Content (runtime management) attempting to control the beast

krickerd

Just built a new PC.  I've been partitioning my drives and would like to keep as much non Windows stuff OFF OF SSD drive (C) (my Windows partition) which only has about 200GB free.  It may sound like a lot but it goes fast.  I haven't installed much of my content yet but it seems that some things such as Genesis 2 Essentials (G2E), if installed through the Smart Content CMS will install it on C.  I presume that this is because that is where DS is installed.  I noticed that if I have DIM install G2E to drive (F), it doesn't work right. DS can't find them when I try to load.  What's worse, I don't save much space on (C) as some things must be installing there and others on (F).  If I install G2E using CMS in smart content, everything shows up as expected, with the expected space taken up on (C).  Side Note: What is frustrating is that some software DOES NOT LET THE USER choose where to install it.

Question 1): Is DS one of those programs?

Currently I have DIM installing to a folder on my hard drive partition (F), which has close to 1TB free.  Ideally this is where I would like all content installed.  I have been installing some programs onto SSD partition (E) which is about a 250GB partition - same physical drive as (C).

Perhaps I'm overcomplicating things with having several drives and partitions.  However on my old PC I've had to reinstall Windows 10 twice in the last few months.  I've already seen some buggy crap happening with Windows such as not waking from sleep mode.  Then after a reboot, my "Pin to start" icons are all gone.  Had to set them up from scratch.  So, yeah, I've got Windows paranoia...for good reason I think.

Question 2): Would it make life easier to uninstall DS and reinstall to (F) - same place I want content to reside?  

Maybe program install location does not matter as much as user data such as scene files since if SHTF, programs have to be reinstalled anyway.  Data should be separated from Windows for sure.  I installed my old data HD as well which is and has served me well.

Any input from an organization freak on this topic would be appreciated.

Sorry this is a little detail oriented and long winded.  But do you like my COLOR coding?

Mattymanx

YOu should be able to install everything through DIM and tell it where you want it to go.  I tend to leave all my programs and games installed on C Drive (M.2 SSD) because getting a new install of windows to recognize a program installed to a previous install does not always work.  I know its anoying when all of the programs have to be reinstalled but it is what it is.

 

However, I have had my content installed on my E Drive for the past 10 years.  i just have to tell Daz Studio that its there if i reinstall.  Transfering to a new drive is easy too as its simple copy and paste.  I have USB 3.1 ports on the new computer and external USB 3.1 drives that I backup to and it only takes about an hour to transfer a TB of data for me and thats inlcuding all my content.

krickerd

"YOu should be able to install everything through DIM and tell it where you want it to go."

As I stated, that doesn't work with G2E for some reason.  I believe it did work with "A Curious Hallway" I used in a test scene.  Although still the icons are installed on C for some reason.

nightwolf1982

Regardless of how you install content, you have to use the Content Directory Manager to tell DAZ where you're installing content.  Whether it's manual installation, through DIM, or even through DAZ Connect, if the content directory isn't listed in the CDM, DAZ won't find it.

krickerd

nightwolf1982 said:

Regardless of how you install content, you have to use the Content Directory Manager to tell DAZ where you're installing content.  Whether it's manual installation, through DIM, or even through DAZ Connect, if the content directory isn't listed in the CDM, DAZ won't find it.

It appears to be more convoluted and complicated than that, based upon what I'm finding.  Even when I point DIM to where I want all folders, it installs things in such a way as to not work with DS.  However DAZ connect, pointing to a folder on (C) will work.  It seems to me at this point I run the risk of screwing things up to the point that nothing will work If I change where things are pointing.  And uninstalling and reinstalling may not correct this as only the programs are uninstalled, the CDM pointing stays the same.  I may be forced to live with installing everything on C and saving scenes and other user created content on another drive.  Unfortunatley for safety sake, I may have to uninstall a few other programs, and delete the partition on my SSD. 

jestmart

DIM and Studio DO NOT communicate with one another.  If you change the install location in DIM to... F:/My 3D stuff ...for example, you need to add that location in Studio through the Content Directory Manager (not to be confused with CMS).  It is just that simple.

Richard Haseltine

Rob has a couple of sample scripts for synching DIM and DS. If you have the folders set in DIM you want

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/install_manager_config_import/start

the other one, from DS to DIM, is

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/install_manager_config/start

Note that most applications, including DS, will respect the location of your Documents folder (or your Pictures folder or whatever they use) - before installing applications go to C:\Users\YOU and right-click on the folder, seelct properties, go to the Location tab, and use the Move button to place it where you desire. With very few exceptions applications isntalled after that will use the moved folder as the base path for saving/content.

krickerd

At this point I've broken DS and don't know if I can repair it short of doing a Star Trek: Wrath of Khan style genesis on Windows and deleting my E partition.  I have a ticket open but no response as of yet.  I have uninstalled and reinstalled DS and DIM, reseting all folders to the defaults that they want, yet PostgreSQL is broken (DAZconnect does not work) and DIM crashes whenever anything is attempted download. 

IMO: Have a large Drive C and leave things alone.  It's not worth the headache of attempting to change this.

Update: Fagetaboutit - I did just that.  Started over.  It wasn't as painful as I thought.  I just built this new PC last week so there wasn't a ton of new programs anyway.  I always keep important data on a separate drive anyway.  I hadn't installed a bunch of DAZ content.  Now I can.