Anyone successfully used Studio with content library stored on external drive on Mac

StealthWorks

Hi
This is specifically a Mac question - i know it probably works fine on a PC.
As my Mac HDD was filling up I decided I'd like to store my content on an external drive (a Synology NAS in my case)
I have got it so that my volumes containing the content are mounted automatically when I log back into my Mac. However, when i look at my smart content all the thumbnails are gone and double clicking on any of the content gives me a message that the file doesn't exist.
Has anyone managed to successfully set this scenario up so they can store their content on an external drive on the Mac?
thanks

Richard Haseltine

Try right-clicking on one of the items and choosing Database>Edit Base Paths..., then in the dialogue for Change choose All files using this base path and in Change to select the new location.

wsterdan

Richard Haseltine said:

Try right-clicking on one of the items and choosing Database>Edit Base Paths..., then in the dialogue for Change choose All files using this base path and in Change to select the new location.

If that doesn't work, try Crocodilian's post from the Mac FAQ thread:

Missing content on external drives -- a solution to one problem (multiple mount points)

I store my content on an external drive, and every so often it goes missing.

Until now, I've not known what was wrong, just rebooted, reimported and restarted until it seemed to get fixed.

I've just figured it out, and its a common Mac problem, and this solution may be useful to other folks with external drives.

The problem lies in the fact that if OSX doesn't properly unmount a drive before its disconnected, or in certain crash situations, it may create duplicate mount points. That is you'll have /external drive (which crashed), and the next time you mount, it will mount as /external drive 1, and so on. Problem being, DAZ will look for content on the crashed /external drive volume, which won't respond.

you fix this by

1) unmount and disconnect external drive

2) in finder, CMD-Shft-G

3) go to /Volumes

4) look for duplicate mount points, and if they exist, delete them.

Now when you mount the external drive, it will be where it should be, and Daz will see it.

I carry my various runtimes to and from work (my work computer is the exact same model and spec's of iMac I use at home) and have run into this problem if I run DAZ Studio before plugging the external in.

Good luck!

-- Walt Sterdan

DAZ_Spooky

wsterdan said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Try right-clicking on one of the items and choosing Database>Edit Base Paths..., then in the dialogue for Change choose All files using this base path and in Change to select the new location.

If that doesn't work, try Crocodilian's post from the Mac FAQ thread:

Missing content on external drives -- a solution to one problem (multiple mount points)

I store my content on an external drive, and every so often it goes missing.

Until now, I've not known what was wrong, just rebooted, reimported and restarted until it seemed to get fixed.

I've just figured it out, and its a common Mac problem, and this solution may be useful to other folks with external drives.

The problem lies in the fact that if OSX doesn't properly unmount a drive before its disconnected, or in certain crash situations, it may create duplicate mount points. That is you'll have /external drive (which crashed), and the next time you mount, it will mount as /external drive 1, and so on. Problem being, DAZ will look for content on the crashed /external drive volume, which won't respond.

you fix this by

1) unmount and disconnect external drive

2) in finder, CMD-Shft-G

3) go to /Volumes

4) look for duplicate mount points, and if they exist, delete them.

Now when you mount the external drive, it will be where it should be, and Daz will see it.

I carry my various runtimes to and from work (my work computer is the exact same model and spec's of iMac I use at home) and have run into this problem if I run DAZ Studio before plugging the external in.

Good luck!

-- Walt SterdanMacs and drives that don't exist (or exist with a different path) do not get along. :) While Windows doesn't either Macs appear to take this to more serious extremes. :)

StealthWorks

Hi
Thanks for your suggestions guys. I think my issue was with the fact that multiple volumes were being kept as pointed out by wsterdan. Once these were deleted I reimported the metadata and all the thumbnails showed up again. I guess I need to check this every time I log in - hopefully Apple will address external drive issues soon.
Richard, there is no option for Edit->Database Base Path when you click on a node in the Smart Content pane `:(

thanks

Richard Haseltine

StealthWorks said:

Hi
Thanks for your suggestions guys. I think my issue was with the fact that multiple volumes were being kept as pointed out by wsterdan. Once these were deleted I reimported the metadata and all the thumbnails showed up again. I guess I need to check this every time I log in - hopefully Apple will address external drive issues soon.
Richard, there is no option for Edit->Database Base Path when you click on a node in the Smart Content pane `:(

thanks

Sorry, I should have said in the product list - though by Spooky's post it might not have helped anyway.

wsterdan

StealthWorks said:

Once these were deleted I reimported the metadata and all the thumbnails showed up again. I guess I need to check this every time I log in - hopefully Apple will address external drive issues soon.

Glad you were able to get things up and running. For what it's worth, as long as you remember to unmount the drive before disconnecting or to make sure it's connected and seen by the operating system before you start DAZ Studio up, you probably won't have the problem very often, if at all. For me, it's only when I start D|S without the drive connected first that I have any problems.
-- Walt Sterdan

mjc1016

wsterdan said:

StealthWorks said:

Once these were deleted I reimported the metadata and all the thumbnails showed up again. I guess I need to check this every time I log in - hopefully Apple will address external drive issues soon.

Glad you were able to get things up and running. For what it's worth, as long as you remember to unmount the drive before disconnecting or to make sure it's connected and seen by the operating system before you start DAZ Studio up, you probably won't have the problem very often, if at all. For me, it's only when I start D|S without the drive connected first that I have any problems.
-- Walt Sterdan

Same thing used to happen to me, on occasion, in Linux...I've gotten into the habit of actually making sure that drive is actually mounted and seen by the OS before starting Studio. Once I did that, no more problems with missing content. And it wasn't only Studio throwing fits...my music was on the same drive...