As I previously stated: I got the Add on Mgr. update from the website and installed as instructed, pushing "next" until it was completed. THAT is when FSX no longer started.
I'm sorry but, if this is happening, these are the only possible causes:
1) You haven't really pressed "Next", but "Cancel" instead
OR
2) You weren't launching the latest Stand-Alone Addon Manager but, maybe, an earlier version
OR
3) You *really* had a BRIEF connection problem, but that fixed itself WHILE the installer was running. This resulted in a mix-match between files from the old version and the new version, some that were successfully installed and some that weren't and this WILL cause FSX to QUIT (not crash) on start.
Note that, an antivirus might cause this, it might block the Addon Manager .DLL (mistakenly thinking it might be a threat), but let pass the accompanying .DAT files to be installed, and this will cause a mix-match to.
THEN I did a total recovery of my hard drive, and that's when I could once again start FSX and use GSX.
Well, if instead of taking so much time to do a recovery, you contacted us before doing anything, we would explain how to have FSX starting up properly in no time, because the reason for the problem is quite clear: files from different versions were mis-matched, due to one of the aforementioned reasons, and this would have been very easy to check and fixed.
Of course, restoring from a backup has downgraded everything so, any mis-match was fixed, but of course the easiest way should have been fixing the mis-match using the *current* version which, as I've said, would have been very easy, with your help. BEFORE doing something drastic like a complete restore, ALWAYS contact support, either by forum or by email. Do we have some kind of reputation for "slow" responses ? Don't think so...
So now, if I click on the update banner it just disappears and nothing happens, just like before.
What do you mean with "click on the update banner" ? The update notification, which present itself as a transparent menu, has several CHOICES, what choice you selected which was ignored ?
Since you are starting from a backup, I guess you are prompted to do a MAJOR upgrade, which means downloading and installing the Stand-Alone Addon Manager.
So all I am hearing is to repeat what I did in the first place, which most likely will cause the same problem, just as before.
That's what you think it will happen, based on your assumption that the update itself is flawed, which isn't the case. There IS a problem with ONE of the two mirrors, which has been blocked because of too much bandwidth, but that's why we have TWO of them!
As I've said, you have two options, and BOTH will work:
- Download and install the CURRENT Stand-Alone Addon Manager, and first check if you HAVE the "No internet connection" message. It's very possible you won't see it. As I've said, which mirror is going to be used to download is selected at random when the installer starts, so you might just not see the "No internet connection" message at all.
- Download and install the CURRENT Stand-Alone Addon Manager, and ignore the "No Internet connection" message, and press the "NEXT" button to use the files that comes with the installer. This will ALSO work, provided you are sure you are using the CURRENT Stand-Alone Addon Manager, not an older installer you might already had.