Very interesting behavior observed. I believe it is related to couatl app:
Nothing in your report seems to have any relationship with it. Couatl CANNOT crash the sim, it's impossible it could, because it's an external .exe. Only a .DLL can crash/freeze the sim.
1. When starting P3D, the program freezes at splash screen. I have to kill it through task manager. Subsequent start *usually* work, but sometimes it takes 2-3 kills before it will finally start. Nothing noticeable in the event log, nor in couatl (except it says it is waiting on bglmanx.dll...). Taking bglmanx.dll from dll.xml file solves the issue, but then I lose all my addon airports and GSX...
It's possible ANOTHER addon you are using is having a conflict with bglmanx.dll, most likely because it uses another version of the VC++ runtime library. Other addons you use use older versions, like the 2010 or the 2008.
According to P3D SDK, they recommend that .DLL addons modules would be compiled using the VC++ 2013, and this is what we obviously use for bglmanx.dll, but if other modules you have use a different version, there might be conflicts that APPEARS to be "solved" by disabling/removing bglmanx.dll, but they happen only *because* of a conflict caused by another module.
A more proper test, instead of disabling bglmanx.dll, would be disabling everything else EXCEPT bglmanx.dll, and see if the sim is more stable this way.
Also, examining process tree during sucessful start shows presence of as_audio.exe, while during unsuccessful starts it is only couatl.exe.
I think that file belongs to Active Sky Next.
2. After (eventual) successful start and use of P3D, the process hangs and can be seen in the task manager. I've used a winintervals process explorer tool to see that couatl.exe is running under P3D.. Not sure if it is the cause or not.
Since P3D started Couatl.exe, you are supposed to have it running under it, so it's normal.
It's not normal, instead if you still see it AFTER you quit from the sim. Check this.
3. After long flight (3+ hrs), the program crashes.. Just CDT, not even error message in the event view. Looks like as if it was trying to load "next in flight's path" scenery when it hang.
What's exactly is a "next in flight's path" scenery ?
There are also GoFlight MCP, 2xEFIS, and 1xDIO to drive LEDs.
GoFlight modules are known to cause issue, because they use *several* versions of the VC++ runtimes at the same time. See this thread here, we found a solution after a direct remote session:
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,11370.msg87810.html#msg87810The crashing problem (the user was convinced it was also convinced it was caused by bglmanx.dll, because it was "fixed" by disabling it, but it was GoFlight's fault, instead) seemed to be cured by loading the GoFlight driver manually after starting a flight, instead of having the sim loading it automatically in the EXE.XML