Alex’ Projects ► Little Navmap - Frequently asked Questions

Little Navmap - Frequently asked Questions

Always update to the latest version if you have issues. The latest can be found here: Alex’ Projects - Little Navmap Downloads.

Use your browser search function (usually Ctrl+F for Windows and Linux or ⌘+F for macOS) to find topics or keywords.

In case you have a question or a problem which cannot be solved:
► Contact and Support.

Read below if you plan to use Little Navmap on a remote computer across a network to avoid common mistakes:
► Little Navmap User Manual - Network Setup.

Frequently asked Questions and Issues

Troubleshooting

How to fix issues

You can try the following if you experience problems like crashes, freezes, a corrupted window layout or other issues.

First update Little Navmap if you’re not running the latest version.

Corrupted window layout or missing map window

Try Window -> Little Navmap User Manual - Reset Window layout to default or load a previously saved window layout file (see Little Navmap User Manual - Saving and Loading Layouts).

If this does not help, try the suggestions below.

Quick and simple Solution

Go to the Little Navmap main menu Tools and select Little Navmap User Manual - Reset all Settings and restart. Little Navmap will show a question dialog and then restart after deleting all settings.

If this does not help, you can restore the settings file backup which was mentioned in the dialog.

More complicated but thorough option

Quit Little Navmap and rename the main settings folder ABarthel which contains all simulator databases and is stored in the following places:

Windows: C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ABarthel
macOS: /Users/YOURUSERNAME/.config/ABarthel
Linux: /home/YOURUSERNAME/.config/ABarthel

Do not delete the folder, but rename it to keep your settings if this does not fix the problem.

Start Little Navmap and see if the issue is gone.

If this did not help: Quit Little Navmap. Delete ABarthel which was just created newly by the program and rename your backup again to ABarthel to get your settings and databases back.

Where is the log file

See Little Navmap User Manual - Logs.

Report the problem

If nothing helps, report an issue either in the Support Forum at Avsim or send me an email through Contact and Support.

Other Issues

Program starts slowly: This can happen if a distance search is enabled in one of the search tabs. The search is executed at each start. Simply disable the distance search or reset the search options to avoid the slow startup. Also exclude the installation and settings folder from anti-virus scanning.
Online maps do not load or update: Check your firewall settings if Windows blocks any outgoing connections. Check if Little Navmap can connect to the internet by going to the options dialog on tab :ref:weather-files. Use one of the buttons Test for NOAA or VATSIM weather. Little Navmap cannot reach the internet if these fail.
Search shows no result or unexpected results: Check the drop down menu for the change indicator * and the search fields for any remaining text if the distance search does not give any or unexpected results. Use :ref:reset-search in the context menu of the result table or press Ctrl+R to clear all search criteria.
Search or flight plan tables shows strange column names like airport_id or others: This can happen if the program is updated. Use Reset View in the context menu of the result table.
The flight plan elevation profile has errors or invalid elevation data: The online elevation data contains several known errors. Use the recommended GLOBE offline elevation data. See :ref:cache-elevation for information how to install the offline data.
Loading of the scenery database takes too long: Exclude scenery directories containing only landclass, elevation data or other for Little Navmap irrelevant data. You can do that in the Options dialog on the Scenery Library Database tab. See :ref:scenery-library-database-exclude.
Crash while loading the scenery library database: You can exclude scenery directories in the Options dialog on the Scenery Library Database tab if loading of an add-on BGL causes the program to crash. Do not restart the program after it shows the crash dialog and instead load the log file which is typically C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\abarthel-little_navmap.log. The path may vary depending on your Windows installation. Search for the last line in the log-file that looks like:

[2016-10-14 22:58:21.903 default INFO ] unknown: ==== "404 of 521 (77 %)" "APX41080.bgl"

Now search for APX41080.bgl and exclude the file or its directory from loading in the Options dialog.

How to update the program ▲ 🔗

You might either:

Delete the previous version of Little Navmap and install the new version in the same place.
Install the new version in a new folder by using the version as a directory name suffix, for example.

In either case do not merge the two old and new directories. Remains of previous versions might cause trouble.

Always update all related programs like Little Navconnect and Little Xpconnect.

Where are the log and configuration files? ▲ 🔗

The files can be opened in the default text editor from menu -> Tools -> Files and Directories in Little Navmap.

Details can be found in the chapter Little Navmap User Manual - Files in the manual.

My anti-virus or anti-malware complains about Little Navmap ▲ 🔗

This is usually a false positive.

I usually upload all Zip files to VirusTotal before making them public. This ensures that the files are checked by 50 or more anti-virus programs.

You can send your downloaded files to VirusTotal and you will get the report from my uploads immediately.

One false positive might occur and is no reason for concern.

I found an issue or have a proposal ▲ 🔗

All ideas and bugs are collected in the GitHub Issues for Little Navmap.

First check if your idea or finding is already covered there.

If not you can register at GitHub and write an issue. Alternatively, you can send me an email and I put this on my internal list or create an issue for bigger tasks.

For errors send me a bug report in the Avsim Support Forum or by email. See Little Navmap User Manual - How to report a Bug.

The program crashes ▲ 🔗

Rename the settings directory which also contains the scenery databases. In Windows these can be found in c:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Appdata\Roaming\ABarthel. E.g. rename ABarthel to ABarthel.backup.

If the problem persists send me a bug report in the Avsim Support Forum or by email. See Little Navmap User Manual - How to report a Bug.

The program does not start and Windows shows an error message ▲ 🔗

Windows shows an error message cannot proceed because libmarblewidget-qt5.dll was not found or similar when trying to start Little Navmap.

This can have several reasons:

You’re starting the program from the Windows Explorer Zip view. You have to extract the Zip archive before running Little Navmap.
You downloaded the wrong Zip archive containing only the source files or an archive for another operating system. In both cases the file littlenamvmap.exe is missing and you try to start a different file.
Not all files were extracted and the mentioned DLL file is missing. Check if it can be found in the same folder as the littlenamvmap.exe. Try to download and install again.
Anti-virus put the DLL into quarantine. This is a false positive since all Little Navmap files are checked by VirusTotal before release.
You start the program using a shortcut (.lnk file) and the working directory is not the Little Navmap installation folder (the one with the littlenamvmap.exe). The working directory can be changed in the link properties in input field Start In.

I’d like to completely remove the program and all of its traces ▲ 🔗

All files and folders created by Little Navmap are described in the chapter Little Navmap User Manual - Files in the manual.

Little Navmap does not create any registry entries on Windows except when using the installer.

SSL Handshake failed on Linux ▲ 🔗

Note: This issue was fixed with the Little Navmap version 2.8.8. See page Alex’ Projects for latest releases of stable and beta versions.

The problem appears when checking for updates and all other network communciaton. You see errors like Reason: "SSL handshake failed" in the log file.

This is an issue in the Linux build. The included libssl.so is not loaded by Qt. Instead the not compatible version SSL version 3 is loaded on some systems.

To fix this download the hotfix [LittleNavmap-linux-22.04-2.8.7-openssl-1.1.tar.gz(]https://github.com/albar965/littlenavmap/releases/download/v2.8.7/LittleNavmap-linux-22.04-2.8.7-openssl-1.1.tar.gz) and install it according to the included README.txt.

Little Navmap does not start on Linux ▲ 🔗

Commonly missing shared libraries can be installed by entering sudo apt install libxcb-xinerama0 libxcb-icccm4.

Also missing might be qt5dxcb which can be installed with sudo apt install qt5dxcb-plugin.

on a terminal in an Ubuntu or derived system. Use your system package manager (rpm, pacman, etc.) to install missing libraries if using another system.

You can run Little Navmap and generate more diagnostics by opening a terminal/shell and cd to the LNM installation folder if above does not help. Enter the following:

bash -c "(ldd littlenavmap && export QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1 && ./littlenavmap )" >start_log.txt 2>&1

This will check dependencies for Little Navmap, enable extra output for plugin loading, run the program and put the output into a file start_log.txt.

Look at the file to see missing dependencies or send me this file and I can check which library is missing: Contact.

Little Navmap or Little Navconnect pop up quickly and vanish ▲ 🔗

Chances are that you attached a monitor recently and removed or disconnected it afterwards. The progam still opens on the vanished monitor since the screen space is still valid in the operating system.

Remove the monitor from the system settings or check if it still present. Little Navmap or Little Navconnect will relocate their main windows once they detect that they are off space.

There is a message `SimConnect not found.` in the connect dialog window ▲ 🔗

Little Navmap does not connect to MSFS or you see an error message in the connection dialog window when trying to connect:

SimConnect not found. Your Little Navmap installation is missing the file "SimConnect.dll".
Reinstall Little Navmap or install a FSX SP2 compatible version of SimConnect on your computer.

First check if the file SimConnect.dll is present in the Little Navmap installation folder, in case it was removed by virus protection or it is missing due to improper installation.

You’re probably missing common libraries on your computer if the file exists but cannot be loaded.

Download and install two Windows Redistributable Packages from Microsoft:
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable latest supported downloads.
You need to get the download links in chapter Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022 for X86 and X64.

You can also download the files directly from the Little Navmap download page:
Little Navmap Downloads - Windows Redistributable Packages - vcredist_2015-2022.x64.exe and vcredist_2015-2022.x86.exe.

Restart Little Navmap after installing the packages. The error message should be gone.

I see strange texts with question marks in curly brackets like `{2020.?}` in the program windows and dialogs ▲ 🔗

This is a sign for an incomplete user interface translation. Go to the Little Navmap options dialog on page User Interface and select English as interface language to get rid of these artifacts.

Error version `GLIBCXX_3.4.29' not found` or similar on Linux ▲ 🔗

You see an error about a missing GLIBC version on the terminal when running Little Navmap on Debian or other distributions:

./littlenavmap: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version GLIBCXX_3.4.29' not found (required by ./littlenavmap)
./littlenavmap: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version GLIBC_2.34' not found (required by ./littlenavmap)

Use the Little Navmap build based on Ubuntu 20.04. You can find it in the assets of every release on GitHub. For example LittleNavmap-linux-20.04-2.8.12.tar.gz.

The functionality of this build is identical to the 22.04 builds.

How can I create a flight plan ▲ 🔗

Zoom to an airport in the map and right click on it. Select Set ... as Flight Plan Departure. Look for another airport on the map, right click and select Set ... as Flight Plan Destination.

That’s it. You just built a simple flight plan.

Have a look at the Little Navmap User Manual - Tutorials which are also linked in the help menu. These help to get around in the program.

Common Problems ▲ 🔗

Some airport add-ons do not modify the stock airports but only add new scenery and buildings. These add-ons will not be recognized as such and are therefore not highlighted on the map (italic and underlined text).
Add-on developers have to use all kind of workarounds to avoid FSX or P3D limitations which means the display and information given for add-on airports is not always correct. A lot of these changes are also done to make AI behave properly. Typical examples are: Airports without runways, airports with runway dimensions 0 by 0 ft or 0 ft runway width, taxiways with 0 ft width, seemingly closed taxiways, duplicate airports, duplicate runways in water, taxiways in water, military gates at civilian airports and more.
Some KML/KMZ files do not show up on the map. Adding a center point pushpin to the KML/KMZ file can fix this.
There are errors in the online elevation source data (like in northern Italy, Po Valley or Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia) which will show up in the flight plan elevation profile.
Magnetic declination is partially not set (for example VORDME Cambridge Bay YCB) or inconsistent between airports an adjacent navaids. This is an error in the source data.
Airports are misplaced (for example Cabo San Lucas, MM15 in Mexico for FSX) compared to the background maps. This is an error in the source data and cannot be fixed.
Procedures are drawn incorrectly in some cases.
The airport search attribute Procedures does not work correctly in the mixed database. It will show only simulator airports having procedures instead of using the Navigraph airport status.
Dock window layout in Little Navmap can change when resizing or maximizing window and back.
Window is restored in normal state when changing from a maximized window to fullscreen and back.
The window layout might not be restored precisely on startup in some cases.
The height of the elevation profile window cannot be reduced in some cases. Reset to default window layout which fixes this. Rearrange or move the elevation profile window to another position which usually solves this. Save the layout once you have a working one.
Zooming with touchpad or magic mouse does not work properly on macOS. Use the navigation overlay or one of the other options on page Map Navigation in Options if you think it is unusable.
X-Plane airport administrative data like city or country are not accurate and use many wrong variations.

MSFS Common Problems ▲ 🔗

Read the linked chapter below to minimize issues when loading flight plans into MSFS:
► Little Navmap User Manual - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Airports and Navdata.

Note that many of these issues are a result of MSFS limitations and cannot be fixed in Little Navmap .

Navdata updates are not read properly from the MSFS scenery library. This is in general no issue since you can also update the navdata in Little Navmap with the Navigraph FMS Data Manager to keep the program in sync with MSFS. Stock data is not affected by this. See Little Navmap User Manual - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Airports and Navdata.
You can set a parking spot or fuel pad as starting position in a flight plan but note that runways and helipads as starting positions will be ignored by MSFS.
Parking spots having suffixes cannot be loaded by MSFS, Example EDDG, 18A to 18E.
MSFS multiplayer and real-time AI cannot be displayed. These do not appear in the SimConnect interface.
Simulator weather cannot be shown for MSFS since SimConnect weather functions are deprecated and do not deliver data. Use NOAA weather which gives you the most up-to-date weather reports.
Flight plan loading in MSFS has issues and does not produce any error messages if it fails.
Country names are missing in MSFS translation tables and are not available in Little Navmap, therefore.
Add-ons using the .fsarchive encrypted format are not supported. Little Navmap will show only the stock airport instead of the add-on if a package is locked down like this.
Some aircraft mods do not report correct fuel flow to work around simulator limitations. This cannot be fixed in Little Navmap.
Some airports files like LEMG.bgl cannot be read due to unknown format. Little Navmap reports Error: readInt for file "...OMITTED.../LEMG.bgl" failed. Reason 1. Exclude the airport file from reading in options on page Scenery Library Database or simply ignore the message. The stock LEMG and all other airports are not affected by this.

The map is jumping around randomly while flying ▲ 🔗

The map does not jump randomly. The level of zoom changes to keep aircraft and the next flight plan waypoint centered.

The default behavior is to keep aircraft and next flight plan waypoint on the screen once one flight plan leg is active (magenta), i.e. you’re flying. You can move around the map manually but LNM jumps back to aircraft and waypoint after a while. All this is configurable in options on page Little Navmap User Manual - Simulator Aircraft.

You can also revert to simple aircraft centering, for example. The default values might be confusing first but they are like that to reduce the need for manual zooming.

If you switch to normal zooming you can change the level of zoom with the mouse wheel or other methods.

How to backup userdata or the logbook ▲ 🔗

One way to back up is export all into a CSV file. This covers all used fields.

You can also backup the database directly. The userpoints and logbook entries are stored in a SQLite database. If interested you can look into this database using tools like this one: SQLitebrowser

The main database is C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ABarthel\little_navmap_db\little_navmap_userdata.sqlite and little_navmap_logbook.sqlite respectively in Windows and $HOME/.config/ABarthel/little_navmap_db/little_navmap_userdata.sqlite in macOS or Linux.

You have to close Little Navmap before creating a backup or replacing the databases.

Little Navmap also creates three rolling backups (little_navmap_userdata.sqlite.1, etc.) on startup which you can use if you deleted something accidentally.

Navaids or airways are red in the flight plan table ▲ 🔗

This can happen if you load a flight plan which was made using older navdata.

It might contain waypoints that were removed later or radio navaids that were decommissioned. These cannot be found in later AIRAC cycles and therefore not in Little Navmap’s database. These are shown in red and are treated like user defined flight plan waypoints in Little Navmap.

Airways are displayed in red if they do not exist or the minimum or maximum airway altitude restrictions are violated by the selected cruise altitude when loading the flight plan.

The elevation profile is a flat line at cruise altitude ▲ 🔗

The elevation profile cannot be calculated by Little Navmap and you see a red error message (Little Navmap User Manual - Warning and Error Messages) at the bottom of the flight plan table for one of the reasons below:

The cruise altitude is too high. Therefore the top of climb and the top of descent cannot be calculated. Lower the cruise altitude until the profile can be calculated again.
The flight plan violates altitude restrictions of used procedures (SID, STAR or approach). Change the flight plan cruise altitude to match these restrictions or remove or change the procedures.
The aircraft performance profile is wrong or configured for too shallow climb and descent sections. See Little Navmap User Manual - Aircraft Performance for more information.
Cruise altitude is below a high elevation departure or destination airport.

Search result is empty ▲ 🔗

Check the drop down menu for the change indicator * and the search fields for any remaining text if the distance search does not give any or unexpected results. Use Reset Search in the context menu of the result table or press Ctrl+R to clear all search criteria.

Note that using an ICAO code for searching will temporarily override all other options. This helps to do a quick search for an airport.

Actual aircraft altitude differs from indicated despite correct baro settings ▲ 🔗

Actual altitude shown in Little Navmap might differ from indicated altitude even with a correct baro setting.

This is an effect of the outside air temperature (OAT) on actual altitude where low temperatures affect the aircraft altimeter. When temperature is less than ISA conditions an aircraft will be lower than the altimeter reading.

This effect is currently modeled in X-Plane 12 and MSFS.

Corrections have to be applied when the aerodrome temperature is 0°C or colder:

DH/DA or MDH/MDA and step-down fixes inside the final approach fix (FAF).
All low altitude approach procedure altitudes in mountainous regions (terrain of 3000 ft AMSL or higher)

See SKYbrary - Altimeter Temperature Error Correction for more information.

I get fuel flow indications that do not match the values in Little Navmap ▲ 🔗

Fuel flow in the tab Performance of Little Navmap does not match to what the aircraft is showing.

An aircraft add-on probably uses doctored values to workaround simulator limitations. This happens often with complex study level add-ons and might affect fuel calculation, planning and especially collection.

Fuel planning and collection gives wrong fuel values ▲ 🔗

This is related to wrong fuel indications of an add-on aircraft. See above.

You can still create an aircraft performance profile manually and ignore the indications.

Set TAS and fuel flow for typical cruise level.

For fuel flow, TAS and vertical speed in the descent and climb phases simply get the values at low altitude, near cruise altitude and then enter the average in Little Navmap. Tune the profile manually as needed.

It might also be beneficial to create different profiles for different cruise altitude ranges, especially for large complex aircraft.

I cannot see my aircraft ▲ 🔗

Little Navmap does not connect automatically to a simulator per default. You have to go to the main menu -> Tools -> Flight Simulator Connection.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Connecting to a Flight Simulator.

AI or online aircraft are only visible when zooming in close ▲ 🔗

Some online or AI tools do not provide enough or wrong information for the aircraft injected into the simulator. As a result, Little Navmap considers all aircraft on ground and hides them on higher zoom levels.

You can install the configuration file from the download below to override this behavior and keep the aircraft visible: Little Navmap Downloads - Customization - Map Layers on-ground Aircraft.zip.

Note that installing this configuration might result in a map cluttered up with more AI or online aircraft at airports.

The flight plan does not show up correctly in MSFS ▲ 🔗

MSFS has many issues loading flight plans. Additionally, the format is not documented yet which requires a lot of guesswork.

The following issues are known so far:

MSFS automatically adds transitions to approach procedures as well as SID and STAR if plan is of type IFR. Changing these results in a completely new routing.
Saving a direct plan between two airports of type IFR will result in MSFS adding intermediate waypoints and procedures like SID and STAR.
You cannot use airways or procedures for VFR flight plans. MSFS will quietly remove these.
MSFS uses turn anticipation which may result in wrong flight plan display in the GPS units or autopilot behavior. The GPS or autopilot will take a shortcut for hard turns which sometimes messes up a flight plan, for example. Turn anticipation is a function performed by FMS or RNAV devices to tell the pilot when to initiate a turn to the next waypoint on the programmed flight path to avoid overshooting the programmed course.
Altitude at waypoints and sometimes the cruise altitude is ignored and replaced by MSFS’ own idea of a climb and descent profile which has nothing to do with the Little Navmap profile. This happens despite Little Navmap saving the altitude for each waypoint.
Flight plan names must not contains special characters like umlauts or accents. Little Navmap replaces these automatically when exporting a plan.

Apart from these issues above you might see MSFS crashes or corrupted flight plans when loading.

Also, read the chapter Little Navmap User Manual - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Airports and Navdata in the Little Navmap user manual to minimize issues with different navdata.

Waypoints are moved North when loading a flight plan in MSFS ▲ 🔗

This issue was fixed with Little Navmap release 2.8.12.

This is a known issue when using the Navigraph navdata update in MSFS and is most likely caused by bug in MSFS. Disable, uninstall or move the two folders navigraph-navdata and navigraph-navdata-base from the community folder. Then reload the scenery library in Little Navmap and restart MSFS.

There are airways missing over France and central Europe ▲ 🔗

There are gaps in the airway system over some European countries.

This is not an error but real and a result of the European airway restructuring to save fuel and emissions.

See Free route airspace for more information.

Little Navmap can skip these gaps when calculating a flight plan. See here for information how to deal with this: Little Navmap User Manual - Flight Plan Route Calculation.

Can I run Little Navmap offline without an internet connection ▲ 🔗

Yes. Switch to an offline map in menu View -> Theme (offline is indicated in the menus) and disable all weather and wind downloads/assignments in the menu Weather as well as in options on page Weather. You might also want disable the automatic check for updates in options on page Startup and Updates. Additionally switch Online Service to None on options page Online Flying.

Also install the offline GLOBE elevation data to avoid elevation online accesses as described here in the user manual: Little Navmap User Manual - Install GLOBE elevation data.

This disables all network connections in Little Navmap.

Encrypted add-on found. Add-on might not show up correctly ▲ 🔗

See next topic below.

Found 10 notes in 12 scenery entries when loading the scenery database ▲ 🔗

This message appears after loading the MSFS scenery library. Numbers will differ.

Futhermore there are one or more messages like the one below:

Scenery Title: OneStore
Encrypted add-on "asobo-airport-eddf-frankfurt" found. Add-on might not show up correctly.

This is not an error message but merely a reminder that the layout of encrypted payware aiports in Little Navmap might not match what you see in the simulator. You can still use the airport for flight planning but taxiways, parking spots and aprons might probably differ.

This is related to A MSFS add-on does not show up after reloading the scenery library in Little Navmap. See there for more information.

Little Navmap crashes with an SQL error `unknown table fence` or similar ▲ 🔗

You’re using a very old version of Little Navmap with a new database. Update Little Navmap to the latest version to fix this. See page Alex’ Projects for latest releases of stable and beta versions.

I cannot see any airports or navaids ▲ 🔗

Load the scenery library from the simulator. See Little Navmap User Manual - Load Scenery Library Dialog in the manual.

I added an airport and it does not show up in Little Navmap ▲ 🔗

You have to reload the scenery library. See Little Navmap User Manual - Load Scenery Library Dialog. in the manual.

See topic below for limitations with MSFS.

Search for airport by country, state or city does not work ▲ 🔗

Data sources limit this functionality and it depends on the selected navdata source in menu Scenery Library:

Navigraph only: This has only limited administrative airport information. Only airport name (Frankfurt am Main), ICAO code (EDDF), ICAO region (ED) and area code (EUR) are available.
All other modes: The completeness of administrative information depends on the airport. Administrative data (State, City, etc.) is often missing for X-Plane airports. Country information is completely missing in MSFS.

Airport runway numbers don’t match the runway numbers for procedures ▲ 🔗

This depends on the scenery mode as set in the menu Scenery Library -> Navigraph. The default is to use the flight simulator scenery for runways and ILS and the Navigraph database for all airspaces, airways and all other navaids.

Runways are named by the magnetic direction which changes over the years. This results in airports renaming their runways from time to time. Therefore, mismatches between old airports, be it stock or add-on, can happen.

It’s neither a Little Navmap nor Navigraph issue. It is an unavoidable real world issue where simulator scenery or airports are not updated as fast as the real world airports.

See the Little Navmap User Manual - Navdata chapter in the manual for more information.

For FSX or Perpar3D you can use the Airport Design Editor to change the runway numbers.

Use WED to change an airport for X-Plane or download the latest airport from the The X-Plane Scenery Gateway.

How to add procedures to airports? ▲ 🔗

This is a very complex task.

For FSX or Perpar3D you can use the Airport Design Editor, add procedures to the airport and then switch off Navigraph in the scenery library menu. LNM will read the procedures from your add-on airport and you can use them like the others.

X-Plane: You can try to create a CIFP file but this is very complex and not recommended as stated on the page here.

See Navdata in X-Plane 11 and XP-CIFP1101-Spec.pdf.

A MSFS add-on does not show up after reloading the scenery library in Little Navmap ▲ 🔗

Encrypted add-on airports in MSFS cannot be read by Little Navmap.

The add-on is locked down with a DRM (Digital Restriction Management) scheme if you find a file BGL.fsarchive in the add-on folders. Little Navmap will not show a new airport or only the stock airport if an add-on replaces a stock one.

You can still use the stock airport shown in Little Navmap for flight planning but keep in mind that parking, taxiways or aprons might probably look different in the simulator.

Buy add-ons directly from developers instead of the Microsoft market which enforces encryption. Alternatively you can also use and support freeware scenery.

How can I update the navdata to the latest cycle ▲ 🔗

You have to get a Navigraph navdata only subscription. This allows you to update the Little Navmap navdata to the latest.

I recommend to keep Little Navmap, the simulator and all tools on the same AIRAC cycle to avoid issues when loading flight plans.

How to get a Navdata only Subscription

Create an accout at Navigraph if you do not already have one.

Click on your name in the top right corner when logged in on the webpage. Click on Subscription on the left if you’re not already there. You will see the webpage below where you can select the Navigation Data subscription at the bottom of the page.

Select navdata option

This will allow you to download navdata and update Little Navmap, simulators and add-ons to the latest AIRAC cycle on a monthly basis.

I updated the navdata but it does not show up ▲ 🔗

You should use the automatic scan in the FMS Data Manager which usually finds the correct path.

See Little Navmap - Install Navigraph Updates to see how to set the path correctly if the automatic scan did not find the path.

I cannot see aprons and taxiways on the map ▲ 🔗

There are only white bars with a black outline showing the runways.

You probably selected Use Navigraph for all Features in the Scenery Library menu. Use Navigraph for Navaids and Procedures is the recommended mode which will show detailed stock or add-on airports mixed with Navigraph navaids.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Navigation Databases in the manual.

I cannot select a start position ▲ 🔗

You might use the wrong scenery mode Use Navigraph for all Features. See Little Navmap User Manual - Navigation Databases and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Airports and Navdata for more information about this.

Select either Use Navigraph for Navaids and Procedures or Do not use Navigraph Database depending on information in above links (Navigraph MSFS update installed or not).

Some procedures or procedure legs are marked red in the selection/search tree ▲ 🔗

This can happen if navdata read from the simulator has errors or is incomplete. Note that this issue appears only when using Do not use Navigraph Database in the menu Scenery Library.

The procedures cannot be used at all or only after confirming a warning dialog.

A currently known problem is missing recommended fix information for constant radius arc procedure legs in MSFS navdata.

See also Little Navmap User Manual - Search Procedures and Procedures for more information.

Navaids from the X-Plane `user_nav.dat` and the `user_fix.dat` files do not show up in Little Navmap ▲ 🔗

LNM reads both the user_nav.dat and the user_fix.dat files. The problem is that the navaids are hidden by Navigraph data per default. Therefore, you have to switch to Do not use Navigraph database in the menu Scenery Library to see the user navaids.

You also have to reload the LNM scenery library after adding or changing the user files.

The user navaids can be used in the X-Plane stock FMS and GPS. But keep in mind that the user navaids do not show up on the X-Plane internal map.

An airport looks wrong, has runways pointing in the wrong direction, or its name is misspelled ▲ 🔗

The following are scenery or add-on issues:

Aprons are over sized or at the wrong position: Some add-on developers misuse apron polygons for other purposes like parking lots or flattening. MSFS seems to have automatically generated apron polygons which can be wrong. This is not a bug in Little Navmap which reads these structures as is.
Taxiway signs are missing or wrong: This is an issue with the stock airport scenery or an add-on.
Runways pointing into the wrong direction, e.g. runway 27 pointing to 90 east: This is an issue with the airport scenery or an add-on having wrong runway designators.
Runway in procedures do not match the runways of the airport: This happens since runways are renamed because of magnetic drift from time to time. As a result an older add-on might not match the latest navdata update.
Airport names are misspelled. This is a scenery problem.
Country, state, province, city or airport name is wrong or missing: Completeness of administrative information depends on simulator or airport add-on. Administrative data is often missing or wrong for X-Plane airports. Country information is completely missing in MSFS. Other simulators might provide only obsolete data.

What can you do:

You can contact the add-on developers and ask them to fix the issue.
For X-Plane you can use WED to correct the issue and upload your changes to the Scenery Gateway or file a bug report at the Gateway.
Use the MSFS development tools to create a corrected version of the airport.

How does Little Navmap find the MSFS scenery library, or MSFS installation not found ▲ 🔗

Click Reset Paths in the scenery library load dialog if you’ve moved your simulator.

Little Navmap looks into fixed installation folders for the various MSFS installation options (MS Online, MS Boxed or Steam). There are no Windows registry entries used. Installation on a removable drive is usually no problem.

Little Navmap first looks for a file UserCfg.opt at the following fixed locations:

MS online installation: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\UserCfg.opt
Steam installation: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\UserCfg.opt
MS Boxed installation: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\MSFSPackages\UserCfg.opt

Replace USER with your login name.

The text file UserCfg.opt contains a last line InstalledPackagesPath which points to the MSFS scenery library.

From there Little Navmap looks up ...\Official\Steam\fs-base\layout.json or ...\Official\OneStore\fs-base\layout.json to check if the installation path is really valid or if it consists only of remains from previous installations.

Detection problems can usually caused by file permission issues, missing files / folders or remaining files from previous installations.

Error `Caught exception: NOT NULL constraint failed: tmp_waypoint.region ...` when loading the scenery library ▲ 🔗

Note: This issue was fixed with the Little Navmap beta 2.8 versions. See page Alex’ Projects for latest releases of stable and beta versions.

The problem is caused by a faulty add-on which inserts waypoints without the two-letter ICAO region code into the scenery library. This causes the error.

You can find the offending add-on by opening the log file of Little Navmap in menu Tools -> Files and Directories -> Open Log File. This will show the logfile in your default text editor.

You can find one or more messages like below if you search through the log file for the text has no region:

[... INFO ]: Scenery path "C:\\MSFS\\Community\\2nxx-mountain-air"
[... INFO ]: =P=== "9379 of 11465 (81 %) [1]" "2nxx-modelLib.BGL"
[... INFO ]: =P=== "9380 of 11465 (81 %) [1]" "2nxx_Objects.bgl"
[... WARN ]: Waypoint at Pos(-170.55,-87.86,0.000000) ident EXAMPLE has no region

The problem is the scenery file above the warning (2nxx_Objects.bgl here).

Now go to menu Tools -> Options in Little Navmap and select the page Scenery Library Database. You can exclude the whole add-on by adding the directory C:\MSFS\Community\2nxx-mountain-air or only the file C:\MSFS\Community\2nxx-mountain-air\2nxx_Objects.bgl to the upper list.

Reload the scenery library and the issue should be gone.

Error reading `.../Content.xml“ on line 6 column 13: premature end of document` when loading the scenery library ▲ 🔗

Note: This issue was fixed with the Little Navmap beta 2.8 versions. See page Alex’ Projects for latest releases of stable and beta versions.

The file Content.xml was changed with the MSFS update SU10. The new and changed format will only be written if you install MSFS or if you use development functions in MSFS to reorganize the scenery package priority.

There are two possible solutions:

You can rename the file temporarily while loading the scenery library database in Little Navmap.
Use Little Navmap beta version 2.8 or later. See the main page here for announcements of beta releases.

After adding a userpoint: Error `Caught exception in file ..\atools\src\gui\application.cpp line 83 what UNIQUE constraint failed: userdata.userdata_id` ▲ 🔗

Note: This root issue was fixed with the Little Navmap stable version 2.8.8. See page Alex’ Projects for latest releases of stable and beta versions.

This is related to a bug that appeared in Little Navmap version 2.8.0.beta. The userpoint database has inconsistencies.

Do the following to fix this:

Export all your userpoints as CSV file from Little Navmap main menu -> Userpoints -> Export CSV. Disable Export selected entries only and Append to an already present file. Leave the other option as is.
Rename the file C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ABarthel\little_navmap_db\little_navmap_userdata.sqlite (file locations on other operating systems are documented Little Navmap User Manual - Databases). Do not delete it to have a backup.
Import the CSV from 1. from main menu -> ‘Userpoints’ -> Import CSV.

Note that this also removes all undo/redo steps from the database.

The error should not appear again.

After importing userpoints from CSV: Error `Caught exception in file ..\atools\src\gui\application.cpp line 83 what UNIQUE constraint failed: userdata.userdata_id` ▲ 🔗

This is a bug in Little Navmap which appears after importing a second userpoint file into a previously empty database. It will be fixed with Little Navmap version 2.8.13 (not yet released).

There are two possible workarounds:

Import the first CSV file and restart Little Navmap. The second import and all following should succeed now.
Manually add a userpoint after importing the first CSV.

Loading of the scenery library database takes a long time ▲ 🔗

First exclude the main folders of Little Navmap from anti-virus scanning. Anti-virus can significantly slow down reading the scenery library.

Therefore, it is recommended to exclude the following directories from scanning:

Disk cache for map tiles: C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\.marble\data
Scenery library and userpoint databases\ C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ABarthel\little_navmap_db

These directories do not contain executable files and are accessed frequently by Little Navmap.

Do the same for you flight simulator scenery libraries:

X-Plane: Custom Data, Custom Scenery and Global Scenery (X-Plane 12 only).
MSFS: Community and Official\\One Store or Official\\Steam.
FSX and P3D: Scenery and Addon scenery.

Alternatively you can exclude unneeded folders in Little Navmap from scanning by adding them in option on page Scenery Library Database.

Is there a night or dark mode for the user interface ▲ 🔗

If you’d like to use a dark mode or night mode when flying: Enable this in menu Window -> Styles -> Night

The darkness of the map window can be adjusted in options on page Map Display User -> Map dimming in night style.

Text and/or icons appear very small on a 4k or other high resolution monitor ▲ 🔗

Go to menu Tools -> Options and then to page Display and Text. Check Enable high DPI monitor support and restart Little Navmap.

How can I make the map window bigger ▲ 🔗

there are several options:

Close the search window and/or close search options in airport search (three lines or “hamburger” button). These take a lot of space.
Undock the search window, i.e. remove it from them main window and/or close it. Normally not needed while flying anyway. I have it only open for flight planning.
Undock the map and move it to another screen if available.
Take the search window and drop it on the progress window. This will create a window with search and progress tabs at the bottom.

Here are some tips for undocking (Ctrl-key, etc.) and moving around in the interface: Little Navmap User Manual - Dock Windows

How can I make the map window larger ▲ 🔗

The issue is similar to the one above.

It’s usually the search window which keeps the map from expanding. Disable all unneeded search options in the “hamburger” drop down menu on the top right in the airport search. Do the same for navaid search.

Additionally undock the search window and let it float. Since the search is usually only needed for flight preparation you can close the search dock window when flying (Alt-1). You can always open it quickly by hitting F4.

I cannot resize a dock window ▲ 🔗

Freezing dock windows. Try one of the following:

Main menu -> Window -> Reset Window layout
Double click on a window title to undock it, i.e. bring it into floating state. Double click again to put it back. Resizing should be allowed now.

Another reason can be the search window taking up too much space:

Switch around in the search tabs or undock and dock one back by double clicking into the title bar.
Undock the search window and let it float. This dock window is very expansive and squeezes other docks into the corners even when search options are disabled.

The map moves jerky or I see stutters in Little Navmap while scrolling or zooming ▲ 🔗

You might have selected too many details. Go to main menu -> View -> Details -> Default Detail.

I cannot remove a traffic pattern, a holding or measurement lines ▲ 🔗

You have to right-click on the hotspot and select Remove ... from the context menu.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Mouse Click Hotspots for more information.

Map is fuzzy and not updating ▲ 🔗

This can have several reasons:

The server for the online map is down. These are free services where I have no influence on availability. Wait a few hours and they are usually back.
Your internet connection is broken or your firewall forbids network access for Little Navmap.

Map background is black ▲ 🔗

Something went wrong when installing Little Navmap. Most likely the directory data is missing.

Can I run the program on another client computer across the network ▲ 🔗

Yes. You can even mix different systems like using macOS for Little Navmap and Windows for flying. The client computer does not need a SimConnect or simulator installation at all.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Network Setup in the manual.

Can I see the program when running FSX, P3D, MSFS or X-Plane fullscreen ▲ 🔗

You can not. But you can:

Use an old second monitor for the map before throwing it away.
Take an old and slow notebook and use it in networked mode. Little Navmap is happy with 2 GB of ram and there are options to speed up map display. This notebook can run Linux or macOS. Have a look at the manual here: Little Navmap User Manual - How to run a network Setup
Run the simulator in seamless window mode. Then you can Alt+Tab between applications.
Try one of the tools mentioned in this thread: Avsim - littlenavmap in vr.

The map window is not visible or shows only a gray surface ▲ 🔗

This can happen for various reasons (like a crash) or if you change the option Little Navmap User Manual - Allow to undock the map window in the options dialog.

Use menu Window -> Little Navmap User Manual - Reset Window Layout in the main menu to clean up the window layout.

Where is the options menu item on macOS ▲ 🔗

Options can be accessed in the application menu Little Navmap -> Preferences.

I get a message complaining about an unidentified developer on macOS ▲ 🔗

First move the extracted archive out of the folder Downloads. Then right click or Ctrl+Click on the application and select Open. Confirm the dialog to run the program.

You probably have to enter an administrator name and password once. The program can be started normally after this procedure.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Installation - macOS and Safely open apps on your Mac.

Cannot run Little Navmap or Little Xpconnect on macOS Catalina or later ▲ 🔗

A new security feature in macOS forbids the execution of unsigned libraries or apps.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Installation - macOS and Safely open apps on your Mac.

Alternatively, you can download the tool Mac OS - CleanUp Quarantine Flags from x-plane.org, place this in the X-Plane base folder and run it to clean up the flags on all plugins at once.

To open “Little Navmap” you need to install Rosetta ▲ 🔗

Little Navmap (unlike Little Xpconnect) is not compiled to run natively on Apple Silicon. You need to install Rosetta. The impact on performance is negligible. See How to install Rosetta.

X-Plane shows a warning or error message after trying to load a flight plan in the stock GPS or FMS ▲ 🔗

See the user manual for more information about these issues: Little Navmap User Manual - FMS Export Issues.

A pop up window says my versions are not compatible Little Xpconnect needs to be updated ▲ 🔗

Pop up window says my versions are not compatible and I need to upgrade Little Xpconnect despite having the latest Little Xpconnect installed.

There is probably an old version of Little Xpconnect installed wrongly somewhere in your X-Plane plugins path. Maybe it was installed accidentally in the plugins base path without the Little Xpconnect folder structure.

Check if there is another folder with the Little Xpconnect executable (win.xpl, mac.xpl or lin.xpl depending on operating system) around or if the file is stored in the plugins folder on the top level.

You can see the path of the (wrongly) loaded plugin in the X-Plane plugin manager.

Weather in X-Plane does not match what Little Navmap displays ▲ 🔗

The X-Plane weather interface is limited.

Little Navmap can only read the X-Plane 11 METAR.rwx and global_winds.grib files as well as the X-Plane 12 Output/real weather folder for weather information. Only the nearest weather report for an airport is available in some cases.

There is no information available how and if X-Plane interpolates weather between stations. Therefore, the nearest weather and even the station weather might not match.

Little Navmap shows an error message about file `.../X-Plane 11/METAR.rwx` or directory `.../X-Plane 12/Output/real weather` does not exist ▲ 🔗

Little Navmap reads weather information the file or directory and either one is missing. This can happen if you never have used X-Plane with real weather.

Start X-Plane once using real weather as a workaround. Note that you will get wrong weather indications if you used X-Plane with real weather some time ago and stopped doing so.

Functions that trigger access to X-Plane weather files:

Menu Weather -> Airport Weather Source -> Flight Simulator
Menu Weather -> Wind Source -> Flight Simulator
All Flight Simulator boxes on options page Weather

I get an error message about missing directories when loading X-Plane scenery ▲ 🔗

You have Read inactive Scenery Entries: disabled in the scenery loading dialog and X-Plane’s scenery_packs.ini contains stale entries. Fix this by restarting X-Plane which will remove the old entries.

You might as well enable Read inactive Scenery Entries: which will cause Little Navmap to ignore scenery_packs.ini and read all. See Little Navmap User Manual - Load Scenery Library Dialog.

Airports missing in X-Plane scenery after reloading ▲ 🔗

If you have Read inactive Scenery Entries: enabled: Restart X-Plane so that it can update the scenery_packs.ini.

See Little Navmap User Manual - Load Scenery Library Dialog.

I still see an older AIRAC cycle in the Scenery Libary menu for X-Plane ▲ 🔗

You have to reload the scenery library in Little Navmap after updating the navdata in the simulator. Little Navmap will show the correct cycle and navdata after reloading.