Digital Art Zone

Hi everybody!

So… after a decade away from Poser I recently returned and bought the recent huge V4 bundle. After some hiccups with the new shop I even downloaded it successfull, but now ran into an install error with the V4 CreatureCreator morphs.

Whenever I try to install this one, it rejects the target folder claiming:

“Victoria 4_2 Creature Creator Morphs” is an add-on for “Victoria 4.2” and they must be installed in the same location. Please choose a different install location or install the required products first.”

Of course I *did* install Victoria 4.2, all parts, made sure that the “initialization” after the main install took place and was successful, and made sure that the CreatureCreatorMorphs-Installer pointed to the previously installed Victoria folder (both the enclosing folder or the included Runtime, which makes no difference). I additionally tried to add Morphs++ (which worked), but CreatureCreatorMorphs didn’t like that as well, and tried it a final time after installing *everything* else from the huge bundle into the Victoria folder - still to no avail.

Of course I checked the FAQ like this:
https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/entries/21519667

Which doesn’t help as well because I already did everything mentioned there, and of course I filed an official Help Ticket, which is now “open” for several days and probably will remain “open” until autumn, or whenever the bigger problems will eventually be solved.

So I thought I give it a try here. According to Auntie Google this error seems to be well known and well spread for several years, and also seemed to affect lots of Stephanie 4s and The Girl 4s as well. But the only suggestions there were to “install it again” (I tried it 6 times, so why bother) or to re-download the installer. I didn’t do that, but since I’m on Mac I got the installer in a .zip file, and the .zip file was valid. If the download would be damaged, the .zip wouldn’t expand. But it did.

Does anybody know what CreatureCreatorMorphs is actually looking for, and where/how to get it in order to install?

Where is the folder you are installing to, and what OS are you using?

Ooops, sorry… I wanted to add that and then forgot…

Mac OS-X, Intel, 10.5.8. I tried various folder install locations, originally a new “stand-alone” folder with V 4.2 Base. Later I even/also tried to install V 4.2 first either into the “runtime” within “my library” of DAZ Studio, and the “runtime” of Poser Pro 2012. Neither made a difference, just a mess to re-install the original versions afterwards.

What baffles me is that (according to the FAQ link above) all “Morphs++”, “Victoria 4 Muscle Morphs” and “Victoria 4 Elite Body Shapes” should suffer the same fate.

However:
- first install “Victoria 4.2 Base” into some folder, new or already existing - works.
- then install “Morphs++” over/into this same folder - works.
- then install “Victoria 4 Muscle Morphs” over/into this same folder - works.
- then install “Victoria 4 Elite Body Shapes” over/into this same folder - works.

but then:
- install “Victoria 4 Creature Creator Morphs” over/into this same folder - fails!!!

What the heck does “Creature Creator Morphs” fail to find in exactly the same folder that was good enough for all the other add-ons?

Addendum - the one thing that makes me a bit suspicious right now, is the naming/numbering scheme:

The Base V4 in my bundle is:
ps_pe069_Victoria4.zip
ps_pe069_Victoria4DS.zip
ps_pe069_Victoria4PwrLoader.zip

The Morphs++ are:
ps_pe070_V4Morphs.zip
ps_pe070_V4MorphsPwrLoader.zip

The Muscles are:
ps_mr259_V4MuscleMorphs.zip

The Body Shapes are:
7403_4_dpc_V4EliteBodyShapes.zip
7403_5_ds_V4EliteBodyShapes.zip
7403_dpc_V4EliteShapesPwrLoader.zip

But the Creature Morphs are:
5280_Victoria42CreatureCreatorMorphs_1.1_dpc.zip
5281_Victoria42CreatureCreatorAddonsDS_1.1_ds.zip
5281_Victoria42CreatureCreatorAddons_1.1_dpc.zip

It looks suspicious that all of the working files/add-ons only have “V4” in the name, while the failing Creature Morphs explicitly mention V42 in the file names.

BUT, to kill this nice theory right away, the files installed by ps_pe069_Victoria4.zip are named:
Victoria 4.2.cr2
Victoria 4.2.dsb
Victoria 4.2.png

Which looks to me as if it is V 4.2 indeed.

Victoria 4 was indeed updated at some point.  Have you reset your download for the base V4 to ensure you’re using the latest version?  That’s most frequently the cause for these dependency failures.  If you’re using the original zip, it’s probably still valid, but outdated.

(e.g., Freak 4 won’t install for Michael 4).

So… I wouldn’t say that it is “fun”, but it feels a bit like the old days (which was fun actually, at least in the beginning). I started to write Mac tools a decade ago, fixing things that Poser 3 did wrong between Mac/PC and I did it mainly by reverse-engineering the file formats. Now it’s 10 years later and I start to reverse-engineer DAZ files between Mac/PC trying to fix things that the installers do wrong…

To cut a long story short - your Mac installers for either “V4 Base” and/or “Creature Creator Morphs” are broken.

I took both of the PC installers and run it under Windows XP (VMWare on my Mac). I installed the V4 Base into an empty folder, and then - with success, hurray - the “Creature Creator Morphs” over it.

However, that doesn’t really solve my (or anyone else’s) problems with it, because V4 Base indeed is different between Mac and PC, so I can’t just take the PC version and copy it to the Mac.

The differences are in: /Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/

There seems to be an executable tool in there, called DzCreateExPFiles.app (Mac) and DzCreateExPFiles.exe (PC).

On Mac it is:
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles.app
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles-V4.command
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command

On PC it is:
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles.exe
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/MSVCR71.dll
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/w9xpopen.exe
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles-V4.bat

The “V4.command” and “V4.bat” files seem to “feed” the DzCreateExPFiles tool.

Now, Attention for the DAZ tech support:
The file DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command seems to be unique on the Mac, there isn’t a similar thing in V4 Base on PC. And this file is broken!
The content is:

#!/bin/bash
sudo DzCreateExPFiles.app/Contents/MacOS/DzCreateExPFiles “V4toV3” “V4toV3”
exit

That can’t work, because it won’t find DzCreateExPFiles.app. In order to work, and comparing it with the other file, the content should/must be:
#!/bin/bash
cd “$(dirname “$0”)”
./DzCreateExPFiles.app/Contents/MacOS/DzCreateExPFiles “V4toV3” “V4toV3”
exit

Judging by the name, I tried to load the “V3 for V4” character in Poser, and guess what? Tons of errors! So I executed the (fixed) DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command and guess what? It worked, hurray!
So this file is desperately needed if you want to use “V3 for V4” in Poser, but the version included with the installer doesn’t work. If anybody reads this and has the same problem on Mac - replace the file content with the (green) lines above and then it will work.

Back to my original problem.

In addition to the different “tool” there are lots and lots and lots of .pz2 files created by the tool above, like this (just one example):
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/Victoria 4/V4abdomenChnnls.pz2
These files are different between Mac/PC, but it only seems to be the line-ending (Unix LF on Mac, Windows CRLF on PC).

So now the big question to the professionals. Unless DAZ will contact me and/or fix the broken installers, will it be safe (?) to do this:
- take the PC folder containing V4 Base + “Creature Creator Morphs”
- delete the PC “tool” files in /Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/
- force-copy/replace the entire contents of the V4 Base (PC part) with the Mac files
- run DzCreateExPFiles-V4.command to re-create these .pz2 files
- run the fixed (see above) DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command?
Thanks in advance for any help!

adamr001 - 05 June 2012 11:51 AM

Victoria 4 was indeed updated at some point.  Have you reset your download for the base V4 to ensure you’re using the latest version?  That’s most frequently the cause for these dependency failures.  If you’re using the original zip, it’s probably still valid, but outdated.

(e.g., Freak 4 won’t install for Michael 4).

Sorry, cross-posting/replying…

I only downloaded the entire bundle 10 days ago, I don’t have any other/older files. Both my V4 Base and the Creature Morphs are the installers sold by DAZ right now this month, after the opening of the new shop.

The files are from the same bundle, this one:
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/sales-promotions/victoria-4-michael-4-3d-model-pro-suites/victoria-4-3d-model-pro-suite

Should I reset my links and download again, just after 10 days?

Since you have the PowerLoader installer it certainly looks as if your V4 installers are reasonably current. While the problem with the command file is certainly worth a bug report if it really is stopping the utility from running I doub’t it’s the root of the issue - PowerLoader does the job that the updater is meant for, with the added benefit of being able to select which morph sets are available and of not having to manually inject the morph data. Are you sure that the creature morphs are being pointed to the same folder? Earlier you were referring to installing to the Runtime folder, which is wrong - you want the folder that holds the Runtime. If it is the utility that’s causing the issue one solution might be tos tart DS, load V4.2, and then try installing the creature addons - the PowerLoader script should have written the files that the CreateExP files utility creates (you can check that it is on the Advanced tab of PowerLoader).

Richard Haseltine - 05 June 2012 12:44 PM

Since you have the PowerLoader installer it certainly looks as if your V4 installers are reasonably current. While the problem with the command file is certainly worth a bug report if it really is stopping the utility from running

It does keep it from running, because the shell script can’t find the application DzCreateExPFiles at that location. However, this only concerns the “V4 to V3” character. I only mentioned it because it is an indication that the Mac files may be damaged and also that they are different to the PC files (which do work with the Creature Morph installer). The DzCreateExPFiles tool itself will not be the reason why the installer fails, but if the installer looks for specific file contents, and some files are damaged already, then maybe some more files are damaged/unexpected as well, including some that the installer does look for.

So my question again: What is the installer actually looking for? The base .obj file? The Victoria .cr2 file? Some of those “channel” thingies? If it is the latter, then it may be connected to the differences in the !DAZ folder, because this is the only part of the folder jungle where I found differences between the Mac and the PC base install. If V4 is damaged, it must be here. If the installer is damaged, it can be anything and everywhere.

Richard Haseltine - 05 June 2012 12:44 PM

Are you sure that the creature morphs are being pointed to the same folder? Earlier you were referring to installing to the Runtime folder, which is wrong - you want the folder that holds the Runtime.

Sorry for my unclear description - but it’s tough to be 100% precise and still keep the text somehow short and readable…

When I wrote “the Poser Runtime” then I meant that I installed it merging with the existing contents - this (of course) means that I targeted the enclosing folder, otherwise it would create another runtime within the first runtime. If you read my earlier post I already stated that I tried every possible combination of imaginable target folders anyway…

Also - I did manage to install all of the other “dependent” morphs, and I can assure you that I targeted the Creature Morph installer to exactly the same folder, where Morphs+++, Muscles and Body Shapes already installed successfully. And, as far as I see, these require the same dependency.

Richard Haseltine - 05 June 2012 12:44 PM

If it is the utility that’s causing the issue one solution might be tos tart DS, load V4.2, and then try installing the creature addons - the PowerLoader script should have written the files that the CreateExP files utility creates (you can check that it is on the Advanced tab of PowerLoader).

I think you misunderstood me now… my main problem is not the CreateExP thing, I believe I already fixed this with the new .command file, as described above. This will rather be a problem for Mac users without skills in Terminal scripts, who want to use “V3 for V4”. As soon as the problems with the shop are solved, please tell the technical staff to have a look…

My prime problem is that I can’t install the Creature Morphs in the first place, so I can’t solve it by loading it in DAZ Studio… and I want to use Poser as the main application anyway.

For whatever reason, the Mac installer expects a different version of V4. Since there are 4 add-ons, and all 4 PC installers work, plus 3 of the Mac installers, I think it is reasonable to conclude that it is the Mac Creature Morph Installer that fails.

Using the results of the PC install, merged with the Mac install, and then running the CreateExP tool (and even with a modified script) is a pretty luke warm workaround…

Out of the blue - could it be that DAZ just accidentally picked a build of this single installer which may look for V 4.1 or even V 4.0 files? I don’t have any of these, so I can’t verify it.

Richard,

the Mac installers in this bundle are messed up, I found another thing.

I was really curious why this DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command file was “Mac only”, and the answer is that it doesn’t belong to the V4 base at all! The whole “V3 for V4” thing is part of the “Morphs+++” package!

But the Mac “V4 Base” installer places this broken “DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command” script, while the “Morphs+++” installer only places a file named “DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.bat”, which is the correspondent PC (!!) file.

You can’t run this DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.bat on the Mac, it’s the complete wrong script language.

You would need to repair the “DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command” script and then add it to the “Morphs+++” installer instead of the “DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.bat” script, which is PC-only.

Please note that these are not cosmetical problems. Anyone on Mac (using this version of your bundle) can’t use the “V4.2 to V3.cr2” character. If you load it in Poser, Poser will throw 135 (!!) error boxes one-by-one, each requesting the missing channel.pz2 files. There is no way to abort this, you need to “shoot” Poser from the OS. Then, if you are skilled enough to look for the DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3 script in order to fix this, the shell will throw more errors because the script won’t run…

You must fix this for ordinary users. It has nothing to do with my prime install problems, but it’s another serious failure.

I was suggesting using Power Loader to generate the index files, having mis-understood (or rather mis read) the problem as being with the main V4 command file, in the hope that if the Creature Morphs installer was looking for one of the index files it would accept the ones generated from DS. As I recall, most of the installers are looking for the V4 .bat file, though those that need one of the other morph sets (such as Morphs ++, needed for the Muscularity set) may be looking ofr a specific INJ or REM pz2 file. As I said, you should open a bug report for the command file issue. Unfortunately I don’t have any additional suggestions for the isntaller issue -except to say that we haven’t seen a flood of issues reported, which does at least suggest that may be down to some kind of corruption in the particular files you have - have you tried clearing your browser cache and redownloading?

Richard Haseltine - 05 June 2012 04:05 PM

have you tried clearing your browser cache and redownloading?

I’ve got good news and bad news… I start with the bad news:

I just did your last suggestion, resetting the download links and on top of clearing the download cache even using a different browser for the download. The Creature Morph installer is bitwise identical to the previous download and (of course) throws the same error.

Richard Haseltine - 05 June 2012 04:05 PM

As I recall, most of the installers are looking for the V4 .bat file

Now the good news: Richard, you are brilliant!!!

This is exactly what is going wrong, and it is a very stupid bug: The Mac installer looks for a PC file (!!!)

I took the PC file that only installs in the PC version:
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles-V4.bat

and copied it to the /Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/ folder of the Mac V4 Base. And guess what? Now the Creature Morph installer accepts it.

Someone has seriously, seriously messed up the Mac/PC files for the installers.

Richard Haseltine - 05 June 2012 04:05 PM

As I said, you should open a bug report for the command file issue.

Well, I guess that it is a bad time for this right now… but of course I will do it, if you suggest.

It is multiple issues:

- the Mac V4 Base installer creates a file “DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.command” that should rather be in the Mac “Morphs+++” installer
- this file is also entirely broken
- the Mac “Morphs+++” installer also creates a file “DzCreateExPFiles-V4V3.bat” that is useless on Mac
- the Mac “Creature Creator Morphs” installer looks for a PC file “DzCreateExPFiles-V4.bat” that doesn’t exist.

Thanks for your help. But please note that my workaround (here) is not suitable for the majority of Mac users. It involves manually hacking a .command script and access to a Windows/PC engine.

If you could make three reports, one for the base installer, one for the Morphs++ installer, and one for the Creature Morphs, that will make it easier for QA tot rack them and cross them off as they are fixed. Though with the move to zip files presumably the zip will contain both the Mac and Windows files, and checks for required products will be possible only with the install manager (if at all). However, I’ve no idea how long we are likely to be waiting for the zipped versions of these items so it would be best to report the issues - then they can either be fixed, or they can be moved to zips immediately.

*Sigh*... :-(

Well, I have to do so, because meanwhile I realized that my Hurray! was way too early.

Placing this odd “.bat” file made the installer run, but… it doesn’t install.

There should be an entire folder:
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/Victoria 4/Deltas/Creature/

with lots of InjDeltas files, like InjDeltas.FHMAlienCleft.pz2

Although the installer runs fine and creates a list of these files (CreatureMsV4List.txt), none of it ends up in the Runtime.

Within
/Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/Victoria 4/Deltas/

there are folders for “Base”, “Elite”, “Morphs++” and “Muscle”, but “Creature” with all its contents is missing.

The “Creature Morph Loader” Icon gets installed, but if you try to apply it, Poser will scream for all the missing InjDeltas files, which I can’t locate because they are actually nowhere anywhere on the harddisk.

And now the very very very bad news - this folder is also missing on my PC install, so there is no chance for me to copy it over and make it work that way.

For your notice - I tried the same with the Michael 4 bundle, and this “Creature” folder is there for Michael. So this subfolder exists and should be there, but is just missing for V4.

So, as a matter of fact, the entire Creature Creator Morphs pack vor V4 (as bundled with my order) is currently useless, and there is no way for me to fix it.

Both the PC and Mac installer fail to install essential folders and files, the only difference is that the Mac installer aborts it early (unless you trick it with the .bat file), but both installers fail to create the files, although they finish without errors and claim that they did the job in their read-me-s.

I guess I will have to wait now for the new ZIP archives, and hope that they will finally include all essential files… :-(