Uninstall/Reinstall the whole sim (backing up your Community Folder and OneStore product folders of course).🧐😏

Coming from a great dose of PTSD with older sims like FS9 and FSX, reinstalling the whole sim is the last thing I care to do.  With MSFS it's a 15 minute process at the most.  It appears that based on a person's internet connection at the time of SIM Update downloads you can very easily have a corrupted install.  I found this out after reinstalling the sim during my first go around this session.  I saw that the XBOX portion didn't fully finish yet it kicked me to the launch of MSFS.  Upon getting into the sim it would not save settings and kept giving me XBOX controller options.  I uninstalled again and reinstalled and the XBOX side completed without issue and upon launching MSFS it completed it's portion of the install.  Once I put all my files back in place the sim has been solid as a rock ever since.  ATC no longer crashes/get's stuck and no matter what I do the sim no longer crashes to desktop.

Moral of the story is unless you're hearing the same complaints on not only this forum but the official forums, it's most likely on your end.  Defying all logic, a good course of troubleshooting is to try a complete uninstall/reinstall before moving on to other options.  This is totally different then how you would troubleshoot any other software.  Adding to that, just like a fresh install of Windows versus an 'Upgrade' (Windows 10 to 11, a fresh install is better) I might just do a clean install of MSFS with all future sim updates to insure I have the most stable install and not an update of code over my old code.  Asobo changes many things and compatibility with old code can cause problems especially if you missed something during the download do to things like a spotty internet connection.  No internet connection is 100% all the time and when you're trying to download gigs of data you might need two or three tries to get it right.  Problem is the sim will run with faulty files leaving us in many cases with weird issues no one else is seeing. 

Glad you got everything figured out...now go fly!

I'm almost to the point of doing this with a CTD now on just about all flights. I know I can initiate a reinstall on steam by simply using Steam's verify files, but what is the preferred way?

8 hours ago, Phantoms said:

I'm almost to the point of doing this with a CTD now on just about all flights. I know I can initiate a reinstall on steam by simply using Steam's verify files, but what is the preferred way?

Not familiar with Steam but I can say these steps work:

1. Backup your Community Folder

2. Backup any folders in the OneStore folder that contain add-on you bought via the store (this save you from having to redownload them once the sim is back up). Install process change from update to update.  Some updates retain the OneStore folder after uninstall (SU11), others delete it all together (SU9). SU9 seemed to be a code change in some areas where I found a reinstall was needed after I did it.  This sim ran so much better and a few options in the sim that didn't work before now worked.

3. Uninstall the Sim

4. Verify all folders are deleted in the directory where FS was once installed (exception being your OneStore folder, see item 2 above)

5. Reboot computer

6. Initiate re-install from XBOX store or Steam (pay attention for anything out of order with the install as it will surely affect your sim down the road).  Look for things like connection issues, overly long pauses, etc.

7. Load the sim up for the first time and verify all is good.  Load up a plane in the sim and make sure it runs without issue.  Adjust all your settings as needed and close out.

8. Optional: I usually do another reboot and load up the sim before item 9.

9. Put all your files back into the newly created Community Folder, do the same for your OneStore installs

10. Load up the sim (it will take some time registering everything). Once in you should be good.

11. Optional: For performance and cleanup if you are using a standard drive (none solid state), close out the sim and defrag your drive.

Thanks it!😏

 

Edited December 13, 20223 yr by Dillon

8 hours ago, Dillon said:

Moral of the story is unless you're hearing the same complaints on not only this forum but the official forums, it's most likely on your end. 

The first 9 months my MSFS was unstable, to the point that 90% of my flights over 1 hour ended in a CTD. Bad code in MSFS could be partly to blame but after much testing I knew it must be related to USB controllers although replacing cables, USB hubs and disabling power management had no effect. After reading up on this I found out there was a known issue with USB controllers on the Ryzen 3000 and 9000 series. After AMD finaly released updated USB drivers the CTD's in MSFS also got significantly less frequent. Another thing that made MSFS much more stable was disabling XMP for my RAM.

MSFS is very particular concerning hardware. Flightsims have always been very demanding of hardware and MSFS is even more so since it actually can make use of the GPU as well.
Part of this is unavoidable since it is a very complex piece of software. Most games don't use much RAM and CPU and most business software don't use the GPU. On top of that, neither make much use of USB devices (most games only use a few) and do not usually require a lot of network bandwith.

That doesn't mean MSFS doesn't have its own faults. Lots of code is inherited from FSX and although Asobo has been done a great job in upgrading and rebuilding this code, some parts probably received less care than others. And all software has bugs of course. Also, IIRC, originally there would be no ATC in the original release of MSFS and it was added relatively late in the process. If true, that would explain some of the issues we have with ATC and AI.

 

 

32 minutes ago, orchestra_nl said:

That doesn't mean MSFS doesn't have its own faults. Lots of code is inherited from FSX and although Asobo has been done a great job in upgrading and rebuilding this code, some parts probably received less care than others. And all software has bugs of course. Also, IIRC, originally there would be no ATC in the original release of MSFS and it was added relatively late in the process. If true, that would explain some of the issues we have with ATC and AI.

Looks like the dreaded 'Low Bandwidth' error plays havoc on ATC in SU11.  I was hoping after the reinstall this would go away like the other issues I was having before blew the sim away from my local hard drive and started over. That being said for the most part the sim is stable as a drum.  I would suggest if your using default ATC and get the 'Low Bandwidth' error, once the flight is completed restart the sim to get everything working as it should for the next flight (if default ATC is in play for the next flight).

Concerning legacy code your correct.  I never read MSFS was going to ship without default ATC but as it is now it's diffidently an aspect of the sim that's old FS2k2, FS9, and FSX code that needs to be refined in the new sim.  It looks like Asobo is working on it as they get staff hired that can get their heads around it.  Maybe it's time to hire back some of them old Aces developers.😏

Edited December 13, 20223 yr by Dillon

9 hours ago, Dillon said:

Not familiar with Steam but I can say these steps work:

Thanks for the detailed instructions!

I'm having all sorts of weird issues with controller calibration and thinking that a reinstall is on the cards. I'm wondering, though, how much (or what?) is backed up on the cloud - and whether a reinstall might end up re-applying the (possibly corrupt) settings <?>.

15 minutes ago, Adamski_NZ said:

Thanks for the detailed instructions!

I'm having all sorts of weird issues with controller calibration and thinking that a reinstall is on the cards. I'm wondering, though, how much (or what?) is backed up on the cloud - and whether a reinstall might end up re-applying the (possibly corrupt) settings <?>.

Looks like I might have spoke too soon.  Just had my first CTD after reinstalling the sim.😌  Hopefully this doesn't repeat.  Still testing.😐

8 hours ago, orchestra_nl said:

... Another thing that made MSFS much more stable was disabling XMP for my RAM.

Just to chime in here, I suffered random and frequent CTD's for months on my old Intel based system. I tried everything imaginable even reinstalling from scratch but the CTD's continued.

The day I disabled XMP the CTD's stopped, and MSFS ran beautifully from then on.

7 hours ago, Dillon said:

Looks like I might have spoke too soon.  Just had my first CTD after reinstalling the sim.😌  Hopefully this doesn't repeat.  Still testing.😐

Looks like this latest CTD issue was from FSRealistic and not MSFS.  In SU11 'Network Connection' issue still cause a problem in this version more so than SU10 with ATC.  Either way it's good to know the CTD issue was not FS related as it was before I did the reinstall.😐

Edited December 14, 20223 yr by Dillon

I have the latest version of FSRealistic and still getting CTDs.  Do I need to uninstall it?

2 hours ago, Bill721 said:

I have the latest version of FSRealistic and still getting CTDs.  Do I need to uninstall it?

Not unless there's a newer version of it.  

I found that the CTD problem I reported above is do to a conflict with FSRealistic and the freeware KFCM scenery.  Flying out of that airport the sim CTD's almost at top of climb.  I can't blame Asobo for third party addon conflicts.  So my theory in the original post of this thread holds true. After the reinstall the sim is stable as can be outside of third party addon conflicts.😏

Gave in and did a complete reinstall yesterday. Uninstalled and then combed through AppData to make sure I removed all flight simulator files in there too. Spent half a day downloading/reinstalling flight simulator, world updates, etc.

Took a flight from KTHA to KTBR this morning flying at a cruise of 11,000ft. 1.5 hrs in and 3/4 through flightplan get a  CTD.

Looks like reinstall did nothing to help. I do have a CTD report on the MSFS forums at https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/constant-ctds-after-flying-a-bit/562142.

I may be just about ready to just shelve MSFS.

 

Edited December 18, 20223 yr by Phantoms
corrected link

2 hours ago, Phantoms said:

Gave in and did a complete reinstall yesterday. Uninstalled and then combed through AppData to make sure I removed all flight simulator files in there too. Spent half a day downloading/reinstalling flight simulator, world updates, etc.

Took a flight from KTHA to KTBR this morning flying at a cruise of 11,000ft. 1.5 hrs in and 3/4 through flightplan get a  CTD.

Looks like reinstall did nothing to help. I do have a CTD report on the MSFS forums at https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/constant-ctds-after-flying-a-bit/562142.

I may be just about ready to just shelve MSFS.

Unfortunately, after days of testing I can confirm that CTD's are still there but not like they used to be.  Now I find FSRealistic can cause an issue, larger cities with add-on scenery cause issues, and FS Cache can have an effect as well.  This is totally a problem introduced by SU11.  My problem is not near was bad as it was before the reinstall, but the problem is still there.  I don't know how people are flying airliner routes with add-on scenery using aircraft like FBW/Fenix's A320 or PMDG's 737.  I use the Longitude and stick with smaller airfields which get's me around most problems.  GA flying seems to be a non-issue.  ATC crashing is no longer a problem for me but the occasional CTD's are still there.😟 

I'm sure the CTD I get has been after installing FSRealistic, particularly the latest update. Switching FSRealistic off before end of flight stops the CTD