Indianajon Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Hey all, I wonder if anyone out there can help. This is truly a golden age for DCS but it comes at a cost..... drive space. My computer is already designed so that I have a drive solely dedicated to DCS and yet still I have run out of room. Im sure I can't be the only one? Is there any way to share DCS files over multiple drives without breaking the game? Any help/advice would be greatly received!
Lange_666 Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Yes, with symbolic links (I use them for terrains). https://www.howtogeek.com/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/ https://forum.dcs.world/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=232380&key=08ba65db6bc435f2b85d397e67228f47 2 1 Win11 Pro 64-bit, Ryzen 5800X3D, Corsair H115i, Gigabyte X570S UD, EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra 12GB, 64 GB DDR4 G.Skill 3600. Monitors: LG 27GL850-B27 2560x1440 + Samsung SyncMaster 2443 1920x1200, HOTAS: Warthog with Virpil WarBRD base, MFG Crosswind pedals, TrackIR4, Rift-S, Elgato Streamdeck XL. Personal Wish List: A6 Intruder, Vietnam theater, decent ATC module, better VR performance!
jackill Posted February 4 Posted February 4 +1 Also you can try using compression if you have SSD and modern CPU: 1 1
Dragon1-1 Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Symlinks are definitely a solution. Another is to upgrade your dedicated drive. 2TB will serve you well unless you're trying to run multiple installs, 4TB should set you up for the foreseeable future. My install is still under 1TB, though I don't have all the maps. When I do bust the 1TB barrier, I'll probably start looking into an upgrade. 1 1
silverdevil Posted February 4 Posted February 4 12 minutes ago, Indianajon said: Hey all, I wonder if anyone out there can help. This is truly a golden age for DCS but it comes at a cost..... drive space. My computer is already designed so that I have a drive solely dedicated to DCS and yet still I have run out of room. Im sure I can't be the only one? Is there any way to share DCS files over multiple drives without breaking the game? Any help/advice would be greatly received! hello. i just cloned my 2 TB nvme to a 4 TB nvme. purchased an NVME SSD Reader Adapter, a 4 TB nvme, and used free macrium to clone from 2 TB drive to the reader. took under an hour to do the copy. turned off computer, and replaced the nvme. windows never knew the difference. example gear https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084ZKLQR8 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHGT1KFJ https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree#backup-and-recovery-software-for-home-pcs about $350 2 2 AKA_SilverDevil Join AKA Wardogs Email Address My YouTube “The MIGS came up, the MIGS were aggressive, we tangled, they lost.” - Robin Olds - An American fighter pilot. He was a triple ace. The only man to ever record a confirmed kill while in glide mode.
Beirut Posted February 5 Posted February 5 I have to score a 2TB NVME drive. My 1TB DCS only drive is bursting at the seams. Had to uninstall a few maps but I own them all so my sig is good. And even then I'm at 830GB. This is a rather large game. Waiting for the 2 TB Samsung drives to go below $200 again. 1 Some of the planes, but all of the maps!
Mike_CK Posted February 9 Posted February 9 If 4 years ago you would have told me that my 1TB SSD wouldn’t have enough storage space for ONE game, I’d think you were crazy. Yet I find that I have to uninstall a few modules, campaigns I am not currently playing and maps I own. In fact, now that I’m playing 2 campaigns and a retribution campaign on KOLA, the only other maps I can keep are Syria and ONE other (Sinai, PG, SA, etc). Any more than that, I only have like 150GB free and that has caused problems with big patch downloads. not a big deal swapping maps out I suppose. But i think the only real solution is to upgrade to a 4TB. Hell, I’d fill out a 2TB
Mr_sukebe Posted February 9 Posted February 9 My DCS is now over 3 drives. Saved Games on my DCS full install on an NVME5 2TB DCS server on an NVME4, with symbolics such that both my player and server installs can use the same liveries and mods folders 2 7800x3d, 5080, 64GB, PCIE5 SSD - Oculus Pro - Moza (AB9), Virpil (Alpha, CM3, CM1 and CM2), WW (TOP and CP), TM (MFDs, Pendular Rudder), Tek Creations (F18 panel), Total Controls (Apache MFD), Jetseat
Rudel_chw Posted February 9 Posted February 9 There is a law somewhere: "Data expands to fill the space available for storage." .. I think its a Parkinson's Law corollary I replaced my main 1 TB SSD with a 2 TB unit (drive C) about a year ago ... however it is now at 90% capacity: Drive C contains Windows, DCS and my Lightroom photo collection. The old SSD is now drive G and it contains my Cloud Drive data. The remaining 4 drives are old non-SSD units used mainly for backups, as is my Apple AirPort network drive. For me the only solution is to replace one of the disks, as my PC can't hold more than 6 drives, so I'm thinking on purchasing a 2 TB Sata SSD (about US$ 100 on my country), to replace one of the 1 TB HDD and use it for holding my Cloud Drive, and the old G drive use for holding my photo collection, releasing 0.6 TB off my C drive, to give my DCS more breathing room. For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600 - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia RTX2080 - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB
Mr_sukebe Posted February 9 Posted February 9 Stop mucking about and put in some 4TB drives 2 7800x3d, 5080, 64GB, PCIE5 SSD - Oculus Pro - Moza (AB9), Virpil (Alpha, CM3, CM1 and CM2), WW (TOP and CP), TM (MFDs, Pendular Rudder), Tek Creations (F18 panel), Total Controls (Apache MFD), Jetseat
Rudel_chw Posted February 9 Posted February 9 2 hours ago, Mr_sukebe said: Stop mucking about and put in some 4TB drives on my country the cheapest 4tb sata ssd costs around us$280, while 2 tb costs us$100 …. So, it isn’t the moment for a 4tb purchase yet. https://tienda.pc-express.cl/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=652627 For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600 - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia RTX2080 - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB
Lace Posted February 22 Posted February 22 On 2/4/2025 at 9:18 PM, Lange_666 said: Yes, with symbolic links (I use them for terrains). https://www.howtogeek.com/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/ https://forum.dcs.world/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=232380&key=08ba65db6bc435f2b85d397e67228f47 Is it possible to use soft links (like other sims) or do they need to be hard links? Laptop Pilot. Alienware X17, i9 11980HK 5.0GHz, 16GB RTX 3080, 64GB DDR4 3200MHz, 2x2TB NVMe SSD. 2x TM Warthog, Hornet grip, Virpil CM2 & TPR pedals, Virpil collective, Cougar throttle, Viper ICP & MFDs, pit WIP (XBox360 when traveling). Quest 3S. Wishlist: Tornado, Jaguar, Buccaneer, F-117 and F-111.
Rudel_chw Posted February 22 Posted February 22 53 minutes ago, Lace said: Is it possible to use soft links (like other sims) or do they need to be hard links? soft links didn’t work for me, so I use hard links. 1 For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600 - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia RTX2080 - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB
MAXsenna Posted February 22 Posted February 22 Is it possible to use soft links (like other sims) or do they need to be hard links?I use hardlinks myself. Well, because I'm lazy I actually use the graphical shell extension linked further down in the article.http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.htmlSent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk
Lange_666 Posted February 22 Posted February 22 7 hours ago, Lace said: Is it possible to use soft links (like other sims) or do they need to be hard links? I have no clue if the symbolic links I posted are soft or hard (been reading a bit about the difference between them but after a few lines I lose it) but they do work. That is all that matters. 1 Win11 Pro 64-bit, Ryzen 5800X3D, Corsair H115i, Gigabyte X570S UD, EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra 12GB, 64 GB DDR4 G.Skill 3600. Monitors: LG 27GL850-B27 2560x1440 + Samsung SyncMaster 2443 1920x1200, HOTAS: Warthog with Virpil WarBRD base, MFG Crosswind pedals, TrackIR4, Rift-S, Elgato Streamdeck XL. Personal Wish List: A6 Intruder, Vietnam theater, decent ATC module, better VR performance!
Darkdiz Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Anyone having issues since the last patch (8394) with their symbolic links? I tried rebuilding mine for terrains using the core game as the source and the modular server as the symbolic link. Causes the server to give the unable to start server error. If I remove the link and use the server-installed terrains the server works normally. Prior to the patch, everything worked fine. Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB GPU, MSI Rtx 4060 8GB GPU, 40" and 37" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 40" 1920x1080 Sony Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G915 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G502 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech G935 Headset, Next Level Racing HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)
MAXsenna Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Anyone having issues since the last patch (8394) with their symbolic links? I tried rebuilding mine for terrains using the core game as the source and the modular server as the symbolic link. Causes the server to give the unable to start server error. If I remove the link and use the server-installed terrains the server works normally. Prior to the patch, everything worked fine.Have you tried a repair of both the client and the server? Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk
Darkdiz Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Yes, did several yesterday, I actually had to completely re-install the modular server, and did several repairs (both quick and full) to the the client. This patch for me has been a nightmare Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB GPU, MSI Rtx 4060 8GB GPU, 40" and 37" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 40" 1920x1080 Sony Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G915 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G502 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech G935 Headset, Next Level Racing HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)
MAXsenna Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Yes, did several yesterday, I actually had to completely re-install the modular server, and did several repairs (both quick and full) to the the client. This patch for me has been a nightmareThere's never a reason to re-install. It's exactly the same as a full slow repair, trust me! And if you really want it back to vanilla, rename the Saved Games folders. I suggest you do that now. Something else is up, or something went wrong with the creation or delition of the links. Did you upgrade both installations before you ran them? Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk
Darkdiz Posted March 27 Posted March 27 (edited) Thing is, I tried both repairs (default and full) on both installations. Nothing worked for the server install, it refused to start, or even let me add missions. After the re-install, it worked, I could add missions, and the server would start. As soon as I pointed the server mods folder symbolic link to the newly full-repaired core install Mods folder (this was the link source), the server refused to start. I remove the link, rename the server install mods folder back to mods, server works (I had renamed the server mods folder to modsold prior to dropping the symbolic link). Up until yesterday when I updated, the links worked fine. Now??? I just re-repaired BOTH installs, no change. As soon as I put a symbolic link in pointing to the core mods folder, the server refuses to start. I remove the link, works fine Edited March 27 by Darkdiz Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB GPU, MSI Rtx 4060 8GB GPU, 40" and 37" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 40" 1920x1080 Sony Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G915 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G502 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech G935 Headset, Next Level Racing HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)
Rudel_chw Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Make sure to Use hard links instead of symbolic ones. 1 For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600 - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia RTX2080 - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB
MAXsenna Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Thing is, I tried both repairs (default and full) on both installations. Nothing worked for the server install, it refused to start, or even let me add missions. After the re-install, it worked, I could add missions, and the server would start. As soon as I pointed the server mods folder symbolic link to the newly full-repaired core install Mods folder (this was the link source), the server refused to start. I remove the link, rename the server install mods folder back to mods, server works (I had renamed the server mods folder to modsold prior to dropping the symbolic link). Up until yesterday when I updated, the links worked fine. Now???I agree. It seems strange. Especially since it did start at some point, so I gather there are no corruption in the settings. Personally, I don't store any common folder in any of the installations, I point them to another folder. But that shouldn't matter actually. I even share mods between installations.It's a little unclear for me. Apologies. Does the server start with mods and without links? If yes, I'd assume it's an issue with the links. Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk
Darkdiz Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Its clearly an issue with the link creation, but it worked fine before. @Rudel_chwWorked fine before with symbolic links, but I tried hard links (called hardlink clone in the link shell extension), no success. Scratching me head here... 2 Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB GPU, MSI Rtx 4060 8GB GPU, 40" and 37" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 40" 1920x1080 Sony Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G915 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G502 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech G935 Headset, Next Level Racing HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)
Rudel_chw Posted March 27 Posted March 27 9 minutes ago, Darkdiz said: Its clearly an issue with the link creation, but it worked fine before. @Rudel_chwWorked fine before with symbolic links, but I tried hard links (called hardlink clone in the link shell extension), no success. Scratching me head here... never used that shell extension, as I prefer to use the command line … it has a learning curve but after that it’s simple and you truly understand what’s going on instead of deferring to an utility: https://commandmasters.com/commands/mklink-windows/ For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600 - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia RTX2080 - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB
Darkdiz Posted March 27 Posted March 27 I tried the command prompt method, same issue. I'm really at a loss here, clearly there is some setting somewhere that is preventing the proper redirection of windows to the linked folder. As soon as I remove the link (symbolic, hard, whatever), the server works as advertized. 1 Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB GPU, MSI Rtx 4060 8GB GPU, 40" and 37" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 40" 1920x1080 Sony Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G915 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G502 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech G935 Headset, Next Level Racing HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)
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