No "Start Couatl for MSFS" shortcuts

[westbros]

Hi. I have just spotted on the GSX Pro manual that there are supposed to be shortcuts for "Start Couatl for MSFS" - one a desktop icon and the other from the Windows Start menu under FSDreamTeam. I have neither. My only way to restart Couatl is through the tray icon (which is a faff when flying in full screen), or by running the Couatl .exe file from File Manager. What do you suggest?

Another question - the manual shows the GSX menu in blue and yellow, but mine is in grey - is there any way to change to the more colourful version?

Thanks.

[virtuali]

Shortcuts are created by the FSDT Universal Installer so, if you lost them for any reason, reinstall it.

My only way to restart Couatl is through the tray icon

You are not even supposed to restart the Couatl engine, because since several versions, there's an auto-restarter (Couatl64_boot.exe) which is now the one MSFS starts automatically, and it will automatically restart Couatl in case it crashes in flight, so you don't have any reason to restart it from the Tray icon.

If you want to restart it normally (not because it crashes), you do it from the normal GSX menu.

Another question - the manual shows the GSX menu in blue and yellow, but mine is in grey - is there any way to change to the more colourful version?

It was changed to grey long ago, following this user suggestion:

https://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,29006.msg188831.html#msg188831

Currently the menu colors are: msfs2020 blue for service requests, and yellow for the menu title. These colors give a look of children's play and are not to my taste.I would very much like to change these colors to replace them with gray like on P3D. This will give a much more professional and less gamy look.

[westbros]

When you say "reinstall it" I assume you mean GSX, not the Universal Installer? If I reinstall GSX should I back up all of my GSX profiles? Is there an easy way of keeping a note of all the airports where I have excluded GSX jetways (I have a lot), or will I simply have to exclude every one manually after reinstalling GSX?

I haven't lost the shortcuts - to my knowledge I have never had them. It's all very well you saying that Couatl should start or restart automatically. But my experience is that Couatl doesn't always start when starting MSFS. Or even if it does the GSX main menu doesn't load and the "wheel" continues to spin. I have tried restarting Couatl from the Tray icon, but that still doesn't fix it.

Thanks.

[virtuali]

When you say "reinstall it" I assume you mean GSX, not the Universal Installer?

Of course I meant the Universal Installer, my sentence didn't include any reference to GSX:

Shortcuts are created by the FSDT Universal Installer so, if you lost them for any reason, reinstall it.

So, the subject of this sentence the "it" refers to, is the FSDT Universal Installer.

I haven't lost the shortcuts - to my knowledge I have never had them

Yes, you had them and you lost them, the are created when installing the FSDT Universal Installer. The only difference is they USED to point to the Couatl64_MSFS.exe, now they point (if you reinstall the Universal Installer) to the restarter utility, the Couatl64_boot.exe instead.

But my experience is that Couatl doesn't always start when starting MSFS.

It always does, unless something blocked it, like an antivirus.

Or even if it does the GSX main menu doesn't load and the "wheel" continues to spin. I have tried restarting Couatl from the Tray icon, but that still doesn't fix it.

Of course it will fix it, just close the Toolbar icon, select Restart, and wait a bit more to give enough time to restart it, it will always work.

Note that, the CHANCE for the menu to get "stuck" on Loading, will be significantly lower, if you use the menu as suggested in the manual, that is closing it from the Toolbar menu when you are done with GSX. Doing so won't result in MSFS trying to open it automatically on the next session, which is a cause for it being stuck.

[westbros]

Thanks for the clarification. I was aware that "it" technically referred to the Universal Installer, but I had assumed that the shortcuts would be generated from GSX, not the Universal Installer. I have now reinstalled and the shortcuts are there. I still maintain that I have never seen them before, but anyway, problem solved.

I have now added exclusions to my internet security software, so hopefully that will prevent a repeat of the Couatl issues.