Do I have a corrupt database? [SOLVED]

VargrVargr Posts: 22

[NOTE: The solution is written at the entry at the bottom of this - you can go there directly.]

 

I was busy organising my content in Daz Studio in my own categories when I suddenly realised that one of the G8F characters only partially appeared in my category.

The two screenshots attached shows the situation:
The first image is Daz' category ("My Library") for the character in question (G8F CC Anora) and it is easy to see that the subcategory "03 Lips" contains lips.
The second image is my own category and the subcategory "03 Lips" is empty as are other subcategories for this character.

 

 

 

I made my own category by right-clicking the default category and selecting "Duplicate Category / Selected Category & Sub-Categories..." and choosing where to make the duplicated category (as I have done so many times before).

 

I have tried to:

  • Delete the new category and re-do the operation.
  • Close down Daz, uninstall the character using DIM, delete the package and re-load and install the character using DIM and finally start Daz up again and redo the operation.
  • I have deleted the new category, restarted Daz and tried to duplicated single items using "categorise" and noticed, that the categorising feature thought that the item was already in the place from where I should have deleted it. A bit like part of the system knows I have deleted it and part of the system is pretty darn sure it is still there - which made me think of a corrupted database.
  • Look for similar issues on the forum and found this: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/8028/#105548. However, it is from 2012-2014 and I guess that the program and database have changed since, so I don't feel comfortable following the directions in those old posts.

None of the above helped.

So, does this seem to be caused by a corrupt database?
Can I save it? If, how?

Everytime I organise stuff I always finish by Export User Data in the Content Database Maintenance so I guess I could - what? - somehow delete the user data and then import an earlier version? And then redo that last organisation?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

Greetings,

Vargr

 

 

 

 

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Post edited by Vargr on

Comments

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,480

    Before uninstalling, go to the Content Library -> Products -> C (I assume CC Anora is under C). Go to the Product and delete it. If it is uninstalled, look at the very bottom of the list ('C' in this case) where uninstalled products usually go (it remembers). They will be greyed out (because they are not installed), but the database will use those references if the product is ever installed again. You can delete that instead of installing again just to delete it and re-install it.

    This will clear it from the database, then you can re-install and hopefully make the custom category. 

  • VargrVargr Posts: 22
    edited July 2021

    Thank you for the suggestion - it is much appreciated.

    Looking under Content Library -> Products -> C I find no trace of CC Anora

    If I look under Content Library -> DAZ Studio Formats -> My Library -> People -> Genesis 8 Female -> Characters -> CC Anora I can see that all the items start with "CC Anora".

     

    Searching for "CC Anora" (or just "Anora") in the search bar on the tab I get only five items - those that are visible in my own category but far fever than I should have. Right clicking these and choosing Show Asset in -> Products it takes me to Content Library -> Products -> L -> LOCAL USER which is a strange mixture of primarily third party products I have installed (by hand in seperate directories) and Daz products (or parts of as in the case of CC Anora).
    According to DIM CC Anora is installed.

     

    For DAZ content I let DIM (Daz Install Manager) handle the install, uninstall, and update of products. Anything non-Daz I handle by hand.

     

    I will now try to

    • Exit Daz Studio
    • Uninstall CC Anora using DIM
    • Exit DIM
    • Start Daz Studio
    • Look for traces of CC Anora in Daz Studio and delete them (as described in the post above).
    • Exit Daz Studio
    • Start DIM
    • Install CC Anora
    • Exit DIM
    • Start Daz Studio
    • See if CC Anora behaves this time

     

    Any further help and suggestions greatly appreciated.

     

    Greetings,

    Vargr

    •  
    Post edited by Vargr on
  • VargrVargr Posts: 22

    Well, I couldn't quite do the above, so instead it became:

     

    • Exit Daz Studio
    • Uninstall CC Anora using DIM
    • Exit DIM
    • Start Daz Studio
    • Under Content Library -> Products -> L -> LOCAL USER five orphaned items (displayed as a warning trianlge instead of a picture of the item) for CC Anora lingers
    • They can not be deleted because they are not a product as such but rather an item.
    • Instead Remove Orphaned Reference is used to remove the items.
    • Exit Daz Studio
    • Start DIM
    • Install CC Anora
    • Exit DIM
    • Start Daz Studio
    • See if CC Anora behaves this time
    • It doesn't.

    Then tried the same using Remove Reference instead - same result.

    Maybe the most sensible will be to remove the UserData_x files from ...\Studio\My Library\Runtime\Support and copy the previous backup of these in and start from there. Does anyone have any experience with doing that?

     

    Greetings,

    Vargr

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,480

    Items that end up in LOCAL USER are not part of a Product (as far as the database is concerned). That is usually the result of incomplete or bad metadata (wrong path or filename specified for the asset). In that case, the Product list might not contain an entry for the Product.

    When you say that you deleted the Product, did you delete the product assets (folders and items) from the Content Library? If they are in LOCAL USER, you can delete them from there, and remove any orphaned references after it is un-installed. The idea is to remove all trace of the faulty install and start over, as you say. There should have been more than 5 orphaned items, I suspect there are many more. But where? Are you certain that there is no entry for CCAnora in the Products -> C list whe the product is installed? All assets will end up somewhere.

    One way to find orphaned references is to make a custom category, then uninstall the product. Normally, this would clear the category also, but if there is another reference to the file, you will get orphaned references in the custom category. Those should be removed also.

    It is good that you have saved your User Data, but it won't undo a bad reference without resetting the database first, but we aren't at that point yet.

     

  • VargrVargr Posts: 22

    Thank you for getting back to me!

    Re. LOCAL USER

    After having uninstalled the CC Anora character using DIM I could only locate CC Anora-related items in one location:
    Content Library -> Products -> L -> LOCAL USER (with only five items and marked with the wraning triangle)

    So no, I did not delete CC Anora from the Content Library -> DAZ Studio Formats -> My Library -> People -> Genesis 8 Female -> Characters -> CC Anora by right clicking and selecting Delete. Instead I used DIM for that purpose (in the hope that DIM would work its magic on the database and reset what was wrong).

     

    Locating CC Anora for Genesis 8 Female (which apparently is the full formal name only used in certain places)

    After having uninstalled CC Anora using DIM and hunted down orphans and removed them I (spured on by your mail) located a ghosted folder under Content Library -> Products -> L -> LOCAL USER named CC Anora for Genesis 8 Female containing one item: Install CC Anora for Genesis 8 Female. I am 99.9% sure that item wasn't there earlier.

     

    Other info

    After having uninstalled CC Anora using DIM and removed the orphaned items under Library -> Products -> L -> LOCAL USER I exported my user data once more. I then opened them in a text editor (Notepad++ to be exact) and looked for "CC Anora" and "Anora" entries - I found none.

     

    I hope the above information is useful.

    Right now I am tempted to try reinstalling CC Anora using DIM and see if it works. But I will hold my horses and wait to hear what you think.

     

    Again, thank you very much for helping me!

     

    Greetings,

    Vargr

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,480

    As for that ghosted folder with the one item (Install CC Anora...), you can delete it. It shows that the database remembers that you once installed it. DIM will not clear out the database, just the content.

    I am a little puzzled by the location of it, though, LOCAL USER only contains individual assets, not products. That kind of entity is normally in the Product list (i.e., 'C'), at the bottom. I know, I have a few of those still hanging around.

  • VargrVargr Posts: 22
    edited July 2021

    Oh! My bad!

    Let me correct myself: The ghosted "Install CC Anora" is loacted in Library -> Products -> C -> CC Anora For Genesis 8 Female.

    And it is indeed at the bottom along with a few other products that I haven't got around to installing yet.

    Copy'n'Paste is nice, but I have to be more careful.

    So sorry about that!

    Post edited by Vargr on
  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,480

    Okay, delete it. Now, install CC Anora once more, and hope for the best...

  • VargrVargr Posts: 22
    edited July 2021

    Yes!

    After deleting the ghosted product in Daz, exiting Daz, starting DIM, installing the product from DIM, exiting DIM and starting Daz up again it finally worked as expected.

    I could create a category and everything seems to be located where it should!

    I am not sure what exactly did the trick (must have been the carefull elimination of everything related to the product and then a reinstall).

    I learned a lot along the way which I miht be abe to use in case of similar problems later.

    Thank you very much for your help! I really appreciate it!

     

    Thank you!

     

    Post edited by Vargr on
  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,480

    Excellent! Yes, removing the "ghosted" product definitely cleared the way. Exiting DIM and Studio isn't really necessary, just uninstalling from DIM and deleting the Product is usually enough. Clearing out any orphaned references will also keep things honest.

  • VargrVargr Posts: 22

    Normally I don't exit DIM and Daz when installing stuff but I just wanted to be absolutely sure that they wouldn't influence one another and become a cause for trouble while troubleshooting.

     

    Again, thank you!

     

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,480

    You're welcome. Glad to help.

  • VargrVargr Posts: 22
    edited October 2022

    Having had the problem again I decided to write a short "how to" based on the above thread.

    Hopefully it will be easier to follow for others than the back-and-forth troubleshooting above.

    Hopefully I get it right.


    Synopsis of the above correspondance.

    1. Go to Daz
    2. Delete the ghosted (and problematic) entry:
      1. Locate the problematic product under Content Library -> Products -> relevant letter
      2. Go to the bottom and look for a ghosted entry that corresponds to the problematic product. Make sure you get the product name right so you look for it at the right place.
      3. Delete it (right click and delete).
    3. Delete the problematic entry in your own category (I believe this step might not be required):
      1. Locate the problematic product in your own category (where you copied it to).
      2. Delete it (right click and delete).
    4. Go to DIM
      1. Find the problematic product in the tab "Installed".
      2. Uninstall it.
      3. Find the problematic product in the tab "Ready to install".
      4. Install it.
    5. Go to Daz
      1. Find the product under Content Library -> DAZ Studio Formats -> My Library
      2. Right click it and Create a category from… Selected folders and subfolders to where you want.

    The problem should hopefully be solved now.


    Again, thank you to NorthOf45 for helping me out.

     

    Edited because of spelling mistakes and the like.
    Edited: Flagging step 3 as probably not required.

    Post edited by Vargr on
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