I bought AOE II HD on Steam. I installed Voobly last week, and now I am trying to play on Voobly. However, this doesn't seem to work. When I try to open a player lobby, it gives the message that I need to install the patch. So far, not surprising.
I click "Yes", but the download never starts. It does give the screen:

"The fix to your game installation was applied successfully. You are recommended to re-scan your game for anymore problems, you might need 5 to 10 fixes depending on the state of your game. Do you want Voobly to scan your game again?"

Still, the installer never ran and I didn't get anything to actually download. Then I clicked on the patch link, but the manual link in the message doesn't work (which this forum notes), so I looked up the right page online:
https://www.voobly.com/gamemods/mod/631/v1.5-Beta-R6/Overview

When I try to download the patch from there, it gives the following message:

"lost connection to the server" "reconnect now"
"Could not find game installation directory -- please join a lobby and run game diagnostics" (I already did that)

If I then try to "reconnect" to the server, it stays at 100% downloaded, but doesn't start the installation; my browser says the download itself failed.

Next try. When I download it manually from [You must login to view link], at the start of the installation it says: "Age2HD installation not detected", and even if I go on to install it, it doesn't work ("status: inactive" in the app list of my computer).

So the problem seems to be that it can't find the game on my laptop (which is brand new, Windows 10). However, in the right map "Program Files (x86)" => steam => steamapps => common it DOES show the map "Age2HD". Why then can't the patch detect the game?

I already did follow the tutorial, including a removal and reinstallation of AOE2 HD, which cost me my saves annoyingly enough, and it helped absolutely nothing.
[You must login to view link]
The issue again is that the download just won't start in Voobly so I am forced to do it manually, and then I still get the above messages.

Please help. I don't want to reboot my laptop or anything crazy, but I just don't know what's wrong with it. I'm going to try to reinstall Voobly as well right now.

1. Make sure Voobly is allowed through firewall or any other antimalware.
2. Redo the clean installation, but move all the files/folders from [You must login to view link] "New Folder" that you downloaded and put it into your Age2HD Folder.
3. Restart Voobly and Rejoin.
4. Make sure settings are like [You must login to view link] for best experience.

Let me know if it works!

--(This seems to be best solution for most players.)--

Due to some real life issues, I'm a bit late to respond, sorry.

So I removed Voobly and the files of the previous compatibility patch and then reinstalled Voobly (virus scanner deemed it safe).
Then I downloaded the .exe file from [You must login to view link] and saved it inside the map Age2HD folder, ran it, but it still said 'no installation detected'. I just don't know any more.

hi
try removing/uninstalling every thing aoc related including deleting the folders from programs[86]. reboot the pc.
now following this start from scratch: [You must login to view link]

https://www.voobly.com/gamemods/mod/631/v1.5-Beta-R6/Overview
that will auto install in a lobby when you enter after the above is fixed.

I've taken a long holiday, but I'm back now. I redid everything, reinstalled voobly, AoE2HD, even Steam at one point, followed the guide closely, made sure absolutely everything was deleted before restarting my laptop and installing the things again to prevent any bugs or what, it changed nothing at all. I get exactly the same messages: the patch doesn't detect my game when I try to install it and if I go to the lobby, it says I don't have the patch but still refuses to start the installation so I'm again forced to do it manually which doesn't work.

hi
so you redid this: [You must login to view link]
try direct for the patch: [You must login to view link]

I did both of those things and neither worked, that's the thing.

What is the path to your HD install?

Please run the game diagnostics and share the outcome with me. You will find this option in here:
[You must login to view link]

When I run Game Diagnostics, I get the same message as when I try to enter the lobby. Of course having Voobly install the patch (or do it myself) doesn't work, so it appears I'm back at square one.

Detailed log:

Non-DirectPlay game path is 'c:\program files (x86)\steam\SteamApps\common\Age2HD'
Verifying 'ebueulax.dll' exists...
ebueulax.dll was not found in its proper place.

Your version of the game is not compatible with Voobly.

You must install the most recent 1.0c compatibility pack for Age2HD

Click Yes to have Voobly install the patch for you.

hi
is your user account control on?