FMS.EXE crash on start-up immediately

[ukuser]

Hi All

Well, version 7 works fine but both 8.3 and 8.5 crash immediately. It works fine on another machine but this is a compaq laptop which is pretty old, on my Dell XPS gen2 it fails.

I've tried shutting down all apps , un-install re-install, drivers etc etc.

Any advice at this stage 'll consider.

Thanks

[ggunners]

What error message are you getting. There are other occurences of newer computers without traditional COMx ports that have issues with the FMS COM port library. There are some work arounds. Do a search on the forum. Certain versions of video drivers have caused issues too.

-- ggunners

[ukuser]

Well, it doesnt have any com ports just USB, it has an Nvidia 6800 Ultra graphics card which is more than capable of running it, i've also reverted back to the default crappy dell drivers but they are whql certified and it still doesnt run.

directx diag gives no errors which i expected, i've even tried running in safe mode and turning off hardware acceleration still without luck.

I've got a new hard drive coming so i'll swap format and re-install and see how that goes.

Thanks

uk

[ggunners]

FMS needs a COM port so that's probably what's causing the problem. Search the forum for solutions for Windows XP and COM ports. If you don't find the solution, let us know and we'll help you search.

-- ggunners

[ukuser]

[ggunners]

What error message are you getting?

Here's the link to the COM port issue.

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/f ... t=ecomport

-- ggunners

[ukuser]

Ok, checked the other laptop and that doesnt have a comport.

I read through the error message and theres nothing for the comport,

the first modules it fails in are FMS.EXE, KERNELL32, and USER.EXE. These are windows components and continue fo rthe next 8-10 modules.

I know this is machine specific though.

I actually really like this simulator, i find prop hovering and torque rolls to be extremly challenging

[ukuser]

UPDATE,

Formatted windows on new 80gb drive with 1 partition NTFS file system.

Re-Installed Windows XP with generic drivers from scratch.

Installed FMS8.5 and it CRASHED so un-installed and removed registry entry

Updated all drivers to latest version and re-installed FMS8.5

CRASHED - Same error all along no change - fails in Kernel32.dll.



MY Conclusion,

FMS is conflicting with Kernel32.dll, The only difference being that this is a Dell machine still.

Could somebody give me a working kernel32.dll version to compare. Not working ones will also help.

[ukuser]

Still no update ?

[evert.999]

I have the exact same problem, now i do have a working version of FMS at work on my computere overthere, what i will do is to copy that kernel32.dll to my home pc, check versions and replace the non-working kernel32 with the one of my work computer.

If i have positive results i will post it here (i will try it tommorow)

[rcastro]

Mine crashes too, on start-up.

It says "FMS.EXE has found a problem and it will close."
It has something to do with KERNEL32.DLL

I un-installed and installed the most 3 recent versions of FMS and all of them crash, I cleaned the registry and still nothing.

FMS used to run perfectly on this same machine. The only change I remember doing to it is adding some RAM from 512Mb to 1.5Gig.

Any help will be considered. Thanks all.

[Lindsay]

ggunners has told you at least twice what your problem is. Messing with kernal32.dll is NOT what you should be doing.

The fact that you are using a USB connection is totally irrelevant. Follow the thread ggunners is pointing you to. If you haven't got a real com port to enable, you can fudge one.

[rcastro]

Lindsay is right.

I never had a COM port, or a virtual serial port, or a paralell port and FMS worked for years.

For some reason, I need a a serial port now. I loaded HW virtual serial port and FMS worked again.

I wish FMS handled the situation a bit better thouhg.

Thanks a lot.

[Lindsay]

Good to hear you are going again. FMS hasn't been touched for years so we are on our own. One day it will surely break for good. I thought Vista would have done it in but, no, mine still runs!