During this update phase many files of GSX Pro had to be updated. This surprised me because the latest updates where already installed.
That's normal, of course, because when you uninstall the FSDT Universal Installer, the uninstaller removed all files which were added during its own installation. So, if you saw lots of files being updated, it was normal, they were updated, they were restored.
However, if you REALLY saw many files in the GSX Pro package (in the fsdreamteam-gsx-pro and gsx-world-of-jetways packages ) being updated, this is NOT normal because, if you already had GSX Pro fully updated before, it's not normal files from it would be updated again so, either of these is valid:
- you made some mistake when copying/renaming
OR
- your antivirus blocked the updates in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Addon Manager, so your GSX wasn't really updated, but it's not on the new folder, so you finally got the updates you should always had.
When the update had finished, the cursor indicated (with a turning blue circle) that the FSDT Update program seemed to be waiting for something. Also the text ‘Update 1 selected’ was present in the FSDT Updater and did not disappear although, in my opinion, the updates already where finished. I stopped FSDT Update by Exit.
It's not very clear when you stopped the update, exactly. If you stopped it before it completed linking the packages, the program won't work.
I started MSFS but GSX Pro was not available. I could repair this by using the Unlink/Link functions to update both symbolic links in the Community folder. GSX then appeared to function normally.
Fact you said you could fix this with Relink seems to indicate that yes, you stopped it before it completed the linking.
This didn’t surprise me because just copying data doesn’t change the various references I detected in the registry.
There aren't any "various" references in the registry. The one and only reference that matters when the location of the Addon Manager is changes, is ONE, and it's the "root" entry, nothing else matters if only the location changes. You can be sure THIS registry entry IS REMOVED when you Uninstall the FSDT Universal Installer, and you can be sure IT IS set to the new destination when you install it again, this is done by the FSDT Universal Installer setup, NOT by the program itself, so it has no relationship with the previously discussed issues with Link/Unlink.
I solved the problem eventually by uninstalling and reinstalling of both GSX for FSX and GSX Level 2 Expansion in the standard way, so without using the FSDT Installer.
It's not as if you have any choice about that. You simply CANNOT install GSX for FSX and GSX Level 2 Expansion using the FSDT Installer, this is abundantly clear from the installer itself, which will give you a very clear message about having to do exactly that ( installing using the FSX/P3D installers ), and won't even let you install any FSX/P3D product.
The FSDT Installer cannot install FSX/P3D products, it can only keep them updated.
In both cases (as expected) the products could only be installed in F:\Addon Manager.
Of course. This indicates the registry key for the Addon Manager location WAS set correctly by the FSDT Installer, when you uninstalled it and then reinstalled it. I had no doubt about this...
I noticed that after uninstalling both products, the FSDT installer shows the status of both products still as Installed???
For the same reason the FSDT Installer cannot *install* FSX/P3D products, it cannot really detect their full installation status, because it doesn't really go into a proper check that is only relevant (and it's even *very* different from FSX, P3D up to 3 and P3D4+) to those simulators, the proper Installation status is only meaningful for MSFS products, because they are the only ones the FSDT Installer is designed to work as "An installer".
So, in this case, having GSX Pro installed in MSFS, would indicate it as installed in FSX/P3D as well, even if it wasn't really "installed", because we don't really act as an Installer (which includes properly detect an installation) for FSX/P3D.
Also the busy indication of the cursor and the text “Update 1 selected” were present again. After each restart of the FSDT Installer, the same situation occurs. The Installer wants to update FSX Pro but I wonder why?
You are assuming that "Update 1 selected" is a suggestion to update or an indication of the update status or the lack of an update. That's not what that buttons means, What that buttons indicates is one thing only: how many products will be updated OR checked, in case you pressed it. It doesn't mean xx number or products NEED an update!
It works like that for the only reason that, in the installer, IT IS possible to select multiple-individual products, by CTRL+Click each one, for example if you want to check for updates of, let's say, GSX Pro and PHNL for FSX, you CAN do that, and if you are using multi-selection that way, the button will read "Update 2 selected" in that case, because you have 2 products selected, which can be also noticed by looking at their background to be in a lighter color.
If you want to KNOW if a product NEEDS an update, it's not done using that button (which is only relevant to differentiate between a single selection and a multiple selection), instead, you need to look two things:
- The installed version number compared to the latest (online) version number
- The Update button on each product, which will read "Check" or "Update", depending if the version numbers matches or not.
This way, even without looking at the version numbers themselves, you can see at a first glance which products NEED an update: those with their Update button showing "Update".
If an Update button shows "Check" instead, it means that, since the version numbers are matching, as far the installer is concerned, you SHOULD have the latest version but, you are STILL allowed to run a Check, which will check all files, one by one, for their integrity and to be sure they are all the latest version, and to restore any file that might have gone missing/corrupted, something that might not be obvious from "just" looking at the version in the manifest.