SOLVED THANKS TAOZ! Hoping someone out there has a fix DIM DAZ issue
ArtAngel
Posts: 2,086
I keep my maual downloads on a seperate archive drive unzipped-uninstalled, but I install DAZ Studio downloads to an external drive via DIM. Last year I had to move my DAZ content from an external SSD 2TB to an external 3TB, ran out of space). Recently when I went to use Josie 8 I could not find her anywhere in Daz Studio (not in Content Library Products), yet DIM showed her as installed and I had rendered her previously in Daz Studio. I tried reimporting Meta Data etc. Nothing worked. I finally uninstalled and reinstalled via DIM. Since this lates download of DIM I noticed duplicate content for Josie 8 which is probably unrelated to updating DIM. I decided to see if somehow Happenstance Hair, part of the Josie 8 Bundle, existed in DAZ and it does not exist in the Content Library, yet DIM shows it as installed. I'm assuming the most recent reinstall of Josie is the one tagged new and the other is related to the older install. Now I am seeing a bunch of content is not showing in DAZ anywhere. Smart Content shows 9359 installed (some esclamations missing meta data for older items). Product library is 224 pages and DIM 10990 installed. I attached screenshots of Josie 8 issue and Content Library alpha H. I would expect to see Happenstance Hair should show above Happy Camper but it isn't there. If I uninstall and reinstall I expect I'll have duplicates show. Any ideas on how I can easily locate missing content (without auditing my product libray item by item) and reinstall missing content without getting duplicates?
Thanks for listening. Any ideas for a painless solution?
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2026 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Looks like a problem with the DIM Manifest files which DIM uses to keep track of what is installed. Open Advanced Settings in DIM and check the Manifest Archive folder, it should contain one .dsx file for each installed product file. The original ManifestFiles folder may have been moved or the path changed, so DIM can't see the files and therefore doesn't report them as installed.
Thanks Taoz. I appreciate your help and time. I think you may be right in that it is related to the manifest but the problem is that DIM sees it as installed but Daz does not.
BTW, if you find the original ManifestFiles folder, it's probably the best to uninstall whatever DIM currently shows as installed (one file?), before shifting to the old folder, and then reinstall it after you got the original folder attached.
@Taoz I checked the Manifest folder and came up empty - literally. How can Daz see anything without a Manifest file? Is there another way to find it?
Unless the original Manifest folder has been deleted, it must be there somewhere so you could search for it. It looks like DIM points to the default location, did you ever move it to somewhere else, or reinstall Windows?
Did you change the path to the DAZ Library?
Turned off windows upgrades and no reinstall. Had power supply upgraded and a video Ctype link installed for cintiq pro 16 tablet, but no other work on this PC (PC#2). Is it possible the Manifest was on the old external 2TB? After I did an update to DAZ or DIM back in 2019 (one or the other) Daz came up empty and had changed the settings. I had to repoint Daz in the right direction. Two questions:
1. Is it possible there are two Manifest files, one for the old content drive and one for the new drive?
2. Is it possible that DAZ repopulated the location to default but thats not where the file was? Has that changed over the past two- three years?
Edit: Drive info shot
If you haven't moved the Manifest folder yourself to the external drive or wherever, it should be at the default location (system drive). If it's been there all the time and it's empty now, it looks like something has deleted the content. I don't think there's an easy way, if any, to recover the files.
The content of the Manifest folder should match the content installed with DIM to the associated DS library, I have an app that can verify that and see if any files are missing in the library, but if the Manifest folder is empty that won't help of course.
From your screenshot it looks like the two external drives have different drive letters, that will of course cause problems if you haven't changed the paths in DIM and DS accordingly.
Thanks Taoz. For the mnissing Manifest file it appears the recent DIM update is the problem. I have never overridden the location in the Account.ini file. but I did find the Manifest file. The problem with the missing manifest file was unknown to me so thanks for mentioning that. I created a system restore point in May before agreeing to upgrade DIM. I was able to find that date as May 19 by viewing the restore points. I searched for manifest (even excel has one) by date and found it. It appears that Happenstance is installed. Daz is pointed to the right drive it is just miscommunicating with DIM it seems.
The .dsx (manifest) files are hardcoded with the library path DIM was set to when they were created, this used to cause problems if you changed the library path and used the same manifest files, unless you updated the path in the files (search and replace). AFAIK though later versions of DIM are not affected by this as long as the path in DIM to the DS Library is correct, but I'm not totally certain.
You could check the .dsx files and your DIM and DS settings and see if they match, if they don't that may be the cause of the problems.
Thank you so much! You are right! How that changed to C: is not something I did. I always store on external drives. Based on what you discovered I am thinking that if I had changed the DSX file rather than reinstall Josie, I would not have duplicates in Daz. Thanks again. I guess the only thing left is to figure out how to use the search find files function to identify all C:/Daz entries.
Edit: Located 4835 files. I am certain this is DIM related. Everything in DAZ CDM and in DIM points to L. I am going to download the Catoon just to see where it goes. What is your app and is it here on Daz store?
Like I said I'm not sure if that path in the .dsx files matters anymore, but either way it can't hurt to change it. In any case, the app I was talking about will not work unless the path in the manifest files is fixed. I've sent you a PM with links...