[FIXED] Xbox Series X Connectivity/Launch Issues w/ New Install

User Support Hub Install, Performance & Graphics
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1

Hello MSFS Forum!

I just bought and downloaded MSFS 40th anniversary edition via GamePass on my newly acquired Xbox Series X. Every time I try to open the game the following happens after I pass the “Press Any Button To Start” screen:

  1. I receive a “WARNING - Connection Lost …” message
  2. Game will hang at the Installation Manager screen and say it is “CHECKING FOR UPDATES”
  3. If I press the xbox logo button on my remote it will advance to the next menu in the installation manager screen. It now prompts me to “select additional context I want to install or choose later in the market place”, however the only button available to me is “continue”
  4. The game will hang indefinitely most of the time when I press “continue”. Sometimes it will let me proceed to the main menu and play in offline mode

I’ve tried the following options to fix this and nothing has worked:

  1. Delete and re-install the game
  2. Open ports 3074 and 88 on my router. I’m unable to open 3000-31000 as my router only lets me open a single port at a time (thanks spectrum)
  3. Restarted my router
  4. Restarted my modem
  5. Replaced my entire modem with a new one after spectrum support told me the old one had a network issue
  6. Connected my xbox to my phone hotspot instead of my home wifi
  7. Restarted my xbox
  8. Toggled online functionality in MSFS on and off
  9. Reset my Xbox (without deleting save data)
  10. Set router DNS to Google’s 8.8.8.8

So… What do now??? Should I give up and just stream the game to my xbox using gamepass streaming instead???

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Hi @BluesBestBud711 and welcome to the forum !,

Thank you for your post! Your topic has been moved to a sub-category of the User Support Hub

The General Discussion category is meant for discussions that fall outside of our other sub-categories.

If you would like other users to help you with an issue you are experiencing in the sim, consider these User Support Hub categories for your future post:

Aircraft & Systems
ATC, Traffic & NAVAIDs
Crashes (CTDs)
Hardware & Peripherals
Install, Performance & Graphics
Scenery & Airports
User Interface & Activities
Virtual Reality (VR)
Weather & Live Weather
Miscellaneous

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Thank you for moving my post to the right place! Do you have any insight/advice for this issue?

4

Have a look at that support article, hope it can help:

5

I’ve tried all these things :frowning:

Forgot to mention in my original post that I’ve also changed my routers DNS to use Google’s 8.8.8.8, just added that

6

It’s possible that your purchase and install coincided with a server outage (and server outages do happen with MSFS).

You should not need to customize your router at all, default generic DHCP is all.

I once tried using google and cloudflare DNS, but it did not work well for me. I suggest leaving the default ISP DNS on your router and only customize on your other devices until you know MSFS is working.

Whenever an install or update has gone wrong, Xbox had a history of file corruption and I’ve learned that deleting specifically the Saved Data > User Profile (“delete everywhere”) is the key - I had persistent bugs coming from corruption of that file. That and a full factory reset, xbox OS update, and new install often works well. The trick is to not save or restore any settings from cloud when it offers - so you get a proper clean setup.

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If you decide you need a factory reset, here are the steps I’ve learned to do in 2 years of beta testing:

Xbox Factory Reset (Sep 2, 2024)

  1. Quit MSFS
  2. Delete just the MSFS profile data file - the idea being that this saved data can be corrupted, and saved in your cloud profile, and the root of some issues that otherwise can’t be resolved. Deleting this means you lose your controller settings, flight history, etc. It is literally wiping the slate clean to go back to being a first-time new user:
  • Highlight the MSFS card
  • Press the “Menu” Button on Xbox Controller
  • Select “Manage game and addons”
  • Select “Saved Data”
  • … do NOT click “Delete All”
  • Select JUST your Profile…
  • … Choose “Delete Everywhere”
  1. Uninstall MSFS
  2. Check for Xbox OS updates
  • Xbox > Settings > System > Updates > install any Updates
  1. Reset Xbox
  • Xbox > Settings > System > Console Info > Reset Console
  • Choose “Reset and Remove Everything”

Xbox will reboot. Here are the current set up screens a new user sees, and my choices:

  1. “Set up with XBox app” > I choose “Skip”
  2. Choose correct language, country and region (reboots)
  3. Sign in to your Microsoft Account
  4. “Provide optional data” > I choose “Yes” because I’m enrolled in the Insider Hub for beta testing.
  5. “We found settings from your last Xbox…” > I choose “No Thanks” to ensure a clean new set up.
  6. “Sign-in and Security” (personal preference)
  7. “How do you want to Sign in…” > I “Skip This”
  8. “Make this your home Xbox” > I only have 1, so “Make Home Xbox”
  9. “Game Pass”
  10. “Entertainment apps” > I deselect all of them to save space
  11. “Time Zone”
  12. “Keep apps up to date”
  13. “Let’s Go”

Here are a few settings worth changing for MSFS:

Settings > Preferences > Idle Options >

  • Turn off after: “Don’t turn off automatically”
  • Turn off after: “Don’t turn off for media”
  • UN-check “Show me things when idle”

I then do some tests and check for updates to the controller:

Settings > General > Network Settings > Test Network Connection, then Test Network Speed

Settings > Devices > Controllers > 3 dots under Xbox Controller > if Update is available, do it - but you’ll want to make sure your batteries are not about to die, and, set the controller down near the Xbox so that it is not moving during the update (over bluetooth)

Finally, I reboot, and install MSFS

I then install just the World and City Updates - one at a time - and I try to do it in the order they were published to avoid the possibility of older files overwritting newer ones (some say this is not necessary, but it’s just my method to ensure things are installed as they were intended.)

I have an external Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse, and a hand-written list of controller cusomizations I program - it’s worth keeping this list in case you forget, or as can happen, your controller profiles get reset or deleted.

I then do a few test flights with just the default planes before installing any 3rd party addons - to ensure the native MSFS is working as it should.

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Tried doing all of the above but game still boots with a connection error :(:(:(:(:(:(:frowning:

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Whenever the sim is encountering problems, it’s normally the servers. Yesterday was terrible for it with constant disconnections and bing map data constantly going offline. Hang in there and hopefully it will be fixed soon. Reinstall always feels like the thing that needs done but it is never the solution

10

I FIXED IT FINALLY WOOOOOOO

(Turns out all I had to do was connect my xbox to my router via ethernet instead of Wifi. No idea why that worked but HUZZAH)

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