Curious about others experiences /w download manager
Malandar
Posts: 672
I like the download manager idea because it saves me time, I just check what I want installed and click the start queue button, BUT first I had problems with things not installing to my normal instal place so I had to figure that one out, and now that new My DAZ 3D Library folder that it Daz studio wants to install to.... Anyone else having the problem that Daz Studio seems to think that the My DAZ 3D Library is a poser library? That is the folder that Mike 6 installed to, yet when I go to find that folder inside DS I find it in the 'poser compatible files' section and there is no people option to look for genesis in so it is impossible to access the files without jumping through hoops.
..... Yeah I am a bit annoyed because of 4 hours and about 8 gigs of stuff to be transferred over to my old library since it is USELESS when I cant get to it through the normal folder structure in the program it was designed to work in.
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My DAZ 3D Library is the DIM default folder. It is not recommended that you overwrite files to My Library. It could cause usability issues. If you install everything to a new location then map those locations in DS under DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Format in your directory manager
Just to add something about the positive approaches; don't forget about updates. That's where the DIM can really shine in my opinion; I didn't have to do anything but fire up DIM in order to get the new Genesis 2 male starters bundle.
Frank basically already covered it. The important issue here is to realize that the content directories are defined in more places than merely the DIM. First you tell the DIM where your content library is, but then you'll need to do the same within Daz Studio itself.
And considering that it can access both Daz Studio formats as well as Poser Formats it seems very likely that you simply added (or removed) a directory from the content directory manager. If you only add a directory under the poser format section then DS won't be able to pick up its own content formats.
Hope this can be of some help as well.
When it works, it works really well.
When it fails, there's not much you can do.
For example, I regularly get the following error:
DAZ3DIM.exe caused UNKNOWN_ERROR in module "C:\Windows\syswow64\KERNELBASE.dll" at 0023:765CC41F, RaiseException()+88 byte(s)
Support can't help and have no solutions other than "Agree to the EULA." Even though this error only happens on certain packages and I can recreate it regularly.
The only thing I can do is shut down cold, reboot, delete the installer, redownload and try again. Then usually DIM works for a few installers. Then drops out again. Reboot, try again.
Yes, it's something that I don't think is mentioned clearly enough anywhere — the two programs do not talk to each other to agree on an installation location. Also, the DIM default content installation location is not the same as the D|S default content loading location. Notice the difference in wording. It's something that DAZ really ought to fix one of these updates, all it does is cause confusion and convince newcomers to D|S that all of the content they just installed has vanished.
Yes, it's something that I don't think is mentioned clearly enough anywhere — the two programs do not talk to each other to agree on an installation location. Also, the DIM default content installation location is not the same as the D|S default content loading location. Notice the difference in wording. It's something that DAZ really ought to fix one of these updates, all it does is cause confusion and convince newcomers to D|S that all of the content they just installed has vanished.
They did fix it -- for a while now DS installs default to having both content folders listed. However, if it's an upgrade rather than a clean install, your old settings are preserved, including your content folders.
What about upgrades having the option to add the DIM default to those preserved settings, that's IMHO the vital step that's been tripping a lot of people up all this time.
I always hated it. I couldn't get it to install anything...... Until last week.
Last week I decided to upgrade my hard drive and to start over with a fresh install of windows and all of that. This meant that I had to re-download and reinstall over 50 pages of purchased content from Daz. I allowed the Install Manager to first install DS4.6 as well as all of my previous content and it worked perfectly and with much greater ease than it would have taken to do it manually. No licenses to agree to with each downloaded item, overall a lot fewer mouse clicks and time spent reading and moving things around. Install Manager does its thing even in DOS as needed, so it is amazing. But I've found that it either works like a dream or fails like a nightmare depending on the user
My theory, the Install Manager is not easy to set up, not like it should be. People like me who already had established runtimes before the Install Manager was promoted dont see as much benefit because we might not install things into the default locations and the install manager really wants to install certain things into certain places unless told otherwise by you. I had a ton of content I had purchased during the DS 3 days stored in my DS3 runtime,. but the install manager wanted to install all new items into the DS 4 runtimes. With my clean restart, I can see the Install Manager installed everything no matter how old into the DS4 runtime which is fine for me at this point. So for me I am now in a position where I am benefiting from the way the IM works. If you are clever with updating the install pathways then Install Manager can be a real gift, but only if everything is set up perfectly.
I miss the old installers personally, but that's just me.
My old runtimes were copied over from a Macintosh to a PC and worked ok (a few glitches but not bad)
But when I decided to switch, it said not to overwrite old folders, this was a chance to do a massive clean up.
I created a new set of folders (and named them fairly consistant) Then it took over a week to download everything and sort it into the folders (Generation 1&2, V3&A3;, M3&H3;, V4&A4;, M4&H4;, Genesis, Animals&Monster;, Props, Medieval, Modern, Future, Scenes) And I must say it's rather nice, and rearranging is a snap. I also redownloaded Rendo and RDNA files and gave them their own folders.
There are a few problems, like things that don't get removed when you move them. (ex: I moved all the West/East Park stuff into its own folder, it left a half dozen items in the old folder.
But I have to say I like it, it remembers which folder I install to and updates without me having to point and keeps track of where all the files are installed so on the old item with weird naming conventions you can fine the matching mat, prop, etc. files.
Really? Mine never installs to what I don't explicitly tell it to. You set your preferences with the gear icon, but every time you need to change install locations you need to go back and pick it from the dropdown list (if you already added it). You CANNOT install to multiple locations in a single batch.
Bad experiences, I want my DAZ installers back.
OK, call me curious, but why would you WANT to install the same item(s) to multiple locations?
I install my Genesis 1 items to DS 4.0 Pro, and my non-Genesis items to DS 3 Advanced. I can access my DS 3 Advanced runtime from DS 4.0, as well as from Poser 9, specifically so I WOULDN'T have to install to more than one place.
Could you give me an example of what you install to more than one location?
OK, call me curious, but why would you WANT to install the same item(s) to multiple locations?
I install my Genesis 1 items to DS 4.0 Pro, and my non-Genesis items to DS 3 Advanced. I can access my DS 3 Advanced runtime from DS 4.0, as well as from Poser 9, specifically so I WOULDN'T have to install to more than one place.
Could you give me an example of what you install to more than one location?
I think what they meant was installing some items to one location and other items to a different location -- you need to set up one queue, run it, then change the location and set up the second queue.