Suddenly D|S can't find Data files or Textures anywhere

Blank_Canvas

Woke up this morning to DAZ Studio being unable to load anything from my content library. All the Data files and Textures files are marked as missing despite them being there.

Making a new Content folder from the base G8F ZIP on a different drive (trying to isolate the issue) has D|S unable to even open the DUFs.

Suggestions on what to try next?

Richard Haseltine

How did you install? Are you getting any errors on launch? Do the files have their thumbnals showing?

Blank_Canvas

Richard Haseltine said:

How did you install?

For my test, I dragged the Content folder out of IM00042071-01_Genesis8StarterEssentialsFemale.zip and placed it at the top level of a drive that I knew was not acting up. I then added that Content folder to D|S after removing the few content folders I normally have.

Are you getting any errors on launch?

No errors when I launch D|S. Only errors are from when I try to load anything into the scene.

Do the files have their thumbnals showing?

Yes. The thumbails show up fine.

Richard Haseltine

So this is a manual install? Do the thumbnails have any of the metadata tags on them - "New" group, or the tags at top-right indicating what type of item they are (Actor, Wardrobe, Materials and so on)?

Blank_Canvas

Richard Haseltine said:

So this is a manual install?

Yes. I only ever do manual installs because the file chaos of the DAZ/Poser community is legendary. It is common for products to use folder names and paths unrelated to the product. The only solution is to manually install.

Do the thumbnails have any of the metadata tags on them - "New" group, or the tags at top-right indicating what type of item they are (Actor, Wardrobe, Materials and so on)?

Yes. The attached image is taken from the test Content folder I made.

 

 

Blank_Canvas

Here's a freshly generated Log.txt file in case it helps to locate the issue.

Richard Haseltine

The log doesn't help since it doesn't show any attempt to load the content, which would give the paths it was trying to look in. The fact that you have those group and ype symbols shows that the items have been added to the Content Management System, either by your importing the metadata whle using the default paths or because there is another install - for example trhough Connect - that has perhaps been (re)moved, causing the loads to fail.

Blank_Canvas

Richard Haseltine said:

The log doesn't help since it doesn't show any attempt to load the content, which would give the paths it was trying to look in.

I see. I've gone back this morning and clipped the log down to what is logged when I open an item:

 

2020-01-02 09:28:52.259 Could not open file : /People/Genesis 8 Female/Clothing/Basic Wear/Basic Wear 02.duf
File does not exist.
2020-01-02 09:28:57.222 WARNING: ..\..\..\..\..\src\sdksource\cloud\dzcloudtasknotifier.cpp(178): peer performed orderly shutdown errno=0

 

This is from the test Content manually installed on the alternate drive.

P.S. The formatting editor and displaying on this Forum is royally janky. I tried to mark the log test as code but it refused to stop putting visible HTML tags into the text.

 

 

Richard Haseltine

If yu find Genesis Whichever Starter Essentials in the Products tab of Smart Content (I think you will find it there) does it have the downward pointing triangle in  circle icon at top-right of the thumbnail?

Blank_Canvas

Richard Haseltine said:

If you find Genesis Whichever Starter Essentials in the Products tab of Smart Content (I think you will find it there) does it have the downward pointing triangle in  circle icon at top-right of the thumbnail?

Yes, it does.

The problem is that D|S has broken its connection to the base directory (and any other base directory than "Daz Connect") of the Content folder I have used for years. Something in the settings for D|S is now corrupted. Could it be in the Registery?

I have tried:

• Downloaded and installed 4.12.0.86 TWICE. No change.
• Removed the Content folder from the base directories and then re-added it.
• Created a new base Content folder and moving my content to it and adding it to D|S with no additional Content folders.
• Creating a minimalist Content folder. D|S can't even open those DUF files at all.
• Loading from the Daz Connect still works but isn't a viable choice.
• Ran DIM and discovered there was an update to DIM. Applied the update. No improvement. Checked the settings, found nothing out of place.
• Oddly, D|S finds Environment HDRI maps (yes, manually installed) used despite being in the Textures folder it cannot find. sigh
• Shaders that use textures from the Textures folder work fine.
• Loaded a Victoria 4 DUF I made many months ago. No issue at all. D|S found her OBJ and her textures from the Textures folder it says it can't find. face-palm

 

Richard Haseltine

What are the exact paths in use?

Blank_Canvas

Thanks to Kenneth O'Banion on Facebook and you, I have exorcised the problem from DAZ Studio. It was a corruption somewhere in the inner workings of D|S settings. If not for an off-site back-up service, Windows's failure to finish a copy and subsequent deletion of most of my Data folder by an unauthorized emptying of my trash would leave me spending the next few weeks reinstalling data files. As it is, I'll be merrily rendering in about 20 minutes (was 3 hours total to restore).

Thank you for your help in squashing this issue. I'd write up a solution for the next person with this issue but I had to shotgun this solution so I don't know what exactly fixed it. Again, thank you for your time and effort.

Richard Haseltine

Well, I'm glad you fixed it - I had to reinstall content after a drive failure last year and it was (and to an extent still is) a pain.