How to install OLD content in DS4
HabitualGypsy
Posts: 87
Sorry, if this has been answered already but the search function for the forum doesn't seem very robust; and I couldn't find an answer.
I'd like to switch over to D|S from Poser - in this case DS 4.5 from P8 - but I'm having trouble getting older .exe's to install. Specifically, I'm trying to get the V3 head and body morphs to install. Unfortunately, the installer only finds my Poser directories, not the D|S ones. Also I can't manually override (there's no option to do so).
Just to clarify a few things... first, these are 'fresh' downloads of the .exe's from my account. Second, several of the products I re-downloaded are now in .zip format but these are not. And yes it did occur to me to check for a Mac version but the ones for these products are .sit not .zip.
Anyway, I know V3 is really old and, for the most part, few people use her anymore; but I've got tons of legacy content that I still like and have little interest in investing more time & money "converting" that stuff so that it's Genesis-compatible.
So, my question is this: is there some way to get this content into DS4? Or am I better off just sticking with Poser (since I have no intention of abandoning my V3 content)?
Thanks in advance!
-Damon
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Comments
What OS? And what are the errors, if any?
I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium and I'm not getting "errors".
The installer .exe immediately goes into its routine of "Searching for Installed components...". When it's done it gives me a pop-up that says "Which copy of Poser would you like to install to:". This gives me several options (from my various Poser installs) to choose from. There are no options for a D|S installation. As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to even be searching for any D|S install.
Hope that makes it a little bit clearer.
-Damon
Is there a "cancel" button at this stage? If there is, use it — DAZ installers past a certain age don't know about DAZ|Studio and have a "search for content" routine that disagrees (sometimes violently) with any modern OS if you let it try to run to completion; I think the Windows ones run best in Win95/98 and maybe XP.
Once you've cancelled, you should (been a while since I did this myself, so I'm not sure) end up with an option to browse to a destination location completely manually, ignoring the preselected Poser Runtime locations.
Note, if you don't see cancel or browse buttons, you might be using a non-default screen text size which doesn't work well with the ancient dialog box drawing routines these old installers use — bits get chopped off the right side of the boxes, right where those buttons should be.
I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium and I'm not getting "errors".
The installer .exe immediately goes into its routine of "Searching for Installed components...". When it's done it gives me a pop-up that says "Which copy of Poser would you like to install to:". This gives me several options (from my various Poser installs) to choose from. There are no options for a D|S installation. As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to even be searching for any D|S install.
Hope that makes it a little bit clearer.
-Damon
It sounds like there is a missing step on the install process...there should be a box, before it starts looking for any installs to choose between Poser and DS. Or you are skipping over the place to choose/change the install location...
But if you have access to the installed content already on your drive, why are you installing it again?
You can, in DS map the already installed content in the Content Library.
Is there a "cancel" button at this stage? If there is, use it — DAZ installers past a certain age don't know about DAZ|Studio and have a "search for content" routine that disagrees (sometimes violently) with any modern OS if you let it try to run to completion; I think the Windows ones run best in Win95/98 and maybe XP.
Once you've cancelled, you should (been a while since I did this myself, so I'm not sure) end up with an option to browse to a destination location completely manually, ignoring the preselected Poser Runtime locations.
Note, if you don't see cancel or browse buttons, you might be using a non-default screen text size which doesn't work well with the ancient dialog box drawing routines these old installers use — bits get chopped off the right side of the boxes, right where those buttons should be.
Thanks! That allowed me to manually type in a path. I was able to get them installed, but I'm finding that I have to re-enter the path each time(!) with these installers - as well as the next gen, too. Hopefully, when I get around to installing the newer (3rd? 4th? gen) .exe's, they will retain the path info. Otherwise, this (re-)installation process is likely to get even more tedious than normal.
Anyway, thanks again!
-Damon
It sounds like there is a missing step on the install process...there should be a box, before it starts looking for any installs to choose between Poser and DS. Or you are skipping over the place to choose/change the install location...
But if you have access to the installed content already on your drive, why are you installing it again?
You can, in DS map the already installed content in the Content Library.
Yeah, the particular .exe's in question didn't have that option; they did allow you to manually enter a path but ONLY if you cancelled the search function (see my last post). DAZ has gone through probably a half dozen versions of install .exe's over the years (these were circa '06-'07 I believe) and there seems to be a unique little tweak to every generation.
As far as re-installing. I want the whole thing to be "fresh"; I want to double check the installs (within reason) as I go. Also, I HATE the way the re-map function works. IMO, multiple runtimes are a nightmare. I want all my content in one place, in a logical hierarchy that I can verify quickly and easily.
The file management approach was one of the main reasons I ditched D|S originally (about 6 years ago) and started using Poser. The D|S paradigm was just too convoluted - duplicate folders and such all over the place... too cluttered. Unfortunately, I'm finding that while the new file management approach (D|S 4.5) seems to be a huge improvement over the old, there's too much emphasis on "smart content". I find that most things labeled "smart" couldn't be further from it. So far D|S 4.5 seems to be off the mark when linking figures to their related content.
Of course, you may be thinking, "Why are you even bothering to use it then?" Two reasons: first, the idea of Genesis intrigues me and I'd like to use the character natively as opposed to the Poser conversion. Second, I'd like to try out some of Toon shaders. I haven't had very good luck with "cel shading" renders in Poser and I've heard/seen that D|S does it pretty well... with the right add-ons, of course.
Thanks for the help, though!
-Damon
Odd — are you sure there isn't a "browse" button to the right of the box you type the path into? I was sure even the V3 vintage installers allowed that. I have stuff that old (even older), but it's been quite a while since I last needed to run their installers.
Also odd that you have to do it every time. I always install to one of two or three temp folders first, and I soon realised after a couple of repeats the temp location I was using came up as one of the choices. I think it gets stored in the registry somewhere.
Odd — are you sure there isn't a "browse" button to the right of the box you type the path into? I was sure even the V3 vintage installers allowed that. I have stuff that old (even older), but it's been quite a while since I last needed to run their installers.
Also odd that you have to do it every time. I always install to one of two or three temp folders first, and I soon realised after a couple of repeats the temp location I was using came up as one of the choices. I think it gets stored in the registry somewhere.
The browse button doesn't show up if the system fonts are set to larger than the default size - though hitting tab with the cursor in the entry box, then space to press the button usually works..
There is a browse function. But I still have to start from scratch (at My Computer) and work my way to the DAZ folders every time. I guess that's what I meant by enter it "manually". That's been my experience with this (re-)install - at least with the older installers that "search" for a path by default.
When I've done other installs over the years, they would "remember" any path I'd chosen. But unfortunately, this time, the older "vintage" .exe's seem to only recognize Poser runtimes. It's not the end of the world... just fairly inconvenient. The fact that I'm waiting to install most of the content until I want to use it kinda helps.
Thanks again for the feedback - I'd be dead in the water without it!
-Damon
PS I just realized I could probably put the path in a .txt file and copy & paste as needed. Of course, it's still an extra step - but not quite as bad as clicking through a half-dozen folder levels with the "browse" option.
I've been recovering some very old Meshes/Models from the Free Resource Discs that used to come with ImagineFX; Like their very cool Free Eastern Dragon.
This method I found on Rendo seems to work.
"Windows 7 has a different folder structure. You will have to report this to Daz and wait for them to give you a fix. That is if you can not create a dummy folder set up on your desktop and install there. If you try that just make sure you have the runtime setup inside your dummy folder. ...Regards, Tom
Then just move the assests to your Rendo Runtime with-in DAZ like you would any Poser based import.
older installer is "TARGETED DECOMPRESS"
create a "folder" any where you want and select manualy "target"
then go to the "folder" and copy manualy at any library of your choice you want
to use predefined path on decompress, check your Daz. "ini"
> edit "ini" and keep only one path
Which products specifically are you trying to install? I'm assuming https://www.daz3d.com/victoria-3-0-body-morph-pack and https://www.daz3d.com/victoria-3-0-head-morph-pack . I appear to have both of them in the newer zipped runtime format, not the old .exe installer format, which would sidestep any .exe installer issue you might have, but you indicated that even on a fresh download you were still seeing exes. Is it possible that you are still looking at one of your original files and you just overlooked one of your new downloads? Or that DIM somehow gives something different than the files you get from a manual download? Or maybe there's something in a bundle that's different? You should be able to get these two from your content library:
IM00001106-01_Victoria30BodyMorphPack.zip
IM00001100-01_Victoria30HeadMorphPack.zip