Minimum Windows Version Required??

[EllipticCurve]

Hi,

What is the minimum Windows version required (specifically, BUILD number)?

P3Dv6 hangs during load. I ran dependency walker, and it complains about two major issues:

1) Circular reference
2) Missing DLLs

Item 1 eventually resolves to kernel32.dll, but it is item 2 that is the real problem:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archi ... 8fd4430375

One of the "missing" DLLs is "API-MS-WIN-CORE-APIQUERY-L1-1-0.DLL" but this is not a real DLL.

I have numerous run-times installed as I'm a software dev, and this is the first program I have had on my system that complains about such a problem.

Anyone from LM able to look into this and see what this actually requires? From what I can see of the stated requirements, I have them all and they appear to be nothing special (e.g. VS 2015 runtimes).

[EllipticCurve]

Hmm... may be irrelevent. P3Dv5 does the same thing in dependency walker, but it runs.

P3Dv6 builds the scenery database, then just sits there.

[JorgenSA]

I would tend to believe that your system lives up to the system requirements for v. 6, but just for the h*** of it, what are your system specs?

I have v. 5.4 and the latest v. 6 peacefully co-existing on my system, specs in my signature. The Windows build currently is Windows 10 22H2 19045.4291 - I could not say what the minimum would be. For Win 11 I would believe all builds would work.

Jorgen

PS: this may or may not have any bearing on your issue, but at one point I had some severe issue with crashes in v. 5 - can't remember exactly what was involved, but I got so desperate that I installed everything I could find from MS Visual Studio, and for some reason or other that took care of it.

[EllipticCurve]

Windows 10
Version: 2004
OS Build: 19041.388

P3Dv5.4 runs without any issues, as does everything else on my system. It's only P3Dv6 that is having problems.

I re-installed the x64 VS2015-2022 C++ runtime just in case. No change.

[JorgenSA]

I think you might want to take Win 10 to the latest level - 2004 would seem to be even older than 21H2... - if that is possible for you.

Jorgen

[EllipticCurve]

I think you might want to take Win 10 to the latest level - 2004 would seem to be even older than 21H2... - if that is possible for you.

Jorgen

Yes it is. I'm wondering if P3D is expecting a certain system service to be available. I disabled a lot of Windows junk on my system.

[JorgenSA]

I have also disabled a lot of that c*** that MS shoves upon us, and I can only say that I am very happy with Win10 22H2 as I have it now. It's stable as a rock, and the only times I have issues with P3D have been when the problem sits in the chair at my desk.

I am certainly not going to Win 11 except maybe in the distant future, and certainly not now after I have read that they put ads on the start screen.

Jorgen

[EllipticCurve]

I have also disabled a lot of that c*** that MS shoves upon us, and I can only say that I am very happy with Win10 22H2 as I have it now. It's stable as a rock, and the only times I have issues with P3D have been when the problem sits in the chair at my desk.

I am certainly not going to Win 11 except maybe in the distant future, and certainly not now after I have read that they put ads on the start screen.

Jorgen

I know they tried that nonsense in Win 8 and then Win 10.

I need another hard disk to create a new Windows install.

[EllipticCurve]

Hmm... says here that P3Dv6 requires at least Windows 10 1809. I have 2004.

https://www.prepar3d.com/product-overvi ... uirements/

[EllipticCurve]

This is just getting weird. This is what ProcMon has to say. This is right before it just hangs. Scenery.cfg does NOT exist.

[EllipticCurve]

I figured it out...

calc.exe no longer works. Windows Store no longer works.

Why? Because these are tied into several system components deliberately, to ensure they are not disabled. If they are disabled. Windows Store and associated apps will not work.

It seems something with P3Dv6 build chain/dependencies installs an update or system component that modifies Windows Store or some related component which is even more militant than these components already were at checking/being locked against certain system components.

In extensive testing I have done in the past, once Windows Store enters this broken state, there is no way to fix it without re-enabling all disabled services that it is linked to.

This is not a problem with P3D directly, but the way MS have chosen to screw the user.

P3D is the only thing I have installed in the last 2 months. It's 99% this reason it won't launch, because P3D is also affected by this Windows Store nonsense (if you weren't aware, even basic Calculator is now a Windows Store app!).

EDIT: Yes...it's because Windows Firewall is disabled (properly!). GRRRRRRR...

I have white underlines under all Windows Store apps (including calculator). If I run calc.exe directly from the Windows/System32 folder, it tells me I need to install a Windows Store app to run it. This is a lesson in how Microsoft really screws you.

TL;DR: P3D installed some Windows update or something that has caused a chain of events resulting in Windows Store or some system component to be updated. This has caused Windows Store apps to attempt some kind of update process which they can't due to (seemingly and logically!) unrelated system services being disabled. P3D is now also trapped by this Windows Store crap.

[JorgenSA]

Well, the Windows Store was one of the things I did not disable...

Jorgen

[EllipticCurve]

Well, the Windows Store was one of the things I did not disable...

Jorgen

I fixed it and got that part working again.

I'm currently re-installing for about the 10th time. I have P3D V6.1.9.31599 as the install base, in case that matters. I have the 6.1.11 update, but I'm not installing that until it runs!

[EllipticCurve]

Nope...still hanging during the load screen.

I get load screen, building scenery files, then it just sits there.

I also burned an activation as the uninstaller did not ask me to deactivate.

Are there any ways to get it to log what it is trying to do during loading?

[EllipticCurve]

I'm guessing by the lack of responses, no-one has any idea?