Three days of downloading...

[Jack B 14]

Yup, three days of downloading MSFS again via Steam to a new computer, and only 10 GB away! I think I have had over 20 'Blue Screens Of Death' and computer reboots of maybe 30 or more times trying to download this sim. I am a determined, frustrated warrior, however I don't know if I can beat Microsoft. I was almost there yesterday with half a gig to go, and was disconnected from their server. Upon rejoining the server, it stated that I have to reload an additional 88 GB. UGH! :)

[KevyKevTPA 46]

How is that even possible in 2021?  Are you using dial-up?  I've got a gigabit connection, which I'll concede is on the upper end of what's available even in advanced country, but even with that, when downloading MSFS from scratch (which is using, at best, about half of that bandwidth), it only takes about 20 minutes, give or take.  I did run into a situation when downloading the UK update the day it was released (meaning everybody and their brothers were saturating MS's connections) where the speed dropped to something akin to download speeds, but by spoofing my IP address to make it look like I was physically in the UK, it went right back to ~250 mbps on the download, and what would have taken hours at the speed I was getting took about 90 seconds.  Why that particular change had that result is above my paygrade, I haven't got the first clue.

[Chock 17,769]

Well, if nothing else your tenacity is admirable.

[superspud 450]

It's a 15-20 hour download for me. I have it installed on another computer but of course you can't have two instances running at the same time. 

I'd be interested to know what the world's median download speed is. I reckon it's a whole lot less than developers account for. 

[fppilot 4,360]

44 minutes ago, Jack B said:

Yup, three days of downloading MSFS again via Steam to a new computer, and only 10 GB away!

That has little significance until you also advise the speed of your connection.  Sorry it is taking so long. That becomes painful.  But if you hold that out in front of those of us who would like to help then provide full details.  Ok?

[polosim 841]

 

i think this would have been a better choice for you:

https://www.aerosoft.com/en/flight-simulation/simulators/3044/microsoft-flight-simulator-premium-deluxe

 

[hs118 707]

My internet is on 12M cable modem. About 24 hours download to reinstall from scratch if I'm not using the internet for anything else.

Your internet speed is all about your location, particularly in the rural United States.

 

[FPStewy 538]

5 hours ago, KevyKevTPA said:

How is that even possible in 2021?  Are you using dial-up?

Yeap took me like 5 days until I reduced my router speed to about 5Mbps. It has to do with them outsourcing the data to amazon for example and the way it does the updates like patching instead of updating. I know the "why" they patch but the last time I patched a page was in 1995.

[JRBarrett 3,070]

I have a 200 MB cable internet connection, (northeastern US) and have never had the slightest problem downloading MSFS from the beginning of the Alpha to the present. I’ve done two full reinstalls, and all the various patches and world updates, and the files always come down at between 95 and 100 with no looping whatsoever.

A friend of mine lives about 20 miles south of here in a rural area. His only internet option is via satellite, and while it is reasonably fast, the service has a hard data cap of 80GB per month.

When he decided to purchase MSFS, he acquired a new Alienware PC to run it. I brought his new computer to my house to do the initial installation of the sim using my cable internet - (this was right after the release of WU3). Like my own system, the download was fast and trouble free. 

He took the computer home, and ran the sim with no problems for about a month. Then WU4 hit. He told me that the computer kept trying to download the same file over and over again, and never got past 2 percent complete. I assumed he might already have exceeded his monthly satellite data cap. His service does not block the internet entirely when over the data limit for the month, but does reduce the bandwidth to a very low bit rate.

So I had him bring the computer up to my house. I figured I could complete the download of WU4 here. But, I saw the very same issue he was having - the download speed was only 5MB, and the files would loop. This on the same internet connection and router that supports 100MB+ download speeds in MSFS on my own computer. I asked if he had changed any of the data settings in MSFS, and he said that he had set a bandwidth limit of 5MB in the “data” section, because he found that otherwise MSFS would hog all of his satellite bandwidth and cause problems with other family member’s devices trying to stream at the same time.

This was a Catch 22 situation. The file looping and download failure was evidently beIng caused by the 5 MB bandwidth limit set inside MSFS. But the only way to change that limit is in the options menu, and the only way to get access to that menu is to have a fully functional game - and because of the required update, there was no way to get to that point. The settings for the game are stored in the cloud - and without access to the settings, his system would basically be stuck at 5MB forever and in an infinite update loop.

What I finally did was to log out of his X-Box account and log in under my own account. We both have the same version of MSFS, (Deluxe Premium), so when logging in under my own account, all my cloud-stored MSFS settings were available. As soon as I started the game, it immediately started downloading WU4 at full speed, since my own bandwidth setting is “unlimited”. The update came in at 90-100MB just as it does on my own computer. Once all updates were fully installed, which took about 45 minutes, I then logged back into my friend’s own X-Box account, so I had access to “his” MSFS settings. Indeed, I found that his bandwidth setting was at 5MB, and I put it back to “unlimited”.

So, at least in this case, download failures and file looping were definitely caused by MSFS own internal data settings - it had nothing to do with the servers or the ISP. I know that some individuals have been able to solve file looping by using a third-party bandwidth manager like Net Limiter, but in this case, limited bandwidth (in MSFS’s own settings), was the cause of the looping, not the solution.

The good news (for my friend) is that high speed fiber is coming to his area later this year, so he will eventually no longer be dependent on the satellite internet service. Until that happens, I have agreed to do any future large MSFS updates here at my house to avoid this issue happening again, and I have advised him that he should not change his sim data bandwidth settings again - or if he does, to be very sure to put it back on “unlimited” before any scheduled sim updates are released.

[LarsA 90]

Would be interesting, if it's possible to save the basic data of MSFS (e.g. on an external HDD) to avoid re-downloading in case of a hardware failure or a new PC. Any experiences with this...?! 

[Bobsk8 12,691]

1 minute ago, LarsA said:

Would be interesting, if it's possible to save the basic data of MSFS (e.g. on an external HDD) to avoid re-downloading in case of a hardware failure or a new PC. Any experiences with this...?! 

I have used Macrium Reflex for years to back up my harddrives. A HD crashes, buy a new one, install it in PC, run Macrium Reflex restore, and in an hour or two you are back to normal. 

[hansb57 493]

Sometimes I forget that not everbody lives in the civilised world with 500 MB internet.

 

[Jude Bradley 659]

I wonder how much MSFS2020 is contributing to Global Warming, what with the server and constant downloads. 

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Jude Bradley

[lupedelupe 315]

Mine took 5 days. Then the Beta ended and I had to do it all over again. And to think I have the fastest ADSL line money can buy where I am. 🤨

[Theras 11]

No fiber at your place? I have a 1000MB fiber net, so big downloads are not really a concern☺️Good luck with your download.