resolved GB North Terrain tile and texture missing

[John Wasilewski]

I am getting errors like this every time I start an X-Plane 11 flight in UN North, near Barrow-in Furnace and Near Edinburgh.

I haven't done anything unusual with Orbx scenery.

I have used it before in UK north without encountering any errors.including near Edinburgh.

 

I have looked in the Customer Scenery folders tree and I can't see these files there.

 

That is to say, I can't find:

a020xf8e0x17.ter

a020xf8e0x17.dds

 

I am wondering whether there is a typographical error in the file names, because I AM ABLE to find these two files with names that look almost identical when written in capitals:

a020xfbe0x17.ter

a020xfbe0x17.dds

 

Here is a fragment of a relevant log file:

 

:

:

Orbx_B_GB_North_TrueEarth_Overlay/roads/; replacing with blank
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 I/SCN: DSF load time: 1768786 for file Custom Scenery/Orbx_B_GB_North_TrueEarth_Overlay/Earth nav data/+50-010/+55-005.dsf (0 tris, 0 skipped for 0.0 m^2)
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 I/SCN: DSF load time: 1400217 for file Custom Scenery/Orbx_C_GB_Central_TrueEarth_Orthos/Earth nav data/+50-010/+53-005.dsf (389570 tris, 171 skipped for -17.8 m^2)
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 E/SCN: Failed to find resource '../textures/a020xf8e0x17.dds', referenced from file 'Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/'.
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 E/SYS: MACIBM_alert: Error, could not locate image file for terrain
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 E/SYS: MACIBM_alert: Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/a020xf8e0x17.ter
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 E/SYS: MACIBM_alert: Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 E/SYS: MACIBM_alert: ../textures/a020xf8e0x17.dds
[12.58.37] [xp] 0:00:38.886 E/SYS: MACIBM_alert: /jenkins/design-triggered/source_code/app/X-Plane-f/../../engine/REN/REN_terrain.cpp:206
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:00:46.447 I/SCN: DSF load time: 6081876 for file Custom Scenery/Orbx_B_GB_Central_TrueEarth_Overlay/Earth nav data/+50-010/+53-003.dsf (0 tris, 0 skipped for 0.0 m^2)
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:00:49.448 I/SCN: DSF load time: 2794580 for file Custom Scenery/Orbx_C_GB_Central_TrueEarth_Orthos/Earth nav data/+50-010/+53-003.dsf (541707 tris, 30 skipped for -4.9 m^2)
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: | Error, could not locate image file for terrain
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: | Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/a020xf8e0x17.ter
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: | Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: | ../textures/a020xf8e0x17.dds
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: | (REN_terrain.cpp:206)
[12.59.35] [xp] 0:01:41.585 E/SYS: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[12.59.35] [xp] frame=   0 OGL=  0.001 CPU=  0.000, GPU=  0.000   
[12.59.35] [xp] frame=   0 OGL=  0.001 CPU=  0.000, GPU=  0.000   
[12.59.35] [xp] frame=   0 OGL=  0.001 CPU=  0.000, GPU=  0.000   
[12.59.35] [xp] frame=   1 OGL=  0.001 CPU=  0.000, GPU=  0.000   

:

:

---- 

John Wasilewski

John@Wasilewski.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

[John Wasilewski]

Correction: I meant 'UK North', not 'UN North'.

[Jon Clarke]

 

The message is typical of not having enough free disk space available.
Please read the link  and ensure you meet ALL the requirements.
Particular attention needs to be made to the references to free disk space both on the disk to which downloads go into your Temp folder and the free space required for the installation.
Guides on how to move your Temp  folder if required are also in the link.
Failure to convert the files is a strong indication of not enough free disk space on either the C drive where Windows places your Temp drive by default, or the drive you are wanting to install on. 

 

 

 

 

[John Wasilewski]

Thank you for your help with this, and for responding so promptly.   Would you mind if I just asked you to check, are you quite sure that these files are not missing from the full installation?  I ask because

 

 - The files really are missing from the folder,

 

 - When I installed UK scenery S, C and N, I had masses of spare
    capacity on my 1TB SSD.  Hundreds of GB.  It is quite full now
    but there was plenty of room at Orbx install-time.  

 

 - No warnings or errors appeared at install-time.

 

 - The missing files are not after the end of the many files in the
   folder (as listed alphanumerically).  They are in the middle of a
   long list of scenery/terrain files.  Installing with insufficient space
   would surely have failed to install a contiguous block of files.

 

I apologies for not letting go of it straight away.  If I could just try your patience very slightly more with this follow-up, I'll will then heed what you say.

--- 

John

[Jon Clarke]

No problem John.

My response was based on the initial info you gave and as i said is indicative of an incomplete installation due to lack of free space required to perform all the necessary functions of an installation of this size.

I need more info from you.

Did you read the link and can confirm that you are meeting ALL the requirements?

Where is your Temp folder? The downloads will go to that folder and this folder is by default placed in the C drive.

The download for TEGB North is approx 22GB initially. It will then extract all the zip files to a size at least twice that, all done in the Temp folder.

The orthos files are shipped in jpg format it then needs to convert all the jpg to DDS format. DDS files are twice the size of jpg.

This will increase the download to well over 140GB. It then needs to install the addon to the desired disk/location. After a successful installation, it will remove the contents of the Temp folder giving you back the space it occupied on the C drive (if that is where your Temp folder is) UNLESS you also have the option to make Backups enabled. If you do then it will save a copy of the download on the C drive.

So:

1. Where is your Temp folder located?

2.Where is your XP installation located, on the same drive as your Temp drive?

3. If your Temp folder is on C drive then what free space is there on that drive?

4.If the XP installation is located on a different drive then what is the free space on that drive.

4. Have you got Backups enabled? If so what drive are they stored on?

 

I am sure that there are not missing files in the download so I ask you check the link I gave you and note the extensive additional info I have mentioned above.

Let me know and we will resolve the issue eventually. Trying to resolve issues remotely is always a bit of a time consuming effort so you need to bear with me and ensure you respond to any questions I ask.

Thanks

 

[John Wasilewski]

Yes I did read the link you sent me but I was slightly bemused by it.  It seems to be addressed to Windows users but I have a MacBook Pro.

It's a few weeks since I installed all my Obrx scenery so I cannot precisely recall every detail but I am fairly sure that I did not download the scenery, then install it, as I expect I'd have done under Windows, but that an Orbx installer did all of it.  If I had downloaded scenery archives, ready for me to unpack and install, I would certainly have kept copies of the downloads, but I did not do that.  I simply clicked the right buttons, and Orbx then took over, downloaded and installed, and presumably deleted the compressed downloads afterwards.

 

I was not asked to identify a 'Temp' file and of course MacOS does not use C: drives, D: drives etc.

I am not aware of a system-designated Temp folder in MacOS.

 

I have a 1TB SSD and, at the time of installing Orbx scenery, I had most of it still available.  Now, after installing all the scenery, then a lot of large aircraft, some airports etc, and doing a lot of my professional work on my laptop, I'm down to about 45GB, but, as I say, there was masses of space when I installed.

 

My relevant file structure is:

/users/John/XPlane 11/Custom Scenery/Orbx_*.*/*.*

/users/John/Orbx Library/{not used, empty}

 

I did not enable backups.

 

What I have described above is as best I can remember the process.  However, contrary to the above, I have in fact just found, stored on in my 'downloads' folder where I empty it periodically to my NAS drive, this one Orbx file:

   Orbx-central-4.1.23.dmg.  110.8MB.   

 

I don't know why there's only one there, because I have installed UKN, UKCentral and UKS. 

I vaguely remember the Orbx install process not been exactly the same for all three.  I did not make any choices about how to install.  It was all done online using the Orbx installer.  I believe I selected regions and airports I had paid for and then clicked 'install'.  It took several hours but no error messages were produced and all the scenery files and folders were successfully placed in the Custom Scenery folder as intended.

 

What other information can I find for you?  Are there any tests I can try to see what happens?  Is there a log file that will be helpful?

 

---- 

Yours sincerely,

John

 

 

 

[BobbieH]

I don't know if this will help but I just did a search through my installation of TE North, I cannot find 

a020xfbe0x17.ter

a020xfbe0x17.dds

 

but I do have 

 

 

a020xf8e0x17.ter

a020xf8e0x17.dds

 

You may well be correct that there is a naming issue with those two files. Could you maybe make a copy of those two files somewhere, then change that b to an 8 and see if the error is fixed ?

[Jon Clarke]

@John Wasilewski Any attempt now to install the addon will fail because you do not have sufficient room on the drive.

I suggest you Uninstall TEGB North, then tell me how much free space you are left with.

I have to assume that you only have one drive and that is the 1TB SSD on which XP is installed, all the functioning Orbx addons and other addons plus your work. Is that correct? You only have one drive. Please confirm/clarify

I have asked a Dev to assist in trying to sort out the issue but still believe it is a free space issue if you only have one drive.

 

[Tony Wroblewski]

Hi John

 

I'm a Mac user (and developed GB North on a Mac) so will try to help you here

 

When you downloaded and installed GB North, Orbx Central will attempt to convert all the textures to DDS files (they actually come down as jpegs). If these fail to convert then you would get missing texture errors.

 

First, in Orbx Central, check the Temporary Location as below and make sure "Check disk space before installing":

 

 

In my case, mine is empty as I recently cleared it, but make sure you clear it out, or move it to somewhere where you actually have the space, e.g. An external drive.

 

Secondly, in the Backups location, remove GB North if it's still there so it is no longer cached.

 

Once you've done that, I'd suggest completely removing GB North from your X-Plane scenery folder (There are 3 folders to delete), and then attempt a full reinstall. Make sure you have enough space to install it and to have the download in your temp folder (Should be approximately 70-80GB free needed)

 

If that still doesn't work, write back here and I'll give you some other things to check from the terminal to see if we can work out what's going on.

 

5 hours ago, BobbieH said:

I don't know if this will help but I just did a search through my installation of TE North, I cannot find 

a020xfbe0x17.ter

a020xfbe0x17.dds

That is very odd, if these files were missing you'd also be getting a similar error.

 

 

[Peter Lenting]

Hello to ALL,

 

I did a search to for those two files: 

a020xfbe0x17.ter

a020xfbe0x17.dds

 

Result, yes they are there.

Regards Peter KLM051

[BobbieH]

It is strange, I have neither of those files and get no errors.

[John Wasilewski]

MORE INFORMATION

Here's how to test for the same error as I am getting.

Select Walney Island airport, lined up on runway 05.

 

This is one way in which I can trigger this failure every time, reporting that these files :

Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/a020xf8e0x17.ter

Custom Scenery/Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos/terrain/a020xf8e0x17.dds

..could not be found.

 

 

IN REPLY TO THE QUESTIONS

(and with thanks for the additional advice)

Yes, all on one internal SSD.  

My current free space is 22.33GB

 

The Download settings

1. Has 'check disk space before downloading' ticked.

2. Shows this temp file location:

/var/folders/h0/0ch67y_92qz_3r4dmlyw8mjm0000gn/T/Orbx/temp

I have just looked for this and it doesn't exist - presumably deleted by the installer.

 

3. Has auto-backup of product files ticked

4. Shows this backup location:

/Users/john/Library/Application Support/Orbx/Central/Backup

This folder DOES exist, however, and has 15 directories, all containing .ZIP files, totalling 70.93GB

 

QUESTIONS

Now that I've found out where the Backup files are, could someone tell be which one I should unpack to find copies of the missing files?

Might there be any others missing?

Is it safe to DELETE all the Backup files?  I could live life more comfortably in my SSD with an extra 70GB.

 

FURTHER COMMENT

I am still wondering how this has happened, how did these files fail to arrive, without notifying me of any installation error?

Is this something worth investigating by Laminar Research?  Are there any more things worth checking or testing?

Once again: thank you, all, for being to attentive and responsive to my and others' requests.

------

John

 

 

[John Wasilewski]

I have not, yet, followed Jon Clarke's suggestions for uninstalling and re-installing.  I'm worried about doing that because of how little disk space I have left.

I'm wondering whether, with your guidance, Jon and Tony, I can now fix the problem by plundering some of the .ZIP files to find the missing scenery/terrain files.

---- 

John.

[Jon Clarke]

No you cannot open the zip files. They are zipped to minimize the file sizes initially otherwise you would be using a massive amount of bandwidth and usage. for just the download. Doing what you are suggesting will not work.

I can assist as long as you follow the suggestions I and Tony make. You would recover 70 GB of space by deleting the backups plus uninstalling TEGB North and starting over. If indeed there is a problem with the download of TEGB North, then if you reinstalled or Verified Files of that addon it would read the data from the backup copy which may be corrupted hence why i am saying delete the backup copy and reinstall.

Seeing that you have only one disk drive you cannot move the other backups to a safe place off the drive which is currently housing the backup copies of your Orbx addons. I would delete all the backups for now.

So using Orbx Central uninstall the TEGB North addon.

At least delete the  Backup copy of TEGB North from the /Users/john/Library/Application Support/Orbx/Central/Backup location if not all the other backups.

Using Orbx Central, clear the Temp folder and untick the Backup option as shown in the attached pic.

Reboot your PC.

Then I need you to wait and inform me of the free space your drive is now showing.

I will then determine if you have the required free space to install TEGB North

 

 

 

[John Wasilewski]

Dear Jon,

 

Thank you for your continuing help.  I am carefully following exactly what you are advising.  I do have available an external drive.  I just don't want to be dependent on it for every day use.  I can use it for fixing and maintaining, though.  I apologise for the length of this note.  As you say, it's not easy doing this remotely, so I want to be accurate about every detail.

 

I have now done the following:

 - Move to external SSD all the files in
   /Users/john/Library/Application Support/Orbx/Central/Backup 

 - Using Orbx Central, untick the Backup option
   (the Temp folder was already empty)

 - Using Orbx Central uninstall the TEGB North addon.
   (this ran in just a few seconds and didn't actually remove the files)
 - Manually move these three TEGB North folders to the external SSD:

    >  Orbx_B_GB_North_TrueEarth_Overlay
    >  Orbx_C_GB_North_TrueEarth_Overlay
    >  Orbx_D_GB_North_TrueEarth_Orthos.

 - Empty bin.

 - Re-boot.

 - Empty bin again.

 

As requested, I have checked my available space.  I was a bit nonplussed at first to see that, after all the above, it was unchanged.  Investigating this, I learned a bit more about MacOS.  Purgeable storage!  I then deleted all purgeable files, and did a bit more disk cleaning.

Result:  318.95GB free space on internal SSD.   <-- see <!!!> below.

 

I am guessing that your answer will be that this is easily enough space to re-install TEGB North so, as it takes hours, I am going to run it overnight.  I will also do so with the backup option re-selected.  If, EITHER, you tell me I shouldn't have done this, OR, it fails, then I will again remove TEGB North, get myself back to where I was at <!!!> above, and follow whatever corrected actions you tell me I should have taken instead.  If, however, (a) it works, and (b) you confirm this was the right thing to do, then I'll move the newly-created backup folders onto my external SSD, overwriting the ones I have already put there for TEGB North.  Please let me know whether you would like me to check for any differences between the new TEGB North backup folder and the one I have already, for diagnostic purposes.

--- 

John

 

[Jon Clarke]

Sounds like a plan John

You could "edit" the path to your Backup folder by creating a folder called e.g. Orbx Backups and have that folder on your external drive. then edit the path to it in Orbx Central. This is assuming you keep your external drive enabled and connected to your PC.

When you reinstall TEGB North I suggest the following settings in Orbx Central:

1. In Orbx Central/Settings/Downloader make sure the Check Disk Space is ticked. see pic 1.

2. Edit the path to your new Backups folder on the external disk if applicable. see pic 1.

3. Under Concurrency check that you have SSD chosen. see pic 2

4. Under Conversions choose Moderate. see pic2

Reboot PC

Install TEGB North

Go to bed

 

PIC 1.

 

PIC 2.

[John Wasilewski]

Dear Jon,

The re-install appears to have completed without error.

 

Of these instructions<

1. In Orbx Central/Settings/Downloader make sure the Check Disk Space is ticked. see pic 1.

2. Edit the path to your new Backups folder on the external disk if applicable. see pic 1.

3. Under Concurrency check that you have SSD chosen. see pic 2

4. Under Conversions choose Moderate. see pic2

 

...I had done 1 and 3, but not 2 and 4, because I set it rolling before receiving your message.

Not doing 2 means that I now have a new copy of the gbr-north-xp11 backup folder on my internal SSD, which I can compare with the previous version, that I'd moved to my external SSD.  The difference between them confirms your initial diagnosis, that not all the necessary files had reached me before, because, whereas the new version contains 284 .ZIP files, the previous one contained ONLY ONE!  That one file is this:
4a7e2343-e393-4b80-a77f-d91e7152aba3.c.zip.

I don't know how this happened but, possibly something for Orbx to look into in the product installer routines, I have not seen any error messages about it that I can recall, from when I originally installed it.

 

After re-installing TEGB North, my internal SSD space has dropped to 105.47GB.

When I move the 22GB gbr-north-xp11 backup folder to my external SSD, this should give me a total of 127-128GB free space, which is good news.  

 

I will do as you suggest and edit the stored-settings location of Orbx backup files to point permanently to my external drive, which can then be plugged in just when I am playing with the 'Orbx Central' installer.  That's s slightly confusing name for it, by the way, because it sounds as if it's something specifically to do with TEGB Central, which I gather is not the case.

 

About 4, 'Moderate' Conversions, may I assume that this only affected the install process and I can forget about it now that the re-installing appears to have been successful?

 

I'll now re-test X-Plane 11 withUK North, but I'm fairly confident it will be fine now, so thank you Jon.  If this mess I got into is because of something I did wrongly, then whatever it is, I am sorry for all the trouble you have had to go to to help me correct it.  If I don't post anything more on this over the next 2 or 3 days, it means it's all good now.

---

Yours sincerely,

John

 

[Jon Clarke]

Fingers crossed then.

[John Wasilewski]

Yep.  Fixed.  Thank you Jon.  

---

J.

[John Wasilewski]

PS the scenery and airports are sublime.

[Jon Clarke]

That's really good news John.

Enjoy the scenery