Just trying to be constructive here, please don´t get me wrong. I appreciate all efforts as I know myself this problem is a true pain when it happens as it simply prevents users to launch game, so impact is big.
The linked article is dated on Oct 2021 so this is really outdated. For example “Content.xml” has been removed from game many months ago so it has no sense that it still appears as a suggested step. Mods themselves are not the problem either for several reasons:
The update loop is stuck at game launch. At that point what is being checked are game patches (SUs and core files updates). The process hangs there, where mods have not been yet processed nor loaded. That is what should be investigated because at that point client is just asking for latest versions to server and server is simply not replying. This is the real problem. There´s no incomming traffic at all and there´s no exit from that step in the code.
Third party mods start to be loaded after the previous step is complete. If faulty mods exist then game simply crashes to desktop or fails loading them once you are flying. Anyway for the updating process it does not matter if mods are faulty. It only matters that they have their json file, which is what contains the version string.
Where mods can start to be relevant is at the second update check (short before loading main menu after game launch is complete) because there Marketplace updates will be the ones checked and proposed updates will appear by means of the notification icon on top right portion of the screen. Community addons can´t be checked by Marketplace so proposing to empty Community folder has no sense as it´s not really involved in the process at all.
There´s yet another update check (similar to the Marketplace one) when you return to main menu after a flight. Sim can also hang there as well as in second check.
However amount of local addon files (those are also core files and official files like WUs or airports, not only third party mods) was confirmed by Asobo as reason for the original problem, and was the reason for first server fix to be deployed. That was also confirmed by several users in the forum prior to get the official server fix as reducing amount of addon folders below a given limit prevented the issue to happen. Prior to the fix the hanging could be also bypassed forcing offline mode. That terminated the waiting for server response and allowed game to start loading content on its own.
So mods are not the reason. Amount of addon folders included in the client request to server appears to be the real reason, or at least appears to matter. Reply from server to client is clearly also a relevant factor. That´s why forcing offline mode bypassed the problem in the past.
So the original problem that was formerly fixed has simply returned. It may be random or involves maybe gaming services as you explained, sure, but it´s clear that the initial fix solved it, at least partially and for several months, so that was a good approach I would say.
Today I was running game (without having seen the issue for months). I quit game for a break and returned. When I launched game, without PC having been switched off and without having modified my local content at all, I faced the problem again once. Afterwards, without doing anything, I could load game fine. How can this be explained? The only variable that changed between the three attempts to launch game is that my client called server 3 times using exactly the same local configuration everytime. Client can´t be the reason. It´s quite evident.
I hope it helps. I really wish problem is gone soon and thanks for supporting us.
Thank you for the suggestions, I appreciate your trying. However, as this is issue is not isolated to certain players but pretty much everyone, it seems fairly obvious that the problem is at Microsoft/Asobo end. This theory is compounded by the bing maps issue yesterday. Have they created a problem by fixing a problem again.
absolute no,the sim start or or not,you can do wat you want…it is a gamble,and all solutions here do nothing,it need a fix from ms or asobo…check and fix your servers please
To everyone having this problem, i understand its frustrating, it happens to me as well, keep in mind that if you wait long enough eventually it will move forward. For me its about 20/30 min or so, though others have reported waiting over an hour. I know its not a solution, but at least this way i get to fly at least something today. and i dont close the game!
Add me to the list of people experiencing this as of today, I’m sitting here waiting as I’m typing this message, sounds like I may be waiting quite a while. (steam version if that matters).
Worked fine yesterday.
I had it today for about 5-7 minutes. And you can forget about syncing the time. I literally CANNOT do it on this PC. I don’t know if it’s the battery or what. The windows time service is OFF and I can’t do anything with it. ALL the options for it under the services program are greyed out.
I have tried all of that you’ve said but I still get stuck, this is an inherent issue on your end. I will not be forced to reinstall the entire sim to get it working as it worked perfectly 2 days ago before the recent server issues. Server issues that this Sim struggles with a lot I will add.
Exact same problem here. Never any issue loading the sim before… today stuck at ‘checking for updates’. When I have been able to load, it has been much more unstable with multiple CTDs…
One old install with many add-ons via MS store
Only solution so far: just wait - 15- 60 minutes. Noted significant network activity but didn’t analyze yet.
Sort yourselves out MS, as this is getting beyond the joke.
You are, after all, selling MSFS as a flight simulator and not some “therapeutic” screen to watch, ad-infinitum.
I guess I’ll go play Starfield, as at least that runs when you double click on the icon. It would have been X-Plane, but perhaps foolishly, I deleted that from my PC yesterday.
Happened to me today, too. I tried the basic solutions without a positive result.
Currently I’m waiting (over twenty minutes) hoping to see it finally move on.
Those suggestions might help if it is really stuck, the ussue is it is not, it takes just ages to pass by this update check. So defenitively something wrong on the server side, not the client side…
I’ve had this checking for updates sitting there not going past it at least twice this week. I’ve just closed and restarted the sim and then it’s all fine. I know there is advice about synching time, but personally I think this is a coincidental fix, and the act of closing and opening the sim sorts out the handshake or check or whatever it is.
So far, I’ve only had this happen once yesterday. FWIW, I killed the app in Task Manager, restarted in “normal” mode and it loaded normally. Worth a try.
After a week or so of being ok, I read the above posts with trepidation.
So I ran the sim and, as I feared, I’m again stuck on the checking screen, with maximum network activity.
There are so many posts in such a short time period, there is no doubt whatsoever that the problems is not in individual computers/X-Boxes, but in the common factor - i.e at the server.
Asobo/MS/ forum managers, please stop pretending otherwise.
I note it was first “escalated” by the team 11 days ago, but has only got worse since.
“Checking for Updates” was killing me this afternoon. Had a short window to get a flight in near the end of my day, and I was stuck indefinitely. I killed the task, rebooted, and tried again. Same issue, would not get past the check.
Wiped my Community folder (except for Navigraph) and the sim booted to the main menu.
Exited, restored all of the same items I had in my community folder from before, re-lauched, and it went to the main menu.
Weird for sure, but I guess I’m in after just four attempts
