4 minutes ago, AnkH said:

I always unselect everything in Addons Linker before running the update. But more because this helps speeding up the update process due to less addons being loaded. All addons installed using an installer remain untouched. Always worked using this approach...

That's exactly my procedure too.

42 minutes ago, AnkH said:

But more because this helps speeding up the update process due to less addons being loaded.

Exactly this.

1 hour ago, AnkH said:

I always unselect everything in Addons Linker before running the update. But more because this helps speeding up the update process due to less addons being loaded. All addons installed using an installer remain untouched. Always worked using this approach...

Second this!  The safest way would be to empty your Community folder.

Since we are not privy to the MSFS source code (unless your are from Working Title, then maybe you have access to the MSFS source code), it's not 100% certain what initialization MSFS does on the first load after a new Sim Update.  Thus, to be on the safe side, you probably want to empty your Community folder before a Sim Update. With Add On Linker, it takes like 5 seconds to do this by unchecking all the add ons.

I'm on the Beta and have a huge comm folder, partly managed with addon linker. As usual there were some hiccups on the first iteration but nothing atm. Even the 5 seconds to do some rename or starting addon linker to clean up are a waste of time. 

Only thing that will not work in the OPs case is the parking brake on the PMDG 737 😉

Cheers T.

For the first few Sim Updates I emptied the Community folder prior to updating, but I got lazy and stopped doing that at some point and never ran into problems. Anyway, compared to others, I don't have that many add-ons in my Community folder, probably less than 50.

One recommendation that isn't directly related to this SU12, but always worth mentioning: Make a backup of your Official and Community folder, if you have some hard disk space to spare. Makes it a lot easer to recover from occasional issues when the Sim wants to do a complete re-download without an obvious reason. This is a rare thing, but if you follow the forums, it isn't unheard of, especially when you run the "Verify files" in Steam.

Again: there is absolutely no need, zero, nada, to do anything to the community folder when the sim updates. 

That some addons do not work anymore after an update is an entirely different issue altogether. 

I fail to see why folks are having trouble grasping this.

I never touch my community folder. I've never had a problem. 

4 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

Again: there is absolutely no need, zero, nada, to do anything to the community folder when the sim updates. 

That some addons do not work anymore after an update is an entirely different issue altogether. 

I fail to see why folks are having trouble grasping this.

I never touch my community folder. I've never had a problem. 

It's one of the myths that got hammered into stone in the early times 😄

5 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

Again: there is absolutely no need, zero, nada, to do anything to the community folder when the sim updates. 

That some addons do not work anymore after an update is an entirely different issue altogether. 

I fail to see why folks are having trouble grasping this.

I never touch my community folder. I've never had a problem. 

Fully agreed. I have about sevee hundred add-ons and never had a serious problem during the last five or six sim updates. I'm using Add-On Linker too. Only thing what happens from time to time is that some add-ons don't play nicecly together.

Sometimes I've done nothing prior to an update and sometimes renamed the community folder but no issues have arisen either way.

It's always worth deleting the rolling cache and any manual caches if you use them.

For me, following an update is a good time to do any general maintenance like deleting shader cache, temporary files, etc. to ensure your system is in tip top condition, making sure windows is up to date, and perhaps opening your case and blowing away (or maybe sucking out) any dust that may have accumulated.

Fingers crossed that the update will be a good one, though feedback from the beta testers seems to be positive.

Edited March 21, 20233 yr by cianpars

what time does the update land ?

 

Just now, aerostar said:

what time does the update land ?

 

Never stated but usually 1600Z.

Today at 1500Z, an hour earlier than usual. This is what they posted on Twitter yesterday:

 

https://twitter.com/MSFSofficial/status/1637921153434918919

Edited March 21, 20233 yr by pstrub

A good measure to prevent issues with SU12 is a Windows re-install... Just joking! 😆

I have an even better idea:

Before every Sim update: buy a new PC and buy a new copy of MSFS - that would be safest way to proceed. 

2 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

I have an even better idea:

Before every Sim update: buy a new PC and buy a new copy of MSFS - that would be safest way to proceed. 

PC should be purchased directly from one of MS subcontractors...something like "MSFS certified. Ready for SU12"

Edited March 21, 20233 yr by G-YMML1