Couatl stays running

[Angelo]

I am having a slight problem with my Sim at the moment. I am noticing after I complelty close FSX to the desktop, my mouse pointer shows with a "Wait" cursor next to it, the blue circle. When I check my running programs in task manager I can see two Couatl 32 running in the list, and they refuse to close even if I try to end the task.

On a hunch I completely uninstalled GSX and the Addon manager along with Couatl and the problem went away. I could load and close FSX and the wait cursor would disappear when it should. As soon as I reinstalled it, the problem immediately came back.

The only way to get rid of the wait cursor is to reboot the machine.

Any ideas as to why this is happening?

Edit: I re-ran the sim and now when I check task manager again there are now 4 Couatl running in the list. This is after I shut down the sim and some time has passed. I am also unable to end the task forcefully so I am not sure what else to do.

Angelo  

[virtuali]

This shouldn't simply happen, and it's even less normal that you are not allowed to close it with the Task manager.

Maybe it's another addon that is preventing to close it, you might try editing your EXE.XML file located at %APPDATA%\Microsoft\FSX with a text editor, and try disabling all modules except Couatl.exe  (set their <disabled>False</disabled> to <disabled>True</disabled> ) and see if the problem goes away.

[Angelo]

Okay, I disabled everything except couatl.exe and the exe.xml. The problem is still there, what should I do next?

[virtuali]

Okay, I disabled everything except couatl.exe and the exe.xml. The problem is still there, what should I do next?

Try to do the same with the modules in the DLL.XML, except the Addon Manager.

[Angelo]

Okay I did that, and that seemed to have fixed the problem, now should I re-enable them? I will await your reply.

Right now I have items disabled in the exe.xml and dll.xml

[virtuali]

Okay I did that, and that seemed to have fixed the problem, now should I re-enable them? I will await your reply.

Well, it seems the conflicting one is in the dll.xml, try to remove them one by one, launch FSX, test, and you'll eventuall find which one is causing this.

[Angelo]

Okay so the culprit that was causing the wait sign to stay on turned out to be in the (exe.xml) file, not the dll.xml.

<SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0">
  <Descr>Launch</Descr>
  <Filename>exe.xml</Filename>
  <Disabled>True</Disabled>
  <Launch.ManualLoad>False</Launch.ManualLoad>

If I change the value back to False the problem comes back, if I leave it to True then everything is fine, however I would like to return it back to the way it originally was. Why is this happening, what else can I do?

Angelo

[virtuali]

That is the main exe.xml section, if you set <Disabled>True</Disabled> for it, the whole file would be disabled, you should set it to False, and separately disable a single module one by one (except Couatl.exe) until you find if there's one that conflicts with it.

[Angelo]

Trying now, will post back...

[Angelo]

Okay it is Couatl that was the problem,

[virtuali]

Okay it is Couatl that was the problem,

You are trying to understand why Couatl doesn't close automatically, if you disable it entirely, it will not even *START* to begin with so, how can that "fix" Couatl not closing

Sorry, but you must have overlooked something else which hasn't been deactivated, because Couatl closes just fine.

Try a Windows reboot, and redo all the DLL.XML test and all the EXE.XML test. DO NOT ever disable the Addon Manager or the Couatl program otherwise the whole test would lose any meaning.

[Angelo]

The problem is, is that I have to reboot my machine after every attempt to clear out the wait symbol. There are over 20 entries in the dll.xml file. What you are asking is extremely time consuming, and we can see that it is couatl that is the problem, I will try what you said, but it is strange that this problem all of a sudden came about as soon as I updated GSX through the User Interface. Maybe to save some time, I should try to un-install and re-install?

[virtuali]

The problem is, is that I have to reboot my machine after every attempt to clear out the wait symbol

No, you don't. You can simply kill the Couatl.exe in the Task Maanger after each try,

.we can see that it is couatl that is the problem,

No, it's not. You still don't understand what I've said: you haven't found Couatl is the problem, you have *disable* it, how it can possibly stop not being closed, if it hasn't even STARTED

I should try to un-install and re-install?

Just do what I said, go through EACH module in the DLL.XML and test one by one, until you find the conflicting one, and then do the same for the EXE.XML. DO NOT ever disable the Addon Manager or the Couatl program otherwise the whole test would lose any meaning.

You don't need to reboot Windows after each try, but do at least one reboot before starting. At every test, you can just terminate the Couatl.exe process with the Task Manager.

[Angelo]

I am unable to end the task couatl in task manager though, each time I try it says "The operation could not be completed." "The operation is not valid for this type of process."

[Angelo]

^^^^ Bump.