I'm sure this is a basic thing but it's got me puzzled.

I'm trying to get my XP12 system set up again. I'd not used XP for a while, since I got in to MSFS, but I got XP12 when it came out and a few months ago I started to get back in to it. But I'd forgotten about all the rigmarole with the scenery ini setup. I thought I'd got it sorted, but then had another break for a few months (real life stuff). Now, when I come back I'm finding weird stuff happening.

Specifically, I'm trying to get things set up using symlinks to my XP11 Orbx GB True Earth files. I set the symlinks all up and place the appropriate entries in the ini file, start the sim, take a flight in one of the areas and all looks ok, then quit XP. When I then check to ini file again, some of the true earth entries are now missing.

If I check the XP log file, it shows everything being detected and loaded ok, but it doesn't match the ini file.

Has the use of the ini file changed in XP12? (non-beta - I'm having enough trouble getting the normal version set up properly)

I really do like XP12, but I don't enjoy the scenery setup. And I did try a copy of xOrganizer but that also seems to have a mind of its own (or at least, greater then mine!)

Any advice/suggestions/pointers to youtube or whatever gratefuly received.

TIA

Andy

(one thing I thought was maybe to just abandon XP11 altogether and move all the actual scenery folders across to XP12 rather than symlink them - but I certainly used symlinks quite happily in XP11 for all the ortho stuff, for example)

I literally just started using fuse-zip this week for mounting the scenery folders from zip files (works a treat).

here's the bash script I'm using to generate them for anyone interested

rm mountscenery.sh
for l in */ 
do
	echo "${l/\//}"
	if [ -f "${l/\//}.zip" ]
	then
		echo "skipped $l"
	else
		cd "$l"
		zip -9 -v -r ../"${l/\//}.zip" .
		cd ..
	fi
	if [ -d "/home/msparks/nvme/X-Plane 12/Custom Scenery/${l/\//}" ]
	then
		echo "no need to mkdir $l"
	else
		mkdir "/home/msparks/nvme/X-Plane 12/Custom Scenery/${l/\//}"
	fi
	if [ -d "/home/msparks/X-Plane 11/Custom Scenery/${l/\//}" ]
	then
		echo "no need to mkdir $l"
	else
		mkdir "/home/msparks/X-Plane 11/Custom Scenery/${l/\//}"
	fi
	echo "echo \"mounting ${l/\//}\"" >> mountscenery.sh
	echo "fuse-zip -r -o nonempty \"/home/msparks/Development/Ortho4XP/${l/\//}.zip\" \"/home/msparks/nvme/X-Plane 12/Custom Scenery/${l/\//}"\" >> mountscenery.sh
done

Mac users can also use archivemount.

https://linux.die.net/man/1/archivemount

that zips them up and creates mountscenery.sh I can use to mount them.

I haven't tested tarballs, but probably will.

I presume these are windows symlinks. disappearing from the .ini suggests XP didn't find the folders at some point, that sounds like something funny happening with the symlinks themselves. I'd help more there if I could, but that is exactly the kind of wierd behaviour that made me run a mile from windows stuff.

14 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

Has the use of the ini file changed in XP12? (non-beta - I'm having enough trouble getting the normal version set up properly)

Don't believe so, there has been a fair bit of discussion around potential changes, but I, at least, am not aware of anything.

Beware tho, XP12 scenery isn't backwards compatible with XP11, particularly wrt to forestry and vegitation, so maybe its the XP11 install nerfing it?

7 hours ago, mSparks said:

but that is exactly the kind of wierd behaviour that made me run a mile from windows stuff.

symlinks work wunderbar in windows. the free addons-linker tool for some "glorified scenery simulator" generates symbolic links for all scenery and aircraft add-ons and obviously works flawlessly (283.700 total downloads) with "windows stuff". wish it also worked with x-plane.

https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker

Edited September 8, 20232 yr by turbomax

1 hour ago, turbomax said:

generates symbolic links for all scenery and aircraft add-ons

why on earth would you want that 🙄

8 hours ago, mSparks said:

sounds like something funny happening with the symlinks themselves.

Yeah, I'm tending towards suspecting that. Nothing else makes sense if the actual XP process for handling scenery hasn't changed. But then again the XP log file seems to indicate the folders that the symlinks link to are actually being found and loaded even if they're not appearing in the .ini file.

I'll try moving a couple of the "missing" symlink folders to the actual XP scenery folder and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the response.

Edited September 8, 20232 yr by andy1252
text

54 minutes ago, mSparks said:

why on earth would you want that

to save space and time, by only referring to a file instead of having to keep multiple physical copies. and use only those links for x-plane 11 and 12 at the same time with only a single real instance. or remove only the links for testing purposes instead of the real files etc. for more details about its advantages refer to the manual.

1 hour ago, andy1252 said:

that the symlinks link to are actually being found and loaded even if they're not appearing in the .ini file.

cant personally recommended it because Ive never needed it, but xOrganiser is the "goto" for managing scenery set up.

more detail on exactly what you are seeing would help. 

45 minutes ago, turbomax said:

to save space and time, by only referring to a file instead of having to keep multiple physical copies. and use only those links for x-plane 11 and 12 at the same time with only a single real instance. or remove only the links for testing purposes instead of the real files etc. for more details about its advantages refer to the manual.

All that to solve what xplane does with

scenery_disabled

https://www.x-plane.com/kb/prioritization-scenery-packs/

and otherwise comes as default with every linux and mac machine for some 50 years

and is still limited to file+path names less than 256 characters

...

ouch. 

not sure how you think a rats nest of symlinks saves time tho, less is more when it comes to managing them.

15 minutes ago, mSparks said:

not sure how you think a rats nest of symlinks saves time tho,

270.000 downloaders must be wrong then.

42 minutes ago, turbomax said:

270.000 downloaders must be wrong then.

imho, thats just an awful lot of people who wish windows had the kind of functionality baked into default posix based systems since 1963.

maybe in another 60 years they'll even be able to symlink directly to zip files like the bash script I just posted....

Edited September 8, 20232 yr by mSparks

3 hours ago, turbomax said:

270.000 downloaders must be wrong then.

Lemmings probably feel the same as they follow there mates over a cliff. Now if only that was real. But than just because so many downloaded it doesnt meant theyre all using it, that a baseless assumption.

On 9/9/2023 at 3:10 AM, mjrhealth said:

But than just because so many downloaded it doesnt meant theyre all using it, that a baseless assumption.

ok, assume 90% waste their time and download stuff they don't use/need. the remaining 28.000 "lemmings" (283.000 downloads now) are obviously also too stupid and vote it "4.91 Superb!"

you obviously don't know the product, so better stop such unfounded nonsense Lemming comments.

Edited September 10, 20232 yr by turbomax

2 hours ago, turbomax said:

ok, assume 90% waste their time and download stuff they don't use/need. the remaining 28.000 "lemmings" (283.000 downloads now) are obviously also too stupid and vote it "4.91 Superb!"

you obviously don't know the product, so better stop such unfounded nonsense Lemming comments.

Ill add symlinking to my list of "optional extras requiring additional download" for windows.

alongside multithreading, spinlocks and modern C support.

any word on if/when it will ever support fork() and pathnames longer than 256 characters?

since that bash script I posted seems to have gone over your head. What it does is use fuze-zip to create the folders inside custom scenery, where the contents are stored and read directly from zip files on another drive.

Gives up to 3x the space for ortho.

It was actually msfs put me on to that, one of the guys on discord recorded me a streamed flight (cleaned cache) from scotland to London at Mach in MS.

I didn't expect it to do that well. 

But then I saw that:

https://orbxdirect.com/product/gbr-south-xp11

Is

"The initial download of TEGB South is 26GB, the installation uses at least twice that and the installed product is 127GB"

What I had missed is while the images on their own cant be compressed more, groups of similar images (terrain) can.

So while downloading 127GB in less than the time it takes to get from glasgow to london at mach isnt feasible, 26gb is (on a 1Gbps connection like his anyway, and yes I know its different, but I was basing my download requirement estimate on the size of my UK ortho) 

Now all we need is everything to fall into place such that OrbX can release XP12 versions of their scenery and I can go shopping.

Edited September 10, 20232 yr by mSparks

Why must everything in these forums turn in to a pointless bun fight?

I asked a question, got an answer (thank you) and then it's "here we go again" time.

Sheeesh.

(and don't bother having a pop at me for this post - my involvement with this thread is finished)

On 9/8/2023 at 8:28 PM, turbomax said:

symlinks work wunderbar in windows. the free addons-linker tool for some "glorified scenery simulator" generates symbolic links for all scenery and aircraft add-ons and obviously works flawlessly (283.700 total downloads) with "windows stuff". wish it also worked with x-plane.

https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker

I just looked up where the community add-on folder for MSFS2020 is located and came to the conclusion that this tool is indispensible. Putting folders for gigabytes of data into "AppData" by default should be forbidden by UN resolution.

 

On 9/8/2023 at 12:39 PM, andy1252 said:

Has the use of the ini file changed in XP12? (non-beta - I'm having enough trouble getting the normal version set up properly)

No. At least not in my experience. Entries are added at X-Plane start, as they were in XP11. And they do not vanish on their own, unless some third party tool runs right after XP shutdown and messes things up in that file.

Edited September 11, 20232 yr by Bjoern