Download assistant thinks content is not installed when it is

Cubase
1

In short - when using previous versions of Cubase, I’ve downloaded sample libraries (e.g. Padshop content) to a non-standard location (D:\sample-libraries\Steinberg\Content\), which I set correctly in Steinberg Library Manager. But when I open Steinberg Download Assistant, it thinks that content is not installed at all, and shows ‘Install’ buttons for all of it.

I tried the suggestion here - https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/14319516236690-Moving-VST-Sound-Content - of “Registering VST sound content from an already existing target location”, but the Library Manager just reports that the content is already registered. It is just the Download Assistant that fails to recognize this.

If I click ‘Install’ in the Download Assistant it will redownload the content and place it in the ‘Downloads’ directory (C:\Users\MyUserName\Downloads\Steinberg), leaving me with a lot of wasted disk space. Choosing ‘Delete Downloaded Files’ from the Assistant removes those files but marks the whole library as uninstalled.

Can anyone tell me how to fix this, as it seems clearly broken.

(Download Assistant is version 1.39.3. Library Manager is 3.2.71.322. OS is Windows 11.)

2

The Steinberg Download Assistant is… how to say it politely?.. stupid. AFAIK the SDA looks for the presence of certain files which are unnecessary for the individual products to run. If these files are gone the SDA thinks the product ain’t installed anymore. It doesn’t really keep track of what is installed. There is no entries in the Windows registry or something.
My SDA display is all over the place.

3

I think to really check whats installed, at least content or library wise, use the Steinberg Library Manager. It should have installed with Cubase. It ACTUALLY checks to see if the vstsound files are where they should be. As far as the apps, you might need to manually check and install as needed.

4

Ah, in that case, I’m not all that concerned. I was just worried that I’d missed something or done something wrong for Download Assistant to be unable to track the installed files, but if it’s known to be unreliable, I’ll ignore it, deleting ‘downloaded’ files which aren’t in my actual sample library directory. Thank you.