I just joined simviation.com what a cool site!. Of course I'm having a problem getting planes to show up after I try to install them. If there is an installer package everything goes fine. When I have to transfer files is where I'm having a hang up.
Most of the downloads tell me to place stuff in the fs9 effects file. Where is this file? I have looked and looked and I can't locate it. probably something dumb on my part. I have read the tutorial but I am still a little baffled

Thanks for all you help
Wayne.

Opa wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2010 at 5:55pm:

Indeed.
Don't confuse "files" and "folders".
When you install an airplane, you will usually have to move some files into the Effects, Gauges and Sound folders in the main folder of FS9. Then, then aircraft itself should be placed into the Aircrafts folder of FS9.

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I totally agree with the above advise.
Auto-installer are EVIL. Never let them touch your main FS9 folder. Trick them to install ina dummy folder instead.
For example, I have created a folder named c:\temp\fs9, and I tell all the auto installers to install in that folder instead of the main FS folder. Then I move the files manually.

JakesF14 wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2010 at 6:11am:

I would have to agree with Opa & Daube. If you only use addons configured as auto-installers you're missing out on a lot of excellent work. More important, how would you ever become familiar with "the insides of FS" as you put it & get involved with creating addons yourself?

When I first discovered this wonderful site over 10 years ago I knew nothing about the workings of my PC. After downloading a few files & discovering how to install them to FS98 & CFS1 I started troubleshooting problems for myself & the rest is history. I wrote my first tutorial for the Help section a few months later. Pete posted it & made me CFS Editor. Over the next few years I used to get between 50 & 100 emails every day from people seeking my help. If I didn't know the answer I had to find out & my success rate was pretty good.

Over the years many well-known developers have sent me their files for beta testing & when all the bugs were ironed out some asked me to configure them for posting. Some of these were configured as auto-installers at the authors' request but I made darned sure I tested them thoroughly first in a fresh install of the sim they were intended for. I also sent them to friends for testing on their systems before allowing them to be posted. We've had very few problems with any of those files, the most common cause is end-users not reading the few simple instructions.

My one regret is that there was never a standard template for configuring the files. If this had been agreed in the early days of freeware addons there would be no need for installation instructions or tutorials & I would have been out of a job.

Romflyer wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2010 at 12:46pm:

I can only comment that you've been very fortunate.

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This is one of the common problems with auto-installers & it all depends on how the file has been configured & the installer set up. I'll give you an example. Only this morning I downloaded a couple of ex-payware files from a highly respected FS developer who shall remain nameless. The files were configured as auto-installers using the popular ClickTeam Install Creator software that is used by many freeware developers. What some of them, including the person who configured these files, are obviously unaware of is that unless it's manually disabled during the setup process running the installer creates an uninstaller in the target directory by default. Not only that but the uninstaller is named Uninstal.exe, the same file name as the FS default uninstaller. If I hadn't redirected the install path from the FS9 root directory to a Temp folder this would have overwritten the default file which would have caused problems if I ever wished to uninstall FS9. I wonder how many people out there have done this without realising it.

This is only one of the potential problems caused by these auto-installers not being properly configured or tested prior to release.

JakesF14 wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2010 at 2:00pm:

Sorry to go on so but I feel very strongly on the subject. There's nothing wrong with auto-installers in principle providing the person configuring the files knows what they're doing. All I ask is that if you must do it please configure it carefully & get an experienced person to test it for you before release.

Hagar wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2010 at 2:07pm:


No worries Hagar  the Beta team of the Cheetah are quite experienced(many of them more than me)  and also have people like Thinus Pretorius on the team, as well as respected AI modelers.

SORRY FOR HIJACKING THIS THREAD   

Way back in  the early 90s I downloaded something without being able to specify the target location.  I never found it again.  Ever since then, I NEVER use installers.  I also have several empty folders named Bob 1, 2, etc. that I  make sure all DL's go into and when unzipped, they go to the next Bob folder.  I've been using this system for 18 years and have never 'lost' a DL or file.

Bob

JakesF14 wrote on Aug 26^th, 2010 at 1:41am:

I was going to leave it there but I don't think that's a good example. I would expect a professional outfit like Microsoft to get things right. Otherwise they wouldn't stay in business long. Mind you, FSX was not the best example of professionalism. IMHO

The point here is that we're talking about Freeware which is created by amateurs who do not necessarily know what they're doing. Anyone can create addons for MSFS/CFS & post them on a website for others to download with absolutely no guarantee or support. Some Freeware developers might be very good at what they do but that doesn't mean that they know the best way to install their own files. Consequently they won't know how to configure an auto-installer.

Over the years I've seen many downloads created by experienced Freeware developers that would have completely messed up FS if they had been installed as directed in the author's Readme instructions. This proves that the addon was never tested properly before being unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Possibly the worst advice commonly seen in these instructions is to unzip files direct to the sim. This is exactly the same as what an auto-installer does & if there is some fault with the configuration or it's not directed to the correct location it will never work properly & you might never find where on your PC those files went.

Another common mistake is including default files that the end-user should already have installed. If these are corrupt or older than the originals they will overwrite the default files which will possibly cause problems. I could go on but hope I've made my point.

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That's exactly what I did with the Fox Four campaigns for CFS2 that I configured some years ago. The files are configured as self-extracting zipfiles which can be manually extracted just like conventional zipfiles with the usual right-click option if preferred. This is pointed out in the Readme & also on the download & Help pages of the Fox Four website. Campaigns can be difficult to install & we attempted to make the project as professional & user-friendly as possible and also support it indefinitely. Several years later I think we succeeded & we've had very few reported problems, mainly from people who didn't bother reading the simple instructions. One thing we agreed on before uploading anything was that we would never deliberately modify or overwrite default files. I think this is the right approach & nobody will convince me otherwise.

PS. You have to bear in mind that the most likely people to use auto-installers are beginners to the hobby or those who never figured out how to do it manually. These are the very people who will have problems if the files are faulty in any way.