gsx pro could not find valid afcad data

[GreyStone93]

Is there any update on this or what the issue could be? Currently if I want to use GSX I have to run the update in the installer everytime before I start up MSFS or I get the afcad cannot be found error. Heres two logs if you can have a look at them thanks

[ironlemon]

i had this problem when i ticked the su10 use api, found out it was looking for my Official folder in AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache so i deleted the 2 empty Official and Community folders in that location as i have them localed on another drive, fixed my problem

Wow, I didn't believe that would be a proper solution but that actually fixed it for me, thanks a ton!

[virtuali]

I'm having the same problem and it kinda looks like Oct 25th update broke something for me.

Please post your log.

[virtuali]

SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? Everything worked. It starts working for me after reinstallation. But that's not normal. And the process is not very fast. I have to run and fly. And it takes me another hours for the GSX to start working

Please try to be more precise in your report. Reinstallation of WHAT ? The simulator itself ? GSX ?

[mpo910]

@Virtuali
The issue, not finding a valid AFCAD for a specific airport, may be caused by AIGTC.

AIGTC creates a $PC$  Directory within the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
In this directory there is also a "Community" folder included, which contains a Simobjects folder also. And in this Simobjects folder there are Airplanes, Models, etc.

I have also had several airports, where GSXPRO could not find a valid AFCAD File, when using the "USE SU10 NavData API" is ticked.
Examples where: LIMJ, LEGE (all 3th Party addons), wich are installed into the community folder of MSFS (the Standard one, not the above mentioned one).

Steps I have done to eliminate the issue (all while the sim is running):
1) Deleting the $PC$ directory within C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
2) Restart COUATL via the "REstart" Option at the COUATL Icon in the system tray
3) Select the GSX PRO Icon in the Sim Toolbar (sim was running as mentioned above)
4) No issues anymore with not finding a AFCAD Data!

So I think GSX PRO may have searched in the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache -> $PC§ Community folder, created by AIGTC and this may have caused an issue on wherevers addon??

Hope this could help you finding an answer why some users may have issues with not finding a valic AFCAD file.

Regards
Marcus

[virtuali]

AIGTC creates a $PC$  Directory within the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
In this directory there is also a "Community" folder included, which contains a Simobjects folder also. And in this Simobjects folder there are Airplanes, Models, etc.

That folder is not created by AIGTC, it's automatically created by MSFS itself, when you load an add-on that contains legacy textures, models or materials made for FSX, which are automatically converted by the sim into another format that is more suitable to MSFS.

So I think GSX PRO may have searched in the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache -> $PC§ Community folder, created by AIGTC and this may have caused an issue on wherevers addon??

GSX doesn't search in that folder, even if you have the SU10 Navdata DISABLED, because it only searches in the path specified in the InstalledPackagesPath line of the UserCfg.opt file, which normally points to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\PACKAGES and contains Community and Official, the $PC$ is OUTSIDE that path, so it's surely not searched by GSX.

If you ENABLE the SU10 Navdata, GSX is not searching for ANY scenery in the Official/Community folder, it doesn't know or doesn't care which .BGL file you have, it just makes a Simconnect call to the sim to get the airport data about a specific airport, without having any idea where it's located in the filesystem, that's the whole point of using the Navdata: not having to worry about where the scenery is and which files contains it.

What fixed it in your case was just the Restart.

We have found a case where this happened, and it was airports with either no parking spots or taxiways which needed to be filtered out, a fix for this should appear in an update very soon, in addition to the already discussed "watchdog", which is an extra prevention against the other case, that is Simconnect just stop talking to us.

[mpo910]

@Virtuali:
Understand and Thanks for the quick reply and your corrections (like AIGTC not creating the folder).

I have one additional info to your reply what should have fixed my issue: "2) Restart COUATL via the "REstart" Option at the COUATL Icon in the system tray.

I have tried these restarts more then ones in the same session (without leaving the sim and the active flight), at this airport today and also in prior sessions at other days. Even closing the sim and restarting it did not help to solve the issue.

The ONLY thing that helped, was deleting that $PC$ folder and THEN restarting couatl.

Why is this, and only this, solving the issue and a "restart couatl" only or restart "sim" only, without deleting that $PC$ folder, did not solve the issue.

Regards
Marcus

[virtuali]

Why is this, and only this, solving the issue and a "restart couatl" only or restart "sim" only, without deleting that $PC$ folder, did not solve the issue.

I can only repeat and confirm that GSX doesn't know anything about that folder, not even when it *does* scan the Community/Official folders, which is when the SU10 Navdata API is Disabled. When it's Enabled, it doesn't scan for any scenery.

However, it's possible the usage of non-native models/materials/textures that would lead the sim to create the $PC$ folder, might have unknown side effects, triggering bugs or unknown behaviors in the sim.

If you removed the $PC$ folder, if some of your add-ons still use FSX legacy models, it should be recreated again, at least when the affected model or texture is loaded. If it isn't, maybe those legacy files belong to an outdated version of a model that might have been upgrade to a native MSFS version later, and then the very presence of the $PC$ folder for an object that shouldn't need it anymore, might cause the sim ( and in turn Navdata ) to mis-behave or return erratic data.

[mpo910]

Why is this, and only this, solving the issue and a "restart couatl" only or restart "sim" only, without deleting that $PC$ folder, did not solve the issue.

I can only repeat and confirm that GSX doesn't know anything about that folder, not even when it *does* scan the Community/Official folders, which is when the SU10 Navdata API is Disabled. When it's Enabled, it doesn't scan for any scenery.

However, it's possible the usage of non-native models/materials/textures that would lead the sim to create the $PC$ folder, might have unknown side effects, triggering bugs or unknown behaviors in the sim.

If you removed the $PC$ folder, if some of your add-ons still use FSX legacy models, it should be recreated again, at least when the affected model or texture is loaded. If it isn't, maybe those legacy files belong to an outdated version of a model that might have been upgrade to a native MSFS version later, and then the very presence of the $PC$ folder for an object that shouldn't need it anymore, might cause the sim ( and in turn Navdata ) to mis-behave or return erratic data.

Thanks a Lot. I do appreciate your replies! I will monitor this more. My only intention is to nail done issues, regardless if they are caused by GSX or not. For now it´s working again. I will leave AIGTC of for a while. I do not have other addons which create a $PC$ folder atm. But I understand that others might have.

Thanks again and have a nice day.

Marcus