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I've had this problem off and on for awhile. Interstingly these prodcuts also seemt oa ll be ones that have no information page on DAZ. So if I click "more information" I instead get a placeholer page. Some of those with images do the same, but so far all of the ones without images go there.
I have even tried the "retrieve thumbnail" in DIM
I have deleted, re-installed, installed via dim, installed via the Smart Content, uninstalled online, offline - still these don't show up. It's frustrating because I can't see which is which.
Also for some reason I can't find a Meta folder. I install to an external drive and the user location's DAZ Studio folder on my main drive is empty.
**Edit**
Never mind I found it. I have a weird situation since an external crash where DAZ reads 2 connect libraries. Fixing it now
Now if only the stuff I install via DIM didn't always have a download/update arrow on them it would be less irritating.
For whatever reason, DazCloud doesn't cooperate with DIM. They are two almost fully independent installations.
Stuff installed through DIM should ahve a coloured thumbnail, indicating it is isntalled, and a circled, downward-pointing triangle, indicating it is available for Connect installation (which is not required). If content has a greyed out thumbnail after installation through DIM, and if double-clicking it prompts (or starts) a download then something is going wrong.
It's installed, I just hate the little download prompt on stuff that is installed. I rarely use DIM to be honest. I only did it recently again as I'd been getting so many missig thumbnails and was hoping that it would resolve that - it doesn't.
However I did go through and fix all the thumbs - thaks to the tip above.
I'm getting some of my thumbnails back under Smart Content. But not all.
1. Why that weird dichotomy/duplication exists in the first place? (Just because DIM is older method, doesn't mean DazCloud has to duplicate functionality, especially when DIM is more stable)
2.DazCloud should be able to detect that product is already installed and no longer mark product for download, same goes for thumbnails, they should be shared.
3.Sometimes products that are installed through DIM are still grayed out. (Note: It is possible there was incomplete import of metadata)
Different methods - one of the points of Connect is to have each product in its own folder, to avoid shared files confusing things.
Daz Connect can detect the other isntalaltion, that's why the thumnbnail gets colour. But it remains true that it coudl also be isntalled through Connect, so that icon is shown as a statement of fact.
Yes, if the product is isntalled but is greyed out then there is a content management system issue - if it happens only occasionally it may be that DS was closed and DIM started in quick succession, which can mean that PostgreSQL is still shutting down when DIM starts, so DIM sees it running and doesn't ask it to start, but then by the time the content is isntalled PostgreSQL is closed and so the database doesn't get updated.
@richardhaseltine I have recently attempted to migrate all of my content to a new computer by putting all of my previously downloaded zip files in a Downloads directory for DIM to use. The (re)installation seemed to work just fine (all content installed to my D: drive, the path to which I defined in both DIM and Daz Studio). However, the vast majority of my content when viewed through Smart Content appears grayed out and many products are missing their thumbnails as well. I figure this is mostly due to something I screwed up with the install, but I guess it could be a combination.
If it's mostly a content management system problem, is there a relatively simple way to fix it?
If DS has gone on line then the missing thumbnails, for content that is othrwise correctly installed, may be a separate issue that should be more-or-less resolved if DS is again allowed to connect.
If products are installed through DIM and not showing as installed in DS then if it's se;ective you may need to reisntall (try doing it, for a sample of the affected products, with DS open, to avoid any risk of not having PostgreSQL running). If it'sd all products, and if you can't get them to appear, then it might be pathing issues (try downloading http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/install_manager_config_import/start using the link above the code and dragging it into the DS Viewport to sync the directory settings from DIM) or it may be a problem with the security software on your system or with folder permissions.
Thank you very much for the detailed response. I will post an update after I have a chance to try these suggestions.
So I loaded both DS and DIM and did a Content DB Maintenance > Reimport Metadata ... to my surprise, most of the missing thumbnails reappeared (including Cleo8.1); there are still some missing but most are old M4 items.
Question 1: After the above action, when I then right clicked on Smart Content > All Products > Refresh... it once again removed all those thumbnails... why is this so???
Question 2: Under Smart Content > Available, 39 products installed via DIM show up there... all grey thumbnails... some with an arrow pointing down while others with an icon looking like a ring-binder with a "U" on the cover... what are these and how do I properly install them? They currently do not show up in Smart Content > Installed even though DIM shows they are installed.
1. Make sure DAZ Studio is working offline.
2. If you're installing with DIM, just ignore the thumbnail icons (eg. ( V ) something like that) you see in the Smart Content tab. For the "U-binder", those are for products that don't have user-facing files like morphs. Ignore that, too. Basically, ignore stuff inside the Smart Content tab if they don't have a colored thumbnail.
Thank you most kind sir!
I was successfull using this method to restore the icons for some of the products. For the rest, no matter how many times I tried using this method, the icon still does not want to appear. I then check with the zip packages downloaded through DIM. I found that the name of some of the jpg files (in Runtime/Support folder) are different from the name of the product. For these, it was simply a rename of the jpg files. However, I found in some product zip packages that there is no jpg file in the zip download package. I have to download this from the product desciption page.
This missing icons fiasco is getting more frustrating.
Yes, there are some that have the wrong filename, some that have no file at all. That is the state they are in, and not a "problem" with Studio. It is only as good as what it is provided.
Are there any further updates from DAZ regarding this? Based on reading through this thread, there appears to be no uniformity in the problem itself other than missing thumbnails. Issues seem to vary based on DIM, Central or Connect and it there seems to be no consistent pattern as to which thumbnails are missing. So I'm really confused as to how to even attempt to fix it.
In my case, I'm using Connect almost exclusively and my missing thumbnails are for products I've purchased since mid-March. It's not 100% every product but it is the vast majority. The icons are missing whether they appear in the Installed tab or the available tab. Updating metadata does nothing. Logging out/logging in does nothing.
Interesting note - when I update metadata, it consistently says it is only able to update 1 of 4 items or 1 of 5 items. I have never seen it in recent memory ever have a completely successful update.
Just had a huge metadata update of close to 2k items. It was successfull and all my thumbnails are fixed. Big thanks to whoever is responsible.
Most of my thumbnails have returned (except most M4 products) but the moment I work online, the thumbnails go missing again. DS is a very strange software that I will never fully comprehend. haha
The M4/V4 have wonky metadata and thumbnails. Seriously, just work offline if you don't want your thumbnails to disappear or change. That's assuming you don't use Connect to install stuff.
Yes I have since turned off auto-login. And I use DIM.
Am just trying to understand the mystery of why many thumbnails (both new and old stuff) disappear the moment I go online.
And using connect to install stuff is generally bad idea - It uses non-standard paths for installing them, which makes some products not working at all, and makes troubleshooting problems very difficult.
The first thumbnail you get after installing a product using DIM comes from the zip package.
*some guesswork here* If DAZ Studio goes online, the application checks with the server using the metadata for an update. The JSON file contains a URL for the thumbnail. Most likely (especially for old products) this is pointing to a nonexistent file and causes you to lose your thumbnail.
Some 8 odd thumbnails in my Smart Content "All Products" are missing. I have 6051 installers installed via DIM on my local computer.
a) Garden Flowers - Low Res Nicotiana
b) Airport Island - Sea Base
c) Genesis 8.1 Female Vellus Hair
d) Spuggles Special Edition
e) By the Seaside Beach Huts
f) Carrara Hair Caps for Genesis and Genesis 2
g) Michael 4 Base Puppeteer StudioCF
h) Gorilla LE
That's the easy thing to check. After DAZ 3D corrects those I will systematically would through my entire product list bought from DAZ in the Content Library - Products section and post here.
Richard has previously explained that when DS is used online, Connect retrieves updated metadata for the products from the DAZ servers.
The Airport Island Sea Base should have a thumbnail if you used DIM.
Spuggles was not meant to be purchaseable ($1 milllion freebie). If you check your product library here at the website, you'll get an image of Rarestone's Fredda.
Have anyone tried to make the thumbnails read-only so DS can't overwrite them? (I'm not sure how DS will react to this, but it works with the DIM manifest files to shorten the update time).
It does not use "non-standard" paths - it gives each product its own sub-folder of the /data/cloud/folder, the Content Managment System then turns the relative paths in the fiels into the correct location. The issue is that soem scripts are written with false assumptions about where files are stored, and/or expect all products to be in a single folder rather than split across folders. It is true that it is hard for authors to test their scripts before release, but there is at least one sampels cript showing how an external file may be accessed safely under this system.
I do get it, why they have done it that way, the path "/data/cloud/" and the history of DS explains it, but as they work now, it just causes problems because people generally don't understand where the content is installed with the different methods and don't understand the concequences of installing and/or updating something within DS. The connection/server problems at DAZ have just made the problems more visible.
Nevertheless, Daz accepts such products. If there is a distinctive requirement for scripts to not be split up and look up things in other directories, then Daz QC should enforce it. Did I say Daz QC? Oh, I forgot...