Author Topic: Move Addon Manager for FSX and MSFS  (Read 982 times)

JaapV

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Move Addon Manager for FSX and MSFS
« on: July 06, 2023, 07:18:52 pm »
Note: in the text below GSX stands for GSX for FSX including GSX Level 2 Expansion, and GSX Pro stands for GSX Pro for MSFS.

For some years now I’m using GSX. FSX and GSX are both installed on drive F. I noticed then that there are 2 folders named Addon Manager. One is located on drive C (3,9 GB) and the other one is located on drive F (46,1 MB).

Now that I am using MSFS2020 I bought and installed GSX Pro. As far as I remember I was not asked for the location to put the Addon Manager folder.
After the installation of GSX Pro I discovered that the contents of the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Addon Manager had increased from 3,9 GB to 13,3 GB. Since I want to keep the C: drive as small as possible, I want to move the contents of the Addon Manager folder to drive F and then delete the folder on drive C.

I apparently did something wrong during the uninstallation because I didn’t receive the question "Do you want to remove the Addon Manager?" nor was it possible to uninstall the FSDT Universal Installer because it was missing from the Windows Control Panel???
Luckily I had created and restored an image copy of the C and F drives so I can run the uninstallation procedure again.

To properly perform the uninstallation procedure I have a few questions:
1.   Even though GSX is already installed on drive F, I probably need to uninstall GSX as well. Am I right?
2.   Should GSX be uninstalled first (via the Windows Control Panel) or GSX Pro first?
3.   After having uninstalled all FSDT products I will first install the FSDT Universal Installer (so I can determine the location of Addon Manager). Does the order in which both GSX products are reinstalled matter?
4.   Can I reinstall GSX using the FSDT Universal Installer?
5.   Is, after reinstallation of both products, all GSX and GSX Pro data stored in the Addon Manager folder on disk F instead of in the folder on disk C?
6.   Can I delete the folder Addon Manager on disk C after reinstalling the GSX products and if not, why not?
7.   Suppose I do not get the message to uninstall the FSDT Universal Installer (which causes to delete the location of the Addon Manager folder in the registry), should it be possible to delete that data in the registry manually so the newly installed FSDT Universal Installer will ask for the location of the Addon Manager, and if so where can I find this data in the registry?

Regards,

JaapV

virtuali

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Re: Move Addon Manager for FSX and MSFS
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2023, 12:23:36 pm »
I apparently did something wrong during the uninstallation because I didn’t receive the question "Do you want to remove the Addon Manager?"

This is entirely normal, because that question was only made in the FSX/P3D version of the installers. Now the saved preference for the Addon Manager location is cleared automatically and with no question when uninstalling the FSDT Universal Installer from the Control Panel.

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nor was it possible to uninstall the FSDT Universal Installer because it was missing from the Windows Control Panel???

That shouldn't happen. The actual uninstall is a file named unins0xxx.exe in the Addon Manager folder.

What normally happens if that file is missing (usually after a manual removal), is that the first time you go in the Control Panel, you WILL see the entry, but if you double click to start the uninstall process, Windows will realize the entry is now orphaned, and will remove it from the Control Panel.

So, it seems you tried moving on the new drive before going to the Windows Control Panel, so the entry has been cleared, because it couldn't find the old uninstaller in the previous location, because you moved it. This, or the antivirus might have removed the uninstaller .exe, there are no other possible reason for having the entry missing in the Control Panel.

Of course, if you reinstall the Universal Installer again in its previous location, its uninstall entry will be restored, so you can run the uninstaller normally, which will clear up the saved location from the registry.

The easiest procedure to "move" an existing FSDT installation without uninstalling everything is:

- Uninstall the FSDT Universal Installer from the Windows Control Panel. THIS will clear the saved location, with no question asked.

- Move the Addon Manager folder to the new drive\folder

- Reinstall the FSDT Universal Installer and point the installation to the new drive\folder

- Run a Live Update to be sure any files that might now missing or outdated will be restored.

JaapV

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Re: Move Addon Manager for FSX and MSFS
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2023, 07:43:28 pm »
Many thanks for your reaction.

I have performed the actions you described:
1.   I uninstalled the FSDT Universal installer.
2.   I copied (not moved) the contents of C:\Program Files (C86)\Addon Manager to F:\Addon Manager.
3.   I renamed C:\Program Files (C86)\Addon Manager to C:\Program Files (C86)\XXXAddon Manager just to check that this folder should not be needed anymore. The contents were not deleted.
4.   I reinstalled the FSDT Universal installer.
5.   I ran a Live Update of both GSX versions using the FSDT Installer.

During this update phase many files of GSX Pro had to be updated. This surprised me because the latest updates where already installed.
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.

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.

After starting FSX, GSX appeared not to be available. This didn’t surprise me because just copying data doesn’t change the various references I detected in the registry.
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. In both cases (as expected) the products could only be installed in F:\Addon Manager. I noticed that after uninstalling both products, the FSDT installer shows the status of both products still as Installed???

At the end of the installation process of both products, the FSDT Updater was started automatically and updated GSX Pro for MSFS again??? 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?

Finally my problem, to move all GSX data from disk C to disk F is solved now but one problem remains: what should I do to solve the situation in the FSDT Installer?

Regards,

JaapV

PS. The text “Update 1 selected” doesn’t give any information about which product should be updated. I suggest to add that information in some way with the concerning product in the list.

virtuali

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Re: Move Addon Manager for FSX and MSFS
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2023, 04:28:04 pm »
Quote
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.


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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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.

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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.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2023, 04:30:59 pm by virtuali »