Same thing here: I haven't been able to do a single download since I upgraded to 2.9.8.
I can't believe it is just a message thing: I used to see requery messages, but I could download more often than not.

Xavier

btw: I'm kind of angry too because now I have the upgrade popup when I start up lw. I paid for lw (ok, it was some time ago) and now I get a popup on startup no matter what: I don't upgrade -> it says I should, I upgrade -> it says I should pay.