Real Flight Evolution won't start

E

etl17

New member
I have both the 9.5S and just got the steam version of real flight evolution. I am using an interlink elite controller and yes, it is seen by windows as a joystick.
However, when I try to launch RF Evo, nothing happens. The application seems to be dying silently without any error dialogs.
I am using an AMD CPU and NVidia 5070ti graphics card on Windows 11.

How can I troubleshoot what's going on?
 
I've tried copying the RealFlight.ini file from 9.5S and also the public beta version of the program with no success.
Is it possible that there is some kind of incompatibility when both the 9.5S and Evo versions are installed?
 
No, there is not a conflict between versions - many here run many combinations of old and new.
Are you using Microsoft One Drive? That hijacks the location of your "My Documents" folder and moves it off into the cloud. RealFlight then can't find the files it needs, due to the redirection. If this is the case, there are a number of posts here about what to do.
Does 9.5S currently work? Or has it died also?
 
@etl17, what happens if you try starting RealFlight without any .ini whatsoever? That will cause it to use default values for all settings.

It sounds like you've already been trying different .inis, so this will come a little late, but I presume you have preserved your original in case you end up able to use some or all of it. I caution you against moving .inis between major RealFlight versions. This can lead to bad outcomes including crashes (though we've been able to address some of that).

You can also try deleting everything in <Documents>\RealFlight Evolution\Cache. Files in there get regenerated as needed, so you don't need to worry about preserving any of it. (Things will just take slightly longer when loading the first time after clearing it.)
 
Thank you Ryan.
Well, when I delete the whole <Documents>\RealFlight Evolution\ folder and re-launch, the folder is re-created, but there is no .ini file in there whatsoever. If I try to launch without my USB controller connected, RealFlight Evo will complain until I attach my Interlink Elite controller. However, it never actually launches after that. It just quietly dies! I wonder if there is any way to collect any logs (and yes, I checked the "Logs" folder which remains empty), or otherwise figure out what is the culprit ....
 
Reading through the manual, it looks like I should have seen the activation screen.. but I've never seen it! I am launching RF Evo from Steam. Is this normal? I purchased the steam code directly from Steam (as an upgrade to the 9.5S - which is also installed through steam).
 
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Can you run it directly? Find the install directory - mine is on my D: drive at: D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\RealFlight Evolution
Double click on the RealFlight64.exe and see if it starts up. While it may not bypass all of the Steam "hooks", if it runs, then the issue might be more Steam related than due to the local install.

Do some googling about how to uninstall Steam and reinstall. I can't give definitive, but read a bit about how to preserve the actual installed files for the games you have, and then after adding back to your newly created library. Only important if you have other games you want to preserve and/or don't want to do a complete reinstall of RF due to data usage caps or other issues.
 
Thank you, Flapper. Running the binary directly has the exact same behavior. :-(
I do have a lot of other games installed through steam and all of them work as expected. I tried to uninstall and reinstall RF Evo a number of times, but the issue persists. I wish there was a crash report or something else that would help me figure out what is not working....
 
Ok! Mistery solved. I had to attach my Interlink Elite directly to one of the USB ports on the motherboard (instead of through a powered USB hub!). Hopefully that can help others who may face a similar issue.
 
Oh no.... Today all of a sudden RF Evo stopped working again. Exact same symptom (dies silently) regardless of which USB port I plug the interlink controller). What is a good way to troubleshoot what's going on?
 
Yes, I can.
I solved the problem by tracking down the registry entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/MediaProperties/PrivateProperties/DirectInput and then locating the VID_xxxx entries that had the same ID as the USB ID of the Interlink Elite (can't remember where I found that - perhaps in AIDA64). After deleting these keys (I think there were two of them), when I plugged the controller the next time RF Evo started working again! So it seems to be some kind of registry "poisoning" that happens and throws RF off somehow.... If this is helpful, happy to investigate more ....
 
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