FAQ Guide

Which map is better?

You need to try this yourself, each map has its advantages and disadvantages.

Common solutions:

Ensure your cache path is correct and has enough space
Clear the cache in the cache settings
Exit the software, delete the cache folder, and restart the software

What does this software replace?

It only replaces the surface of the ground, and has no effect on any 3D buildings, plants, etc.

Can:

Replace the built-in Bing satellite image with other satellite image providers
Somewhere Bing satellite image not covered (which display as autogenerated image) can be replaced with other satellite image providers
Remove Microsoft’s color correction, which brings the natural color back

Can’t:

Autogenerated buildings, trees, and roads stay the same as before
Photogrammetry from google not included, will keep using Bing’s

Server start issue

Server won’t start and it says “443 or 42098 port is occupied”

Admin permission

Make sure Your user account is a real “Admin” account. Please make sure you have a full Admin account.

OSError: [WinError 10013] An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.

Please watch this video to learn how to kill any software using 443 or 42098: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMcptMj4jx8

Hyper-V reserved ports

Please refer to this link for more information.

You can try running this command in PowerShell in administrator mode to exclude these ports:

netsh int ipv4 add excludedportrange protocol=tcp startport=42000 numberofports=100

net stop winnat
net start winnat

Hosts file issues

Damaged hosts file by other programs

If the hosts file is damaged by other programs, you may need to delete it and create a new one.

Antivirus

If you have an antivirus program installed, it may be blocking the hosts file. To check this, open your antivirus program and disable it temporarily. Then, try to open the hosts file. If it opens, then your antivirus program was the problem. You can either disable it permanently or add an exception rule for the hosts file.

Read-only permission

If the hosts file is set to read-only, you will not be able to edit it. To change this, follow these steps:

Right-click the hosts file and select Properties.
Click the Security tab.
Click Edit.
Select your user account and click Full Control.
Click OK.
Click OK again.

Virus report and HTTPS certificate error

Some antivirus programs may report this software as a virus. This is because the software needs to modify the hosts file, install a root certificate, and run with administrator privileges.

If you are concerned about the virus reports, you can add the software to your antivirus program’s whitelist. You can also try uploading the software to VirusTotal to get a second opinion.

If you are still not sure, you can stop using the software. However, we believe that the software is safe and useful, and we encourage you to give it a try.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

The map can be loaded, but it is slow to load

Make sure you don’t turn on HighLOD, because HighLOD will take up 4 times the amount of data and will load slower. It is recommended to turn on cache at the same time to get better loading effect.

Keep getting put into offline mode when using this Mod

Please have a look this video and set the value to 0: https://github.com/derekhe/msfs2020-map-enhancement/issues/389#issuecomment-1536191538

Set the software to Normal in Network Setting and try again.

Google maps is not loading

This is because Google has blocked your IP address. You can switch to another Google map server. If it still doesn’t work, you can try using a VPN.

The map color is inconsistent in various places.

Normally, when taking map photos, they are affected by weather, atmosphere, etc., and clouds, color casts, etc. are likely to occur. This can be solved by changing to a different map.

Google

You may see google copyright (Google 20xx) on the map when flying in HighLOD mod. I can’t remove this and if you don’t like it, please disable the HighLOD will be better.

You may see in some city area is brighter and bluer than urban areas somewhere. For example: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.1659465,6.3662235,8042m/data=!3m1!1e3

This is because google has photogrammetry (3d building) in these areas. I can’t fix this. https://www.google.com/maps/@51.146285,6.363364,322a,35y,360h,70.19t/data=!3m1!1e3

Other maps

Because the map tiles may have different colors in different layers, MSFS2020 may first load higher layers (which is what you see in the sky).

MSFS2020 will continue to load lower layers which are more detailed and need some time to load. So during your flight, you will see some tiles appear differently, especially fly with a high attitude.

To fix this, you can set your “terrain details” higher than 200. 400 is best but still can’t fix this in some area.

After flying high in the sky, there is a circle of different colors outside follows the plane.

Please adjust the terrain LOD, usually around 200 for better results. alt text

The map is the original one provided by Microsoft.

If the load number is increasing, it indicates the mod is working.

Please make sure to open this software first, and then open Flight Simulator. The order cannot be reversed.
Ensure the rolling cache is deleted before running the game.
Some areas are covered by photogrammetry or meshes (MSFS2024), which overlay the satellite images. You can try turning off the photogrammetry to see the changes.
Try different locations to observe any differences.

The map becomes offline map

Please make sure your regional settings are correct, please refer to the previous article

The game is entered normally, but the map is not loaded, and BING online maps are all open.

Delete the hosts file in the system. If everything else has been checked, please try to delete the hosts file in the C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc folder.

After entering the game, the application is displayed in the loading image, but the terrain in the game is very blurry and cannot be played.

This is a problem with the network loading terrain, please try setting Network Setting to Normal

After exiting and re-entering the game, the game loads very slowly and displays the default image.

Enter MSFS Map Enhancement once and exit again. If that doesn’t work, delete these lines in: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file

127.0.0.1 t0.ssl.ak.tiles.virtualearth.net
127.0.0.1 t1.ssl.ak.tiles.virtualearth.net
127.0.0.1 t2.ssl.ak.tiles.virtualearth.net
127.0.0.1 t3.ssl.ak.tiles.virtualearth.net
127.0.0.1 kh.ssl.ak.tiles.virtualearth.net
127.0.0.1 khstorelive.azureedge.net

Then restart the computer

A rainbow effect appears on the map

Do not use DX12, it may cause problems
Turn off the Rolling Cache in the game
Clear the cache in the application

Game crashes

99.99% of game crashes have nothing to do with this plug-in, please check:

If the game software itself has just been updated, it may be caused by Microsoft’s own bug.
Block all third-party plug-ins and try again. Crashes caused by third-party plug-ins are usually more significant
Clear in-game cache
Clear the cache in this plug-in (Clear Cache)
Update graphics card driver
If there is overclocking, please turn off overclocking
If the memory is 16G, is it possible that there is insufficient memory? This patch takes up about 500M of memory and does not consume much memory.
Check your locale, it must be set correctly (see above)

How to install the new version

Usually an overlay installation is sufficient. If the overlay installation does not work, please uninstall it and try again.

Software prompts Device is blocked, License is blocked, Version is too old

Device is blocked and License is blocked are usually caused by incorrect payment information. Please contact the author to resolve it.

Version is too old please download the latest version

When will the license become invalid?

The license is expired, please buy a new one.
Changing the CPU hard disk, reinstalling the system, etc. may cause the authorization to become invalid, please rebind directly on the authorization page.

I forgot my username and email

Please check the email sent to you before, the title is Your MSFS Map Enhancement License or Your XP Map Enhancement License. If you really can’t find it, you can contact the author to solve it.

Error when Linking Device

Please check if your username and email are correct, you can check in the email sent to you.
A device can only be linked to one device, if you use it elsewhere, the previous authorization will be invalidated.
If you link machine A and use it on machine B, then machine A will be added to the blacklist and cannot use the authorization again.
If you need to use it on different computers, please use different usernames or different emails to purchase multiple authorizations.

https://k.aiflygo.com

How to renew?

Please purchase a one and request a new license on the website.

What should I do if I have other questions?

Please submit issues in https://github.com/derekhe/msfs2020-map-enhancement/issues