It’s entirely possible to leave everything in the Community folder, run a Sim Update, and be okay on the back side.
It’s also possible - and more likely based on duplicate and repeated Bugs reports - if you leave Navigraph in the Community folder and run a Sim Update, you can end up with No navaids, not VORs/DMEs, sometimes not even airports. Your entire Navdata folder in the Official Packages section is corrupted.
So - it takes less than 5 seconds to uninstall the Navigraph AIRAC. And five seconds to put it back.
It’s your call. I’m posting this to try and save folks aggravation and get back to virtual flying.
Sorry. but that is absolutely not correct … the Navigraph Navdata Center checks the content.xml file during every change and re-order the packages that this can´t be happen … we have no report since the latest release and that was long before SU7 was out.
But anyway, when you don´t trust us, it´s ok … jump with open parachute. It´s everyone own decision how the updates will be made.
I think it’s because the Content.xml is probably corrupted, sorry. The trouble does exist where there is no Navdata and they were NG users. Reinstalling cleanly resolved their issue.
thnx for your everytime helpful contribution. I need say from my till this time experience (you can tell us maybe that update works now correctly) that in case I do not that uninstal, after Update I have no DATA, simply corrupted files but yes with move all files to some backup folder and then return back to Community folder. I do everytime from some times ago that uninstal and instal after for sure. thanks guys for your work and products…
FS is the only program that requires users to move stuff out of folders during updates. We are humans and not accustomed to having to do this extra steps to removing things from the Community folder.
I sometimes do it, but also at times forget. I did forget for this last update.
If having add-ons in the Community Folder is creating so many problems, why doesn’t Asobo/MS rename the folder at update time and inform the users that it was rename and how to rename it back. All done in the program and not by coming to forums to find out how to do it.
Not everyone comes to the forums and knows of the requirement to empty the Community Folder or remember to do it.
I by no means am blasting Asobo or MS, but if it is causing so many problems, a simple folder rename is a very simple program change and could avoid a lot of problems.
As I mentioned, I know that it’s suppose to be done and half of the time I forget to do it since this is the only program I have that has such a requirement.
There’s a Content.xml that governs the existence and load order of Modifications - that’s outside the Community Folder. It’s dynamically built if missing upon each sim start, but if it’s there, the sim is going to honor whatever’s inside it. That’s why it’s vital to use NavCenter to remove Navigraph Navdata - the process updates the Content.xml so it’s properly showing Navigraph is not in the mod list upon next sim restart.
One of the real trouble-shooting steps missed BESIDES emptying the Community folder is to delete Content.xml while emptying the folder. That way, it gets rebuilt on next start and is truly empty, reflecting the Community folder. Most times, this step won’t burn you if you leave it intact, but when things go to pieces…
So from that view - when I said corrupted Navdata - what’s possibly happening is if someone removes Navigraph manually instead of using NavCenter, the Content.xml still says “load Navigraph and override Navblue Navdata folder in Official Packages” - but since NG is not present, then the sim has nothing to show - hence no Navaid data at all on the Flight Planning screen.
For what it’s worth, this is my patch process, which has prevented any issues for me for the last few patches:
Before the patch, I use MSFS Addons Linker to save my current mod setup, then deactivate everything (except for payware mods that install themselves directly in the community folder, which I usually leave in place, and of course the marketplace items in the “Official” folder.
1a) Per Navigraph’s advice, I also remove the current AIRAC with the Navdata Center. There is a good reason for this, which has to do with the content.xml file. See below.
Start MSFS and let it apply the patch.
Delete and restore the rolling cache (not applicable if you don’t use it). Then quit MSFS.
Go into the LocalCache folder (two levels above Community) and delete “content.xml”. This will not harm the simulator - the program will just rebuilt it on the next start, which is what we want.
Restart MSFS and let it do the content.xml rebuild and such. Make sure everything looks normal. (The canary in a coalmine for me that tells me there’s an issue is if the content manager fails to load and gives the spinning circle. This also results in an inability to actually quit the software; it has to be terminated in Task Manager. I’m not sure what causes this, and I wish I did, because it would make it MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to troubleshoot if the &%^!# software had proper error reporting. But I digress.)
Then I’m back to Addons Linker to restore the saved mod profile from before the patch, and to reinstall Navigraph’s data through the Navdata Center.
The problem, I believe, comes from the AIRAC updates that come with the patches. If you don’t pull Navigraph out first, the patch will update the content.xml file and may leave the new AIRAC in a position where it loads after the Navigraph data, which can (and almost certainly will) lead to issues with conflicting STAR definitions and changed waypoints, etc. The Navdata Center does its little magic when it installs the current AIRAC to make sure the Navigraph data is the last one loaded, and overwrites the base sim’s data.
If you don’t pull the data before the patch, it may work just fine – but that’s probably because you may not fly in an area where the nav points have changed and conflicts have arisen. Better safe than sorry.