FSDreamTeam forum
Developer's Backdoor => GSX Backdoor => Topic started by: GerdD on May 25, 2013, 05:11:38 pm
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Hello,
how can I avoid building the GSX Airport Cache? For example on KDFW.
Had installed GSX but de-installed again. Obviously there is still some
functionality left somewhere. How can I de-install GSX completely?
Many thanks
Gerd
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how can I avoid building the GSX Airport Cache? For example on KDFW.
You are not saying which airport cache you are referring to: the FSX one or the GSX one ? Both are only rebuilt only when you made a change in the Scenery Library.
Had installed GSX but de-installed again. Obviously there is still some functionality left somewhere. How can I de-install GSX completely?
The problem is not surely caused by GSX but, instead (if you are referring to the GSX airport cache) but something else, like a permission problem in your user account OR some other add-on that is creating new sceneries on the fly each time you start FSX, and this will of course force an airport cache rebuild, we heard reports about the existence of such add-on, but I couldn't remember the name.
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I am referring to the GSX Cache.
How can GSX still cause some activities
if I have not installed it anymore?
If I de-install a product, I can expect that
it´s completely gone.
How can I eliminate these activities?
Thanks
Gerd
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I am referring to the GSX Cache. How can GSX still cause some activities if I have not installed it anymore?
If you still see the message about GSX updating its own cache, it means you haven't uninstalled it. Perhaps you remember to have uninstalled it, but you reinstalled it afterwards, or your Windows registry had a problem with the uninstaller entry, so it didn't uninstalled anything.
Try to reinstall GSX and Uninstall immediately thereafter, this should surely remove it. Of course, keep in mind that uninstalling GSX, you'll lose several scenery features (like docking systems, for example)
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Are the Docking Systems not part of the Airport?
Why am I loosing them?
Gerd
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Are the Docking Systems not part of the Airport?
Yes, and no...
Before GSX was released, we had a more basic system to handle docking system, that we called ParkMe. It was basically GSX in its infancy, and it was included with each scenery, adding a bit on each scenery download size, and since it was still a separate system, after GSX was released, we had to maintain two different systems that did the same thing, which is a bit cumbersome and confusing for users too, because those with just the scenery, should use ParkMe, while those with GSX will surely want to use the more powerful GSX.
Considering GSX is free to use at our sceneries, it doens't make much sense to keep maintaining ParkMe as a separate system so, in the last two sceneries installers we released ( CYVR and KJFK V2 ), the scenery installer itself don't include ParkMe and docking systems anymore, they appear only if GSX is used.
This makes for smaller installer, a more streamlined system, which is both easier to maintain for us, and less confusing for users, that will only need to learn GSX, and forget about ParkMe, and GSX has also the ability to self-update.
This means, GSX should now be considered as being a required part of all our sceneries in a separate download, right now only the CYVR and JFK V2 installers rely on GSX to have docking systems, but it will happen soon for all the other products, the first chance we have to update their installers.
It's much better and more reliable this way, it would be silly if we had to force everyone to download every scenery installer again (or make separate patches for each one), if we had to update a single docking system model which happens to be in use by several sceneries at the same time, way better to include everything related to parking in GSX, and eventually use its Live update feature whenever possible.
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Hello Umberto,
still fighting against GSX.
Have re-installed and de-installed GSX again as recommended by You.
After de-Installation GSX Cache disappeared. However also the Airport-buildings
from FSDT-Airports disappeared. Have then re-installed the Addonmanager which
brought the Airport buildings back. Unfortunately it brought also the FSX-Cache back on Airports
which where never involved by GSX.
At the end of Addonmanager-Installation there came the vehicle-message from GSX up.
What has the Addonmanager to do with an un-installed GSX?
Please let me know how I can get rid of creating the Airport-Cache without loosing the
buildings from fsdt-airports. How can I manually de-install GSX?
Thanks
KR
Gerd
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Please let me know how I can get rid of creating the Airport-Cache without loosing the buildings from fsdt-airports. How can I manually de-install GSX?
I can only repeat and confirm that, if you don't make any changes in the Scenery Library, the airport cache is NOT rebuilt.
If it has, on your system, it means your problem is elsewhere, maybe you have either a corrupted Scenery Library OR a corrupted/invalid AFCAD.
Your mistake is that you keep uninstaling GSX, while GSX is not the cause, the cause is something else, but having uninstalled GSX, you can't diagnose it.
Reinstall GSX, go into the GSX Settings, enable logging in the "Troubleshooting" menu, and post the Couatl.log file that will be created (after an FSX restart), that file might give some hint on what problem you have on your system which forces the cache to be rebuilt, even when it shouldn't.
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A Software which is not installed anymore should not act in no way.
Of course can I have scenery changes. But of course should a Software,
which is not installed. do anything based on this. If I de-install GSX
I can expect that it´s gone completely.
All I want to know is where the files are which must remain after the de-Installation?
KR
Gerd
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A Software which is not installed anymore should not act in no way.
I kindly ask you not to comment on something before we establish the true cause.
If I de-install GSX I can expect that it´s gone completely.
Yes, it's gone completely, but that's not the point. What actually rebuilds the cache is COUATL, NOT GSX, even if GSX is the one that needs it.
As I've said, if something is invalid/corrupted on your system, it's possible that Couatl is trying to "fix" the previously aborted cache rebuild, even if GSX is not there anymore. GSX is only an user of the airport cache, but it's Couatl that is actually rebuilding it, and Couatl is mandatory for all our sceneries to run.
But as I've said, several times already, the cache should NOT be rebuilt (under NORMAL conditions) each time you start FSX, but ONLY after you made changes on the Scenery Library. So, either you are really doing constant changes to the Scenery Library OR there's something wrong with some of your sceneries or possibly a permission problem in your account.
So, please, do what I've asked to do, reinstall GSX, enable the logging and post the log.
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In a growing System there are always changes in the scenery library.
Thats no reason for couatl to do anything if the changes do not involve
FSDT-Airports.
Have fixed it meanwhile by deleting the gsx-folder left in couatl-folder.
Regards
Gerd
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In a growing System there are always changes in the scenery library.
Then you might have simply said "Yes, I keep changing the Scenery Library".
Thats no reason for couatl to do anything if the changes do not involve FSDT-Airports.
It doesn't, unless there was a problem OR GSX was still installed. Which was your case.
Have fixed it meanwhile by deleting the gsx-folder left in couatl-folder.
Yes, of course, by removing GSX folder, GSX won't ask Couatl to rebuild the cache anymore, but the GSX folder should have been removed when you uninstalled it, because the uninstaller removes it.
If you installed the Addon Manager or any other FSDT scenery and the GSX folder reappeared, it means you did that when GSX wasn't uninstalled, so the folder was updated by the Addon Manager, which updates only folders for add-ons that are found to be there already because their folder is found to be there.
This means, there was no problem whatsoever in GSX, the only reason for the cache rebuild was that you keep changing the Scenery Library (if you said so initially, it would be just easier...) AND you still haven't uninstalled GSX, because its folder was still there.
As I've said, since it's now clear the "problem" wasn't GSX and there was nothing to "fix" in the first place, because all those cache rebuilds were triggered by your constant changes to the Scenery Library (and besides, if you change just a scenery, it shouldn't take more than 1-2 seconds to rebuild), we are back to my initial explanation that if you don't install GSX, you'll lose several scenery features, which requires GSX to be installed, so you can now reinstall it, since there was no "problem" with it, it was always working according as it was supposed to do.
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Can´t follow this strange argumentation.
It sound´s to me that the most important thing
is pretenting that it is not a gsx problem.
If I de-install gsx and a folder what should be deleted
is left, from my point of view this is a programming fault
not properly handling the de-Installation.
De-installing for me means removing everything what has
been previously installed. That was not the case.
KR
Gerd
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..just to complete..
The de-Installation has been done via the normal
programlist in Windows.
If GSX disappeared from this list it could be assumed
that everything is fine. If there is still a folder left
it is too simple to blame the customer.
KR
Gerd
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It sound´s to me that the most important thing is pretenting that it is not a gsx problem.
That's obviously the first thing that is sure. There not even a "problem" to begin with. The cache SHOULD be rebuilt, if you keep make changes to the Scenery Library, this is how it supposed to work. You make it sound as if it was a problem, but it's not, and it would have been clear if you simply said you WERE changing your Scenery Library constantly.
If I de-install gsx and a folder what should be deleted
It is, but the real explanation is a bit more complex than that.
is left, from my point of view this is a programming fault not properly handling the de-Installation.
It's not left by the Uninstaller. Try it again. Install GSX, and uninstall it, you'll see the GSX folder WILL be removed. But read below, because it's not so simple as it sounds...
De-installing for me means removing everything what has been previously installed. That was not the case.
That's not entirely true either.
Standard Uninstall procedures (which all installers programs are based on) dictates a proper uninstaller should remove ONLY things that were installed by its related installer.
This means, if the GSX folder was installed by the GSX installer, the GSX Uninstaller will remove it.
If the GSX folder, instead, was installed by another installer (for example, the Addon Manager that has *updated* the GSX folder because it found it to be there already, or any other scenery installer which ran when GSX was there ) the GSX Uninstaller will not remove it, because it was put it there by another installer.
These are not our own ideas of how uninstaller should work: these are the default behavior of any uninstaller, it's not that we make a list of what can be uninstalled: it's made automatically by the installer software (Inno Setup in our case)
Only by adding custom code to the Uninstaller, it's possible to remove something that wasn't installed by the original Uninstaller.
Which is exactly what we have, in the final question of all Uninstallers: "Do you want to remove the Couatl scripting engine ?", which clears up everything, regardless who installed it.
If this sounds confusing, it's not, and it's a side effect of the fact that we have different products that are linked together, and with a self-update feature too so, not all files related to a product are always installed by the same installer, but other installers that might affect/being affected, install them to, which is why no single Uninstaller can really "uninstall" everything, because of the above standard Uninstall policy (which is standard for every Uninstaller routine), and we need that final ""Do you want to remove the Couatl scripting engine ?" question to reset everything in case one would want to start from scratch.
Again, it all boils down to my initial explanation, that you shouldn't consider GSX to be a separate product, but it's rather an integral part of all our sceneries, just in a separate download, for obvious efficiency reasons (if GSX files were included with all sceneries, they size would grow up for no reason), so it's assumed you always keep it in sync with the sceneries installations, so you update them all together, and you remove it all together.
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OK. I give it up.
From my point of view GSX is bundled to tight with your Airport sceneries.
Therefore, I will not buy those ones in future anymore. I also will not update them
to ensure I still can use AES. This prevents me and you from future trouble.
KR
Gerd
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OK. I give it up.
Have you done the test I've asked ? Reinstall GSX and the Uninstall it immediately. You'll see the GSX folder WILL be removed.
From my point of view GSX is bundled to tight with your Airport sceneries.
In reality is exactly the opposite: BEFORE we had all set of GSX/Couatl files included in the airport installers, because what we included was almost everything that makes GSX, except GSX specific animations like people, etc. This would have resulted in the GSX code being ALWAYS removed, because it was installed by every product, so every product uninstaller would remove it.
It's NOW (not for all installers, only the most recent ones, CYVR and JFK V2 are made like this) that we unbundled from the airport installer, and simply suggested users to download and install GSX separately.
So, is exactly the opposite as you are thinking: when GSX was "bundled too tight" (in older installers), it was easier to uninstall, because any uninstaller had the chance to remove its folder, and when we unbundled it, making it an OPTIONAL (although suggested) download, the ability for all products to be self-updated, makes it more difficult to uninstall because it's now a shared component, which means it would be wrong to have it uninstall it automatically, but it must be asked to the user, which is exactly why there's a question about its removal at the end.
I also will not update them
Again you are missing the point: whenever you run their installer, they'll self update anyway and guess what, the things that self update themselves, are exactly the Couatl/GSX code, and the Addon Manager.
But that's not the point. The point is WHY you wanted to get "rid of " GSX in the first place, and initially you make it sound as if there was some "problem" with it, with unjustified airport cache updates.
THEN, you said that it should be considered normal to keep update the Scenery Library, so this means YOU were triggering such cache updates, because this is how it's supposed to work. But of course, this reasoning doesn't have any grounds because, if you REALLY are updating your Scenery Library, as you said you are, even the FSX own cache will update too!.
Which means, the "problem" of annoying cache updates because of frequent changes to the Scenery Library you wrongly attributed to GSX, would appear exactly the same by FSX itself so, using your reasoning, you should stop using FSX itself, because even FSX updates its cache each time you make a change to the Scenery Library, that's why it's wrong wanting to remove GSX *because* of that problem.
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I had re-installed it and de-installed it. And the Folder was not removed.
Thats what I am talking about all the time. Obviously You ignore what
should not be. Therefore i do not like to continue this kind of discussion.
This Forum should be a Helpdesk. And it should not be assumed that the
customer is stupid and the product is perfect. I have payed money for 8 FSDT Airports
and I expect that I can use them as usual. Independent of GSX. No less, no more.
KR
Gerd
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I had re-installed it and de-installed it. And the Folder was not removed.
That's not what's happening here.
Thats what I am talking about all the time. Obviously You ignore what should not be. Therefore i do not like to continue this kind of discussion.
I haven't ignored that, quite the opposite: I've said it doesn't happen, which obviously mean I've put attention that what you said! Of course, before telling that, I made a test, not that I wasn't sure, but you never know...And yes, I confirm that if you Install GSX and Uninstall it, the fsdreamteam\gsx folder WILL be removed.
Well, more precisely, every file that does what you reported (which is the Airport cache update) WILL be removed. If your GSX *installer* wasn't the latest version, it's possible the FOLDER might still be there, containing something that was updated online AFTER your GSX installer was released.
But this will NOT result in the problem that you reported, because you might still have some airport-related .PYE file, but NOT the main GSX file that does what you reported as a problem (which wasn't a problem to begin with)
Such .PYE files left there (again, because an installer will ONLY remove what *its* installer removed) will not "activate" GSX, they will only take a few kb of space on disc, but GSX will not "start" because of them, nobody will load them.
It's not the presence of the *folder* that makes GSX running, the one and only file that starts GSX is the fsdreamteam\couatl\GSX\__INIT__.PYE, and I guess THIS has been removed.
Of course, if you did what I've said, which means: installing GSX and then Uninstalling it immediately thereafter. What files, exactly, remains ? Surely not the GSX\__INIT__.PYE file, which means GSX is not starting.
Another possible reason why you might believe files were not removed, is if you are running both FSX and P3D on the same Windows installation. In that case, if you installed into P3D, you must reply to Uninstall from P3D when you run the Uninstaller, so the FSX copy will be left untouched.
This Forum should be a Helpdesk. And it should not be assumed that the customer is stupid and the product is perfect. I have payed money for 8 FSDT Airports and I expect that I can use them as usual. Independent of GSX. No less, no more.
I'm helping you, with complete explanations, that costs time and effort. But you don't seem to accept them. Want something more ? What about starting a Teamviewer session, so I can show you how this works exactly as it should ?
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I cannot accept explanations who do not help in solving the problem I had.
If You do not believe what I am telling You,
it will be an endless discussion. I also do not want to waste my time.
You can believe or not that after Installation and de-Installation
with the latest download the complete gsx-folder in cuoatl-folder will remain here.
Including the __init__.pye file! And I do not use P3D.
It is a matter of fact that somehow this constelation can happen and
You never took this possibility into consideration. You never said I could
check if this folder or file is still there. Instead You where always defending the product
and where telling me what can not be. I do not think a Teamviewer session
between both of us makes much sense cause everything is fine for me now and I
do not need any further explanations.
KR
Gerd
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I cannot accept explanations who do not help in solving the problem I had.
The explanation I've given you have the one and only purpose to explain you don't have any "problem" to begin with. As I've said, what triggers the constant cache rebuild is (according to YOUR description ) your changes to the Scenery Library.
And, this is obviously a FACT, if you change the Scenery Library, FSX WILL REBUILD ITS OWN CACHE TOO, REGARDLESS IF GSX IS INSTALLED, so your "problem" is not a problem in the first place: if you don't like a cache rebuild, even if you keep changing the Scenery Library (which is what you said), this is what FSX does, with our without GSX.
If You do not believe what I am telling You,
I've done way more than this: I offered you to CHECK your system directly, to prove you what's happening and why.
You can believe or not that after Installation and de-Installation with the latest download the complete gsx-folder in cuoatl-folder will remain here. Including the __init__.pye file! And I do not use P3D.
No, it doesn't. I'm fairly sure of that, because I've obviously tried it, just before replying to you. Installing GSX, the Uninstalling it, REMOVES the GSX files that allows GSX to start, they might left the folder there, but without the __INIT_.PYE, GSX will not start.
I do not think a Teamviewer session between both of us makes much sense cause everything is fine for me now and I do not need any further explanations.
A Teamviewer session would simply prove the __init__.pye WILL be removed, and it was ME that offered to do it, and It's YOU that are refusing it, and this is of course quite telling: while I'm sure the uninstaller uninstalls GSX, it would be still interesting to know WHY it doesn't on YOUR system, which obviously means I believe you, but that doesn't mean the installer is "at fault", just there might be an unknown factor in your own system, which might prevent the uninstaller to work as it supposed to do, and by refusing to do a session, you are doing good to nobody, because you would never discover a possible issue with your system, and you are preventing us to eventually fix a problem that might be similarly happen to another user.
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This Forum should be a Helpdesk.
??? Getting an actual person is 900X better to personally offer support and answer your questions directly. Especially with such promptness!