Dylanear

Well, I tried the latest cumulative updates to Windows and then deleting my profile in Steam for FS2020. Same sticking on the blue bar. 

I guess I could try the logging into my MS account in Edge thing. But I'm more convinced this is a bug with the app catching on something particular on my system. I guess I could try removing any and all related items in the registry after the uninstall before reinstalling. 

Funny thing about the Steam profiles. I tried deleting everything in that directory and while a new profile file wasn't recreated only a config file, the "remote" directory in there was recreated and the files in it reappeared with the same date stamps and content in the files as before, so Steam must be backing up and restoring those on their end?

I'm tempted to try a Game Pass trial account and trying the Microsoft version of the game in case this is a Steam problem. I've generally found Steam games and apps very reliable and install, uninstall, reinstall on multiple machines without troubles.

Trying update 2020-09 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 2004 for x64-based Systems (KB4571756), it's newer than  2020-08 Cumulative Update Preview ... (KB4571744), and what Windows Update offered me. Will report back after I try it out. If that doesn't get it, I'll try the Steam profile. 

Thanks for the suggestions! Very appreciated.

12 minutes ago, spc4529 said:

Here is one more suggestion I gleaned from https://www.flightsimulator.com/known-issues/
Find your "UserCfg.opt" file (typically located in C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator).
Open the file in notepad and verify that InstalledPackagesPath is set to the path where your packages are installed. Note: This is typically the last line in the file
(e.g. InstalledPackagesPath "C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages")
If not correct, edit the path and save the file then try starting the sim again.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. But I tried that. Also tried deleting that file entirely, tried leaving that file and deleting the rollingcache file, and obviously tried deleting everything. None of that worked. 

Just now, devgrp said:

Well alot of us aren't having any problems so it can go both ways. I also use my pc for photography. Trust me, it will do you some good to reinstall windows lol

I do suspect that a clean install of windows would probably do the trick. But if every game and app needed a fresh install of Windows to work that'd be a rather pathetic and untenable situation. Tons of other apps and games install, run, uninstall and reinstall on this system without issue. It would also be a massive inconvenience and large amount of work to get my system back to where it is now. And I also suspect sooner or later there will be an update that will fix the install, reinstall problems so many are experiencing. Hey, it worked just fine for me when I installed on launch day. I guess we'll see. Something will fix it eventually.

9 minutes ago, devgrp said:

Best to just reinstall windows and start from scratch lol. Next time uninstall the right way and save yourself some headache. And no it's not a msfs2020 or Asobo problem, you messed up when you deleted files. 

Lol. A: No way I'm reinstalling Windows for this one app. This is not a dedicated sim/game machine. Primarily it's a machine for my personal work, photography, 3d applications, video editing.

B: Not a msfs2020 or Asobo problem? Funny how countless other apps and games work just fine including DCS, P3D v3 and v4, Xplane 11. Various other Steam apps and games all work fine. The first uninstall and reinstall was done precisely according to the official instructions here:
https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016125019-How-to-repair-or-remove-Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-on-Steam

There's a huge number of people having issues with this software. But sure, I'm sure it's my fault. Hilarious. 

11 hours ago, Marco Manieri said:

Also make sure to have the Xbox gaming services installed and updated in the Microsoft Store App.

Yeah, definitely did that. It was all up to date other than a Cortana update. 

11 hours ago, JPLS said:

Try the last Windows 10 2020-08 Cumulative Update.

Microsoft release this update last week which solve a lot of bugs that came with the 2004 version.

Go to Settings - Update & Security - View optional updates (in blue). If you have this blue text then click it and go to Other updates - click checkbox 2020-08 Cumulative Update Preview ... (KB4571744) - Click Download and install button.

It can probably help to solve your problem.

Interesting? I'll try this when I'm home from work tonight. What could go wrong? Beside my whole Windows install getting messed up. ;)  Windows update is pretty horrible about giving me the latest updates, I had to install 2004 by downloading the Update Assistant app. I don't see an Update Assistant for this update, but I see a download file? Never used a Win 10 update delivered this way?
2020-08 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 10 Version 2004 for x86-based Systems (KB4571744)

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4571744

The 2004 update may not have anything to do with it. But it was the only thing that changed on the PC after uninstalling and reinstalling. It could simply be a problem reinstalling. It was originally on my E drive a second SSD with more space than my C drive. I've heard there can be problems installing on drives other than the C drive. So, I really don't know at this point. Could just be an install/reinstall issue. Could be that there was something on the PC the original release didn't catch on that 1.7.14 does freeze on? 

All I know is I tried a myriad of ways over about 9 hours and I'm giving up. I have no hope this version is going to run on this Windows install. Hopefully they will patch it again soon and fix this. All my other games and tons of apps all run fine. I can run benchmarks and stress tests all day long. Windows is very stable. Just Flight Simulator refuses to get past that blue bar on the load screen. Freezes just to the right of the highway. Every single time. 

This is not a dedicated flight sim machine. This is my general PC and it's got a lot of important apps and various set ups on it. A full reinstall of the OS is days and days of full time work to get everything set back up. That's simply not happening any time soon. 

Sorry to hear that Slait. Very worrisome. I've paid for the sim and the deluxe/premium content and it was more or less working before the patch and my reinstall attempts. So the idea this may be unresolvable for the indeterminate future is deeply frustrating. 

Generally my experience with Steam games has been very trouble free, many games over many years. MSFS2020 is the first nightmare I've had. 

Yeah, I haven't done anything with the registry because I haven't seen any specific conversations about that. But I believe you can search the registry for key words like "flight". 

Steam cleans up it's directories when you uninstall, but it does not remove the files in the User account directory. That I've done manually. 

37 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Did you use File Explorer to delete MSFS? 

Because MSFS likely has registry settings and possibly even hidden files/folders that you are not aware of if you physically deleted it yourself with File Explorer.  I hope you uninstalled the official way, either using Steam's uninstall, or using the steps at: https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016125019-How-to-repair-or-remove-Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-on-Steam.  

If you revert back to 1909 but the registry settings are still there, and/or the hidden files/folders are still there, you may still have problems.  At this point, you should go to the official MSFS forums and seek further help.https://forums.flightsimulator.com/

I've tried uninstalling every which way, but yes, started with the official instructions. I did uninstall with Steam first. I did use file explorer to delete additional files, but have show all file, show protected OS files, etc, turned on. I have thought about exploring what I might be able to find/delete in the registry, but haven't found any posts/comments about people doing that. I guess that's worth a go tonight when I'm home from my 12+ hour day at work. 

Yeah, I'll get a report in at the Flight Simulator forums and Zendesk. 

I guess I'll just make a report over at Zendesk and pray for the next patch or something. 

Thanks for that report CJ1045. Good data point to have. Maybe reverting to 1909 will not help and be it's own pain in the rear. 

I do think this is a MSFS2020 issue, not an OS issue, but I'm at my wit's end. I don't know anything else to try. Reinstalling over and over and restarting the application over and over certainly has not helped. 

When's the next patch or version expected?  :(

Well, I may revert back to 1909. I've never tried uninstalling a major Windows update so I have my fears that's going to be it's own mess. But I am desperate at this point, I don't have anything else to try. I can't install MSFS2020 with the original version as far as I l know. So the only thing I can change back to when it was working is the OS version. 

When is the next MSFS2020 patch/update due??!! I am heartbroken, deeply frustrated and trying to not be enraged over this situation. I was one of those 100k users without much troubles UNTIL yesterday. Now I can't fly at all. 

9 minutes ago, Scottoest said:

When you first installed the sim back in August, did you have installation issues at some point?

If so, Asobo suggested doing a completely clean install from scratch with the patch, which I think included additional instructions to make sure absolutely every folder is deleted.

Sorry you're having so much trouble.

Well, the application at least started with 1.7.14.0 once, but I still had a greyed out Marketplace so before ever flying with 1.7.14.0 and because of the various suggestions of a clean install post 1.7.14.0 release I did a reinstall and many, many reinstalls and countless attempts to re-start the application I have gotten nothing but stuck at the blue bar/loadscreen. 

I installed on release day and there was a little trouble at first, but in a few hours it I was flying fine and have been until I updated to 1.7.14.0 and reinstalled on Sunday. Before I had plenty of crashes to desktop while flying, but was getting a lot of functional flying despite the crashing. And a greyed out Marketplace. But at least I was enjoying the sim. I'm VERY regretful I followed "clean install" advice as it's never started since then. See my thread:

"never change something that works."

Believe me I have nothing but regret that I uninstalled now. But it didn't entirely "work" before either. Many many crashes to desktop while flying and I only got into the Marketplace the first time I ran the sim, it never let me in after that. So it worked a lot better than it does now, which is not at all, but it wasn't working perfectly before either. 

I don't have any fix or suggestion for you. I have the Steam version, not disks. But you have my complete sympathy! I spent over >10< hours Sunday after getting the 1.7.14.0 patch and it now won't get past the load screen/blue bar and I've reinstalled many times. 

My frustration at this point is boundless. :(

I've been running fine in general since launch day, with some random crashes to desktop while flying and the Marketplace greyed out being my only complaints. So this weekend I launch the app with 1.7.14.0 applied for the first time and see the Marketplace was still grey so I figure I'll try a full reinstall. I uninstall (Steam). I delete all files in the install directory and packages directory. I then install Windows 10 update 2004 since I've been on 1909 for ages and had been meaning to get up to date for months. Windows update goes fine, check I have the latest Game Ready drivers, reinstall MSFS2020.

On the first start it sticks near the end of the blue bar on the loadscreen. And then every single time I try opening it sticks at that same point. I re-installed many times, I tried moving the install to C: (was on E: last it worked), then back to E. Countless re-starts, always the same thing, stuck on the blue bar at the same point. Tried deleting the various files in Users/<user>/AppData many times. Etc. Etc. From noon to 10:30 PM I kept trying anything I could think of. My "Hours Played" in Steam went from 13 hours to 20 hours just from constantly trying to start the application, never once actually got into the sim. 

So either 1.7.14.0 is broken for me, or Windows 10 update 2004 is problematic or both. The only thing I can think of now is to try uninstalling the 2004 Windows update or just waiting for the next patch/version of Flight Simulator. I can not express my frustration bordering on rage for my wasted one day off this week. Get your s--t together Microsoft/Asobo! I feel I've paid good money to be an alpha tester for them, this isn't even beta quality. Which I'd be happy to do if they called it alpha/beta testing and not a finished product. 

Anyone else have any problems when going from an earlier version of Windows 10 to the 2004 update? Or has anyone had trouble starting after the 1.7.14.0 update who was running more or less fine before that?