Add-on linkers are really useful?

[danbiosca]

Hi, I know some will disagree, but after a long time experimenting, I'm under the impression that add-on linkers are only useful to link your add-ons to a different drive, when you're short of room in the drive where MSFS (and hence the Community folder) reside.

 

Other than room shortage, I think linkers don't serve any real purpose.

 

On occasion of every Sim Update, it's repeated like a mantra that we should empty the Community folder before the update in order to avoid conflicts. However, those conflicts may only consist of some add-ons refusing to work together with the updated MSFS (hence causing a freeze or a CTD) until they're updated in turn, but no MSFS core files or the add-ons themselves will be harmed or modified at all by such incompatibility. The conflict will happen as soon as an incompatible (read "outdated") add-on is called by MSFS into the system's RAM, whether directly from the Community folder or from somewhere else via linker.

 

In other words: but for the situation mentioned in the first paragraph, I think using an add-on linker or not doesn't make any difference. Anyhow, I won't mind to stand corrected if someone's experience proves the opposite.

Edited February 12, 2022 by danbiosca

[valero]

I'm not trying to prove the opposite of what you stated but I mainly use Add on linkers for the ease of activating and deactivating aircrafts, sceneries, plugins and anything else I feel I don't want to use at the moment but do not want to get rid off. I've had MSFS for the last 5 days and so far so good. Add On Linkers is a plus to me.

[stinger2k2]

I'm not trying to prove the opposite of what you stated but I mainly use Add on linkers for the ease of activating and deactivating aircrafts, sceneries, plugins and anything else I feel I don't want to use at the moment but do not want to get rid off. I've had MSFS for the last 5 days and so far so good. Add On Linkers is a plus to me.

Me too. I only use it to activate sceneries/airports i intend to fly in that session. In the hope of (rather than any knowledge of) reducing the load time of the sim.

 

That said, i often forget to de-activate before starting the sim [emoji849]

 

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[danbiosca]

Me too. I only use it to activate sceneries/airports i intend to fly in that session. In the hope of (rather than any knowledge of) reducing the load time of the sim.

 

OK, maintaining a tidy control of your add-on library is of course another good reason to use a linker. Since I've never had more than (say) 50 add-ons, though, I've never felt that urge.

 

Anyhow, my point was that using a linker is useless in terms of preventing your files from being affected by an update, because they won't anyway even if they are in the Community folder.

 

That said, i often forget to de-activate before starting the sim [emoji849]

 

:D :D :D

[terrylawdinn]

You're probably right, I can't see how a sim update could affect items in the Community Folder although MS do recommend emptying it before a sim update, which an addons manager can help with.

 

But with close to a terrabyte of addon files, without some organisation I'd never know what I've got and updated. And trying to load huge amounts definitely slows my sim loading time down even though I've got loads of RAM to load them into (I've always presumed that's where it goes?)

 

One of these days I'm going to have a sort out and get somer disc space back for new addons!

[g7rta]

I don’t use an addon linker… and I often forget to empty my community folder before updating. Don’t think it’s ever caused me a problem.

 

Regards

Steve

[loki]

Anyhow, my point was that using a linker is useless in terms of preventing your files from being affected by an update, because they won't anyway even if they are in the Community folder.

 

The recommendation to clear out the Community folder is a bit of a CYA recommendation for Asobo (updates shouldn't touch the folder, but Murphy likes to cause problems), but is more about add-ons being broken by the new update, or an add-on breaking something in the sim. One example was where an older version of the FBW A32NX add-on caused problems with the default A320. To some users it isn't always clear what broke, the sim or the add-on, so clearing out the Community folder can help clear up exactly where the problem is.

 

Of course, this all depends on what add-ons you have, and you may not have any issues at all leaving your add-ons alone. Just be aware that if you have a problem after an update, one of the first steps should be clearing out the Community folder to eliminate one potential source cause for the break. Note that this isn't really a new idea either, as ACES only officially supported installation of FSX updates on a clean install of the sim.

[cobalt]

Hi, I know some will disagree, but after a long time experimenting, I'm under the impression that add-on linkers are only useful to link your add-ons to a different drive, when you're short of room in the drive where MSFS (and hence the Community folder) reside.

 

Other than room shortage, I think linkers don't serve any real purpose.

 

In fact, "room shortage" is a major concern for many MSFS users. In addition, linkers also provide a very efficient way to organize files and select those needed for a particular flying session. If I had to get rid of all my add-ons but one (and I have hundreds), Add-on Linker would be the one I keep. For me it is an indispensable tool.

[tiger1962]

I don't use an addon linker. I looked at one recently and setting it up was more hassle than it was worth to me. I have two 2tb hybrid SSD's. The C: drive has the OS, the sim etc., the D: drive has the Macrium Reflect backup disk images. Ok, hybrids aren't as fast as nVME drives - but disk space isn't an issue, and never will be.

[danbiosca]

One example was where an older version of the FBW A32NX add-on caused problems with the default A320.

 

To me that's just another example of an add-on becoming outdated (and hence incompatible and useless) after a sim update. I know many others, and it doesn't involve that files in the Community folder have been altered at all by the update.

 

If it had happened to me, I would surely have started by removing the involved add-on from Community and seeing if the default A320 worked again, but not emptying all the Community folder. As Steve said, I think I've never emptied it and that has never caused me a problem.

[danbiosca]

I don't use an addon linker. I looked at one recently and setting it up was more hassle than it was worth to me.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Full respect to those who use and appreciate it, anyhow.

[cobalt]

With all respect to those who don't use Addon Linker, let me just say this. For me, the "hassle" of setting it up -- which took maybe 30 minutes at most to organize my addons in a convenient file structure -- has been well worth it in all the time I have saved and "hassles" avoided since then. (Note that AL detects potential issues such as duplicate or conflicting files, etc., which are then easily fixed).

 

What I wonder is, those who don't use the linker, but have many addons, must have some way of organizing them, right? It is a bit hard to imagine what could be more efficient than the linker, but as is often said here, to each his own.

Edited February 13, 2022 by cobalt

[loki]

To me that's just another example of an add-on becoming outdated (and hence incompatible and useless) after a sim update. I know many others, and it doesn't involve that files in the Community folder have been altered at all by the update.

 

No one said the problem was caused by the sim update modifying the files in the Community folder. When it happened, however, some people did think something in the core sim was broken until the problem was narrowed down to the add-on. Hence Asobo recommending that the Community folder be cleared out. No one is forcing you to do it though, especially if you're comfortable with troubleshooting the problem on your own.

[dogdish]

As a side note, not necessary to "empty" out the folder, simply renaming it to anything other than Community (such as Community_DISABLED) hides it from the sim and is faster than physically emptying it out and repopulating again.

 

Once updating is complete, delete the newly created empty Community folder and rename Community_DISABLED back to Community.