FMC - Direct to any next waypoint drops framerate to 0.x

[bigbasspic]

Well,

after my last rant I thought about gaining some positive IXEG karma points and give some more information about the – 1.0.3 still existing – problem over here, because this makes the plane unflyable for me on VATSIM.
When (enroute) trying to skip some waypoints and go direct to another waypoint on the LEGS page, I can click on the desired point to bring it to the bottom left of the FMC. But when I try to insert this point into the first position of the legs, framerate drops immediately to around 0.3 – and the plane and me are lost in time tunnel ,-) If I continue looking at the FMC – and the spinning ball (mac) – after a long time (40 sec or more, it depends...) the new waypoint appears on the FMC and MOD is indicated, EXEC gets lit. IF (not always possible) I then manage to get the click on this button happening, everything is back to normal again. Looks like a too tight loop (doing the new calculation for the route?) to me, as a tail on the gizmo log gives constant updates on processing points, interceptions et al while the plane is unresponsive and XP does not process mouse clicks any more.

If you need more information, let me know.

MacBook Pro 15 Mid 2012, 2,6 i7, 16GB, SSD (system), 2TB HD (XP), OS 10.9.5
XP 10.45, plugs deactivated (see screenshot), XP log & Gizmo log attached.

Bassy regards
Benjamin

GizmoLog.txt

Log.txt

Edited May 8, 2016 by bigbasspic

[Litjan]

Hi Benjamin,

I have no Mac, but indeed it sounds like it is a computational problem. Possible culprits are other plugins (XSquawkbox is also a plugin!), anti-virus programs (on Windows the Windows Defender is definitely causing problems in a MOD state), an outdated operating system, background programs running or heat issues (cores throttling down).

Since it seems to happen on every route for you and other people on Mac are flying just fine, I don´t think it is a problem with the code per se. Yes, we will look into optimizing the MOD state calculation process in the future, but for most people this seems to be no problem, so I think we have to look at your specific setup for the solution to your problems.

Hang in there and let me know if you make any discovery per the above points, Jan

 

[bigbasspic]

Thanks, Jan.

Will also try again without XSquakbox.

Bassy regards
Benjamin

[bigbasspic]

Removing XSquakbox does not solve the problem.
Where do I find the IXEG debug text that some users do post here?

Benjamin

[xplana]

STEP1:

STEP2: Enter 4 times "." into the FMC. > "...."

The debug file is now availabile in the aircraft folder

[bigbasspic]

Thanks xplana!

[Vantskruv]

Shouldn't these calculations be threaded? Is it not possible to do that within Gizmo/X-Plane?

[Litjan]

3 hours ago, bigbasspic said:

Removing XSquakbox does not solve the problem.

Yes, that would have suprised me.

It must be a problem with your computer not having enough computational capacity to run the calculations during the MOD phase...so something is stopping it from calculating well.

Do me a favour. Spawn at TXKF. 

Output the framerate on screen.

Plan a flight to KJFK, pick any STAR and approach, then fly direct to the first waypoint of the approach.

Now start taping a video (CTRL-space, iirc) in X-Plane, then do the MOD thing (shortcut to the second waypoint) and then post the movie here or on youtube. I think we need to see what is going on to be able to guess the problem.

Did you check on the other possible culprits? Virus scanner? What OS are you running? Is it the latest and newest OS?

Jan

 

Edited May 8, 2016 by Litjan

[bigbasspic]

Will do this, Jan. Never been at TXKF ,-) Just to confirm: When to do the MOD thing? In the climb, on cruize alt, after a certain time, when approaching the first waypoint??? 
Sitting at TXKF with ~38 frames in captains view and ~42 in outside view (shift-8). (no buildings in scenery, just runways, papis and runwaylights.)

No virus scanner, just a firewall (Little Snitch). OS 10.9.5, latest of the 10.5. branch. Does not give any problems using xplane with other planes.

P.S.: Just to let you know: The plane is - apart from this bug - very gentle on frames on my schlepptop, in the 30s normally.

Bassy regards
Benjamin

[Litjan]

Ok - thanks for the initial feedback - I would like to see the effect kick in - so maybe take off, get LNAV and VNAV going, then start rolling the tape. Do the "direct-to" waypoint thing, so you capture the effect of the frames getting bad. If you can, EXECute, so the frames go back to normal... then stop the movie and post it afterwards?

Thanks, Jan

 

[Litjan]

Here are some threads that might help you as well:

http://forums.x-pilot.com/forums/topic/9207-sporadic-fps-problems/?page=2#comment-99205

http://forums.x-pilot.com/forums/topic/9178-massive-sudden-lag/#comment-100342

http://forums.x-pilot.com/forums/topic/9465-fps-crashes/#comment-100120

 

Jan

 

[bigbasspic]

Here we are.

Vid attached, but – as expected – it is "time-compressed" too, as XP doesn't write the vid file while too busy updating the plane. But if you step through at ~6 sec. you see the effect shortly, it took about one minute real time. After this you see all the clicks that I did on the EXEC-button ,-) 
Did forget to do the debug '....' on the FMC, grmpf.

The MBP is quite under load when flying XP, next up may be a cooling device, but as said it doesn't affect me flying in other planes with current settings as it does when I try to do the "direct to".

Bassy regards
Benjamin

B733_1.mov

[Litjan]

6 minutes ago, bigbasspic said:

Here we are.

Vid attached, but – as expected – it is "time-compressed" too, as XP doesn't write the vid file while too busy updating the plane. But if you step through at ~6 sec. you see the effect shortly, it took about one minute real time. After this you see all the clicks that I did on the EXEC-button ,-) 
Did forget to do the debug '....' on the FMC, grmpf.

The MBP is quite under load when flying XP, next up may be a cooling device, but as said it doesn't affect me flying in other planes with current settings as it does when I try to do the "direct to".

Bassy regards
Benjamin

B733_1.mov

Did you read the threads above? I think an upgrade for your OS might be the only cure...

Jan

 

[bigbasspic]

Hmmm...

This machine works quite well in current state for all the stuff I really need it for... Before going down this road – never change a running system! – I could mount the disc on another machine with newest OSX and have a go on it. Is the IXEG activation bound to my computer like eg the network card or can I try this without hassle?

Thanks again, Jan!

Bassy regards
Benjamin

P.S.: Did read the threads, thanks a lot...

Edited May 8, 2016 by bigbasspic

[Litjan]

23 minutes ago, bigbasspic said:

Hmmm...

This machine works quite well in current state for all the stuff I really need it for... Before going down this road – never change a running system! – I could mount the disc on another machine with newest OSX and have a go on it. Is the IXEG activation bound to my computer like eg the network card or can I try this without hassle?

Thanks again, Jan!

Bassy regards
Benjamin

P.S.: Did read the threads, thanks a lot...

I think that should not be a problem - if you run out of activations just shoot the team at X-Aviation a mail, and they usually don´t ask twice about it - unless you went through 50 or so already ;-)

Jan

[bigbasspic]

Will do if I run into trouble – though me only shooting with my Nikons... 

Thx, Jan!

Bassy regards
Benjamin

[brucekn]

I'm going to open a new thread regarding something similar, also with OSX.  I have seen this same affect also when using the FMC, although in my issue it was entering a higher cruise altitude several times after departure.  Here's what I noticed:. Entering the info into the FMC before departure, on some keys at least, had a delay between clicking the key with the mouse and the data appearing in the FMC window.  Like a delay of about 2-3 seconds.  This appeared to get progressively worse in response time.  It came to a head when I wanted to increase cruise altitude in VNAV, requiring a new input (I did this twice) into the FMC.  On the second time I got the spinning wheel (Mac symbol of trouble) and the sim froze, then the spinning wheel went away and I got 1/3 fps (1 frame in 3 seconds).  I then reinstalled XPX totally, and installed nothing else but the IXEG B733 only (other than Fly-with-.lua and Terra-Haze).

Today I got the same thing on my fresh XPX / IXEG install, other than the mouse response issue was not using the FMC, but using the MCP (ALT HLD).  Of course, the first reaction is to re-click the button, since it is initially unresponsive.  This seems to compound the issue.

I also see a similar issue with the JAR A320, and also seems to be related to mouse action.  Although I am not sure that the two birds are exactly exhibiting the same issue.

Any help most appreciated.  I have a screen shot of my fps counter if it's useful, of the event today with the IXEG bird.

Bruce,

 

[Litjan]

Bruce, may I ask what OS you are running (version)?

Oh, and just for grins - can you try without "fly with lua"?

Thanks, Jan

 

Edited May 9, 2016 by Litjan

[bigbasspic]

Jan, just to let you know, disabling FlyWith Lua made no difference on my side...

[brucekn]

Hi Jan,

I'm running Yosemite, updated.  I have pondered upgrading to El Capitan, maybe I should try that..

 

I will certainly try with FlyWithLua disabled too.  I wish I could correlate this more with something so it was easier to check, all I can go on is that it appears to be mouse-click related on a Mac.  I also fly with Time Machine turned off.  I will post here if I find anything.  I also have the following thread that I started last night, FYI:

Thanks, Bruce.

 

[Litjan]

14 hours ago, bigbasspic said:

Jan, just to let you know, disabling FlyWith Lua made no difference on my side...

Thanks for the reports, Benjamin and Bruce.

I really wish there was an easier way to test if the OS is the problem. Upgrading to a new OS is not a small thing, I know that.

Maybe you can wait until Benjamin reports back how things worked on his machine with the newest OS?

We´ll get there!

Jan

 

[bigbasspic]

Dear Jan & Bruce,

I *may* have a chance to check this today late afternoon, if one of our companies machines is avail. I'll keep you informed...

Did any of the coders check the corresponding code in the meantime to see if there are unnecessary tight loops going on when the changes to the plan are inserted? (My suspicion...)

Bassy regards
Benjamin

P.S.: Just got the confirmation that my cooling device should arrive today, let's see if this changes anything...

Edited May 10, 2016 by bigbasspic
added cooling device...

[Litjan]

56 minutes ago, bigbasspic said:

Dear Jan & Bruce,

I *may* have a chance to check this today late afternoon, if one of our companies machines is avail. I'll keep you informed...

Did any of the coders check the corresponding code in the meantime to see if there are unnecessary tight loops going on when the changes to the plan are inserted? (My suspicion...)

Bassy regards
Benjamin

P.S.: Just got the confirmation that my cooling device should arrive today, let's see if this changes anything...

Hi Benjamin,

no, we have not checked the code per se - if there was a problem, then it would surface for all computers running it - not just for a very limited number. It´s not that we are saying that it would be impossible - just very unlikely and of course we have other more pressing issues affecting a larger number of users.

We know that there can be a problem during a MOD stage when windows defenders is on and checking the X-Plane folder. We are accessing the navdatabase constantly during the MOD stage, and windows defender is "checking out" every one of these accesses...

But in that case your FPS drops every 2 seconds, but runs fine in between the drops. What I saw in the video with regard to your problem looks very different. And it can´t really be a problem with all Macs, as 50% of our dev team is using Macs and haven´t had any problems.

Tom did have a "general slowdown" problem, but that was cured with the cooling pad, however I think that this will not affect your problem, since it isn´t global but only tied to a certain situation...

Jan

 

[brucekn]

If I get time this weekend I might try updating the OS to El Capitan (I'm not sure yet what to expect or how this upgrade works)...  Will depend on whether I need to be in the office this weekend most likely.....  

[smoothride]

I had this FMC problem too, when I  copy and pasted a new fix on the scratchpad legs page, as the active waypoint (direct), and executed it, the sim locked up.  I'm on a Mac, El Capitan OS.