Invalid or Broken Packages

[rafikihd 11]

Hi Guys,

I`ve been struggling with the following problem, turns out that I updated some sceneries for P3dv4 all of those sceneries came with an .exe activator which was supposed to add them to the Scenery Library via the xml. I updated the sceneries, ran the activator and the sceneries are there, and they appear with out any problem in P3D. But, when I  try to open the Addon Manager, for whatever reason, a window pops up instantly saying that the airports I just updated are Invalid or Broken and they are missing the Addon.xml File.

Now, I have to mention that all of those airports are out of the Documents/ Prepared 3D V4 Addons/  Folder, and they are in the Addon Scenery folder instead (In the P3D Root Folder).

 

Thank you so much for your help!

 

Best Regards!

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

Hello,

what that message is telling you is, that you have package definitions in 

C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg

where the "Path=" is not pointing to a folder that has an add-on.xml in it. Which it should. Alternatively maybe P4AO can't access that add-on.xml file or the file is broken as per the P3D specs.

Best regards

Edited November 9, 2018 by Lorby_SI

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

7 hours ago, rafikihd said:

Now, I have to mention that all of those airports are out of the Documents/ Prepared 3D V4 Addons/  Folder, and they are in the Addon Scenery folder instead (In the P3D Root Folder).

That probably doesn't matter in this case. Although it has to be said that the purpose of the add-on.xml files is to keep content OUT of the simulator folder entirely.

There are two different mechanisms in P3D that both are using add-on.xml files:

• One is the autodiscovery feature, that will automatically "add addons" if they have an add-on.xml in a subfolder of the "\Documents\Prepar3D V4 Add-ons" directory (only the add-on.xml has to be there, not the whole addon!). P3D is scanning through this folder every time that you start the sim and adds or removes the addons accordingly.
• The other method is using the P3D command line interface / CLI to "add addons", which is what seems to have happened in your case. With the CLI method, the add-on.xml can be anywhere on your computer - P3D finds it by looking into C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg.

Best regards

Edited November 9, 2018 by Lorby_SI

[rafikihd 11]

Hello Oliver,

Thanks for your answer.

Now what would be the best action to take? I ask this because the message that pops up warns me that those airport could be lost.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

2 hours ago, rafikihd said:

Hello Oliver,

Thanks for your answer.

Now what would be the best action to take? I ask this because the message that pops up warns me that those airport could be lost.

Open "C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg" in Notepad++ and make sure that all the "Path" elements check out as described above.

Best regards

[rafikihd 11]

9 hours ago, Lorby_SI said:

Open "C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg" in Notepad++ and make sure that all the "Path" elements check out as described above.

Best regards

Will Do it, and let you know the outcome!

Thanks Oliver!

[rafikihd 11]

Hello Oliver,

I`ve tried what you told me but the same message pops up claiming that the sceneries are missing their respective Addon.xml.

I do have the file, but it is located under the folder of each scenery, dont know where to put the files.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

7 hours ago, rafikihd said:

Hello Oliver,

I`ve tried what you told me but the same message pops up claiming that the sceneries are missing their respective Addon.xml.

I do have the file, but it is located under the folder of each scenery, dont know where to put the files.

Hi,

I think that you are confusing yourself here. You don't put any files anywhere, that is not how it works.

- The P4AO message should tell you exactly what the broken package is.
- With that information you look into the "C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg" file, locate the "Path=" tag of the designated package
- Now you open your Windows explorer and navigate to the location that the "Path=" is telling you
- Is there an add-on.xml there? If not, you can delete the package from the add-ons.cfg (or proceed with P4AO) because that entry is broken. It cannot work like that.
 But if there is an add-on.xml in that location, then P4AO has some other problem that has yet to be figured out.

I can't really help you with this. Only the person sitting at the computer can figure it out = you.

Best regards

[elheroes 4]

Old topic but it happened to me today and the file to look out was in my case %APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg