the south, then turned around and went back to EDDW, only to discover that it had disappeared again, apart from the navaids and the runway lights. That is also a funny thing: Apparently the AF2 file loads, but the rest doesn't... Regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Fletcher 570 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hello René, In FS2004 under the top menu bar select Options|Controls|Assignments then under Buttons/Keys All Commands scroll down till you find Refresh Scenery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 Hello Shaun, Thanks for the directions. I had already found it. It is a solution indeed, albeit not a very elegant one (temporarily black screen with a 'loading scenery' message), but it works! Just have to figure out how far from the airport the action can be performed to make it least disturbing. Anyway, yesterday night I finally had the pleasure to land on asphalt . So, thank you very much again for this valuable hint. By the way, I'm inclined to conclude that the result of the refreshment action is further evidence that there isn't another file interfering. Finally, just for the record: Putting Bremen at number one in the library list did not have any effect. Regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Fletcher 570 Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Hello René, I have to concur, somewhere something is preventing Bremen from reloading once left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure 21 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hi again, René, this is a loooong shot, but maybe worth a try... why not temporarily remove all not-FS .dll's in your Modules folder and see what happens? Usually add-on aircraft will add a new .dll in the modules folder, but there are also some sceneries that will do that. If you can, get a list of default entries in the Modules folder, then move all the others somewhere safe and fire up FS9. Regards, Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hello again Jure, So not out of ideas after all! To be honest I find it somewhat creepy to mess around with module files, but starting with an inspection doesn't hurt. Found out that in most cases the label of each dll file gives sufficient info as to why it is there. The default modules can easily be identified. As far as the others are concerned: I can link them to FSUIPC, AES (Vistamare), Level D (B767), PMDG (B737NG), Squawkbox and a recorder. One dll seems to have something to do with scenery. It is called bglman and has a few data files associated to it. Not clear why it is there and what it does. I will put that one and its associates in a safe place and see what happens. Thanks and kind regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad 45 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 It is called bglman and has a few data files associated to it. Not clear why it is there and what it does. I will put that one and its associates in a safe place and see what happens. Thanks and kind regards, René Hello René, The bglman.dat and dll are used by the sceneries of Cloud9 and FSDreamteam. These sceneries won't work without them. Regards, Ad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hello Ad, Thanks for the warning! That would have meant putting my Geneva airport out of action. Proves the point that messing around with modules is creepy business... Kind regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
René Bongers 19 Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 This is just to inform everyone about further actions I took in order to try and solve the problem. Without success I must add, but at least they rule out other possible causes. With the aid of a utility called "Find all duplicates" by Gerard Durand (find_all_duplicates_v2.4.zip) I scrutinized the complete Add-on scenery folder and the complete aerosoft folder for duplicate texture files. In these two folders alone there were in total more than 800 duplicates, files which often were present in the main FS texture folder and also in local texture folders, or doubled in various Aerosoft texture folders. Again, it did not solve the problem, but it was a good clean-up. I also removed a number of empty texture folders, of which I read somewhere that they may cause trouble, although I haven't experienced such trouble so far. Regards, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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