HNL Add-on Buildings Missing **SOLVED**

[virtuali]

And I do have the current installer, but it's still the same.

What do you mean with "the same" ? That's precisely what is supposed to happen, when the scenery is in Trial mode. So, if you bought it, you just have to activate it with your Serial Number.

[James8133]

I did activate it. When I went into the add-on manager, it had said that it was activated. However, I'm not understanding why I'm still having this problem?

[James8133]

Would you like me to post a screenshot of my add-on manager so you can see what I'm looking at?

[virtuali]

I did activate it. When I went into the add-on manager, it had said that it was activated.

Is still saying so now ?

[MTN1794]

Did you buy the scenery?  If you did not buy it the buildings will disappear after several minutes.  If you bought it they buildings should be there.

[James8133]

Yes, I did buy the scenery. I figured out what the problem was. I had to update my AES from Aerosoft, and now it works. What I don't understand is why it wasn't working before I updated it?

[bravotango]

I too am having this problem of no buildings and so far can't fix it.
Finally dragged kicking and screaming into dealing with windows 10 because my old PC failed so I upgraded to an ACER gaming machine
with a top graphics card.
My main concern was to run FSX so I stupidly installed FSX on the data disk which is 1TB.
Installing it on the SSD was out of the question as it is only 120GB.
That did work but I could not get couati to register my fsdreamteam Honolulu scenery and also the buildings at PHNL were not visible.
It would accept my registration key but then do nothing and leave me in trial mode.
So I had an idea to change the root directory for FSX to the one on my old drive which I have installed on the ACER (can't boot from it).
Changing the path was easy using the FSXRegUtility.
Somehow starting FSX on the old drive worked like a charm and couati generated all the registration keys and installed them in my home folder
during the FSX start up.
However this was never going to work as I would have to fix numerous registry items for too many addons so back to the FSX on data disk.
To try to fix the problem I uninstalled PHNL and both Hawaii sceneries and GSX then the addon manager and pretty sure all registry items were fixed.
I still have the registration keys in the home folder.
I thought to only install one scenery at a time so I installed the addon manager and PHNL.
Now when I boot FSX there appear to be two instances of addon manager running.
One tells me that I am in trial mode and the other tells me PHNL is installed and activated but of course no buildings, just loading docks and lots of cars.
Maybe two instances of addon manager are running because one is installed in H:\Program Files (x86)
and there is another in H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsdreamteam\couatl.
I can see the two instances in the FSX screen under "Addons" and can select either of those buttons.
What to do?

[virtuali]

Maybe two instances of addon manager are running because one is installed in H:\Program Files (x86) and there is another in H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsdreamteam\couatl.

That seems to indicate that you installed something using an OLD installer (one that installed into the sim) AFTER you installed something using a more recent installer (one made after June 2017, which installs into any folder you like).

- Uninstall everything from FSDT. Reply YES to the question "Do you want to remove the Addon Manager "?

- Reinstall everything from FSDT using ONLY the current installer.

[bravotango]

Thank you for the quick response.
But before I do that I just found I have two couatl items in the FSX.cfg file:
H:\Program Files (x86)\Addon Manager\couatl\couatl.exe.okwqqtqhzzteihqckazwatokckkozhzceitzacln=1
H:\Program Files (x86)\Addon Manager\bglmanx.dll.qzneauuqlktooqinqawhtehrbzweuztluzibnbow=1
H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsdreamteam\couatl\couatl.exe.ecnzwlitltqkolieqarnzrircociqtwikwazazkh=1

I would bet this is the culprit but which one to delete without messing everything up. I know what the bglmanx.dll is so that's OK.
I might delete the first one and see what happens.

[virtuali]

I would bet this is the culprit but which one to delete without messing everything up. I know what the bglmanx.dll is so that's OK. I might delete the first one and see what happens.

Nothing in your FSX.CFG is telling you anything strange or unusual or wrong. The [Trust] section you posted simply contains the HISTORY of all executable modules ever trusted, even long ago. Fact you have two entries for Couatl.exe, simply means you trusted it twice, and it was located in two different places when you did, but that doesn't mean there's a conflict, or the sim is now loading it twice.

You would have to look at the EXE.XML to know that, which lists the modules which the sim will try to load NOW.

In any case, ALL our entries (bglmanx.dll and Couatl.exe) in the [Trust] sections would have been removed if you replied YES to the question "Do you want to remove the Addon Manager ?" (and the same question about Couatl, if the uninstaller asked for it), which is why I told you to do that so, there was no need to worry about cleaning up the sections FSX.CFG, because the procedure I've suggested precisely does that.

Not that it was required to run the modules, but since some users mistakenly *refuse* to trust the modules and forget they ever did so and then wonder why the modules don't start, the above procedure it's an easy way to undo all of that and start again, without having to edit the FSX.CFG manually. This wasn't your case, since the 1 number means you *have* trusted the modules on both occasions, and it was working fine.

[bravotango]

I have just reinstalled the addon manager. It is the latest version 3.0.0.15.
It found FSX OK in the data disk and tells me it will be installed in that directory.
It was the same I used last time but this time it did not install the extra file in the Programs(x86) directory.
I booted FSX without any other addons just to make sure there was only one instance of addon manager.
Then installed Honolulu. Damm the buildings are there but in TRIAL mode.
So I put the serial number in manually keeping fingers crossed.
Went into addon manager a second time and PHNL is activated.
Looks like I installed it twice before or didn't properly uninstall it.
Going to get another drink now. Thanks for this lovely scenery.

[virtuali]

It found FSX OK in the data disk and tells me it will be installed in that directory.

What do you mean with "that directory" ? The FSX directory ?

It was the same I used last time but this time it did not install the extra file in the Programs(x86) directory.

What do you mean with extra file ? The bglmanx.dll ? Yes, the current version won't install anything in the root of the sim. If you choose the root of the sim anyway, it will create an "Addon Manager" folder INSIDE, putting all our stuff there.

While this is working, it might not be a good idea to install into the sim. And, if you are being offered the same folder as the last time, but greyed out with no chance to change, it means you haven't replied YES to the question "Do you want to remove the Addon Manager ?" when Uninstalling.

Replying YES to that question, will clear the previous choice from the registry, allowing you to eventually select a different one on the next install.

[bravotango]

Yes I had an extra instance installed in H:\Program Files (x86) and that is gone now so that's is why everything is working.
Only one legitimate file is in the FSX folder. I also saw the buildings just disappear again but used the Couatl button to refresh the buildings so that's nice to know.

[bravotango]

Sorry, I shouldn't have celebrated too soon. I booted FSX a second time and the two buttons titled 'Addon Manager' are still there.
No matter what I do I can't get rid of it. One of these instances gives me the OK but the bad one over rides that and gives me the five minute trial.
I uninstalled everything again and reinstalled and the same thing happens. There is a Couatl.exe in H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Addon Manager which is installed by the latest downloaded setup_addonmanagerX.exe.
Then when I install PHNL there is another Couatl.exe in fsdreamteam folder.
I tried to beat it by forcing an install of the addon manager into a fsdreamteam folder before installing PHNL and that seemed to work as I could only find one copy of Couatl.exe but I still get the two 'Addon Manager' buttons, one that likes me and one that doesn't and the one that doesn't like me wins every time.
I think I'm about to throw in the towel on this one.

[virtuali]

There is a Couatl.exe in H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Addon Manager which is installed by the latest downloaded setup_addonmanagerX.exe

If you mean the H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Addon Manager\COUATL folder, then yes, it's correct, if you selected the FSX folder as destination, which is possible, but not a very good idea. Yes, it will work, but why you want to install into the sim, now that you are given the chance to install everywhere you want ?

Then when I install PHNL there is another Couatl.exe in fsdreamteam folder.

Sorry, but that's not possible. Every current FSDT installer will place a Couatl.exe into the SAME folder, which in your case will be:

H:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Addon Manager\COUATL

No other copies of it are placed by our installer. Not that this is relevant about your "double Addon Manager" problem. First, because Couatl.exe is NOT the Addon Manager (that would be bglmanx.dll) so, if there was really a problem caused by a double file, you would have seen two Couatl menus, not two Addon Manager menus.

As explained many times already in the forum, the ONLY possible reason why you have two Addon managers, is that you are continuing to install using OUTDATED installers.

"Outdated" installers means anything we released before June 2017. So, to fix everything, do EXACTLY this, don't skip ANY steps:

- Uninstall EVERY fsdreamteam product from the Program and Features section of the Windows Control Panel. If you installed the Stand-Alone Addon Manager ( "Virtuali Addon Manager" in the Control Panel ), remove that one too.

- Be sure you reply YES to every question like "Do you want to remove the Addon Manager?" and "Do you want to remove the Couatl scripting engine ?" made at the end of the installer.

- Check the files have been really removed, especially the bglmanx* files in the main FSX folder. If they haven't, that's not normal of course, and can only be caused by you forgetting to reply YES to the question about removing the Addon Manager and the Couatl scripting engine while uninstalling.

- Download and install the CURRENT installers for all FSDT products you have. Be sure you don't use the OLD installers, ever.