Couatl and SODE Unable to start? **SOLVED**

[pilotguy251]

I recently started having issues with Couatl and SODE being unable to start upon the startup of FSX:SE. I don't know what spawned the issues, but I am thinking it has something to do with simconnect, as FSUIPC does not detect the correct version of simconnect for SE upon trying to install it. It says it needs 62607 or newer, but 62615 is installed. I have been through and uninstalled each of the simconnect versions, along with FSX:SE, and reinstalled them one by one, only to have the same issues. Regular boxed FSX has never been installed on my current system. Also, upon trying to install addon manager, I see the selection screen for which simulators are installed, and I have a question. What is FSX:Steam Edition in Standalone Mode mean? I have FSX Steam Edition installed, but why is it not being detected, but Standalone Mode is? I have attached a photo of what I am describing in case I was not clear enough.

[virtuali]

I am thinking it has something to do with simconnect, as FSUIPC does not detect the correct version of simconnect for SE upon trying to install it. It says it needs 62607 or newer, but 62615 is installed.

This is strange, indeed.

Regular boxed FSX has never been installed on my current system.

I have FSX Steam Edition installed, but why is it not being detected, but Standalone Mode is? I have attached a photo of what I am describing in case I was not clear enough.

Why you think it's "not being detected" ? Your screenshot clearly shows the installer HAS properly detected FSX:SE AND it has properly detected you don't have the regular FSX installed, which is precisely what "Stand-alone" means.

However, having the installer properly detect FSX:SE, doesn't mean it will automatically fix whatever Simconnect issue you might have, which seems to affect other products too, like FSUIPC and, if FSUIPC is not working for some reasons, lots of other addon modules won't work for the same reason, including ours.

Note that, Simconnect *itself* (at least the version we require, which is the FSX SP2 version), has a dependance on the VC++ 2005 runtimes libraries, so maybe you have a problem with *those* missing/corrupted.

[pilotguy251]

Thank you for that explanation. It makes sense now how the installations work. I may have to end up doing a system restore. Two weeks ago I was having problems getting the Coolsky MD80 to work in the sim. In the process of trying to fix that issue, I ended up running the Flight 1 Registry repair tool. I'm thinking that did something to my registry keys that should not have occurred, which is when I started getting these issues, as I installed and repaired all the VC runtimes along the way.

[pilotguy251]

Ended up doing the system refresh where my files would be kept. Still getting the issue, although FSUPIC did start up with no issue. Reinstalled all the VC Runtimes to my knowledge, will keep trying though with those in case I have skipped over one. Did a search deeper in the forums here and saw that the Dependency Walker was recommended. Installed it and ran it on the couatl.exe and got it to produce some type of log file. It has been attached. It is showing that a few things are missing, or cannot be found by the program. Don't know what that could indicate, but I have been seeing on forums elsewhere that a lot of people have been having problems with the simulator and Windows 10 following one of the most recent updates. I am just now getting back into FSX:SE after a few months hiatus, but have kept my system updated accordingly. The log file shows all of the things the .exe fails to pick up though. Could have something to do with the update.

[virtuali]

The dependency walker logs are not the easiest to interpret, because there are a lot of misleading errors (for example, it complains about the whole .NET libraries missing, when we don't use .NET at all), but these are surely relevant:

[ ? ]  MSVCP140.DLL  Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[ ? ]  SIMCONNECT.DLL Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[ ? ]  VCRUNTIME140.DLL Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).

Which indicates you STILL have a problem with Simconnect, and you have a problem with the VC++ 2015 runtime libraries.

Of course, our installer installs both: the Simconnect runtime, and the VC++ 2015 runtimes but, we just launch their official installers, which cannot fix conflicts and problems caused by other applications, like other FSX addons using outdated Simconnect.

FSUIPC works, but only because it use whatever Simconnect version you have installed, even older ones. We *require* features not present with older runtimes so, if the FSX/SP2 version is not installed correctly, we cannot just use the older version, like FSUIPC does, because there are features we require that are missing.

You can try installing the correct Simconnect runtime here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Core Utilities Kit\SimConnect SDK\LegacyInterfaces\FSX-XPACK\SimConnect.msi

Our installer does it as well but, sometimes you must install it manually, and restart Windows. You might also require to REMOVE older Simconnect versions from the Windows\WinSxS folder (by booting Windows in Safe Mode), and reinstall the correct one, so the system won't be fooled into loading obsolete versions of Simconnect because you installed some addons requiring them (which will work with the newer version anyway).

To fix your other problem the missing/corrupted VC++ 2015 libraries, you must:

- Uninstall every version of the VC++ 2015 libraries from the Windows Control Panel

- Download BOTH the x64 and x86 version from Microsoft:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53587

- Install both versions

- Restart Windows

[pilotguy251]

Looks as if I am back in business for now. Shortly after I tried to do the steps listed, I ended up running into some OS issues with Windows 10, so I had to end up using the USB installer to practically reinstall the OS from the ground up. Only then was I able to get the products to work. But in the end, it was a SimConnect issue.