TaskManager Affinity Mask to solve a functiocompletion problem in GSX

[Captain45]

GSX functions did not complete giving a 'Waiting for other function to complete' respond in GSX. Finally I  found out that it might be that a processor overload influences GSX behaviour. Core-0 was and stayed at 100% for too long. At first I tried an Affiniy Mask. Just like I did in the past with FSX. I thought the P3Dv4 was more sophisticated on core usage, but when I checked with HWINFO (by CPUID). It tells me that Core-0 is very busy and the others are low on utilization. There is another way:

See the video (link below) that gives you a benchmark on using Affinity Mask using the Windows Taskmanager and not by a few lines in prepar3d.cfg.
https://youtu.be/UnhG44prnMk

Thanks to BG2518 on the prepar3d forum I found the 'how to link' at:
https://www.eightforums.com/threads/cpu-affinity-shortcut-for-a-program-create-in-windows.40339/

I started to do  this for Prepar3D.exe. But there are other programs like in my case UTLive, AivlaSoft EFB, an VAFS5. Use the same procedure to find the default core usage:
- Start the program
- Start Taskmanager
- Right Click the application and select Details
- Select and Right Click the application and select Affinity
- Now you can see how many cores you have and that they a probably all checked.
- Hit OK
- Done
At first I just unchecked core-0, but it looks like it that Windows-10 simply uses core0 when unchecked. Annyway I could not see any difference in HWINFO. So better use that start procedure for all programs that run besides P3D.

For those who use MSI hardware there is an interesting video about Overclocking using the link below..
https://youtu.be/X26WU900IAQ

I my case this was a great boost in distributing P3D's action over more cores AND keeping other programs away from core-0.

I just wanted to share this. Give it a try.

Dirk

[virtuali]

This is interesting, and might explain why nobody at FSDT was ever able to reproduce this, since we don't run with many other addons (and most of the time, with none), but it's not very good news because, there's not much we can do to defend ourselves against other addons spamming the sim and taking all the available processor time and clobbering the Simconnect communication channel.

Since GSX runs entirely under Couatl.exe, Windows should already be able to distribute the load on a different core the sim runs under (especially if the one used by the sim is already at 100%) but, of course, it depends also on what the other processes are doing, either other addons, but also other running processes not releated to flightsim so yes, in such cases, tweaking the Affinity mask might help.

[jotafl]

This is interesting, and might explain why nobody at FSDT was ever able to reproduce this, since we don't run with many other addons (and most of the time, with none), but it's not very good news because, there's not much we can do to defend ourselves against other addons spamming the sim and taking all the available processor time and clobbering the Simconnect communication channel.

Since GSX runs entirely under Couatl.exe, Windows should already be able to distribute the load on a different core the sim runs under (especially if the one used by the sim is already at 100%) but, of course, it depends also on what the other processes are doing, either other addons, but also other running processes not releated to flightsim so yes, in such cases, tweaking the Affinity mask might help.

The only problem I see with this is when someone like me who has not installed any new addons for I don't know how long and everything with FSDT is working as it should, and then I do an automatic update and then the baggage loading forever problem begins then it is something to do with the update. I will think that is a logic answer but I'm not a programmer.

[samwheeler]

This didn't change anything, I tried to mess with the affinty for almost all the exe's relating to flight sim and still getting 'Baggage loading" forever..

[DavidGee]

I use process lasso (much better then this guide, sorry for my overbearing) THAT automatically on Prepar3D.exe sets core and thread without Core 0 (as because windows and other application use that core as default) this guide btw and tbh didn't make any difference the problem is still there.