Problem with Real Flight 9.0-9.5s hanging on program launch (long term, multiple systems)

A

Ara Tidwell

New member
I have had a problem with Real Flight 9.0, 9.5 and 9.5s hanging randomly and frequently in the middle of program launch, to the point I have to log off my Windows and restart. This has happened in both Windows 10 and 11 and across two very different PC's, one being an old homebuilt with an upgraded to Nvidia Geforce 1060 and then the current system of a Windows 11 Dell laptop with a 10th gen Intel I-7 10750H and a Nvidia 1660 Ti. Both systems had SSD's. I no longer have the old system to cross test on, but I can tell you for sure this new Dell laptop ran both 9.5 and 9.5s and had the hanging problems. My old homebuilt system only ran one monitor, which was a solo 19" Samsung flatscreen and my laptop is running a 1920x1050 15.6" integrated screen with a side screen (what I use for games) of a Dell S2721DGF 27" 2560x1440. I don't think it has anything to do with dual monitors because it did the same stuff on my old system also.

I can't think of anything I am doing others wouldn't do. I am not a gamer at all. On my old system Real Flight was my only video game and on this Dell G5 5500 laptop it is my only video game besides Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Deluxe Premium. I mostly only use my computer for YouTube/YouTube music, Facebook and email outside these two games.

I update my drivers first day their released from the Nvidia and Intel websites and weekly from Dell.
 
Try turning off as many things as you can that may also be running, and using resources.
On Win10 (and probably Win11, but I'm not near that machine to verify):
Right click on the taskbar, and select "Task Manager".
Go to the Startup tab, and look at what is enabled. You may have to do a bit of googling on the name of an item, if you don't recognize what it is. Right click to disable an item from running on startup.
Reboot, and then try RF. On my PC, of the 34 possible things, I have 30 disabled all the time.
You can then, if you want, progressively turn things back on, to see if you can find one that is a bad actor.
Dell and many others are notorious for coming with all sorts of "bloatware" that aren't all that helpful, but either suck resources or interfere with other software.
This is not a comprehensive list of everything that may be running on your PC (like antivirus, etc), but it is a comparatively safer place to start troubleshooting.
 
I'm not running anything special, not even a 3rd party virus scanner. I got MS Office, Xbox, FS2020 and Facebook Messenger. This has been both a Windows 10 and 11 problem across two very different systems using late model Nvidia graphics cards.
 
Got that. But there is something not right, so just tried to give you one path to look at for potential problem resolution, without having to (yet) dig into deeper task manager or windows logs to ferret out clues as to why your systems are giving you fits.
It maybe, also, that somewhere along the line you've picked up a virus or other malware. Malwarebytes is pretty effective for picking up non-virus things, is free, and can be easily uninstalled once the system has been scanned.
Or you could call support at 1-217-398-8970 and reject their advice too.
 
Good Morning Guys. I am running RF 8 without any issues apart from not being able to use my Radio Master TX16S with the Spektrum WS 2000 dongle. I would like to upgrade to RF 9.5S but have been reading that there are so many issues with it and Windows 10, Trojan warnings, random freezing and lock ups, etc., as above. I am using a PC deck top and PC laptop with RF 8 which works well. I am only doing the upgrade since a friend who wants to fly is willing to buy RF 8 from me. Should I do this or get him a used RF 8 package from ebay or something? It would be nice to have RF 9.5S with Draco etc., but am I looking for trouble. Cant believe RF cant get this right. Thanks Guys.
 
As a fellow RF8/Win10 user, I may not be the best one to advise you, but here goes. I personally see no particular reason to upgrade to 9.5S. RF8 works well enough for me. But I wouldn't hesitate to do it if I had a reason to do so. I've usually upgraded to the new RF about every 2nd RF version since RF2, so I'll probably wait until the next one. I've run RF2,3,5,7,&8. RF-X didn't work for me, so I went with 8 instead. I'm 100% convinced that any trojan warnings can be safely ignored, but my understanding is that that shouldn't happen any more. The only compatibility problems I'm aware of are related to AMD video cards & DX9. Since you are already using RF8, I assume you don't have that problem.
 
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Striker, I can understand feeling a bit hesitant based on some of those reports. I can also reassure you. Let's take things one at a time.

Windows 10 Support
RealFlight 9.5S is 100% compatible with Windows 10. We are not aware of a single issue related to running on Windows 10. It's what we all use internally and so do many/most of our customers.

Antivirus Warnings
The initial 9.5 release had problems with some antivirus programs believing one or more of the helper applications that go along with RealFlight contained a virus. These were all false positives; at no point was any part of the RealFlight software package actually infected. Nevertheless, after parts of the software were quarantined and removed from the user's disk, recovering from that situation could be difficult for users with the DVD or Digital Download Editions.

In the short term we supplied instructions to follow. The medium term solution involved digitally signing our applications in a way that eliminated the problem for almost everybody. Relying on Steam for 100% of our software distribution going forward is an important part of the long term solution (for reasons that are beyond the scope of this particular post). In short: You should never experience any issues like this if you purchase 9.5S.

"random freezing and lock ups"
The problem Ara Tidwell described above is unfortunate, but it is not a representative experience. It's hard to know what's going on there and whether it's a software problem or something external. Hopefully by now they have sorted it out and are happily using the software.

Unrecognized Controller
Some computers have trouble working with more recent versions of the InterLink DX. If you purchase the full package including the InterLink and do experience issues, connecting through any kind of USB hub (even unpowered) should fix the issue. You can contact RealFlight Product Support for further assistance.

AMD Graphics Card Compatibility
A handful of AMD graphics cards (not all) are affected by AMD breaking support for DirectX 9 in their recent drivers. Their driver literally crashes, at which point RealFlight cannot continue operating.

For some of the affected cards, previous driver versions are available which support DirectX 9 and will still allow RealFlight to operate normally. For the remaining few, no good known solution currently exists.

This would not impact you, though, because you have NVidia hardware. And in any case, RF8 and RF9.5S would be affected the same way.

KEError 32990
A very small percentage of users received this error on startup. We have since released an update that solves it.


I hope that helps contextualize the issues you may have seen described and gives you a more solid basis for your decision.
 
Bill Stuntz said:
As a fellow RF8/Win10 user, I may not be the best one to advise you, but here goes. I personally see no particular reason to upgrade to 9.5S. RF8 works well enough for me. But I wouldn't hesitate to do it if I had a reason to do so. I've usually upgraded to the new RF about every 2nd RF version since RF2, so I'll probably wait until the next one. I've run RF2,3,5,7,&8. RF-X didn't work for me, so I went with 8 instead. I'm 100% convinced that any trojan warnings can be safely ignored, but my understanding is that that shouldn't happen any more. The only compatibility problems I'm aware of are related to AMD video cards & DX9. Since you are already using RF8, I assume you don't have that problem.
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Hello Bill,
Many thanks for your reply and input. I do love and believe in RF, I have taught many people including my wife, to fly on that first. I have lately gotten my neighbor into it and within one hour on RF, he was taking off and doing circuits without any issues, we will work on his landings soon. He just turned 60 years old BTW.

I have been using RF from day one and as you rightly said, we should not jump to conclusions when a few people have encountered issues. I like to upgrade every 2 or so newer versions also and would get 9.5S.

I was explaining to the guys in our club and everyone else when the sim discussion comes up saying, you can never ever out grow the sim. As you become better at one maneuver, you take it to the next complex maneuver and work on that, so you really can't out grow the use of RF if you want to keep excelling in RC flying. Many people think that once you learnt to fly, you have no need for it anymore which is not the case.

I can't begin to tell you how many 3D maneuvers I have mastered using RF and then made it look easy flying the real RC airplane at the club. For example, I spent countless hours learning to torque roll on RF and when I tried it at the club for the first time, just having the correct stick input was 85% of the maneuver done and it looked like I was doing this for a long time.

Thanks for the reply and I will return here soon with my experience when I get RF 9.5S.

Cheers.
 
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Ryan Douglas said:
Striker, I can understand feeling a bit hesitant based on some of those reports. I can also reassure you. Let's take things one at a time.
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Good Day Ryan,

I would like to thank you immensely for the great emphasis you have placed addressing my concerns. This really sheds a lot of light for everyone who is experiencing issues, your reply is pivotal in reinforcing how great RF is and how much work went into its development from its inception.

I have been using RF from the very first RF RC sim produced, it was called Great Planes Real Flight back then. We installed it at our local Hobby Shop and it was a hit from day one, brings back memories. I have always been a supporter for RF from its inception and encouraged so many others to purchase it. Even back in the day when Dave Brown came out with their flight sim and sent us promo materials based on it, I did not deviate from RF.

As expressed in my post above, I have had from the very first version Great Planes RF to RF8 and have never ever encountered any issues with RF, so reading the posts about issues was a bit of a shocker since I knew RF was always flawless. I should have never have questioned that without getting the facts first, I apologize.

What I will do, is to copy and post your reply or better yet, link this thread on the other forums where people have been complaining about RF 9.5S. This is a priceless reply from you and I can't express how grateful I am for the detailed explanation and effort you have put into it, thanks so much.

I am in the tropics right now, but I will buy RF 9.5S along with the new controller and ship it to a friend of mine, he will be visiting us here in 2 weeks and will bring it for me. I am promoting its use here in the islands and getting people to buy into RF. My neighbor is so excited about it, he ask me to purchase mine right away after using it, which is what started my search for RF 9.5S

Now thinking, is it better to down load from Steam since it might have the recent patches or will the DVD be the same? I prefer to use and like to keep the DVD versions, please advise.

Thanks so much again Ryan and I will share your reply to me, on every forum I am registered to, informing them about RF 9.5S not being what some claim.

Take care and have a great day.

Cheers.
 
Striker said:
Now thinking, is it better to down load from Steam since it might have the recent patches or will the DVD be the same? I prefer to use and like to keep the DVD versions, please advise.
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My understanding is that all RF9 purchases are now the Steam version - no more DVD's. Since you're not in the US right now, I don't know if/how that affects you. I'm sure Ryan will clarify, especially if I'm wrong.
 
Bill Stuntz said:
My understanding is that all RF9 purchases are now the Steam version - no more DVD's. Since you're not in the US right now, I don't know if/how that affects you. I'm sure Ryan will clarify, especially if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Hi Bill,

It might be better indeed to use Steam especially since I have an Interlink Elite controller too in the interim. I would still get the newer controller in 2 weeks, will await Ryan's reply to confirm.

EDIT: Registered on Steam and found RF 9.5S, just a matter of hitting the add to cart button :)
When Ryan confirms, I will call Tech Support, unregister RF8, uninstall it and then install RF 9.5S from Steam.

Cheers and thanks again.
 
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This is what Ryan said (in his post #8 above)

(Relying on Steam for 100% of our software distribution going forward is an important part of the long term solution (for reasons that are beyond the scope of this particular post). In short: You should never experience any issues like this if you purchase 9.5S.)

Yes Steam works great, I have no problems with it at all but I will miss the trip to my local hobby shop to purchase the DVD, ah well, I guess I can make a trip to the hobby store to purchase a new controller to support their business.
 
asj5547 said:
This is what Ryan said (in his post #8 above)

(Relying on Steam for 100% of our software distribution going forward is an important part of the long term solution (for reasons that are beyond the scope of this particular post). In short: You should never experience any issues like this if you purchase 9.5S.)

Yes Steam works great, I have no problems with it at all but I will miss the trip to my local hobby shop to purchase the DVD, ah well, I guess I can make a trip to the hobby store to purchase a new controller to support their business.
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Hi, yes indeed he said that, read it but overlooked it. When I get back home I will purchase RF 9.5S and down load from Steam and get the new controller afterwards. Great knowing that downloading from Steam works well.

Thanks for the reply.

Cheers.
 
Well guys, I downloaded 9.5S via Steam which took less than a few mins and it works flawlessly. I am not using a high end PC by any means and with an on board graphics card. All which was requested was to calibrate my Interlink X controller which came with RF8. Now to call customer support to deactivate my registration for RF8

I am happy about this and again, a happy RF customer.

Thanks for all the replies and help. My next task is to see if I have better luck configuring the sim, PC and my new WS2000 dongle with my Radio Master T16S.

Cheers.
 
Striker, thank you for the very kind words! Your story is great, as is hearing how many others you've helped learn to fly using RealFlight. You've been a RealFlight user even longer than I've been helping to make it, which is saying something! (I hit 20 years just a couple months ago. Hard to believe...) Anyway, it's always gratifying to hear from people who have gotten so much benefit and enjoyment over the years from the simulators we make. ?

It sounds like you already made a move on 9.5S directly through Steam and are up and running. FWIW that would have been my recommendation as well. As @Bill Stuntz said, previous non-Steam versions will not be developed any further, so if you want the latest & greatest, that's the way to go. Plus, since you already had a supported controller, by purchasing from Steam you got to experience nearly-instant gratification. ?

The Spektrum WS2000 wireless dongle is essentially a Spektrum receiver that can speak USB. I'm not personally familiar with your RadioMaster TX, but from a quick look it seems it can be made to speak that protocol, in which case it ought to be possible to use it. Maybe someone else on the forums has already paved that road?

Happy flying!
 
asj5547 said:
Yes Steam works great, I have no problems with it at all but I will miss the trip to my local hobby shop to purchase the DVD, ah well, I guess I can make a trip to the hobby store to purchase a new controller to support their business.
Click to expand...
Good news! RealFlight 9.5S is still sold in boxed form in hobby shops! The only change is that instead of a DVD inside it contains a Steam key to redeem through Steam.

I encourage everyone to continue supporting their favorite local shops. If they aren't stocking 9.5S, request it! They may even be a little confused about it themselves, but they are still an integral part of how people can get RealFlight.
 
Ryan Douglas said:
Good news! RealFlight 9.5S is still sold in boxed form in hobby shops! The only change is that instead of a DVD inside it contains a Steam key to redeem through Steam.

I encourage everyone to continue supporting their favorite local shops. If they aren't stocking 9.5S, request it! They may even be a little confused about it themselves, but they are still an integral part of how people can get RealFlight.
Click to expand...
Good news indeed that Realflight is supporting the local hobby shops, allowing us to make our purchases there and not exclusively from Steam.
 
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your kind words too :) Yes 20 years have gone by relatively quickly indeed. I have been using RF9.5S via stem and have not encountered a single glitch so far and I don't expect any either. It runs fast and smooth like butter, smoke on and even with quality chosen over performance, no jittering or anything, love it.

I would like to use it on my lap top too for when we travel. I know I can via Steam the same as my desk top, but I would like to download it so I can fly offline in case I am at location with no ISP.

I am using my InterLink-X which came with my RF8 package but I will purchase the later controller.
 
Hi Guys,

I installed and registered RF8 in my friends laptop. I loaded fine and I got a "Installed successfully" notice at the end of the installation.

When I ran the program from Launcher or directly, the first splash screen comes up, then disappears and nothing happens after.

I disabled Norton's antivirus and the programs ran fine afterwards. So for those of you who have experienced this, the antivirus software you have might be the reason RF does not run.

Cheers.
 
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