P3D V4.2 and problems installing add-ons

[antonvs 76]

Over the last couple of days I have run into trouble installing OZx and other software. I had a stable install with all Orbx Global and scenery loaded. And in some ways I still have the same stable system, at least it runs the same as before but I now can't install any new add-ons any more.

I don't expect miracles, but unless someone can see something stand out I will face the long haul - A full reinstall. Cheers Anton. 

Please follow this Evernote link for the full pictorial story:
http://www.evernote.com/l/AE0pVQYLdglKepJ_l4U8-uHwyegmRERUnoo/

[Poppet 709]

Hello Anton

I have to say that's a really well put together piece on the Issue you are having,  You should write tutorials really nicely done !

Hopefully somebody will chip in here and help you,   If not I will have more time in the next day or 2 and ill certainly go through it with you 

[Slayer 190]

Did you delete the scenery entries within the scenery.cfg after deleting the folders (IE start sim and remove them or edit the file and remove the entries) before trying to reinstall? in youre first posts of your doc you didn't mention anything about that.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Slayer

[Nytro 29]

Hello,

for me it appears to be you ran into the same problem I did couple month ago. There was a bug that if to many addons get "opted in" via the C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons  folder...

What I did was, I manually added all addons that get injected from the Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons folder to the regulary scenery.cfg file. So dont add new Addons via the addon.xml method!

So for example the addon Washington X from DD. I open the add-on.xml and I see it accesses the folder "C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\Addon Scenery\Washington X"

Now I delete that Washington X in the "Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons" folder and add the scenery manually to the scenery.cfg under: C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4 

For example...

[Area.246]
Title=UUEE Moscow Sheremetyevo X
Local=C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\Addon Scenery\UUEE Moscow Sheremetyevo X
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=246

[Area.247]
Title=Washington X
Local=C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\Addon Scenery\Washington X
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=247

This fixed it for me.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Nytro

[antonvs 76]

7 hours ago, Slayer said:

Did you delete the scenery entries within the scenery.cfg after deleting the folders (IE start sim and remove them or edit the file and remove the entries) before trying to reinstall? in youre first posts of your doc you didn't mention anything about that.

Good point Slayer but I didn't have to as P3D removed them automatically after I clicked on de-activate (or something like that) when the prompt appeared.

[antonvs 76]

@Nytro This is an interesting concept but I have been warned twice not to directly edit the scenery.cfg file as it can be dangerous. I'm assuming this advice is given because P3D writes constantly to the file and it may get out of sync. Be interested to hear Elaine's (@poppet) comments on this.

[antonvs 76]

Update: I have just tried something new and there was bad then good.

Please go to the bottom of this Evernote link for the full pictorial story:
http://www.evernote.com/l/AE0pVQYLdglKepJ_l4U8-uHwyegmRERUnoo/

[Poppet 709]

Hello Anton

For future reference there is no need to use a 3rd party Uninstaller App,  These add more bloatware to your PC and also come with a price for pushing additionally Bits & Bobs on you that you don't need.  Always use the default Windows Control Panel to Install or Uninstall programs.

If for example you were having Issues either Installing or uninstalling due to corrupt registry keys and so you would first try the Microsoft Troublshooter  for Issues like this.  Its a small but an effective Tool.

 

---

 

There is also no need to Uninstall & Reinstall Prepar3D or any of your OZ Scenery as once you have Installed your Issue more then likely is down to small mistake in your folder structure.  If for what ever reason you feel you have messed things up you could simply remove the scenery.cfg and let Prepar3D generated a default scenery.cfg when launched next and start again OR edit this file if you are comfortable with this.   There is no problem manually editing the scenery.cfg file if you know what you are doing basically you just need to get the Path correct. 

Better and safer still you could just use the Prepar3D Scenery library to add a Scenery the old way,  Like This  Its for Prepar3D v3 and a different scenery but the same applies 

I see you have a lot of Orbx scenery Installed,  If you did run into trouble and as you well know I'm sure If you Delete the Scenery.cfg file,  Then launch Prepar3D,  This will generated a new file,  You would then simply launch the FTX Central Control Panel and this will automatically add all your Orbx Scenery back into the Scenery.cfg file again

 

---

 

Note:  You only use 1 way to add a specific Scenery to Prepar3D either the add-on.xml file OR the Scenery.cfg file,  You cant use both at the same time for the same Scenery Add On.   Orbx is fine at it uses the scenery.cfg file Automatically so you don't have to worry about this 

 

In your first add-on.xml file you had the Path set up like below,  But looking at your folder structure I cannot see the Ozx_AU folder ?   
 

Quote

 

<Path>E:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\Ozx_AU\OZx_AUS</Path>

<Path>E:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\Ozx_AU\\OZx_LIB</Path>

 

 

I think you then repaired it by removing the Ozx_AU as seen below,  This is correct Yes you don't have a Ozx_AU folder in the direct path ? 

Quote

 

<Path>E:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS</Path>

<Path>E:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\OZx_LIB</Path>

 

 

 

On 16/3/2018 at 12:48 AM, antonvs said:

7.0 All looked good, but now when I ran P3D it did not ask if I wanted to enable as in 4.0

When you "Enabled" the Add On the first time this permission will be Saved in the add-ons.cfg file and you will not need to Enable this Add On again.  If you were to Delete the add-ons.cfg file in AppData \ Roaming and then launch Prepar3D the "Enable"  box will appear again,  In this case you would simply Click Yes to Enable.

Just ensure you have the Box ticked for your Add On’s in Settings > Add Ons at the top on the screen.  Note: you will need to restart Prepar3D for a change to take effect 

 

 

On 16/3/2018 at 12:48 AM, antonvs said:

8.0 I look in the scenery library and OZx is there but with an issue, I can't focus on either line (see 2nd pic)

and see a double up in the Scenery Library

When you say "Focus"  do you mean you cant Click on or Move this scenery up or down ?   This is normal when using the add-on.xml file method. 

You will see double entries in the Prepar3D scenery library when you have an Entry in the scenery.cfg file And also using the add-on.xml file method for the same 2 Scenery Add On's.  If you wish to continue using the add-on.xml file way You can Manually remove these double entries by just clicking on them in the Scenery Library and click Delete Area and then you will just have the 2 OZ  entries at the Top (Greyed out) 

 

On 16/3/2018 at 12:48 AM, antonvs said:

Scenery.cfg error.  Could not find Scenery Area 

If you are seeing this message this means basically the add-on.xml file is looking but can not find the scenery.  Either you have Inputted the Path in the file wrong or you have resonantly moved the scenery to a different location.

To get the path correct,  Navigate to were your scenery Is Installed,  Click the bar at the Top to turn blue and then right click and click Copy  

 

Then right click and Paste this between the each of the <Path>'s below

<Path>C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS</Path>

 

 

On 16/3/2018 at 12:48 AM, antonvs said:

P3D installation continues to run perfectly well inc. orbx but no OZx.

In Part 8.0 of your Link everything looks good from here,  You have the 2 entries at the Top of your Scenery Library (Greyed Out)  and at this stage you have no Errors when launching Prepar3D

I'm not familiar with this Scenery at all But I Installed it and here is a very quick test to compare I done with YYRM,  You try the same   

This is default Prepar3D  YYRM  from a Top down view 

 

 

Now this is with Ozx_AU using the add-on.xml file way.   You can really notice the nice textures and the difference between the 2 of them,  Looks pretty good actually 

 

 

What is the Status of your Scenery Install now have you made any good progress ? 

 

[antonvs 76]

@Poppet Hi Elaine and thank you so much for looking into this for me and your through response. This has clarified a lot for me and hopefully will help others as well.

As to my install status, the last thing I tried was the install of orbx’s freeware YRC Refuge Cove. And after restoring a clean Config.sys the scenery ran fine.

since then I decided to just go with what I had and do some enjoyable flying hoping for more clarification which you have now provided so well.

From my FSX day’s I was aware of the technique (and benefit) of deleting .cfg files, but until I knew for certain that this method still worked in P3D I was unwilling to try it without knowing for sure.

This will be my next step as well as checking my paths I’m confident the solution is near.

I will report back with the results in a day or so.

Cheers Anton.

[antonvs 76]

@Poppet Here are my findings today.

1. Had to manually add [Area.346] and [Area.347] to the scenery.cfg file

At one point I found that the error msg I was getting from P3D when it loaded was pointing to 

E:\Program files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS
      ^^^^^^^^^^
even though the add-on.cfg file said 

E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS

 

C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4 .......

Scenery.cfg
.......

[Area.345]

Title=FTXAA_ORBXLIBS

Local=ORBX\FTX_AU\FTXAA_ORBXLIBS

Layer=345

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

...........

[Area.346]

Title=OZx_LIB

Local=E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_scenery\OZx\OZx_LIB

Layer=346

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

[Area.347]

Title=OZx_AUS

Local=E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS

Layer=347

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

2. appdata\roaming\LM\add-ons.cfg

Had to Manually add [Package.3] (even though when I started P3D it did not ask me if I wanted to add OZx as it was'nt here

appdata\roaming\LM\add-ons.cfg

[Package.0]

Path=C:\Users\Anton\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\Orbx ObjectFlow 2

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

[Package.1]

Path=E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_aircraft\Legacy V2 P3D4

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

[Package.2]

Path=C:\Users\Anton\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\Baku X

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

...............

[Package.3]

Path=C:\Users\Anton\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\OZx

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

 

3. add-on.cfg for OZx

C:\Users\Anton\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\OZx

...........

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<SimBase.Document Type="AddOnXml" version="4,0" id="add-on">

  <AddOn.Name>OZx_AU</AddOn.Name>

  <AddOn.Description>OZx_AU</AddOn.Description>

  <AddOn.Component>

    <Category>Scenery</Category>

    <Path>E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS</Path>

    <Name>OZx_AUS</Name>

  </AddOn.Component>

  <AddOn.Component>

    <Category>Scenery</Category>

    <Path>E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_Scenery\OZx\OZx_LIB</Path>

    <Name>OZx_LIB</Name>

  </AddOn.Component>

</SimBase.Document>

........................
After doing 1>3 I got OZx scenery going but when I went into scenery Library there was duplicate entries again even though the scenery worked. I then tried deleting the non greyed out pair for OzX_AUS and OZx_LIB.

As soon as I did this the enteries were gone from the scenery.cfg file and neither did they work any more.

So if I do the process again and have the duplicate entries in the scenery library I will have OZx going again I'm pretty sure but why is this happening?

I really want to solve this issue and be able to place my add-on scenery outside of P3D root folder but I'm going bonkers in the process. The main reason I want to use this method is to avoid issues with my add-on install when there are P3D updates.

Earlier today I tried installing Drzewiecki Design's UBBB Baku X just to see if I could load another product. Whilst they do use an add-on.cfg file they place the scenery in the P3D root under add-ons with no user option to change this. It did work fine but did not prove
what I had hoped.

 

Edited March 17, 2018 by antonvs

[exeodus 78]

I may not be understanding this issue correctly, but you do not want to install any ORBX sceneries outside of the main P3D folder.  ORBX stuff just doesn't run correctly using the addon.xml method.  Try just using ORBX installed inside the main P3D folder using the scenery.cfg method and see if that solves your issue.

[antonvs 76]

@exodus Hello and thanks for chipping in. I understand about Orbx and their scenery I have loaded using Central 3 and it runs perfectly. It is the Australian freeware group OZx (http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/topic/27004-ozx-p3d-libraries-open-beta-updated-18012018/&page=4) that I’m trying to install via the add-Om.xml method.

Cheers Anton 

Edited March 17, 2018 by antonvs

[antonvs 76]

7 hours ago, antonvs said:

@Poppet Here are my findings today.

1. Had to manually add [Area.346] and [Area.347] to the scenery.cfg file

At one point I found that the error msg I was getting from P3D when it loaded was pointing to 

E:\Program files\Lockheed Martin\Addon_scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS
      ^^^^^^^^^^
even though the add-on.cfg file said 

E:\Lockheed Martin\Addon_scenery\OZx\OZx_AUS

...........

 

 

In 1. above, I had forgotten to mention that I had first deleted scenery.sys and then followed the process of starting P3D and allowing it to rebuild scenery.cfg. Then I ran Orbx Central 3 and all their installs were added to scenery.cfg and in a test every ran fine and all the .cfg’s still looked ok.

Edited March 17, 2018 by antonvs

[antonvs 76]

I think I will bight the bullet and clear back to a fresh start and let OZx install to the default inside P3D root. I have lost too many hours of precious time.

i will report back with how this goes.

Cheers Anton 

Edited March 17, 2018 by antonvs

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

Hi,

if you want to take an easier route, feel free to try out the Lorby P3D Addon Organizer. It will help you with matters like installing addons via XML files and keeps track of your configuration, including backup and restore. It is available as a free download from the Lorby-SI website.

In your case, I would install OZx into a separate folder, like you would install it into the sim itself, then link that back with an XML file (one is enough).

Editing the scenery.cfg (or any other cfg file) is a thing of the past, you shouldn't go there unless you absolutely have to.

Best regards