The Installer

Install & update manager — Six Walls

The Installer is the easiest way to get Six Walls software and keep it up to date. It reads sixwalls.net/catalog.json, works out which Six Walls plugins and apps are already on your machine, and shows what has an update available — and what changed in it. Unlike a lot of installers, it does not run in the background: it checks only when you open it, and never on its own.

Installing

Download from the Applications page on sixwalls.net.

Windows — run the signed installer (Start Menu + optional Desktop shortcut, a normal Add/Remove Programs entry). No .NET runtime install is needed.
macOS — run the signed, notarized .pkg; it installs Six Walls Installer.app to /Applications. Signed and notarized means it opens with no Gatekeeper warning.

The app itself never asks for admin rights. Only the product installer it launches on your behalf elevates — through its own manifest on Windows, or Installer.app's own prompt on macOS.

How detection works

Per product, from the catalog's own record of how that product identifies itself on a machine:

Windows — the product's own uninstall registry key (the same one Add/Remove Programs reads), falling back to reading a VST3 bundle's own version file directly for a portable/manual install with no registry entry.
macOS — there is no registry equivalent, so a VST3 plugin is detected by reading its bundle's own Info.plist version, at /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ or the per-user equivalent.

A product with no way to detect it yet — either because it has no installer, or because it has not shipped an install record for the OS you are running — shows as not detectable rather than not installed. That is a statement about what The Installer can currently see, not a claim you do not have it.

Getting a product, or updating it

Click Get it (or Update) on any product's card. The Installer:

Downloads the right file for your OS to a local cache folder.
Checks its size and sha256 against what the catalog published.
Checks its platform signature — the Authenticode chain on Windows, or a notarized Developer ID signature on macOS — for anything the catalog marks as signed. This is a second, independent check: a sha256 match alone would also pass a compromised catalog entry pointing at a re-signed or unsigned file.
Runs it. The product's own installer takes it from there, including asking for admin rights if it needs them.

A file that already passed both checks is not downloaded again if you click Get it a second time.

Updates that change how a project sounds

Every release is tagged with how much it changes a plugin's sound: versioned means the DSP changed but the plugin's own version switch keeps an existing saved project sounding exactly as it did — nothing to worry about. Breaking is the one case where an existing project's sound could actually change on update; clicking Get it/Update on one of those stops for a plain confirm first, using the same explanation already shown in What Changed?, instead of running immediately.

Uninstalling

Windows only. Shown only for a product The Installer found through the registry — a portable or manual install has no uninstaller to call. Confirming reads that product's own uninstall command and runs it directly, the same as Add/Remove Programs would.

macOS never shows an Uninstall action: there is nothing analogous to a registry uninstall command to read there. Remove a plugin the normal macOS way — delete its bundle from /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/.

Add Ons

Some products have optional extras — today, The Room’s All Rooms pack. They appear as their own rows (for example The Room — All Rooms) under the Add Ons filter, and install and update the same way a product does. An add-on can only be installed once the product it belongs to is: until then its row reads “install The Room first”. It keeps its own version, so it can update on its own. New packs are added from the site’s catalog, so they appear without a new copy of The Installer.

Updating The Installer itself

When a newer version of The Installer is available it shows up as a row of its own. Update downloads and verifies the new installer, starts it, and closes this app so it can be replaced — open it again afterwards. (Versions before 1.3.2 can’t do this; download 1.3.2 once from the Applications page and it will keep itself current from then on.)

Filtering and view

The All / Plugins / Standalone / Add Ons filter and the Cards / Table view are both remembered across launches. A product's kind (plugin vs. standalone app) comes from the catalog itself, not guessed from its name.

New products

Check now also notices when Six Walls has added a plugin or app you have never seen before — it gets a NEW chip and sorts to the top of the list. The first time you ever run The Installer, nothing is flagged new; only products added after your first check are marked that way.

Rows never reorder on their own once shown: a product finishing an install or uninstall updates its own card in place instead of jumping to a different position.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What it means
A product shows not detectable even though it is installed	That product has not shipped an install record for your OS yet (see How detection works above) — not an error, and not specific to your machine.
Could not check for updates / an offline notice	The Installer could not reach `sixwalls.net`. Check your connection and click Check now again; it never retries on its own.
Download fails a signature or checksum check	The partial or corrupted download is discarded automatically. Try Get it again; if it keeps failing, your network may be altering the download in transit (a captive portal or a proxy), or the file may be temporarily unavailable on the server.
Uninstall says the uninstaller is not where the registry says	The product was moved or partially removed by hand after it was installed. Remove its remaining files manually, then remove its Add/Remove Programs entry from Windows Settings.

Credits & licences

Avalonia UI — built with Avalonia (avaloniaui.net) under the MIT license.