Are these game freezes the result of someone changing codes in real time?

[hitech]

I spent several hours yesterday investigating with sysinternals process monitor (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon#screenshots)

I ran 2 tests, one for 10 mins and one for 30, I then filtered the results to only show the activities of the aceshigh11.exe, the 10 min test gave me around 391,000 results, the 30 min gave around 980,000 which I exported to csv.

I then sorted by the duration of each activity, there were only 2 events that took more than a fraction of a second, for the 10 min test, that activity took 601 seconds (10 mins almost exactly) and for the 30 min test, the same activity took 1838 seconds (30 and a tiny bit mins)

I stress again, the next longest activity was 0.0042045 of a sec, while opening/reading terrset00.res (a 150mb file), every other activity on the 30 min test was less than a 1000'th of a sec.

The activity in question is the aceshigh11.exe attempting to access the path C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc which is a protected folder where your hosts file (and a few others live)

Why it's attempting to do this, I can't tell, I can only guess it might want to set some HT server ip
s in the host file, perhaps leftover old code from the early days of AH?

The exact entry is this :

Time of day 1:31:12.1592613 PM   
Process name aceshigh11.exe   
PID 5464   
Operation NotifyChangeDirectory   
Path C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc   
Result CANCELLED   
Detail Filter: FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SIZE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_WRITE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY   
Process start 1/08/2024 1:30:37 PM   
Duration 601.3205644 (seconds)

And for the 30 mins test, same thing

Time of day 2:34:09.7747351 PM   
Process Name aceshigh11.exe   
PID 2684   
Operation NotifyChangeDirectory   C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc   
Result CANCELLED   
Detail Filter: FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SIZE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_WRITE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY   
Process start 1/08/2024 2:34:08 PM   
Duration 1838.9060439 (30.633 mins)





Around the cancelled entry, aces seems to be doing some queries on network configuration of the machine it's running on, the highlighted entries are the ones that seem to go for 10 mins and then fail/are cancelled.

https://imgur.com/R0vLInO

https://imgur.com/Q1qoibx

Apologies, please download the images to see them better...

I'm not suggesting anything suspicious or unusual is happening, but the huge difference in duration of these processes, and the timing lining up really well makes me wonder.

RE my previous guess about skins, I can write that off, there is a lot of skin checking done, but it all happens in milliseconds

HT, I hope this is helpful, I can provide the spreadsheets and the exported process monitor logs if needed.

Steely

Nice work on trouble shooting. Aces High does not go after that folder directly but a request for DNS lookup would typically have the system check in a hosts first. Also I can think of some reasons nvidia may be trying to look at that folder directly.

But the BIG KEY TO REMEMBER, is this is only DX11 not dx9. That eliminates almost all normal game related items.


 Also has anyone tried running AH as administrator?
 If the issue goes away if could have something to do with failure to open a file or permissions some where.

HiTech
It also could be a periodic check for drivers.

[hitech]

I've seen the same thing (dx11) at times on other planes.  It definitely has to do with how layers are displayed... haven't used dx9 enough to see if it's the same with that.   Wonder if VR users have ever noticed the smoke thing?

Thats simply a draw order issue that can happen at times with alpha blending. Each sprite is not sorted with each other so depends on what you want to draw first the smoke trail or the clouds. One will cause an issue no matter how you do it.

[Animl-AW]

 Also has anyone tried running AH as administrator?
 If the issue goes away if could have something to do with failure to open a file or permissions some where.

HiTech
It also could be a periodic check for drivers.

Yes.

My freezes are very quick, maybe half second. It’s more of just a glitch now, not worth mention.

It was like 2 secs before my tweaking rampage. About the same time period I remembered to set ‘Run as Admin’ setting that stays that way. That was always SOP, I saw I hadn’t done that, so I did that about the time this thread started.

I also give the exe ‘High Priority’ in Task Manager.

[steely07]

Thanks for the reply Dale, yes, I'm running AH as admin, and have removed NVIDIA geforce experience (that checks for driver updates)

I've also been wondering if we're all on Win11 (those with freezes), MS may have done something during the may patch window, although I've read the KB's and I can't see anything obvious.

My other hope was to buy a AMD Radeon card and try it on the same machine I currently game on, but I'm not working atm, and the price for a similar card to my 2080 is several hundred bucks

PS : I get the same freeze on DX9, with same details

Time of day 12:58:15.9431924 PM
Process name aceshigh9.exe
PID 4124   
Operation NotifyChangeDirectory
Path C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc   
Details CANCELLED   Filter: FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SIZE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_WRITE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY   
Duration 1292.7041384 (21 mins, as in my DX9 test I wasn't expecting freezes, so hadn't started process monitor until I saw the first freeze, was a 30 min test)

[Dadtallica]

Thanks for the reply Dale, yes, I'm running AH as admin, and have removed NVIDIA geforce experience (that checks for driver updates)

I've also been wondering if we're all on Win11 (those with freezes), MS may have done something during the may patch window, although I've read the KB's and I can't see anything obvious.

My other hope was to buy a AMD Radeon card and try it on the same machine I currently game on, but I'm not working atm, and the price for a similar card to my 2080 is several hundred bucks

PS : I get the same freeze on DX9, with same details

Time of day 12:58:15.9431924 PM
Process name aceshigh9.exe
PID 4124   
Operation NotifyChangeDirectory
Path C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc   
Details CANCELLED   Filter: FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SIZE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_WRITE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY   
Duration 1292.7041384 (21 mins, as in my DX9 test I wasn't expecting freezes, so hadn't started process monitor until I saw the first freeze, was a 30 min test)

Stutter was less notable tonight for me. It was the same when I played IL2 single player for like 30 min.

So far I have changed nothing. I have been watching you all go through your motions so thank you for that diligence but so far there is no answer. Doesn’t really bother me that much anyway.

Nice to see Dale interacting. We need to do a monthly on air chat! I would be happy to dust off my radio gear and host a monthly session with the fella. 

[Animl-AW]

Thanks for the reply Dale, yes, I'm running AH as admin, and have removed NVIDIA geforce experience (that checks for driver updates)

I've also been wondering if we're all on Win11 (those with freezes), MS may have done something during the may patch window, although I've read the KB's and I can't see anything obvious.

My other hope was to buy a AMD Radeon card and try it on the same machine I currently game on, but I'm not working atm, and the price for a similar card to my 2080 is several hundred bucks

PS : I get the same freeze on DX9, with same details

Time of day 12:58:15.9431924 PM
Process name aceshigh9.exe
PID 4124   
Operation NotifyChangeDirectory
Path C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc   
Details CANCELLED   Filter: FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_DIR_NAME, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SIZE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_LAST_WRITE, FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_SECURITY   
Duration 1292.7041384 (21 mins, as in my DX9 test I wasn't expecting freezes, so hadn't started process monitor until I saw the first freeze, was a 30 min test)

\

I'm starting to think I need to reset my PC, and start from scratch until I find the setting that calmed it way down. I pumped so many tweaks into it (every tweak on my site) that I screwed up, making it hard to find that one. Sorry about that. Problem is, since it's basically fixed here, I'm probably not going to see any indications on my end in testing.

I just updated Nvidia drivers that came out a few days ago. There was no change. I just have a very fast glitch now. I'm just trying to help where I can to fix it for others now.

I saw some questionable things when running Event Viewer, but nowhere near the time invested as Spikes.

[Eagler]

Seems to be happening more these days on my front end..

Maybe it's just the way the internet works today..

Everything streaming, perverts downloading their porn, retards streaming their video game victories on yt..

Sorry but bandwidth isn't unlimited

Eagler

[Animl-AW]

Seems to be happening more these days on my front end..

Maybe it's just the way the internet works today..

Everything streaming, perverts downloading their porn, retards streaming their video game victories on yt..

Sorry but bandwidth isn't unlimited

Eagler

I know you’re streaming TV now. Remember, depending how/if your router is tweaked, you’re sharing bandwidth between tv and game now. Try turning tv off while you play.IF you think its a connection issue. There are router tweaks in my page now. QoS could play a roll.

The reason I say this  as a guess is no one else has said its increased, and you went to streaming tv. I don’t think the freezes are connection issue, yet.

Mine is less, wish I knew why so I could pass it along.

[Eagler]

Thanks Animl-AW!

I rebooted the modem and router yesterday which seemed to help some last night

I have 500gb with spectrum

I will check your page for tweaks

Thanks!

Eagler

[Skyyr]

Has anyone sought the advice of Sheila M Moss? She's an expert at fixing nuisance problems like this or so I hear.

[CptTrips]

Has anyone sought the advice of Sheila M Moss? She's an expert at fixing nuisance problems like this or so I hear.

 

[AKIron]

Thanks Animl-AW!

I rebooted the modem and router yesterday which seemed to help some last night

I have 500gb with spectrum

I will check your page for tweaks

Thanks!

Eagler

You may have a 500GB monthly limit but you do not have 500Gb speed. Maybe 500Mb speed?

http://speedtest.net

[Eagler]

Er yes no data limit but only 500mb internet 

$10 more a month I can get 1GB for a year but don't think we need it

Eagler

[AKIron]

For some who may not know:

Gbps
G = Giga (Billion) Back in the 50's it was Jiga
b = bits
p = per
s = second
B = bytes (8 bits)

[CptTrips]

For some who may not know:

Gbps
G = Giga (Billion) Back in the 50's it was Jiga
b = bits
p = per
s = second
B = bytes (8 bits)

You didn't list a Google.
Long form please.