requesting start slot error

[rcluxton]

Every time I've tried to join a race in the past few days I'm getting stalled out at "requesting start slot" and the load locks everything up. The only way to get out is to restart my computer.

Tried it on multiple servers and sceneries, same result. I unistalled/reinstalled Condor 3 and same result.

Any advice?

[wickid]

It is caused by long loading times. You loose connection to the server if one of the steps takes too long. Is your scenery on a SSD or HDD? What are your computer specs? Do you have lots of skins installed?

[John Cutter]

Hello,

We are experiencing the same problem, beginning on February 8: "Requesting start slot."

It happened to me on the USS Scenery Test server, and it happened to a friend logging on to my server. Never happened before for either of us.

FWIW, all on SSDs, no skins. Loading time for local Free Flight is normal. Loading time for server task appears normal until the red progress bar stops near the end, with "Requesting start slot."

Thank you.

John Cutter

[John Cutter]

Hello,

February 9, "Requesting start slot" problem continues for me and the users of my server.

Thank you.

John Cutter

[Vertigo]

Indeed, I just tried joining the server. Its not a timeout issue, it loads fast on my PC, but there is an error message hidden behind condor window (you can alt+tab to it):



If you click ok, condor will continue to load, but you will be disconnected.

I encountered this before and reported it on the beta forum, but I couldnt reproduce it and I have no idea what causes it.
Even on your server on my second (and third and fourth) attempt, I could enter just fine.

[arneh]

I had a related problem yesterday, I did not get an error, but the loading just hung at "Requesting start slot" for several minutes. In the end I had to kill Condor from the Task Bar. But then led to the problem when trying to restart "Condor is already running", despite there being no Condor task in the Task Manager.
Had to reboot the PC to get Condor to understand it was not running.

Obviously that did not help in trying to get in before the end of join time, although I did barely make it in just in time. Although considering that LXSim crashed right after start it probably would have been better if I did not make the join time, and didn't have to suffer through that frustration

[Vertigo]

Another not-solution but possible workaround; should it happen again, see if you can click the task view button:

or alt tab to reveal a ghost window with the above error message. The window doesnt have a thumbnail, and its not in the taskbar I think. But if you can click the ok button, that will at least save you from having to reboot.

[tpatty]

.... but the loading just hung at "Requesting start slot" for several minutes ....

Was this on the CWC 19.15 A? That server crashed, it might have happened just as you were tryin to join game?
The same happened to me on competition day 1 on the same server.

[Vertigo]

Also tangentially related; I stopped using LXnav, but when I was still using it, I noticed it would occasionally not exit when you reconnected to a server or reflew a task, and so if you started another flight there would be 2 Lxnav instances. This still appeared to work (might not keep working). Doing it a third time, there would always be 3 instances, lxnav would crash and IIRC only a reboot would solve it. On the other hand, manually closing "orphaned" lxnav instances would prevent this from happening.

[arneh]

Was this on the CWC 19.15 A? That server crashed, it might have happened just as you were tryin to join game?
The same happened to me on competition day 1 on the same server.

Yes, it was this server.
Ok, so maybe that is what happened, and that I had ghost window in the background which prevented Condor from exiting completely.

[arneh]

Also tangentially related; I stopped using LXnav, but when I was still using it, I noticed it would occasionally not exit when you reconnected to a server or reflew a task, and so if you started another flight there would be 2 Lxnav instances. This still appeared to work (might not keep working). Doing it a third time, there would always be 3 instances, lxnav would crash and IIRC only a reboot would solve it. On the other hand, manually closing "orphaned" lxnav instances would prevent this from happening.

Yes, I've seen that too.
But that was not what happened this time, since I had just rebooted the PC, there were no other LXSim instances running.

[ExaurUK]

Been getting this problem regularly. Last night hosting (via DShelper) two out of six could not get in due to this message, they froze on waiting for start slot every time they tried. The server window said modified glider detected (or similar) for both users, but both say they are on latest Hangar(33).
I also had the error myself today loading "Local Soaring - No Task" which seems to be on the serverlist most of the time. When I had the error my PC was simultaneously running a C3 server, so it may well have been related to that this time. I rebooted and now "Local Soaring - No Task" works fine.
First time this happened for me a few weeks ago I crashed my PC so badly it then failed to recognise Condor 3 was still installed so I had to reinstall. Maybe there is now something affecting the config of my server install, but good to see others are also suffering. Maybe I should try buying a new PC, but hopefully there will be a cheaper fix. Happy to help with info for debugging, not sure what needed though.

[John Cutter]

Possible Solution: Update Hangar


Hello,

One of my users did some experimentation, and found that the Duo Discus and the Blanik (and probably others) consistently stopped loading at "Requesting Start Slot." ...But the Genesis2, the Antares and others never stopped -- always continued loading successfully and starting flight.

On the server log:
"Unknow [sic] event: "[username] will be kicked. Modified plane data detected."

On the user's computer, the message:
"You were kicked by the server.
"Modified plane data detected."

Suspecting a hangar update, we both went to the Condor Downloads page...
https://www.condorsoaring.com/v3downloads/
...and found a hangar update posted on January 31, 2025. We both downloaded and installed this latest hangar update.

Important detail: Condor Updater reported "Hangar version: 33" both before and after the update. Despite this, the hangar was actually updated.

After the hangar update, all gliders worked normally, including the Duo Discus and the Blanik.

I hope this helps solve others' similar problem.

John Cutter
Half Moon Bay, California, USA