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uninstalling and reinstalling ALL DS content

davesodaveso Posts: 7,798
in The Commons

My directories are a mess. I'm not sure what is where or why is there. 
Not sur eif it is better to try to just delete everything and try to start over or maybe try to figure out what director/subdirectories are supposed to be there. I'm also not sure how there are multiple directories of the same name but within other directories... obviously osme stuff got installed incorrectly ... 

cOUPLE SAMPLE DIRECTORIES ... 
A lot of the subdirectories have funny stuff going on as well ... 

directory daz studio1.jpg
1920 x 1080 - 772K
DAZ STUDIO DIRECTORY 2.jpg
1920 x 1080 - 404K

Comments

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,692

    Well, those pictures looks like mine. Same folder names from errant entries, but it's not because they were installed wrong, they were named wrong to begin with. There are several ways to deal with that, each with pros and cons. First, just move or rename the folders to make it fit in the right place. Problem with that is you can't un-install or update with DIM or show installed files, since the path no longer matches the manifest in the original zip. Metadata will also be invalid.

    Second is to make a new zip with the correct (or better) path so that you can at least uninstall cleanly, giving it a new name and/or part (-02, or -03) or else it will conflict with the original and get deleted when you refresh DIM. The twist there is you also have to manually update the path to every file in the manifest and the metadata support file. Not a big deal, using a string substitution for the path, but you can't install updates without re-doing that part each time. If the product is stable, it probably won't need updating, anyway.

    I have seen some products with wrong paths get fixed, probably because someone wrote a ticket, and someone cared enough to fix it. There are probably more that are not corrected, but that's the game. The DS side of things allows you to use any folder you want, so, typos are easy to miss because your product will always show up somewhere. The Poser structure is different, and MUST fit one of the predetermined runtime/libraries folder names, at least at the top levels in the Poser format library, i.e., ones you can see in Studio, like Camera, Figures, Expressions, etc. Below that, anything goes. Don't know where that extra runtime level came from, but it could be an error in the original path, or something you installed manually one level down.

    The point is, if you have been using DIM consistently, re-installing most likely won't change anything, since the source of the problem will still be there (bad path in the original archive).

  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,798
    NorthOf45 said:

    Well, those pictures looks like mine. Same folder names from errant entries, but it's not because they were installed wrong, they were named wrong to begin with. There are several ways to deal with that, each with pros and cons. First, just move or rename the folders to make it fit in the right place. Problem with that is you can't un-install or update with DIM or show installed files, since the path no longer matches the manifest in the original zip. Metadata will also be invalid.

    Second is to make a new zip with the correct (or better) path so that you can at least uninstall cleanly, giving it a new name and/or part (-02, or -03) or else it will conflict with the original and get deleted when you refresh DIM. The twist there is you also have to manually update the path to every file in the manifest and the metadata support file. Not a big deal, using a string substitution for the path, but you can't install updates without re-doing that part each time. If the product is stable, it probably won't need updating, anyway.

    I have seen some products with wrong paths get fixed, probably because someone wrote a ticket, and someone cared enough to fix it. There are probably more that are not corrected, but that's the game. The DS side of things allows you to use any folder you want, so, typos are easy to miss because your product will always show up somewhere. The Poser structure is different, and MUST fit one of the predetermined runtime/libraries folder names, at least at the top levels in the Poser format library, i.e., ones you can see in Studio, like Camera, Figures, Expressions, etc. Below that, anything goes. Don't know where that extra runtime level came from, but it could be an error in the original path, or something you installed manually one level down.

    The point is, if you have been using DIM consistently, re-installing most likely won't change anything, since the source of the problem will still be there (bad path in the original archive).

    well, thats a bummer I guess. It doesn;t seem to matter all that much other than using the content directory. What is interesting about that place is that all those directory entries on the drive do not show up. its hit or miss. I also have products that show installed in DIM that I cannot find within DS ... and even when trying to find them in the actual drive directories. 

    I think for now I'm going to see what products are where and uninstall them if not in the right place..like in that double runtime and a few other places. I noticed in that 1st photo farther down the list which isn;t shown in the screen grab are some V3 products ... what they're doing there is beyond me. 

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,692

    You can see where the files really are by right-clicking on the DIM entry and selecting "Show Installed Files..." If they show up as underlined blue hyperlinks, then they are where they are supposed to be, according to the manifest (which may or may not be correct). You can click any one to open a file explorer to go to that file. If they are just black text, then they are not in their designated place, or just not installed.

    I gave up trying to find things in the installed folders and categorized everything so that I can find them where I expect them to be, for both Studio and Poser products. All of them. Yes, it took a very long time, but I think the effort is about the same amount of time I would have spent looking for stuff over several years, minus the frustration.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,759

    Ya, I just make my own custom categories as well.  Then you only have to find it once and put it where you want it.  It does take a long time but its worth it and if you keep it up when you buy new stuff, you always know where to find it.

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