May 30, 20224 yr G'day all, I've been using MSFS Addons Linker pretty much as soon as I installed FS2020, which was only last year, and I've been using it in conjunction with ModManFX. It was all working swimmingly until the other day when flight sim updated itself. 😒 I would add and install a mod with ModManFX then create a link for it in Addons Linker. After ModManFX would no longer install any addons, for whatever reason, I have since discovered that apparently I only need to use Addons Linker, is that correct?. My main question is, how do I get it to work? Please read on... I've revisited all the tutorials on it, re-added my addons folder in the program, extracted specific addons from zip/rar files and managed to create links for said addons in the FS Community folder. But when I clicked on the link in the Community folder to check it, all I receive is the following error message... "The data present in the reparse point buffer is invalid" From info I've found about that a reparse point contains a tag that defines the location and application associated with external information, much like a shortcut. Makes sense, what doesn't make sense is why the link created by the Addons Linker is invalid 😕 Consequently the addon is nowhere to be seen in Flight Sim 😳 I've removed ModManFX and tried deleting Addons Linker, then recreating the folder for Addons Linker again, but that made no difference. Besides that it retained all the info from my original setup. There must be a hidden ini file the program copied onto my system somewhere, but I have no idea where. Does anyone know how I can clear all the original settings after deleting Addons Linker? Will re-running Addons Linker even make a difference? Will deleting the Community folder and restarting Flight Sim have any effect? The last thing I want to do is just add a pile of stuff into the community folder just so I can use them in the sim. I'm going crazy and have wasted half my life trying to get to the bottom of this debacle. PLEASE HELP!!! 😜 I appreciate any help and suggestions you can offer 🙂 Cheers, Alan
May 30, 20224 yr Hello and welcome as i see it's your first post, no worry we'll find a solution 🤞 or at least an explanation 😱 Unfortunately i don't exactly know what modmanfx does but if you want to start fresh with Addons Linker please do this : - download and install the latest version - rename your current C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker folder (i say rename so you still have a copy of it if you need to dig something in there one day). - then launch the tool, it will be like if you had never installed it. In the options screen set your 'custom addon folder' and your real community folder - download a new addon, place it in your 'custom addon folder' and try to create the link If i understand correctly your message, the link is created but it's not working when you click on it, if you are using a 'OneDrive' folder that may be the reason. Try first with a real physical drive that you have on your PC first (has to be formatted in NTFS, this is a Windows restriction for links to work). In the options screen 'advanced tab' , at the bottom you can change the type of links ('junctions' is the default and recommended, 'symlinks' require administrator rights and are slightly different, try maybe to switch to see if it makes a difference). Now if you haven't changed anything with your drives configuration and it was working a few days ago not anymore right now it's a bit baffling for sure 😳 ... Post maybe a screenshot of your options screen showing the folder you have selected. Let me know, thank you 🍺
May 31, 20224 yr Author 14 hours ago, Bad_T said: Hello and welcome as i see it's your first post, no worry we'll find a solution 🤞 or at least an explanation 😱 Unfortunately i don't exactly know what modmanfx does but if you want to start fresh with Addons Linker please do this : - download and install the latest version - rename your current C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker folder (i say rename so you still have a copy of it if you need to dig something in there one day). - then launch the tool, it will be like if you had never installed it. In the options screen set your 'custom addon folder' and your real community folder - download a new addon, place it in your 'custom addon folder' and try to create the link If i understand correctly your message, the link is created but it's not working when you click on it, if you are using a 'OneDrive' folder that may be the reason. Try first with a real physical drive that you have on your PC first (has to be formatted in NTFS, this is a Windows restriction for links to work). In the options screen 'advanced tab' , at the bottom you can change the type of links ('junctions' is the default and recommended, 'symlinks' require administrator rights and are slightly different, try maybe to switch to see if it makes a difference). Now if you haven't changed anything with your drives configuration and it was working a few days ago not anymore right now it's a bit baffling for sure 😳 ... Post maybe a screenshot of your options screen showing the folder you have selected. Let me know, thank you 🍺 G'day, thank you for your reply 😊 I did as you suggested and renamed the original Addons Linker folder, then created a new one and extracted the program files into as normal. I ran the program from the new folder and it still retained all its settings as before.😵 I did a system search and found an ini file for Addons Linker in the ProgramData folder, "C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker\MSFS_Addons_Linker.ini". Aha! 😊 I don't use One Drive, which is strange, as most of the answers I found for that reparsing error were related to One Drive. I did have a thought though (it hurt a bit 😜), when Addons Linker was working originally, I had the addon files on a local drive. When it stopped working and I was getting the reparsing error on the link, I was using the files on my NAS backup server via a mapped network drive. So I thought to try using the files on a local drive again, and voila! It works. So that's the solution, thankfully. So for future reference, Addons Linker doesn't work with files from a NAS device and the location of its program's ini file is under C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker In regards to ModManFX, it's actually a bit of a pain and very slow, and now I've realised I don't need to use it with Addons Linker I can get rid of it. Addons Linker is a much better, and faster solution for managing addons. However, Addons Linker still creates all the addon files in the Community folder though, same as ModManFX, and other addon managers, which I was hoping to avoid. I checked the addon I tested, Focke–Wulf Piaggio P.149, with Addons Linker and the contents of the linked addon folder in the Community folder is 1.93GB I don't know why it's called "Linker" though when it does the same as other addon managers and fills the community folder with all your addons instead of merely linking it to another folder on another drive. Unless I'm misunderstanding something somewhere 😛 I've got FS2020 on my main system drive which is an SSD for faster file accessing, all the addons are on a HDD. I suppose, on the other hand, if FS2020 had to access all your addons from a HDD, having FS on an SSD for the purpose of faster access would render the speed of the SSD redundant 🤔 It would be good though if Addons Linker did just link to addon files from their original location instead of placing them all in the community folder 😏 Edited May 31, 20224 yr by FlyingHog
May 31, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, FlyingHog said: I did a system search and found an ini file for Addons Linker in the ProgramData folder, "C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker\MSFS_Addons_Linker.ini". Aha! 😊 Suggest you re-read the original reply... that is the folder that you were asked to rename.. 😉 1 hour ago, FlyingHog said: I don't know why it's called "Linker" though when it does the same as other addon managers and fills the community folder with all your addons instead of merely linking it to another folder on another drive. Unless I'm misunderstanding something somewhere 😛 Actually... the Linker provides links... and does not fill the Community folder with addons.. Edited May 31, 20224 yr by Bert Pieke Bert
May 31, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, FlyingHog said: I checked the addon I tested, Focke–Wulf Piaggio P.149, with Addons Linker and the contents of the linked addon folder in the Community folder is 1.93GB Maybe that is the item that is causing the confusion.. On my system, AT Simulations installs the Piaggio directly into the Community folder. Edited May 31, 20224 yr by Bert Pieke Bert
May 31, 20224 yr Author 1 hour ago, Bert Pieke said: Suggest you re-read the original reply... that is the folder that you were asked to rename.. 😉 Actually... the Linker provides links... and does not fill the Community folder with addons.. Yeah, dopey me, I didn't read that line properly 🤪 I must be doing something wrong with Addons Linker though coz when I check the community folder after activating the addons, the system is telling me that they're the full files and none of them are merely links. And I can view them and edit them from within the community folder. The first two links below are for an extracted addon aircraft shown in Addons Linker as being active and the properties of the same addon in the community folder after being activated by Addons linker. The file sizes are the same as in the folder where the original files for the addon are stored. The next three links are of a few scenery folders with the same results as above with a comparison between the folder where the original addon is stored and then the community folder. Both clearly show the file sizes and none of them, except the parent folders are shown as shortcut links.https://bit.ly/Addons_Linker_Active_Addon_1https://bit.ly/Addons_Linker_Extracted_Addonhttps://bit.ly/Addons_Linker_Active_Addon_2https://bit.ly/Addons_Linker_Extracted_Addon_2https://bit.ly/Addons_Linker_Extracted_Addon_2a Do you know how do I set up Addons Linker so it activates any addons in the community folder as links only? Cheers, Alan
May 31, 20224 yr Commercial Member 41 minutes ago, FlyingHog said: Both clearly show the file sizes and none of them, except the parent folders are shown as shortcut links. Works as intended. Note that there exist different kinds of links in an operating system. On Windows, you have shortcuts (basically just a small text file with some data pointing to a location; not useful to _really_ link stuff so other programs can be tricked into thinking they would be actual files/folder), and symbolic links. Symbolic links come in different flavours themeselves. I quote from a good explanation I found: Quote "There are two type of symbolic links: Hard and soft. Soft symbolic links work similarly to a standard shortcut. When you open a soft link to a folder, you will be redirected to the folder where the files are stored. However, a hard link makes it appear as though the file or folder actually exists at the location of the symbolic link, and your applications won’t know any better. That makes hard symbolic links more useful in most situations." (Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/ ) (Actually, the terms used on Windows for symlinks are a bit confusing; Microsoft uses the term "symbolic link" only for soft links, and uses the terms "hard link" and "junction" for two types of hard links.) Anyway, the links Addon Linker creates are hard links, on the file system level. They look and feel and can be used like actual folders and files (that's why they work with MSFS in the first place). They also show a size. But they are still only references to the actual file or folder, not copies, therefore the shortcut icon. Unfortunately Windows uses the same icon for all types of links, regardless of type, which can be confusing. Edit: By the way, the fact that hard links are used may be the reason why you noticed you can't use it with networked drives. Edited May 31, 20224 yr by MarioDonick Mario Donick .:. vFlyteAir
May 31, 20224 yr yep @FlyingHog all is fine in your screenshots, those are links. You can also see at the bottom of the tool's right panel it says 'links : 9' .. if they were real folder they would be counted in the 'Folder' square. As @MarioDonick said, links will have that little indicator in Windows explorer but other that that they will look exactly like real folders so if it wasn't for that little different icon you wouldn't notice any difference. And yes again, those links work only with local NTFS drive (as stated in my first reply) so if you use 'network drives' it will not work. For network drive you can try the 'symlinks' type of links as instructed in in my previous msg and make sure you run the tool as admin (not sure if it will work though). 🍻 Edited May 31, 20224 yr by Bad_T
May 31, 20224 yr Author 16 minutes ago, Bad_T said: yep @FlyingHog all is fine in your screenshots, those are links. You can also see at the bottom of the tool's right panel it says 'links : 9' .. if they were real folder they would be counted in the 'Folder' square. As @MarioDonick said, links will have that little indicator in Windows explorer but other that that they will look exactly like real folders so if it wasn't for that little different icon you wouldn't notice any difference. And yes again, those links work only with local NTFS drive (as stated in my first reply) so if you use 'network drives' it will not work. For network drive you can try the 'symlinks' type of links as instructed in in my previous msg and make sure you run the tool as admin (not sure if it will work though). 🍻 G'day, thanks for your help, it didn't dawn on me re the NAS not being NTFS, even though I knew it wasn't 😕 It was probably all the hair pulling wondering why things weren't working that scrambled my brain 😝 I was probably half asleep in the wee hours of the morning when I read through your first message, sorry about that 😏 I added the addons folder from the NAS device and changed the Addons Linker option to symlinks, ran it as Admin and it worked perfectly fine 👍 I also tested it with an addon from the local drive, leaving the option set to symlinks and it worked perfectly fine too 😊 Seems to be all good for now. Now I understand it. I appreciate everyone's help in getting it all sorted, thanks heaps 🙂
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