resolved Library creation on installing

[greybeard]

 

 

 

Operating system:  Windows 10 64bit

Simulator:P3d V4.5  

Screenshot:  

Issue: Installing Orbx Central 

 

I understand that. " You cannot create a library within a simulator directory. Orbx  Central is designed from the ground up to install

products outside of your simulator directory. "   Got that, but....

I have P3d4.5 installed on an M2 drive named "Prepar3d v4(D:)" The drive is the directory ( no P3d folder )

My operating system and other programs are on M2 "Local Drive(C:) which has the P3d addons folder in My Documents (default location)

Everything through Central 3 installs just fine including the recent Orbx  object flow, Buildings HD and SODE. Along with a few hundred dollars

worth of aircraft.

If I install an SSD drive, let's say Local Drive (E:)  If I try to install Orbx Central will it spit the dummy before I can tell it to install the first Library

on Drive (E:)    And yes, I have read the manual but it really doesn't give me an answer definitive enough for me to go out and throw more money

on another drive if it is just going to end up as a paper weight.

I would really appreciate some positive help please.   PS. I do have a lot of Orbx scenery.

 

Kevin

 

 

[Mitchell Williamson]

Hi Kevin,

 

I'm not 100% sure I understand all of your concerns. Installing P3D into the root of a drive isn't something I've considered before and haven't played out the scenarios with how Central will work with it.

 

The libraries within Central have the following restrictions:

• Cannot be within a simulator directory
• Cannot be the root of a hard drive (i.e D:/), must be within a folder (D:/Orbx)
• Cannot contain certain folders

Within Central you can create multiple libraries, so you if you have the space and wish to put some on C:/, you can do so. The existing products you've installed using FTX Central 3 into your simulator directory will still work as usual, and don't need to be moved to libraries straight away. Therefore, only new products will installed outside your simulator.

 

21 hours ago, greybeard said:

If I install an SSD drive, let's say Local Drive (E:)  If I try to install Orbx Central will it spit the dummy before I can tell it to install the first Library

on Drive (E:)

 

What do you mean by this? The restrictions for libraries are above, anything else should work okay.

 

If you can tell me a bit more about what where you'd like to install products and how you'd like to organise them across your drives, I can give you a bit more information about what can be done within Central or what potential workarounds may be applicable.

[greybeard]

Hello Mitchell, thankyou for taking some of your valuable time to help an old guy who

should know better.

I know it sounds a bit swings and roundabouts and I must apologise. Put simply.

If my current install which is on a new rig works fine, installing and updating Orbx

products through FTX Central 3. Will the new Orbx Central install in place of The

old FTX Central 3. Does it require a library at install? Note: all my Orbx is installed

on   P3d v4(D:) where FTX Central three put it. 

I will put in another drive for a library if I need to purchase or update any of my scenery.

And there does seem to be a lot of updates in the wind for FTXAU2 and airports.

I would move/migrate as and when required to a library set up on the new drive.

But does the installer of the new Orbx Central see that it is not possible to add a

library to P3d v4(D:) and revert back to the old system. I know I'm as clear as mud,

I just wish someone would invent a telephone. I do appreciate your support, I don't

know how you manage to fit everything in the way you do.

 

Kevin

[Dieter]

What I learned here in the forum and by own experience:

- Prepar3D simulator must always be installed in a sepearte folder like \Prepar3D v4 (This is a folder name, not the name of the drive!)

If you don't, Orbx software might fail to do not run correctly. This is especially true for VECTOR software.

This is the fact when using FTXCentral 3. I don't know about Orbx Central.

 

[greybeard]

14 hours ago, Dieter said:

What I learned here in the forum and by own experience:

- Prepar3D simulator must always be installed in a sepearte folder like \Prepar3D v4 (This is a folder name, not the name of the drive!)

If you don't, Orbx software might fail to do not run correctly. This is especially true for VECTOR software.

This is the fact when using FTXCentral 3. I don't know about Orbx Central.

 

My current install of P3d v4.5 is on a drive of that name with no separate folder. I downloaded FTX Central 3 and the install went with no hitch

I opened my new FTX Central 3 and it had found my P3d v4.5. I then installed about 80 ORBX sceneries, all world sceneries, most regions, and

a lot of airports FTXAI. I have had no problem at all on this clean install on my new computer for the last 3 months.

If a library is required on that drive then it seems it can't be done. If the library can be put on another drive and I will do that.

I would have to do a complete reinstall of all my flight sim stuff and as I have seen in these forums since 2010 you end up with a

lot of issues with trying to track down files that did not uninstall. That is why I am reluctant to go that route.

 

Kevin

[carlosqr]

Hello Mitchell

 

I'm installing everything back through FTX Central as the new Central only messed up my whole sim.

 

When ready and working as intended I think I'll have to go back to it.

 

When that moment comes I think I'll use the same drive I'm using

 

My main drive is C where windows is installed etc.

 

I have a 5TB disk for P3D only, it is drive H, so I have installed here the sim as well as the new Orbx Central structure

 

Can you please confirm this is right to do?  When I come back to Central I'll do it the same way.

 

 

Thank you

 

Carlos

 

 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello Carlos,

as I understand it, whay you have done is exacly correct for Orbx Central.

[Nick Cooper]

6 hours ago, greybeard said:

My current install of P3d v4.5 is on a drive of that name with no separate folder.

Kevin

 

Hello Kevin,

 

installing any software without its own root folder is at the very least poor practice.

In the case of P3D and the apparent requirement by Lockheed Martin and now

Orbx Central not to install into its root folder, if you follow that rule, installing P3D

to the drive root renders that entire drive closed to the addition of any other software,

regardless of how much free space might be wasted.

 

 

[greybeard]

1 hour ago, Nick Cooper said:

 

Hello Kevin,

 

installing any software without its own root folder is at the very least poor practice.

In the case of P3D and the apparent requirement by Lockheed Martin and now

Orbx Central not to install into its root folder, if you follow that rule, installing P3D

to the drive root renders that entire drive closed to the addition of any other software,

regardless of how much free space might be wasted.

 

 

 

Thank you for the reply Nick, as you say poor practice. Just a pity for me that the new Orbx Central

won't break the rules like the old one. It had installed HD Buildings, Object flow and SODE through

P3d v4 Add-ons folder in my documents just fine along with aircraft etc.

Never mind I here what you are saying (sigh) and it looks like a full uninstall and clean up is in store.

I don't expect it to be a cake walk so I will wait a while and observe when it looks like all the little

niggles have been resolved and then I will test the water.

Thank you again for your time.

 

Kevin

[Nick Cooper]

If I were in your position, I would create a folder on the drive and move everything into it.

P3D will change the registry entry when you run it next and you might just get away with it.

[carlosqr]

7 hours ago, Nick Cooper said:

Hello Carlos,

as I understand it, whay you have done is exacly correct for Orbx Central.

 

Thank you Nick

[greybeard]

14 hours ago, Nick Cooper said:

If I were in your position, I would create a folder on the drive and move everything into it.

P3D will change the registry entry when you run it next and you might just get away with it.

 

Hi Nick, thanks for throwing me a line. When you say move everything to the new folder, do

I just cut & paste each folder into the new one or do I have to drag & drop.

Also does it matter how many sub folders each one contains or how large they are?

I would rather go the cut & paste route than drag and drop but is there a limit to how large

a folder and the files that it contains can be using this method?

I will give it a go, I have 400g installed so a complete reinstall is my last option.

 

Kevin

 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

if your entire P3D installation is the only thing on the drive, then you could create the root folder

and just select everything except that folder and drag and drop everything into it.

I am assuming that your other addon airports have installed into the addon scenery folder?

[downscc]

On 8/2/2019 at 8:40 PM, Mitchell Williamson said:

The libraries within Central have the following restrictions:

• Cannot be within a simulator directory
• Cannot be the root of a hard drive (i.e D:/), must be within a folder (D:/Orbx)
• Cannot contain certain folders

Within Central you can create multiple libraries, so you if you have the space and wish to put some on C:/, you can do so. The existing products you've installed using FTX Central 3 into your simulator directory will still work as usual, and don't need to be moved to libraries straight away. Therefore, only new products will installed outside your simulator.

 

I have a symbolic link active such that <p3d>\Orbx (exactly c:\P3D\P3Dv4\Orbx) is linked to a directory on a separate drive than P3D (d:\Orbx).  I interpret your comment on existing FTX products to mean that Central v4 is compatible with this symbolic link, but any new products that I install will also work with an explicit path to d:\Orbx.   So the question is if you recommend migrating the products from the symbolic link  (<p3d>\Orbx) to the explicit path (d:\Orbx), and those products are already installed will I need to remove then reinstall the products?

[Mitchell Williamson]

8 hours ago, downscc said:

So the question is if you recommend migrating the products from the symbolic link  (<p3d>\Orbx) to the explicit path (d:\Orbx), and those products are already installed will I need to remove then reinstall the products?

 

Orbx Central libraries use a unique file structure, so it won't be a 1:1 mapping between P3D/ORBX and the product files anymore. You'll need to create a new folder (like D:\Orbx\Library or D:\Orbx Library) or similar to migrate products across to the new system. Central manages the file structure itself.

 

You don't need to migrate products straight away though, and it'll only be used on new installs or if you explicitly migrate a product. It is your preference whether you keep using the products installed via symlink or move them to the new structure.