Unexpected error occurred at startup, Realflight 9.5s (steam)

M

Mkaz

Member
Just purchased RF 9.5s and installed via Steam.
When starting a message box appears 'Unexpected error occurred. Report to KE', before any other screen is shown.
My system is quite new: Ryzen 9, Nvidia 950, 24gb, 2TB SSD, Windows 11. All drivers and OS up to date. Older Interlink controller.
The system has RF 7.5 installed which continues to run just fine.

I googled the error and searched the forum. Most explanations point to the controller and offer various solutions.
This is what I have done so far:
  1. Plugged the controller into a USB 2 port.
  2. Used a powered USB 2 hub.
  3. Used an unpowered USB 2 hub.
  4. In steam, disabled the steam controller option.
  5. Reinstalled DirectX 9.0c as administrator
  6. Started RF from the Realflight.exe as administrator.
  7. Started RF without connected controller. This takes a while more, no 'unexpected error' and a windows about missing controller is shown.
Everything seems to point in the direction of the controller/RF 9.5s combination.
I also installed Steam and RF on an office computer (Win10) and RF worked fine with the same interlink controller. This worked fine ( a bit slow though, but no crash).
The fact that the interlink controller works fine on my home system with RF 7.5 and also on the office computer with RF 9.5s indicates that the controller is OK.
Since RF 7.5 runs fine it is probably not related to OS, DirectX or graphics card.

Other users reported that Win11 works with RF 9.5s. I assume this must be a glitch in RF 9.5s related to timing and the interlink controller. I found an old USB 1.2 hub in the office and will try that at home later today (they are hard to come by).

I tried looking for a log file but could not find one. Anybody out there who knows if there is any log?

In the meantime I appreciate any input and further advice.

KE - I am sure you are monitoring these messages. This is something that should not happen and should be fixed. Since I have seen other reports I know I am not the only one experiencing this. Unexpected error means the exception is not caught. At least catch it and produce some more info.
 
I had the same problem but was caused because of an imported model into RealFlight.
Have you recently download a model from Knifeedge?
 
I tested now with a small USB 1.2 hub but this too did not solve the issue.
I am out of options now. So far no word from KE.
Without a solution I'll have to ask for a refund from Steam, but I'll wait until tomorrow (maybe a solution comes up in a dream at night).
 
Saw a post that said to first calibrate the controller in Windows. Did that. Windows 'sees' the controller just fine and identifies it as Interlink Elite. Calibrated it using Windows.
RF still crashes though on startup.
 
I have been lost in the past with RF.
There is another option in asking for help at horizon support. Normally they take three days to answer emails. They didn’t help me though…
 
Actually I have been stuck with RF many times…
Now I figure that all my problems have been oriented on how I have or have not configured something. Try another controller, try the controller with the switches moved in all posible ways. Find and reset to original settings of RF. Try starting RF directly. Delete all custom aircraft, delete all custom airfields, then restart computer and try to run RF. Try starting RF in Steam. Just ideas I’m having… hope you can work it out. Since I have the sim working ok I enjoy it lots
 
Mkaz, you included lots of good info in your original post. Thanks for that.

There is a known issue with some computers having trouble with newer InterLink DX units, but you're using an InterLink Elite so it is definitely not that.

The fact that it works with 7.5 on the same machine certainly seems to eliminate the controller itself as well as compatibility with that particular computer as causes.

If I understand you correctly, you have already disabled Steam Input per this post, which would have been my next suggestion. It's probably worth double-checking it even so, just to be sure.

I'm going to send you a private message with some instructions for finding your serial number. That will help us locate your crash report(s). Normally you would be able to simply view it in RealFlight's About dialog, but since you can't start the sim we'll have to get a little clever.
 
Thanks for your reply, Ryan.
I tried to start RF by locating Realflight.exe in D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\RealFlight 9 and clicking 'run as administrator' on the file.
I can see for a split second the round steam icon and then the usual exception 'unexpected error'.
Let me know if there is another way to start it without Steam.
The Interlink S/N is: xxxxx (read from label on the back).
The Realflight S/N is: RealFlight 9: xxxxx
Version: RealFlight version: 9.50.065

I also tried with the USB 1.2 hub I found but that didn't work either. I also tried most of David's suggestions (start with controls and switches at different posistion, etc.
When RF shows the 'unexpected error' message, nothing is loggen in the event logs (Application , System, ...).
Is there a way to start RF from the command line with a switch in order to create a log?
Ah, I forgot, you can see the log's sent with help of my S/N.
 
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Mkaz, thanks for that. I will take a look a little later and see if I can learn anything useful on our end.

(Note that I have stored your serial numbers and edited your post above to remove them. Those should be kept private.)
 
I'm late to this thread so this may have already been tried. Have you tried deleting the RealFlight.ini file. It will be recreated if the program loads okay. You can always move it to another folder if you want to keep anything in it and try restoring it and see if the problem comes back.
 
SOLVED
I found a solution or more like a workaround. Anybody experiencing the same issue, here is what I found:
My motherboard is quite new, fast and modern. It has several USB type ports:
USB 3.2 , neither 9.5s nor 7.5 can use this. 9.5s crashes but interestingly, 7.5 recognizes the Interlink and starts, but the controller does not work.
USB 3.0, 9.5s crashes, 7.5 works but only with a USB 2.0 hub in between.
USB 2.0, same as USB 3.0

Since RF7.5 works on this system and I had tested the controller with 9.5s on a different system, I knew the controller was fine.
I also measured the controller's current consumption; it is negligibly small. Saw a few posts about the USB ports now providing enough current, I think they must have been misinterpreting results.

Needless to say, the motherboard's USB ports work fine with all other devices (USB keys, keyboard, mice, HD, phone, tablet, ...). But my Brother printer was less reliable on the USB 3.2 port but works fine after moving it to a USB 2.0 port.
At work we manufacture several devices and one of our older devices is troublesome on USB 3.0 and up. A 2.0 Hub solves the issue (slows the communication down), which led me to try the same with Interlink.

I suspected an API/timing issue between RF and the USB port. Ordered 2 PCIe USB cards, one with USB 3.0 and one with USB 2.0.
The 3.0 arrived first.
RF 9.5s still crashes if used with the new USB port directly. But, if the USB 2.0 hub is inserted in-between, RF9.5s works.

The motherboard uses the x570 chipset for USB, the PCIe card obviously another one. I'd assume that it is a bit slower too.
In my case that provided a solution.
When the PCIe to USB 2.0 card arrives, I'll test it too and report.

the X570 chipset and AMD CPU's and quite popular amongst RF users, probably more than in the general population. I believe it would be worthwhile for KE to try to fix this glitch and make life easier for users and KE support. RF7.5 handling is already better than 9.5s since 7.5 worked in more cases.
When/If new versions of RF9.5s become available, I'll retest using the motherboard ports and post the findings.

Thanks for all the help offered to me.
 
Sounds like a AMD driver issue with the chipset, would be good to get some feedback from someone that is using the latest Z590, Z690 Intel motherboards, are the 3.0 and 3.2 USB ports compatible with the Interlink Elite, Interlink-X and Interlink-DX controllers when connected to Steam.
I have no problem running Steam 9.5s on my PC (Z370) chipset and the Interlink-X and DX controllers hooked up to the motherboard 3.0 ports.
 
Hi asj5547. This would be one possible conclusion, but, RF7.5 (and other prior versions I have) works just fine on this system. Only 9.5s fails with an exception. Something in 9.5s has changed to the worse in regards to usb handling.
 
Mkaz said:
Hi asj5547. This would be one possible conclusion, but, RF7.5 (and other prior versions I have) works just fine on this system. Only 9.5s fails with an exception. Something in 9.5s has changed to the worse in regards to usb handling.
Click to expand...
Okay, thanks for clarifying that.
Just as a test I dug out my old Interlink elite, plugged it into one of the 3.1 USB ports on the back of the PC and logged into Steam 9.5s, the simulator worked perfect.
 
First, I'm very glad you found a workaround that works for you!

Second, thank you very much for coming back and telling us about it!

This is sounding more and more like a corner case (we know not everybody has trouble using the InterLink Elite with USB 3.x ports), but that doesn't mean it's unimportant. You've supplied a lot of useful data. I wasn't able to locate any crash reports that came from you, which probably means things crashed in such a way that it didn't get through to us, but this gives us more to go on.
 
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