Author Topic: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3  (Read 4629 times)

SquadronLeader

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Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« on: August 06, 2016, 09:16:14 am »
Hi. I am using windows 10 as my operating system and have been trying to install GSX.  It locates that it is installing into P3D V3, and the installation starts - everything seems to go OK. It then gets to a screen called SODE Platform Manager - and I cannot get beyond that stage. Can anyone help me?

virtuali

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Re: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2016, 01:02:13 pm »
Hi. I am using windows 10 as my operating system and have been trying to install GSX.  It locates that it is installing into P3D V3, and the installation starts - everything seems to go OK. It then gets to a screen called SODE Platform Manager - and I cannot get beyond that stage. Can anyone help me?

This has been discussed many times on the forum and, of course, it's not a GSX installer problem, but it has been caused by another product.

A very common case that has been reported many times, was caused by a bug in an earlier version of Active Sky Next, which changed the XML file header without changing the encoding, see here:

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,11796.msg91024.html#msg91024

The solution would be editing the files with an editor that can save into a different encoding, like the freeware Notepad++, and save the file in ANSI

I think the current version of Active Sky has fixed the problem, but you will still have to fix files corrupted by the old version.

SquadronLeader

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Re: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2016, 02:52:14 pm »
I do not have active sky,  I do have u


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SquadronLeader

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Re: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2016, 02:53:36 pm »
I do not have active sky, I do have OPUSFSI, could this be the cause, and if so any suggestions as to how to fix it


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virtuali

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Re: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2016, 04:42:17 pm »
I do not have active sky, I do have OPUSFSI, could this be the cause, and if so any suggestions as to how to fix it

I don't know if that installer has the same problem of the ASN one, or it's just that you edited with an editor that changed the encoding. In any case, the solution is the same as the one that has been explained in the linked thread which I also repeated in my last post here:

I'll repeat it again:

The solution would be editing the files with an editor that can save into a different encoding, like the freeware Notepad++, and save the file in ANSI

Check for the both the EXE.XML and DLL.XML files in both locations supported by P3D:

%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3d V3\DLL.XML
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3d V3\EXE.XML

%PROGRAMDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3d V3\DLL.XML
%PROGRAMDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3d V3\EXE.XML

Be sure ALL of them are correct, as explained above.

SquadronLeader

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Re: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2016, 01:38:18 pm »
Thanks for all the help - still cannot get it to work. I have downloaded notepad++  then found the dll and exe XML files - choose convert to ANSI - and they still appear as XML files!!!

What gets me is that I only purchased this software last week - it said it was compatible with P3D - and clearly there are some known issues - which would have been good to know beforehand. I now have software that does not work with my setup of P3D. Does anyone know if a patch is going to be released?

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Re: Problem installing GSX into P3D V3
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2016, 02:33:53 pm »
Thanks for all the help - still cannot get it to work. I have downloaded notepad++  then found the dll and exe XML files - choose convert to ANSI - and they still appear as XML files!!!

You are confusing file encoding, with file type. Of course the files will continue to be XML files. Do you know what file encoding is ? XML files, and any other file on your system can be encoded in many different ways, to support non-ANSI characters.

The error is caused by the fact that either you, or ANOTHER product defective installer, has CHANGED the file encoding from the default, which is Windows-1252, to another encoding, WITHOUT also changing the header, which likely still reads as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>

Which is CORRECT, and it's how the file is shipped with in P3D. But, if the *actual* file encoding doesn't match what it has been indicated on the header, the file is now basically "lying about itself", because it starts saying the encoding is Windows-1252, when it's really not. This would obviously confuse the XML parsing routine built in Windows, since the file is now illegal.

I'm sure that, if you tried to open the file with Internet Explorer, it will not be able to open it because IT IS illegal! So, how do you expect we could work on that file with our installers, which obviously use the same XML parser routines that are included in Windows, when not even Internet Explorer *itself* can open the file ??

That's why, the solution is:

- Open the XML with Notepad++

- Change the encoding to ANSI

- Save it back. Yes, it will STILL an XML file, and that's correct: just the encoding will now match the header.

Repeat this for ALL the 4 XML files you have in the P3D folders, as I indicated in the previous post.

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What gets me is that I only purchased this software last week - it said it was compatible with P3D

Of course it is.

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and clearly there are some known issues

There are no "issues" with it. If you are still getting *that* message about the wrong file encoding when installing, it's because your XML file IS an illegal XML and this is caused by either:

- A defective installer of ANOTHER product, which mistakenly changed the encoding without changing the XML header, making it an illegal XML file, that even Internet Explorer itself cannot open

OR

- Having hand-edited with with an editor that changed the encoding on saving.

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which would have been good to know beforehand.

Since the error caused by your corrupted XML files happens when installing, it would be clear when installing the Trial version so yes, you COULD have known beforehand, if you did what you are supposed to do for any product sold as a Try-Before-Buy: installing it and THEN purchasing it.

Not that this doesn't change anything, since this is NOT a "GSX issue", it's an already existing problem in your XML files that doesn't normally happens on a normal P3D install, since the sim doesn't obviously come with corrupted files.

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I now have software that does not work with my setup of P3D. Does anyone know if a patch is going to be released

No patch is needed on our side since, of course, this is NOT a problem we should fix, since it's caused by your XML files being corrupted. In fact, the installer is doing you a useful service, telling the file are already corrupted, and it would be wrong if it would try to "fix" them, since trying to fix an-already corrupted file would likely cause even more problems.

The installer won't dare to touch corrupted files: it will just indicating they are, so you can take the appropriate course of action.