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I haven't been on MSTS for a while: about a week. I've installed MSFS2002 and been playing with it and downloading Acacus different editing programs for it.Anyway when I went into MSTS, or tired to got a message missing file route SDA10\sigcfg.dat. When I tried to go into the route editor I got can't find gui_fonts.dat. Both messages ended with the dreaded send/don't send error!Using the file manager I discovered that all the dat files are missing from all the routes included the ones I have installed. In MSTS there are now no dat files. This also includes a backup area where I store the intire routes I am working on on a daily basis when I am actively working on them.The only place I can find my dat files are on my CD's where I backed up the routes I am working on off of the hard drive mounths ago. Wish I had done this on a weekly basis now!!!Note: all other dat files on the computer are ok, only the MSTS dat files are missing. My backup routes were under my MSTS directory in a subfolder called MSTS_Backups.Any suggestions as to what is going on or what happened would be greatly appreaceated. I am desperate, hundreds and hundereds of hours of work is at stake here. With the backups I thought I was safe.Safe and Happy railroading? Tom (harby46) (desperate) Harbison
Well, lessee here, you had Microsoft Train Simulator, I assume installed on a Microsoft Windows operating system, and installing Microsoft Flightsim 2002 trashed all the dat files in Microsoft Train Simulator. Now why doesn't that surprise me? Unless you hacked the dat files to customize them, many are interchangeable, and easy to edit to add or delete things. The exception is the sigcfg.dat and sigscr.dat, for downloaded routes some route developers use standard signal sets from one of the default routes, some use custom or downloaded signal dat files. So that could get tricky. The one place you're pretty much dead meat is if the tsection.dat file in each route flew away with the rest, since a route's tsection.dat file is unique to that route there's no way to replace that short of getting a friend who has the same route to email you the file, or download it again. For your own routes you're basically SOL, I've tried deleting the tsection.dat file and running the advanced rebuild to see if it would reconstruct it, never had any luck with that. You might have more problems than that tho, a lot of programs use files with a .dat extension for data, and if for some cockamanie reason ol' Billy Boy decided to play a practical joke by having the install for FS2002 delete all .dat files on the disk, you might have more programs with problems.I haven't bought FS2002 yet, never heard of any problems with it until now, but after paying full retail for this buggy piece of unfinished confusion I'm waiting for the price drop.One thing I did see on a few occasions, and had no clue what caused it, was "failed to find fscot.sms" or "GP38cab.sms" or something, about the time sound alias was first starting to be used. Exactly what deleted it I have no clue, but somehow files were missing from the default engine sound folders that were there previously.
Ha, thanks sniper, I think.You don't give me much hope. I am running window XP on a pentium 4 1.7GHz Systemax Computer; 1024MB PC 133 Non ECC SDRAM; 60GB ATA Hard Drive; NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS Pro w/64MB DDR.Thanks for the help. In explorer I do have the show all hidden files and folders options checked.I have also used the search option to try to find carspawn.dat, forest.dat, sigcfg.dat, sigscr.dat, ssource.dat tsection.dat, ttype.dat, ect. on the entire "C" drive but none could be found.All other .dat associated with other programs are OK. Only the .dat files for MSTS are the only ones missing. It is as if some batch file deleated all .dat files listed in the MSTS directory.I did check the deleted file basket, which I haven't emptied for over a week. No .dat files there. I'm at a lost as to what happened, how it happened, when it happened and where my .dat files went.I am not convinced that MSFS2002 is the cause, thought it is the only thing new on my computer. I also have been loading Abacus' design programs for FS and one of their program may or maynot be the problem.I guess form now on I will back up to my CDRW every week, even though I back up to a seperate folder on my hard drive.Hard way to learn a lession. But who knows someone may yet come up with a solution yet. I hope.At a lost. Tom Harbison
