Updating deletes macros

[Biggles2010]

John/Pete

I thought this problem was just on my system, but I see there is a previous post on this same topic.

I run a home cockpit, previously with P3D4.5 Win 10 and FSUIPC 6.10 and around 200 functions programmed via mouse macros which have worked faultlessly. I decided to install P3D 5.3 on a seperate drive, while also retaining the original P3D4 installation. No problems with that, but I also updated FSUIPC to 6.18.  I selected to apply it to P3D4 and P3D5.

Quote from install Guide:

"If you already have either FSUIPC5 or FSUIPC6 installed for P3Dv4 or P3Dv5 (or both), then the installer will first uninstall this/these installation(s). Only the files installed by the FSUIPC5/6 installer will be removed, and other files ( .INI and .KEY files, lua scripts, macro files, etc) will be preserved so that they can be re-used."

This was not the case.  All macro files were deleted. The ini was preserved but with all the functions relying on macros showing as Unknown Macro.  This had never happened before with any FSUIPC update.  Fortunately I had a backup of most of the macro files, but this was a panic I could have done without. 

Could you please have a look at the update functionality. It seems like something may have changed.

Thanks,  John B.

[John Dowson]

12 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

I thought this problem was just on my system, but I see there is a previous post on this same topic.

Then why not post in that topic, or at least provide a reference to it...

14 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

This was not the case.  All macro files were deleted. The ini was preserved but with all the functions relying on macros showing as Unknown Macro.  This had never happened before with any FSUIPC update.  Fortunately I had a backup of most of the macro files, but this was a panic I could have done without. 

Could you please have a look at the update functionality. It seems like something may have changed.

No macro files are ever deleted by the installer (or uninstaller) - if they were deleted, something else must have done this. Maybe show me your InstallFSUIPC6.log file, as well as any uninstall log files (if available).

22 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

Could you please have a look at the update functionality. It seems like something may have changed.

I know the installer/uninstaller does not delete these files - there is no reference to *.mcro files anywhere in the installer (apart from maybe in a message displayed to the user). The FSUIPC6 installer also hasn't changed for a few years now, so nothing has changed.

Usually when this is reported it is due to the fact that you have installed FSUIPC6 in a different location to your original FSUIPC5 installation folder, which will be under the Modules folder of your P3Dv4 installation. Check that location to see if your *.mcro files are still there. However, if this i the case then you would also have no FSUIPC6.ini file (unless you copied your FSUIPC5.ini file to the new location and renamed it)...

John

[Biggles2010]

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, John Dowson said:

Then why not post in that topic, or at least provide a reference to it...

The details are somewhat different. Link below.

https://forum.simflight.com/topic/94222-macro-and-control-setting-lost-with-update-fsuipc6/?do=findComment&comment=571412

19 minutes ago, John Dowson said:

No macro files are ever deleted by the installer (or uninstaller) - if they were deleted, something else must have done this. Maybe show me your InstallFSUIPC6.log file, as well as any uninstall log files (if available).

Immediately before the FSUIPC update, all macro related cockpit functions were working, using FSUIPC 6.1.0. Therefore the macro files must have been in place.  Then  immediately after the update, control functions had been lost and the macro files had gone.  Between those points, nothing else was installed, uninstalled or changed by me

I've attached logs, but as you say, there's nothing obviously related to macros.

I have used FSUIPC in various versions for the last 20 years on many computers. However, I built this computer 2 years ago and made a new purchase of FSUIPC 6.0 which was installed in the recommended location in My Documents/ P3D4 addons and has remained there.   I made a new installation of P3D4.3  in its own folder on the C drive.    (note, there has never been a Modules folder on this computer).   New mouse macros were created and all cockpit functions were set up again from scratch.  I did not carry forward anything from previous versions of FSUIPC.  I subsequently updated FSUIPC to 6.05 and then 6.10  and P3D was updated to 4.5 HF3.   All without any problems. 

Recently I installed P3D v5.3 on a seperate nvme D drive,  retaining the existing P3Dv4 setup  on C drive.    The new P3d5 installation was tested and working,  but without any cockpit controls because FSUIPC was not yet installed for it.  At this point, the cockpit was still fully functional using the older P3D4  and FSUIPC 6.10 installation. 

I then downloaded the latest update for FSUIPC which was 6.18  and nominated to install  for both versions of P3D.  It asked to uninstall the existing 6.10 version and I accepted. The  install proceeded normally, into the same folder as previously.   I then tried the cockpit in P3Dv4 and P3Dv5 and found most cockpit functions had been lost.   Then as I had said previously, on checking the ini file all the macro related items were showing as Unknown and in the main FSUIPC folder the macros had disappeared.

While there is no instruction in the uninstall / reinstall process to remove macros, it appears to have triggered something which has caused that effect. I have no idea what that could be.

InstallFSUIPC6.log UninstallFSUIPC6.log

[John Dowson]

22 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

The details are somewhat different. Link below.

https://forum.simflight.com/topic/94222-macro-and-control-setting-lost-with-update-fsuipc6/?do=findComment&comment=571412

If you read that post, the OP installed FSUIPC6 on a different location to his previous FSUIPC5 installation and didn't copy across the required files.

22 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

which was installed in the recommended location in My Documents/ P3D4 addons and has remained there.

This is NOT the recommended location. That us the location where the add-on.xml must go. I recommend installing FSUIPC6 in an unrelated non-windows protected folder. Installing under the Documents folder can give strange issues (especially when using cloud back-up solutions such as OneDrive). I suggest you re-install to a different location. It was the default location (but certainly not recommended if you had read the installation guide) on earlier releases of FSUIPC6.

22 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

note, there has never been a Modules folder on this computer

No, sorry - that was for FSUIPC5. Many folks continue to use this for FSUIPC6 if upgrading from FSUIPC5.

22 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

I have no idea what that could be.

Nor do I. The uninstall log shows what files have been removed, and macro/lua/ini files are certainly not deleted by the installer.
Try re-installing under a non-windows protected folder anyway. You macro files (as well as your FSUIPC6.ini file and any luas and other dlls that you may use) should still be there afterwards for you to move to the new installation location. I would also be interested to know if they are removed again if you do this...

John

[Biggles2010]

16 hours ago, John Dowson said:

Try re-installing under a non-windows protected folder anyway. You macro files (as well as your FSUIPC6.ini file and any luas and other dlls that you may use) should still be there afterwards for you to move to the new installation location. I would also be interested to know if they are removed again if you do this...

I did as you suggested, but first went a stage further and uninstalled FSUIPC 6.18 and recreated the situation prior to my problem, with the 6.10 version installed into My Documents for P3D4 only, and then ran the 6.18 update, installing to the same folder to cover P3D4 and P3D5.  All went perfectly with macros and config preserved. 

I then reinstalled 6.18 again into C:\ FSUIPC and that also went as expected, with the relevant files preserved and then transferred to the new location.

My original problem remains unexplained, but it's obviously not due to any changes to FSUIPC  which is once again running as reliably as ever.  Thanks for your help and sorry to have taken up your time with this.   

John B.

 

[John Dowson]

8 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

Thanks for your help and sorry to have taken up your time with this.   

No problem.

John