It will never stop… MSTS introduces two new errors
Started by renevanh6 posts8 min read
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Hello dear routebuilders,I've got 2 problems with MSTS. one when trying to remove a trackpiece in RE, another when trying to switch a switch in MSTS itself.First the problem in RE: I've build a little switching area, but I found out I made a mistake (wrong a1tend10d...) Well, this should be fixed, so I want to remove all track pieces. But when I try to select a piece (this time a piece of Dyntrack, another time it was a 3way switch), I get the next error message: track database error: 'remove_end_end' one non-vector, one vector when clicking OK, I can remove the track piece, but if I select another piece, RE get stuck totally, of I get the message: adjacent track piece not loaded. Can't select this track piece. The last time this happened, 'rebuild track database' solved the problem, but other times, it didn't, and I had to clean the whole tile manually, using wordpad and the tilefile. My question is: what is this, and how can I get it away??? The second problem: When driving in MSTS (on my own route) I want to go to a section in the route. This is reachable by using a switch. So I drive to the switch, and press 'G'. What happens? MSTS get stuck totally, and the only way to get the PC working again, is using the little reset button. This happens at different switches, manual and automatic switches.The question: What's this?? What's the problem? a corrupt file or just a bug in MSTS?For both questions: any suggestions, idea's, answers (right or wrong) and help is welcome!!Regards,René----------------------------- A day may come, when the courage of men fails... But it is not this day!! This day we fight! Ride for ruin and the world's ending!!!
RE: It will never stop... MSTS introduces two new error
Hello Renéyour first problem sounds like a case in which you joined two pieces of track together in a way the sim doesn't like (for example, adding another track piece at the wrong end of the A1tUSBuffer.s is no good idea...). You may need to identify the culprit track pieces in the RE, then remove them manually from the .w file before attempting a .tdb rebuild (do not forget to delete all the .bk files for the .tdb, .tit, .rit and .rdb first before starting the rebuilt!)your second problem could have three causes, these being:- Either the path you are selecting by throwing that particular switch forms a closed circle, which causes MSTS to hang except if the signalling is carefully set-up in a way that lets MSTS accept loops and circles. If signalling is done properly, you can set your switches to a path that forms a circle, but all the switches will freeze in that position once the circular path is set. By a closed circle I mean a path which will sooner or later bring you back to the exact position you are occupying momentarily, without having to reverse your engine once. With loop I mean a path that will also bring you back to the same position without having to reverse once, but in contrast to a circle this time with your engine looking the other way. Search for earlier posts by Otto on how to signal a route with loops and circles successfully.- Or the path you are selecting by throwing that switch will lead you ultimately to a switch which has no track attached to the end where the red pole (switch node) is. MSTS crashes when your path defaults to such an "orphaned" switch node. Thus route builders suggest to always add a short piece of track to the node end by default whenever placing a switch - an a1t10mstr.s will do - even if you know that you will continue with laying tracks for your route from that switch at a later time. - Or speaking of switch nodes, there might be a third reason for your crash: Make sure that you never place two switches end-to-end to each other, so that they are joined at their node ends (red pole on red pole is a no-go in MSTS). Always separate them by a short section of track you insert inbetween the two nodes (Jim Ward recommends at least a a1t10mstr.s, but shorter sections seem to work as well).Hope that helps, go through your track with the fine comb and look for situations as the ones described here.Lukas a.k.a Swissie
Hee-hee, sorry, couldn't resist, those have been with us for a long time. If you have interactive objects on the track you're going to lose them, since a TDB rebuild destroys interactive objects.First part of a TDB rebuild is deleting the .rdb, .rit, .tdb, and .tit files. (The road database, if there is one, is considered part of the track database for error messages, altho it's in the .rdb and .rit files.)This is important, and people haven't been paying attention:WHEN THERE IS NO TRACK DATABASE, ALL TRACK SECTIONS ARE NOW STATIC OBJECTS!!!If you have vector-no vector and/or adjacent pieces not loaded, the easiest way to get rid of them is: Delete the .rdb, .rit, .tdb, and .tit files. Open the route editor, select and delete the offending pieces. Save, exit. Open the route in the RE again, this time clicking the advanced, rebuild TDB button. Getting rid of the bad track pieces before rebuilding the TDB ends the problem, and it's easy to get rid of them if there's no .tdb file to interfere.
whow, that's a lot of information in +/- 24 hours!!Well, Lukas, you actually helped me out. There is a switch which hasn't got any tracks connected to it at the red pole sides. So... I will do this first!!!And sniper297, I don't worry about interactive objects yet... It is just the tracks that has been layed out now. And just a (small??) part of it. It is a fictional route, so I don't know where it will end...About the vector thing, I'll try what you tell me, sniper. But I just got a little question: do you know (or someone else ofcourse) what MSTS exactly means with 'one non-vector, one vector'? What's a vector?Both of you, thanks a lot for your answers!!Regards,René----------------------------- A day may come, when the courage of men fails... But it is not this day!! This day we fight! Ride for ruin and the world's ending!!!
I'd look up the exact meaning in the dictionary if I wasn't so lazy, but "vector" is a fancy scientific word for "pointing thisaway or thataway".Most MSTS files are standard UNICODE and can be opened and edited with wordpad, if you open the \World\whatever.w files you'll see stuff like:TrackObj ( UiD ( 6 ) SectionIdx ( 80 ) Elevation ( 0 ) CollideFlags ( 551 ) FileName ( A1tEndPnt10dLft.s ) StaticFlags ( 00200180 ) Position ( -129.561 94.3128 -512.135 ) QDirection ( 0 -0.643011 0 0.765857 ) VDbId ( 4294967294 ) StaticDetailLevel ( 0 ) )The "position" line tells the program where the end point of the track section is, the Qdirection tells it which way it points. The TDB rebuild uses that info to build the track database, open the .tdb file in wordpad you'll see stuff like this;TrackNode ( 5 TrVectorNode ( TrVectorSections ( 7 179 218 -12351 14861 7 0 2 00 -12351 14861 534.377 1 -448.111 0 3.14157 0 0 0 -12351 14861 6 1 0 00 -12351 14861 534.378 1 -488.111 0 3.14157 0 0 0 -12351 14861 21 0 1 00 -12351 14861 534.378 1 -498.111 0 3.14157 0 0 0 -12351 14861 22 0 1 00 -12351 14861 534.378 1 -508.111 0 3.14157 0 0 0 -12351 14861 23 0 1 00 -12351 14861 534.378 1 -518.111 0 3.14157 0 0 0 -12351 14861 24 0 1 00 -12351 14861 534.378 1 -528.111 0 3.14157 0 186 79 -12351 14861 25 0 1 00 -12351 14861 534.378 1 -538.111 0 3.14157 0 ) )The problem with this kind of clumsy coding (all them KUJU guys shoulda been hung) is that the TDB rebuild gets easily confused. Any track section that crosses a tile boundary will have all its info in the .w file that its starting point is in, and not in the .w file the other end is in. If a section of track crosses a tile boundary at the wrong angle or in the wrong place, the TDB rebuild (and BTW, every time you click on a section of track you're doing a mini TDB rebuild) gets confused and loses one end of the track section.Nobody has found the exact formula for what to avoid yet:http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID6/11952.htmlBut so far it looks like crossing tile boundaries at shallow angles, particularly with long curved track sections, is the biggest killer.
I have found that if you need to delete the pieces of track up to and including a switch, start at the end of the track and delete back to the switch. Deleteing a piece of track in the middle and leaving another piece abandoned by itself results in the V.E.E. error or a blue pole problem 4 out of 10 times on average. Also make sure you re-attach something to all the points of the switch before you try to save again. Another trick is if you are editing in the middle of a section of track you will be ok if you are able to complete the entire edit before saving. Saving before joining the track back together almost always results in V.E.E., blue pole, or corrupt .w file as the save forces the mini track database rebuild Sniper was referring to.These are the "Exceptions to the Rule" of saving, saving, saving, after placing a few objects, AND don't forget to backup befoe you even start editing.Larry