Is it common practice to delete the Shaders Folder for P3D after installing massive amount of Scenery?
 

Cheers!

So i hear,   but i deleted my Shader Folder and my PD3 would not start again,  and had to run the Installer to fix it.  I probably deleted the wrong one though.  Actually now that i think about it i deleted the Shader Folder in my PD3 Folder and not in the one in Config file,   so there go,  i answered my own question. 

Poppet - LOL! We don't have to hit you in the head WITH A 2X4 to get your attention!

 

Yes, the ShadersHLSL folder is NOT the one you want to delete.

 

C:\Users\<YOU>\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\Shaders is the one you want.

 

Vic

 

 

Yes, the ShadersHLSL folder is NOT the one you want to delete.

C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\Shaders is the one you want.

Yes it took me 5 months to realize even though my PD3 was on a my "K" drive i also had a secret hidden folder of mystery on my C drive with all different kinds of wonderment and settings to play with and change to my own liking   :rolleyes:

Hi

 

I have just installed Orbx Australia and holgermesh, do I need to delete my shaders folder ?

 

Thanks in advance.

Probably not but it doesn't hurt. You really don't have to delete the shader cache unless you [re]install video drivers, add or replace any effects or clouds, etc. Look through the ShadersHLSL folder and you'll get an idea of the sorts of things that are involved; however, the cache that you want to clear out is in the AppData folder. The ShadersHLSL folder merely contains all of the instruction sets that the simulator uses in order to build the cache file. Absolutely no harm in clearing out the cache folder. In fact, I've built a batch file to do so:

 

del "C:\Users\XYZ123\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\Shaders\*.*?"

 

where XYZ123 is your Windows logon username.

 

Create a shortcut for the batch file and run it whenever you want. You'll notice a short delay when you load the sim up because the sim is reloading shaders.

Probably not but it doesn't hurt. You really don't have to delete the shader cache unless you [re]install video drivers, add or replace any effects or clouds, etc. Look through the ShadersHLSL folder and you'll get an idea of the sorts of things that are involved; however, the cache that you want to clear out is in the AppData folder. The ShadersHLSL folder merely contains all of the instruction sets that the simulator uses in order to build the cache file. Absolutely no harm in clearing out the cache folder. In fact, I've built a batch file to do so:

 

del "C:\Users\XYZ123\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\Shaders\*.*?"

 

where XYZ123 is your Windows logon username.

 

Create a shortcut for the batch file and run it whenever you want. You'll notice a short delay when you load the sim up because the sim is reloading shaders.

Thank you

prefer to reduce Detail Settings and won t try to delete Folders i m not sure about. also, a lot of time is spent installing all sorts of extras and less in flying simming and Navigation i found.

Or you could simply add an entry to the Prepar3D.CFG file to automatically rebuild the shaders for you...

 

...anytime a change is made that requires a recompile of the shaders, this number will be incremented.

[GRAPHICS]
SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=1

As I understand, the only time you have to delete the Shaders-folder is when you change/upgrade your Graphics card. 

 

 

Jack

the Swede in Spain

 

Or you could simply add an entry to the Prepar3D.CFG file to automatically rebuild the shaders for you...

 

...anytime a change is made that requires a recompile of the shaders, this number will be incremented.

[GRAPHICS]
SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=1

 

Bill I think you have this back to front.

You have to manually change this number each time you want the shaders to be deleted.

With SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=1 in the cfg the shaders will not be deleted until you change it to some other number eg SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=2.

Nothing really automatic about it except it saves people having to search for the correct shader folder.

 

gb.

As I understand, the only time you have to delete the Shaders-folder is when you change/upgrade your Graphics card. 

 

 

Jack

the Swede in Spain

 

Jack not really correct.

LM recommend deleting the Shaders after any change in the p3d.cfg as well as graphic card or video driver changes.

That's one reason there is that SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=1 option there.

Deleting shaders will do no harm and is worth trying with any graphical problem.

 

gb.

 

 

Like Yoda talking he was.

 

 

gb.

The AVSIM CTD Guide, page 5, provides guidance on deleting the Shader folder including where they are located.  It also recommends periodically removing the facilities/scenery indexes too.  That's interesting about the shader_cache_version parameter in the fsx/p3d configs brought up by Bill and subsequently discussed by gb and Jim Barrett.  Always learning something new.

 

Best regards,

Bill I think you have this back to front.

You have to manually change this number each time you want the shaders to be deleted.

With SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=1 in the cfg the shaders will not be deleted until you change it to some other number eg SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=2.

Nothing really automatic about it except it saves people having to search for the correct shader folder.

The exact statement in the "Tuning Guide" is very ambiguous at best:

 

 

Using this rebuilds your shader cache by incrementing the number each time you make a change to the Prepar3D.cfg.

In truth, it could be interpreted either way...

 

Like most languages, English is fully capable of being structured such that there is great precision and expression of thought, and thus any and all ambiguity is eliminated.

 

Obviously, whoever authored the above quote is no great master of the language...