Prepar3d Starts, No Add-On Manager in Add-Ons **SOLVED**

[pgde]

Just updated from Prepar3d 2.4 to 2.5 (with all hot fixes). Prepar3d starts and works fine except:

No buildings or Add-On manger are loading. Jet ways are there. I have downloaded all updated installers last night and have been using them.

No errors in couatl.err

I tried loading GSX, then KLAX and then the standalone manager. No change -- jetways only and no Add-On manager. Also, no Flightbeam products (like KPHX) are there either.

I did an uninstall and re install rather than just overwriting and that didn't work either.

Any ideas as to how I can troubleshoot? Or suggestions?

Regards,

P.

Update: Tried suggestions found in message http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,11548.0.html and referenced messages and none worked.

[virtuali]

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,10962.0.html

[pgde]

Hi:

Well, that didn't work either. I uninstalled all Simconnects and reinstalled. No AV or Antispyware running. Attached is a series of screeenshots etc that may help.

Here is what I had done to date:

1. Uninstalled all FSDT products
2. Reinstalled KLAX with no AV etc
3. Nothing on the menu
4. Installed over KLAX the standalone manager (2.0 version).
5. Still nothing.
6. Uninstalled the standalone manager and reinstalled the beta version.
7. Upon starting Prepar3d, application popup error -- (see attachment, no couatl.err file generated). Error goes away if I overwrite 3.0 with 2.0. But doesn't solve the problem.
8. Did a capture from the Windows System log of the error (see attachment) for you
9. Reinstalled all Visual C++ software as recommended elsewhere in the forum.
10. Rerun steps 1-4 with the same negative results.

FYI, all ORBX products work fine. No Flightbeam products work. BTW, I am using the most recent Active Sky Next (SP2c build) and I think that uses Simconnect to inject weather. That works fine.

Thanks so much for your help!

P.

[virtuali]

Well, that didn't work either. I uninstalled all Simconnects and reinstalled. No AV or Antispyware running. Attached is a series of screeenshots etc that may help.

Nobody ever reported a problem/error like the one you posted in your screenshot, but since you haven't copied the entire details of the Windows Event Viewer, I cannot possibly know which version of the program you used.

Googling for the error code, results in thousands of hits, and it seems the meaning of the message is the .exe file is corrupted. Which means, it's likely an antivirus bug so, even if you say the antivirus has been disabled, it apparently hasn't.

You can check this, if you go to the P3D\fsdreamteam\Couatl\Couatl.exe file, right-click on it, select "Properties", select "Digital Signature" and check if the signature is valid. If it's not, then it's SURE it's antivirus which has corrupted the file trying to "heal" it.

If the digital signature is valide, another possible reason, is that you installed the wrong version of the VC++ runtimes libraries. Or, you uninstalled a version without reinstalling it.

Reinstall the Couatl Public Beta 3 again, and be sure it's the LAST thing you do.

[pgde]

Okay. I still have this problem. What I did was to completely uninstall P3D and all FSDT products.

Did a "Virgin" install of P3D 2.5, ran once to create config files and then installed all hot fixes. No other add-ins are installed at this point. Nothing.
 
Then reinstalled KLAX. Nothing on menu but couatl.exe *32 was running according to Task Manager.

Shut down P3D and installed Public Beta 3.

Got the same Oxc error as before and Couatl will not load, regardless of whether I try it from Explorer.

All installations were run without Anti-Virus (Norton) and as "Run As Administrator".

According to MS Tech Web and others this error seems to be related to MS C++ 2010.

When I try to download and install the 2010 version direct from the MS web site, it says that I have a newer version and won't install.

So I have taken screen shots of what C++ redists are installed.

And what I have of the event viewer (sorry there isn't more info, but that is all MS provides).

Just to clarlfy, all is well with 2.4.

Please let me know what other information I can provide.

Peter

[virtuali]

So I have taken screen shots of what C++ redists are installed.

I'm sorry, but that screenshot is not very helpful, because it only indicates how many products can be Uninstalled, it doesn't say anything if they are installed correctly, not corrupted or not conflicting against each other.

I too have VC++ 2010 installed, and there are no problems with it. In any case, the Couatl.exe (version 3) requires the VC++ 2013 by itself, and in inherits a dependency on VC++2005 because it uses Simconnect (which requires the 2005 runtimes, likes FSX) so, in *theory* it shouldn't be affected by the VC++ 2010 runtimes.

All installations were run without Anti-Virus (Norton) and as "Run As Administrator".

Something must have happened at some time, because your error really means the executable image format is "invalid", which really looks like a corruption caused by the antivirus. As I've said, you can check this, if you go to the P3D\fsdreamteam\Couatl\Couatl.exe file, right-click on it, select "Properties", select "Digital Signature" and check if the signature is valid. If it's not, then it's SURE it's antivirus which has corrupted the file trying to "heal" it.

In addition to that, there's no difference whatsoever regardless if you have P3D 2.5 or P3D 2.4, when Couatl is concerned. Couatl doesn't even KNOW what P3D version you are using, surely it doesn't know (and doesn't care) about the difference between 2.4 and 2.5, the only think it needs to know, if it's FSX, P3D 1.x or P3D 2.x, in order to know where to look for the scenery.cfg, but that's it.

So, whatever difference you see running under P3D 2.4 or 2.5, cannot possibly be related to the Couatl program itself, since there isn't a single line in its code that ever knows the difference between the builds. The only program that checks the build and needs to recognized it, it's the Addon Manager.

BTW, the Addon Manager also require VC++ 2013 and 2005 (because of Simconnect) so, if THAT one runs, it seems to indicate there's nothing wrong with your VC++ libraries, and the issue is ( as usual ) the defective Norton.

[pgde]

As far as the security information, Win7 shows that "The digital signature is OK."

I have tried the current version of Add-On Manager as well as the beta with the continued problems as noted above. Interestingly both FSUIPC and ASN are shown in the Add-On section of the P3D menu. But not KLAX (my test airport).

Checked DLL.XML and EXE.XML and all look fine.

Norton has the entire drive that Prepar3d is on excluded from scanning.

All simconnect agents have been reinstalled as have the various VC++ redists.

I have disabled Norton without any luck.

Any other ideas? Is there a logging feature we can use to see what is going on?

Thx

P.

[virtuali]

As far as the security information, Win7 shows that "The digital signature is OK."

In this case, you might exclude a problem with the antivirus, and it's likely a problem with the VC++ libraries instead.

I have tried the current version of Add-On Manager as well as the beta with the continued problems as noted above. Interestingly both FSUIPC and ASN are shown in the Add-On section of the P3D menu. But not KLAX (my test airport).

That doesn't mean anything. If the corrupted version of the VC++ libraries is not required by *those* products ( I *think* ASN uses the VC++ 2010 libraries instead ), its problem won't affect them.

Also, some addons works with several Simconnect versions, our addons requires the SP2/X-Pack version so, if the missing/corrupted library in your system is instead Simconnect, but THAT version WE require (there are 3 versions installed in your system, all at the same time, and this is normal), it will not affect other addons.

Any other ideas? Is there a logging feature we can use to see what is going on?

You can activate the Simconnect diagnostic mode to see what's wrong with your system. Open notepad, and copy the following text:


[SimConnect]
level=errors
console=1
RedirectStdOutToConsole=1
OutputDebugString=1
; file=c:\simconnect%03u.log
; file_next_index=0
; file_max_index=9


Save the file as SIMCONNECT.INI in this folder:

Documents And Settings\YOUR LOGIN NAME\Documents\Prepar3d V2 files

At the next launch of the sim, you should see a text window with diagnostic message, that should tell what's going wrong. Let me know what you are getting, so we can have an idea what's happening. Only the first 15-20 lines are important. If the scrolling goes too fast, try again and use the "Pause" key on the keyboard to read the first lines of the screen.

[pgde]

Hi:

Attached is a zip file with  the outputs of the simconnect.ini (thanks -- I changed the syntax to output to a file and also "normal" since bglmanx isn't being found so you can see what is happening around it). Also, since that file isn't loading I included copies of dll.xml and exe.xml.

P.

PS I am still getting the 0xc error in beta 3 even after reinstalling the vc++ files in safe mode.

[virtuali]

Your log shows that:

- The reason of the modules not loading, is a "Missing dependencies", which means some required libraries are missing/corrupted on your system.

- When you use the Couatl 2 version, which requires only VC++ 2005 libraries, Couatl.exe is loaded, but bglmanx.dll is not

- When you use the Couatl 3 version, which requires both VC++ 2005 and 2013 libraries, both Couatl.exe and bglmanx.dll are not loaded

Since bglmanx.dll always requires the VC++ 2013 libraries in both versions, while Couatl.exe only version 3, the only logical conclusion is that your problem is caused by a problem with the VC++ 2013 libraries, which are either missing or corrupted.

Try to download them from here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=40784

Download and install BOTH the x64 AND the x86 versions. DO NOT download the "arm" version. And, restart Windows after installing them.

[pgde]

Hi Again:

Good news -- all problems are solved. It occurred to me that perhaps there were other issues outside of P3D. So I tried running SFC /SCANNOW (elevated as Administrator) and found 2 corrupted JSON files (telemetry). Ran a Utility to correct them. Rebooted and reinstalled all VC++ libraries (without Norton active). Rebooted once more and surprise, the 0XC error was gone, Add-On Manager and Couatl-Powered are now on the menu and buildings are back.

I do appreciate the troubleshooting tips (especially the logging features) since they give you a peek under the covers so to speak. I also think the reboots after reinstalls helped. Thanks so much!

So my update to P3D 2.5 is complete and please mark this solved....

Have a Good Mother's Day!  

P.