Used DAZ Install Manager -- my products appear in Content Manager list -- I click on them and thumbn
rnollman
Posts: 310
Used DAZ Install Manager to install my products. I ran DAZ Content Manager and my products appear in Content Manager list . OK so far, but then I click on them and thumbnails do not appear -- nothing happens. Why are DAZ products so inconsistent? The Install Manager obviously thinks it installed my products because they do appear in the Content Manager window list. I have not idea what is wrong. The Install Manager has worked pretty much flawlessly in the past. Now it does not seem to work.
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Did you install PostgreSQL CMS? Have you tried re-importing metadata?
You have got to be kidding. Either the Install Manager works or it does not. I am not going to become a database administrator because the DAZ Install Manager does not work. It has worked fine before, maybe it is broken and DAZ does not want to admit that it is broken. If it is broken, then they should fix it.
DIM is not broken, most people use it with no problems to speak of. However it was updated, fairly recently, to replace the older Valentino Database with the newer PostgreSQL
In Mike's sig line you can see a link to a Doc about PostgreSQL CMS
DIM does not communicate with Studio in any direct way. You must tell DIM where your Studio content library is if you do not use the default location. The CMS (Content Management Service) failing is not a direct problem of DIM nor should it be viewed as DIM being broken. You should be able view and use all properly installed content from Studio's Content Library tab.
So, to clear things up. DAZ's upgrade to a PostgreSQL Content Management System has nothing to do with my problem. Correct? There may be issues that result from this updgrade for users because Install Manager is having trouble putting the content in the correct place on my machine. If that is so, then I suspect there is a patch that DAZ Support will point me to. I think what has happened is that since their upgrade to PostgreSQL, I have not used the Install Manager. I will have to wait and see what DAZ support has to say.
So far I have not received any replies in the Commons forum that would solve the problem.
I did take a look at the link recommended in one of the replies pointing me to information on things I can do regarding the upgrade to the new CMS, but it was very complex and involved steps that I would not even attempt to perform because the potential for screwing up my machine and my interaction with DAZ programs forever are very real. I really do not think (IMHO) that recommending average users to do any of this is a good idea. Much of the suggested procedures went way above my head.
I do have confidence that DAZ support will solve the problem. I recently downloaded a boatload of products that were $1.98 for Platinum users and was eager to play around with them, only to find that I could not access them through the Content Manager.
I will post the solution (if it works) so that others that may have the same problems can benefit.
DIM installs content where you tell it to, it can corrupt the CMS database if you have Studio open when installing but otherwise has no bearing on CMS. If you can see your installed content in Studio's Content Library tab than DIM installed properly and it is your database that is broken.
What exactly do you mean by my database?
I am familiar with the file structure of DAZ products (very complex set of runtime libraries etc) and have in the old days back before DIM had to run the .exe files and hope they put things in the right directories. DIM has been a godsend until now.
Is that what you mean by my database? I am trying to get my head around the idea of there being some database on my system I do not know about. To me, it is just a set of files stored in a specific place in a specific order. My understanding is that what DIM does is run a program, an executable, that puts the files in the correct places on my machine (the default location) where all my other files are that the Content Manager knows about so that I can access the content that I have bought. That has worked in the past. Why it is not working now is a mystery to me as is the discussion of the old and new databases.
If the database that you are referring to got corrupted, what would cause it to be corrupted?
I have not used DAZ for quite a few months now and the last time I used it, things were working perfectly. I was able to use DIM to download and install my products and access them in the Content Manager. Life was good. And the DAZ products are incredible. And I can move them to Bryce which is another great feature of DAZ Studo.
If my database were corrupted, then why was I able to access all my other products? Why would only my new products be affected?
And, if my database was fine before I used DIM to install these new products, why wouldn't it be possible that DIM somehow put the files in an inaccessible place? I did not change anything related to DAZ since my last use of DIM. I certainly did not change the default location. Perish the thought.
That sounds very much like database corruption. Remember that in the Content Library pane, "DAZ Studio Formats" and "Poser Formats" show the actual files on your hard drive, while Products, Categories, and the Smart Content pane show entries from the CMS database.
Assuming you haven't created your own categories or tags and don't use Carrara or ZoneAlarm:
1) Make sure DAZ Studio is closed
2) Use DIM to install "PostgreSQL CMS"
3) In the Installed tab in DIM, click the "Products" box to select everything, then right-click on an item and choose "Re-Import Metadata > All Selected".
4) Launch DAZ Studio and see if the problem is fixed.
OK. Now we are getting somewhere. I did not realize that I could install the new Postgres CMS using the DIM.
That makes alot more sense to me and is pretty cool
when you think about it.
Also the point that you made about the Content Library showing actual files and
the Products, Categories, and the Smart Content showing entries from the CMS database.
Interesting...
Now, some questions before I do this:
Do I need to select all my content to make the transition? What happens if there is a screwup?
Could I lose all my content and have to reinstall everything which would be one hell of job?
Can I backup if there is problem and go back to where I was before I installed the PostgreSQL CMS?
As I understand it, the Valencia CMS does not go away. It stays on your machine until you delete it.
When you say, use DIM to install PostgreSQL CMS, how will I specify this to DIM? What do I type in where?
The database is not the content files, the two are stored separately. The content files have always been installed to the right place (or at least, where DIM has been told to put them, which should be but isn't always the same thing), but the installers also include metadata for each product that the CMS uses to build the database. These database functions are completely independent of the DIM, all it does is unpack the metadata files, then when you next start D|S the CMS kicks in and processes the metadata to add to the database. (This seems to have been one of the weaknesses of Valentina; if you installed new items with D|S running, it was a matter of when, not if, the database ended up corrupted.)
That's correct.
It should show up as an item to be downloaded and installed -- if it doesn't, go to the "Ready to Download" tab and click on "Download Filters", and make sure "Software" is checked. There will also be an item called "PostgreSQL CMS from Valentina CMS Conversion", but since your Valentina database is probably corrupted I wouldn't bother using it.