FSX-MS Playsim VFR Scotland Central DVD problems?

[Guest]

After a long wait (6+ months) from my Pre-order date, I finally got the 5 DVDs of Scotland Central (dual layer 8GB) requiring 37GB to install.

 

I start to install and immediately run into a few problems:

 

1.  Autorun.inf points to Open=Setup.exe, there is no setup.exe on the DVD, there is a VFRGenXVol7Setup.exe ... so the process of insert the DVD and watch the installer automatically start doesn't work.  I have to manually run VFRGenXVol7Setup.exe.

 

2.  It looks like DVD's are dual layer 8GB and are not a "standard" format, in fact it looks like they were burned and the session was left open?? 

 

Anyway, this DVD issue is causing my Pioneer BD-RW BDR-207D to have problems ... it'll work, but incredibly slowly ... for example the install says "extraction will take 13+ hours" for just one DVD (keep in mine I'm running a VERY fast system 3960X 32GB RAM SSD 4.6Ghz etc. etc.). 

 

Puzzled, I stop the install and pop in another dual layer DVD I have laying around see if it's working, it works fine, very fast, can copy the entire DL DVD to my SSD in less than a minute.  Ok, so it seems my Pioneer BD-RW is working fine.

 

I have Volume 6, 8, 9, and 10 of VFR UK Scenery already installed (from several months ago), so as another test I pull out the DVDs for Volume 10 VFR UK and insert it to see if it has any issues -- I'm figuring it's from the same publisher (Playsims and same developer Horizon) so probably the same DVD format/type ... well Volume 10 works fine (as expected).

 

So obviously this seems to be a problem with new Scotland Central DVD from Playsims. 

 

I proceed to attempt to obtain support by going to http://www.playsimspublishing.com and select the link to Horizon http://forum.playsimspublishing.com/ and get:

 

"Apologies for any inconvenience" ... "The playsims publishing forum is experiencing technical difficulties and will return as soon as possible".  Hmmm, ok, this isn't looking good.

 

Anyone else having a problem with the recently released Scotland Central from Horizon/Playsims?  I get the feeling because it has been delayed for so long, that Scotland Central got rushed out the door without anyone actually testing the install from DVD set ... the error in the Autorun.inf would be an immediate Red Flag that no install testing was done.

 

Rob.

[Guest]

My installation ran slow. I found it worked a bit better if I just stuck the DVD in, waited till the autorun script popped up, closed it, then opened windows explorer and waited for windows to load the DVD contents. Did this every time it wanted the next DVD, and only clicked ok when it was recognised. Took the best part of 40 mins in the end.

 

Ultimate Defrag is now doing it's thing. 5hrs to go!

 

Chris

[Guest]

Thanks for response Chris.  No defrag here, running SSDs.  But I did give your suggestion a go and sadly 12 hours later still processing DVD 1.

 

I tried to contact Playsims/Horizon but no response so far.  I'm thinking that I got a defective DVD or set of DVDs given that the other Volumes I have from them work/installed fine.

 

Their web site is still down and the link to Playsims forum takes me to a web site that appears to be trying to infect my PC with a virus (fake message telling me IE10 is out of date and I need to install something) -- fortunately my anti-virus software caught it and I know better than to download/install.

 

Definitely not looking good, oh well, I guess no central Scotland for me.

[Guest]

Did you order from Flightstore? Maybe try to contact them and get a replacement?

[NickBuxton 0]

Just got it in the post today. I think my copy will stay in the box until the fixes are proven.

The same happened with the horizon V3 upgrade discs for scenery areas 1, 2 & 3. They ended up reproducing a whole new batch of discs and reshipping to all existing customers!

[Guest]

I'll try Flightstore and see what they recommend.

 

Nick, thanks for the info ... just for the heck of it I tried another BD/DVD drive and got the same results :(

 

At this point all fingers point to bad DVDs ... Playsims and Horizon seem to have NO internet presence?  Anyone found a working forum for either?

 

Rob

[Christopher Low 5,354]

You are not the only one, Rob. I had exactly the same problem, and I suspect that a lot of people will experience it. Apparently, AutoRun was "sort of" disabled because of a Microsoft warning with respect to Malware. However, doing this has potentially caused more problems than sticking to the old method (which, let's face it, worked absolutely fine for every other GenX volume).

 

I am baffled why they decided to do this. Customers with no technical knowledge at all may well think that their DVDs are faulty, and expect a replacement. When I experienced this problem after inserting Disk 1, I was given an estimate of SEVEN hours to install the product. That was unacceptable to me, so I decided to copy the contents of all five DVDs to a temporary folder on my hard disk. That in itself was problematic, because it took no less than 55 minutes to copy the contents of Disk 1 to the hard disk, and the same again with Disk 2. Thankfully, the final three disks were copied in 12 minutes each. The installation worked perfectly after that, but I really shouldn't have had to go through that process.

 

As for internet presence, the FlightStore forum is essentially the new VFR GenX forum. I doubt you will see the old Horizon or PlaySims forums returning....

 

http://forum.flightstore.co.uk/index.php?&sid=869e56231a0ba24c0d51c94e0eabfb32

[Muklum 28]

Received my copy today, and it installed without issue. My DVD drive is a Samsung SH-S222A, and Autorun is disabled on my system, so I do use the setup file for all installations from removable discs. Installation took about 15-20 minutes per disc, and after a test flight of about 2 hours, I'm very happy with what I've seen so far. Sorry to hear that the installation speeds are slow for some. Maybe a faulty batch of DVDs?

 

Dugald

[Christopher Low 5,354]

Dugald,

 

Can I ask whether you use 32bit or 64bit Windows? The reason I ask is because I have been told by someone that it only affects users with 64bit Windows.

[Guest]

Thanks for more info, I'll give Christopher's process a try and see.  Autorun issue is easy enough to work around.

 

FWIW, I'm running Win7 64bit.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Christopher,

 

Yes, I have Windows 7 Pro 64bit and I too have experienced problems. I must say I hadn't considered the possibility that  a 64bit O/S might be at the root of this issue. Difficult to understand why, however, as the thing does install..... eventually!

 

You might be interested in this thread over at the Scotflight forum:

 

http://www.scotflightscenery.com/forum/index.php?topic=289.0

 

Fortunately, if you're patient, all this hassle is amply rewarded by fantastically detailed photoscenery covering the whole of the central belt of Scotland. I have the complete set now and am eagerly awaiting the latest Scotflight Photoscenery update and Treescapes Volume 7 to elevate this latest VFR GenX release to the point of perfection :smile:

 

I note you have posted over at the Flightstore forums - I think our experiences have been somewhat similar. Also, Iain has recommended we disable the Scotflight Photo Coast entry meantime pending the release of his Scotflight Photo update. That resolved all the coastline conflicts I was seeing.

 

I've sent a customer support request with details to: 

 

andrew@playsimspublishing.com

 

but have yet to receive a reply. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about all this.

 

Regards,

 

Mike

[Guest]

I took a look at my AutoRun settings in Win7 64 bit ... Control Panel | Hardware and Sound | AutoPlay

 

Under "Software and Games" changed it to "Install or run program from your media".  (you can always change it back later if your not comfortable with the security risk).

 

I inserted the DVD and got the expected error "no application" because the Autorun.inf is pointing to Setup.exe which does NOT exist on the DVD.  However, this time I was able to do the install very quickly ... 1st DVD took < 6 mins, 2nd DVD <5 mins, 3rd DVD 4 mins, 4th DVD 4 mins, 5th DVD 3 mins.

 

Hope this helps others running into this problem.

 

Rob

 

EDIT: I would have posted my solution on the Scotflight forum but that thread got locked?

[dogtrack 18]

Quelle Surprise !  I will say this for Horizon, they are consistent.  Every release from England & Wales version 0ne Vol 1,2 & 3 way back in 2007 has been problematic.

 

Well, this Vol 7 would appear to be the last release as NI is unlikely to happen for many years to come. So perhaps we can all sleep better at night now.

[Muklum 28]

Dugald, Can I ask whether you use 32bit or 64bit Windows? The reason I ask is because I have been told by someone that it only affects users with 64bit Windows.

Hi Christopher,

 

I'm using Win7 64-bit.

 

Quelle Surprise !  I will say this for Horizon, they are consistent.  Every release from England & Wales version 0ne Vol 1,2 & 3 way back in 2007 has been problematic.

 

Well, this Vol 7 would appear to be the last release as NI is unlikely to happen for many years to come. So perhaps we can all sleep better at night now.

 

 

They've certainly been consistent for me. I have complete coverage of England and Wales, and now Scotland. The only problem I've ever had (other than the long wait for delivery of this volume) was that Scotland South interfered slightly with the Cumbrian coast, and a fix was provided within a couple of days on the forum (fortunately, they did have a working forum at that time).

 

Dugald

[Christopher Low 5,354]

Cruachan,

 

I am Mogget on the Scotflight forum :smile: