Double Installation? - DazConnect vs Install Manager
aograi
Posts: 653
Hi
I have already installed all my stuff via Install Manager. But when I open Daz 4.9 - and check in Smart Content - Available - some products to be installed via Daz Connect - when you peer at the information - it indicates not installed.
So I thought hey it is not installed... so I started clicking on a few. I noticed it creates a seperate library to house all these Daz Connect stuff, while the original content is still loaded in the My Library file. But in Smart Content - these products are greyed out... as though not installed. Does this mean that I should do away with Smart Folder?
Please advise as to what I should do.
I do not want to have several of the same copies! Takes up too much space in my Hard Drive!
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Personnaly i prefer Daz connect for my studio content. DIM has search options to hide the installed connect data in the list, so you don't end up with double installations
At this time i have the following setup:
- Daz Connect folder (Smart content/ Virtual folder in the content library), all content available via daz connect.
- My library Folder for the DIM content that is nog availble in Daz Connect (plug ins etc).
- Poser content folder (DIM poser filter) for use in Poser and Carrara (not added in Daz Studio)
- Daz studio/Poser content folder for content from other stores
Recently i rebuild all my content folders this way and this works for me. By doing this i "saved" about 70Gb on disk space on double installed content.
Also i noticed for several products. That there are differences (additional) files between DAZ connect and the same product from DIM.
For example:
N.G.S Anagenessis 2-Revelution -> DAZ Connect contains an extra folder ("high key" options ) in the dim package this folder is missing.
It seems to me the, DAZ connect content is better up to date then the DIM content.
Hi Jerham,
Thanks... I see what you mean. The thing is using daz connect installation means we have to be always online?
I am trying to reduce CPU usage and trying to keep only minimal programs open. My CPU tends to heat up easily when 3D render is taking place. I just dont want to burn up another GPU... burnt one already after taking it to extremes! lol!
Hope you can elucidate this point.
Yaz
If an item is isntalled by DIM it can still be installed via Connect, but shouldn't need to be - the thumbanil should be in colour, double-clicking the product should open it to show its files rather than launching the Connect installation. If that isn';t happening, as is the case for a few users, then soemthing is wrong along the route from DIM to the Content Management System to DS and, regardless of how you eventually choose to install your content, that needs fixing.
No, you don't need to be online to use Connect-installed content - with Connect you need to go online at least once, to confirm the account, and anytime you choose to download and isntall content (rather than using DIM or getting the offline installers from the product Library page on the Daz site), but otherwise you can work offline.
Not much to add but a screenshot of those software and plugin products you may still need the DIM for:
Everything else can be installed directly inside DAZ Studio.
The more product licenses you purchased the more difficult it becomes the find specific selections of products in the DIM.
-> Directly in DAZ Studio you have a lot more search and filter options to install only selections of your products with DAZ Connect.
Example:
Install only products by one artist
compare:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/69942/guide-how-to-search-for-your-content-inside-daz-studio-4-9#latest
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And official information:
Smart Content
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/interface/panes/smart_content/start
Results View (Products)
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/interface/panes/smart_content/products_page/results_view/start
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So let me see if I understand this ... DIM and DAZ Studio don't "talk" or interact with/to one another? That is, DIM only does things its way and DAZ Studio needs thing to be another way to to avoid duplicates? (There's duplicates showing up in my Content windows and I have no idea which one to delete or even if It's better to just shrug my shoulders and just put up with this waste of bandwidth and diskspace). These duplicates started showing up when I started doing the connect installs -- because these items had the top left icon for needing to be installed. And now there's indicatons that depending on if the thumbnail is black and white indicates the product isnt' installed, but if it's in color it has been, but still can be installed via DAZ-Complicate, I mean Connect in order to get the selected product updated -- but only if one is logged in.
This whole connect thing makes the rules for Fizzbin* simple in comparison.
Are there examples of a bad install path(s) and ones of a good (i.e. the way DAZ wants it) path? I've not done any customization to my DAZ folders -- Just used the defaults as given in DIM and DS, but it seems that they aren't good enough... right?
It seems that ol' Install Manger is on its way out, if that's the case, I wish DAZ would just put on their adult-pants and admit to this and things would be simpler for the end-user. And if DIM is not being phased out, at least update it to help make things easier for the end-user when it comes to DAZ Connect.
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*FIZZBIN -- a card Game that Capt Kirk invented in the Original Trek series "A Piece of the Action." for those who don't know. :)
If the top-left arrow icon shjows that means the item can be downloaded with Connect - in which case the Connect isntall will be used in preference to the DIM install - but it doesn't mean you must install that version. As long as the thumbnail is in colour the DIM install is working and can be used. If it isn't then there's a problem.
4th generation figures and the SubDragon can't be installed with Connect.
They did update DIM -- they added the ability to filter on "Connect Available" and "Connect Installed".
Thanks for this bit of info. Wasn't awarre of this. The user community here is great. I've gotten more useful info from the community than from official sources. FYI @Fixmypcmike, you've been very helpful in other threads I've lurked on and your clear and direct answers are so very welcome to me and others. So thanks again.
Thank you for clarifying.
Never noticed because I personally "vaulted" characters and figures older than Genesis 3.
The clothing is available though and works fine with autofit.
Maybe it would be easier for new customers if only content would be sold in the store that can actually be installed with Connect?
But I guess it is still to early to suggest such a thing because "V4 is still popular and all that..."
That filter system still does not seem to be fully working as expected.
Experienced users may be able to work around this by using Connect Available and Connect installed and then hide those products.
New users may end up using "Not connect available" and then still install products file versions that they actually would not need to install...
Example:
VUE, .obj files etc may not be able to be installed with connect. But you also do not need to install them at all and can still download the Connect version with studio...
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More detailed problem description:
Request #219558
Current status May 2016:
added to the bug tracker for further investigation
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In any case what I allready suggested back then was:
"For new users the DIM should only show the files to download "Software" and "plugins".
For new users the DIM should not show any files that they could also download in DAZ Studio with DAZ Connect directly."
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So my suggestion for new users remains
- stay away from older content for Generation 4, 3, figures (Victoria 4, Michael 4 etc) until you have a basic understanding about the differences and limitations
-> Purchase generation 7 content like Genesis 3 first and learn DAZ Studio with that
- only install plugins and software with the DIM
- install everything else directly inside DAZ Studio.
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I use DIM, I like that I can please myself where I install it to; lots of choice.
I don't like Connect due to the DRM component (admitedly not many poroducts yet); and it's a database, so not keen. Some fixes can't be manages with encrypted content, and would have to wait for them to be fixed. Rarely an issue, but it's there.
I particularly don't like the shop component within Studio.
I also avoid Connect like the plague. I will not install connect products. If Daz insists on connect >> I just save money and don't buy. I would like to see DIM updated to 64bit. DIM has problems with larger libraries it slows down quite abit.
I am having a problem with Double Installation, and this thread seems to be the most appropriate way to discuss my issue. There were two things in particular in the earlier part of the thread I didn't understand.
1. jerham said:
My consideration is that I want a product to be in the DAZ Connect directory ONLY IF it is not available to be installed by DIM (ie, it HAS TO be installed with DAZ Connect or you don't get it). I'm not as concerned about the DRM of DAZ Connect as I am that Content Directory Manager does not allow management of DAZ Connect directories. You only get one, it always opens (if you include it in the content set). If that problem were solved, I'd switch from wanting to use DAZ Connect for the things I can ONLY get that way to wanting to use DAZ Connect for ANYTHING I can get that way.
So, I see the DIM options to "Filter by Tag" with "connect available" and "connect installed" but don't understand how to use those to avoid duplication.
2. Richard Haseltine said:
I think I'm one of those "few users". It seems like it "needs fixing" and I don't know how to fix it.
I purchased "Knight of Valor for Genesis 3 Males" (KOVG3M, clothing) and "Knight of Valor Poses" (KOVP, poses). In DIM, both KOVG3M and KOV are shown as installed, in a particular content directory of mine that is not the DAZ Connect directory. If I right mouse click and look at installed files, the files are there as they are supposed to be (well, the creator of KOVP decided to create a "Knight of Valor Poses" directory at the same level as the normal "Poses" directory, but the files are where the creator intended).
In DS4.9, the Smart Content tab shows both products product grayed (KOVP is a placeholder, KOVG3M is a grayed product thumbnail) on the "All" tabs. KOVP is also grayed on the "Installed" tab and KOVG3M is grayed on the "Available" tab. On the Content Library tab, I can find the Wardrobe and Accessories of KOVG3M under my content directory's "People->Genesis 3 Males->Clothing->Knight of Valor" path. If I right mouse click on any of those Wardrobe or Accessories and select "Show Asset in Smart Content->Products", it's a one-way trip to a grayed KOVG3M thumbnail. If I select "Show Asset in Smart Content->Files" my left column really looks like it would be the right place, but I get a popup "The chosen products could not be found with the current filtering options <OK>" even though "Filter by Context" is not checked and the text filtering box is empty. Also on the Content Library tab, I can find the Poses of KOVP under my content directory's "People->Genesis 3 Males->Knight of Valor Poses" path. If I right mouse click on any of those Poses and select "Show Asset in Smart Content->Products", I get to the pose, but the thumbnail for the product remains a gray placeholder. If I select "Show Asset in Smart Content->Files" the behavior is the same popup as KOVG3M.
I also bought "Moonlit Moonshine's Drive-In" by Jack Tomalin. This is duplicated. DS4.9 sees the entire product - not grayed out - in the DAZ Connect directories, but I can also find it in my Content Directory by using the Content Library tab and browsing the path "Environments->Architecture->MS_DriveIn". If I hover over one of these files, I see it's in my Content Directory but if I right mouse click and select "Show Asset in Smart Content->Products" it takes me to the DAZ Connect version of teh product.
What's the fix?
If it has to install with Connect it won't show in DIM at all.
Try uninstalling and reinstalling - it may be that the files were simply not entered in the CMS (that can happen, for example, if DS was closing down -and taking PostgreSQL with it - as DIM was starting).
Where in the Content Library are you seeing the items? If under Daz Studio Fomrats>DAZ Connect that is expected. The items will also appear in Smart Content if installed by DIM, so I'm not sure what are seeing that seems wrong when you righjt-click and select Show Asset in Samrt Content>Products
I don't know how to report the problems I'm having now. I uninstalled and re-installed, and you'd think that would just get you back to where you were, but I'm in a much worse situation.
1. I now get a popup when I start DS 4.9:
Movie Maker: Data file(s) were not completely loaded. Please check the log file for details. <OK>
The relevant lines in the log file say something like:
2017-05-12 14:15:32.441 WARNING: MovieMaker Error: Can't locate icon directory for scene "CircularHall (Show)" in file "D:/Program Files/DAZ 3D/DAZStudio4/resources/DreamLight/MovieMaker/MovieMaker_CircularHall_Show.xml"
2. I need a legend to decode what the icons and colored dots mean in ContentLibrary->Products. I get yellow dots, red dots, blue dots, white dots on the corner of the icons, and in many cases the color product icons for DAZ purchased content aren't showing up (I was used to the icons being exclamation points for non-DAZ purchased content). But, several of these are completely brand new, and the log file displays errors like:
2017-05-12 14:15:42.665 WARNING: cloud\dzcloudtasknotifier.cpp(178): Could not adjust thumbnail path from support path: /Runtime/Support/DAZ_3D_3551907586784-1_Knee_Boots_For_G3F01197063.dsx
3. When I go to KOVP and KOVG3M in ContentLibrary->Products, the icon on the left hand side is as expected (color product icon or grayed placeholder), but all of the Wearables, Materials and Accessories are double exclamation points. (see attached). Same with my "Knightly Barding" product.
So, this may be getting a little afield of annoying duplicates - I've now broken my system and other than uninstalling, I have no idea what could have done it.
How do I get my system back?
To be clear, what I uninstalled and re-installed were two sets of items in DIM:
1. KOVP and KOVG3M
2. All DIM installed products that were tagged "cloudinstalled"
Please post screenshots showing your current paths in Daz Studio (Edit>Preferences>Content>Content Directory Manager) and DIM (click the gear icon at top-right, then the Installation tab).
I've attached those screenshots.
Those look OK. What happens if you right click on the item in DS and select Browse to file location?
1. Fixed this. I had to uninstall and reinstall all of the Movie Maker products, including the software piece. DIM thought this product was installed, but the "Installed Files" link in DIM was not showing hyperlinks for some of the Movie Maker products.
2. This isn't fixed. I recently noticed "Knee Boots" is NOT DAZ-purchased content. I'm getting this warning for several non-DAZ-purchased ZIP files. It's funny, but they all begin with "K" and I did notice an error I made using Content Packaging Assist where a non-DAZ-purchased product had the same ZIP file with two different names in the DAZ download directory. I uninstalled all the ones producing the warning, deleted the duplicate ZIP that was my CPA error, and reinstalled them. I'm still getting a warning, but it's only in the log file and does not affect using the products.
3, Fixed this. I uninstalled and reinstalled "Knightly Barding", KOVP, and KOVG3M.
I don't know if there is an automatic way to discover which products are indicated as being installed but don't actually have all the files installed. I guess if a file looks like it's missing in DS4.9 but DIM thinks the product is installed, use File Explorer to break the tie, or use DIM "Installed Files" to see if there are hyperlinks for everything.
I've gotten off topic of the original thread, but I just discovered that the overwhelming UNINSTALLED content problems I was having were particular to how I manage the hard drives on my system. I need to write a little system check utility that can run when I reboot my system, but I don't think the UNINSTALLED content problems were created by DAZ.
More on the DUPLICATED content problems once I straighten this out...
Oh WOW... I am so sorry I lost my way in this thread of discussion... Now I have decided to allow only Daz Connect to install some of those free stuff. But as regards the DIM - it just does not work on my system and I have yet to discover where or why. Daz Support are at their wits end too.
Worst still recently I tried out the new Daz Central - BUT upon installation of the program - my Smart content stuff all disappeared! So after all the checking and reinstalling - not working - I finally made a breakthrough! Well, the program was looking for CMS to fill the information which was lacking! It seems to have been taken from it usual location to another... my Local C: Drive/ProgramData/Daz 3D/cms
So I opened my Daz Studio Program and hit Edit/Preferences
Preferences floating menu will appear - Just look for CMS Setting CLICK it!
Cluster directory will be missing - and you will need to click the Arrow Down and Browse.
YOU will find your cluster in - Local C: Drive/ProgramData/Daz 3D/cms
After that a BLUE button will appear in the Smart Folder with the words CMS written - click it - you can now login and reinstall metadata via the small icon at the top of the smart content (Click an icon with triangle and lines) find Content DB Maintenance.
Hope this helps.