How to Complete a Purchase Successfully?

[Michael Streibig]

I normally make purchases exclusively through the X-Plane.org store, because too many other distribution sites seem to have trouble completing a basic transaction. But several intriguing developers sell exclusively through X-Aviation, so I dared to take a chance; and once again my concern has been justified. A forum may not be the place for this discussion as it's not a technical issue; but an outsourced service ticketing system seems to be their sole contact channel, it hasn't worked, and this is the only other option.

On 3/17/22 I created an account, purchased a product (would it matter which one?) downloaded and installed it. Rather than provide a license number in the purchase email, X-Aviation uses a script to connect to a license server and the address is 404, not found. What's the problem? I created a service ticket. "We'll endeavor to reply within three days, usually quicker." I'm still waiting. Although they warn against creating another ticket on their site, what choice did I have? The second ticket has also gone unanswered.

The X-Plane.org site includes its own store. Maybe X-Aviation and X-Pilot don't talk to each other, and I'm requesting support at the wrong site? Might anyone respond regarding this minor issue, which never should have become a problem? No response here, and I'll just put a stop payment on the transaction and call it another failed experiment.

I've had glitches like this before that bring a purchase to a halt, yet never with other online retailers selling anything else, only sim products. Odd business.

[Ben Russell]

You probably have x-plane installed inside the "c:\program files\" folder. 

Windows blocks write access to this folder to protect system integrity. 

This is likely what's preventing your license data being saved to disk. 

Try moving your x-plane folder to your desktop or some other non-protected location. 

If you are unable to resolve the issue using the above steps please attach a copy of x-plane/log.txt to your next post so that all available diagnostic data is available to help troubleshoot. 

Hope that helps.. 

[Michael Streibig]

Hello Ben, thank you for your reply. I moved the X-Plane 11 folder to my profile folder, and confirmed I have Full Control. No change in the problem, however.

[Ben Russell]

17 minutes ago, Michael Streibig said:

Hello Ben, thank you for your reply. I moved the X-Plane 11 folder to my profile folder, and confirmed I have Full Control. No change in the problem, however.

Please attach a copy of xplane/log.txt to your next post. 

[Michael Streibig]

File below.

Log.txt

[Ben Russell]

56 minutes ago, Michael Streibig said:

File below.

Log.txt 123.92 kB · 2 downloads

Thank you for the Log file.

It appears Gizmo is working correctly and is able to talk to the x-aviation servers.

A configuration issue with your PC is blocking it from writing to the license file to save it to disk though, as indicated by these lines in the Log.txt;

0:01:52.741 G64: debug:     GK: RX license data from server.
0:01:52.742 G64: debug: Toast Message:(type:error) (X-Aviation Licensing) / (Could not save license data.)

 

Please follow this guide to "take ownership" of your X-Plane folder ensure your file system permissions are correct:

https://www.laptopmag.com/au/articles/take-ownership-folder-windows-10-using-file-explorer

(You stated that you have "Full Control" but sometimes simply moving a folder out of "Program Files" is not enough...)

 

If you have run a "take ownership" operation on your X-Plane folder in its new location and still cannot get the license data to save correctly we might have a plugin clash.

Having looked through the Log provided the only items that stand out to me are:

- Loaded: C:\Users/Captain Dudley/X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/A-Better-Camera/win_x64/A-Better-Camera.xpl (net.llic.brat.abc).

- Loaded: Custom Scenery/Sedona UHD/plugins/XCD_Scenery_Technology/64/win.xpl (XCD.ST.SXP-PA.KSEZ).

 

If the "take ownership" operation outlined in the above guide does not resolve the issue:

1. Please try disabling the "a better camera" plugin.

This is best done by creating a "disabled" folder inside "X-Plane/resources/plugins/" and moving the entire "X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/A-Better-Camera/" folder into the new disabled folder.

Disabling the plugin from inside X-Plane once it has loaded is not enough.

 

2. Please try flying in a different location so that the "Sedona UHD" scenery is not loaded and it's plugin is not loaded either.

You may need to select a different location in the sim then restart the sim to ensure that the Sedona UHD plugin has never been loaded in sim.

 

All plugins share a global pool of resources and cross contamination is just a fact of x-plane life. It's annoying but we have no control over it.

 

Hope that helps.

[Michael Streibig]

Hello Ben,

Folder Properties showed I had Full Control, and that I was the Owner. One or both of those indications were incorrect. Following your instructions, the license has loaded, and all is good. Doubtful I would have figured this out on my own, and it's nice that any readers with similar problems in the future will have this post for reference. Thanks again for all your help.

I'll close both my outstanding tickets.