Daz Lost its Library

vaysheth

If it's visible on yours, can you tell what the final folder should be? I'm worried I'm not getting it right, which would lead to my errors. For instance, is it supposed to be C:/Users/Username/AppData/DAZ 3D/cms or C:/Users/Username/AppData/DAZ 3D/cms/Content Cluster? This whole mess has me second-guessing myself. If someone with a working CMS could give me their path, I could at least be confident I'm setting it right, even when it doesn't work afterwards. Like I said, a screenshot would help me most, but a description would be good enough for me to figure it out. That silly .json file is nothing but a path, so I don't really know what's up with that either... literally all it consists of is the path to the folder in which it lives. At first I thought I was onto something because it was the only thing in that folder and I realized there's supposed to be a Content Cluster folder there, but when I copied my cluster folder into that path, nothing noticeable changed; not like when I moved the PostgreSQL CMS folder to its correct path.

crosswind

It's the former as you described ~ as below screenshot 1.

Since postgreSQL server could not be started on your side, slso suggest you try : click that "database icon" in DIM for a couple of times, then go to: %appdata%\DAZ 3D\cms\ContentCluster, check the file "dblog.txt"... the lines at the bottom, like screenshot 2. See if you can find some info...
 

vaysheth

Ok, thanks. I've done that, Daz's log info is probably the least informative in the buisness. It says, "Failed to start CMS". Thanks, guys, that's very helpful... Ok, so the final folder in the path is cms. What else, aside from the .json file is in that folder? There should be a ContentCluster folder, correct? This is so frustrating... Considering I let DIM choose all its own paths this time, this makes less sense than ever.

vaysheth

Ok, the most bizzare thing just happened. I deleted the ContentCluster file in C:/Users/Me/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/CMS, opened DIM, Uninstalled PostgreSQL CMS, reinstalled it, and everything is working... I had import metadata again, but that was to be expected. Somewhere in that folder was a bad path in a config file, that's the only thing that makes any sense. How it got a bad path and why DIM has created PostgreSQL CMS folders all over the computer is beyond comprehension, I gave up telling it where to put them and let it just do what it wanted like three installs ago. The good news is, as of right now, everything appears to be fixed... aside from my entire Daz layout needs a tremendous overhaul... The bad news is, I still don't have a garanteed workflow for fixing this problem for myself or anyone else in the future. Deleting folders and making DIM reinstall everything is not exactly an ideal fix, especially since my viewport isn't even recognizable right now; plus, there really are PostgreSQL CMS folders in lots of places with no ryme or reason and I'm kind of afraid to remove any of them, even though I know several have to be useless duplicates. One thing at a time I guess. Is there a way to mark this issue as resolved? Or does it just slowly move to the back of line as people stop commenting on it?

skyeshots

vaysheth said:

... The bad news is, I still don't have a garanteed workflow for fixing this problem for myself or anyone else in the future. Deleting folders and making DIM reinstall everything is not exactly an ideal fix, especially since my viewport isn't even recognizable right now; plus, there really are PostgreSQL CMS folders in lots of places with no ryme or reason and I'm kind of afraid to remove any of them, even though I know several have to be useless duplicates.

Managing asset folders can be tricky, especially if you have a library of items purchased from 3rd party sellers. My workflow is creating disk images using ImDisk Toolkit (free/open source). Here is a high level overview of my workflow, starting with a new PC:

1. Create a virtual disk (“X:\”, for example).
2. Install DIM and Daz Studio to the virtual disk X:\.
3. Confirm DIM and Daz are functioning properly, then repoint all DIM and Daz Studio content paths to directories on the virtual disk, with exception of the CMS.
4. Create a separate folder path on the virtual disk and in Daz for 3rd party content.
5. Proceed with installing content and build out 3rd party folder structure.
6. When you have everything fully loaded, save the image (.img) of the virtual drive and make copies of the image.

This ensures that that if Daz Studio ever fails or Windows fails, you have a working copy of the directory structure and installed assets. Most of the time I can get away with just reloading an image. Even if there is trouble getting CMS back up and running, you will have a validated copy of the asset’s library hierarchy.

This process can also work if you need to setup Daz on a new PC or do a clean Windows Install. Just replicate the steps followed during the original installation and content path mapping. Then overwrite the installation with a copy from the disk image. On my PC, I load the imaged drive directly into physical memory (RAM) instead of virtual memory to reduce latency. This means that whenever I restart my PC (windows update, etc.) Daz Studio, DIM, and all installed assets (including 3rd party content), are completely wiped out. On reboot, I simply reload a recent image to physical memory.

Even if everything goes wrong and you need to re-download assets from Daz for some reason, you will still have a copy of the 3rd party content folder which you can copy directly from an extracted disk image. As far as the local roaming folder goes, I let the CMS run from where it wants to. The menu configuration files are in the roaming folder as well, but I tend to skip those to avoid disturbing the roaming file. For the menus, I might suggest taking a screenshot and emailing it to yourself in case you need to rebuild them, especially since the more recent versions of Daz have vastly improved muli-monitor window docking features.

crosswind

vaysheth said:

Ok, the most bizzare thing just happened. I deleted the ContentCluster file in C:/Users/Me/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/CMS, opened DIM, Uninstalled PostgreSQL CMS, reinstalled it, and everything is working... I had import metadata again, but that was to be expected. Somewhere in that folder was a bad path in a config file, that's the only thing that makes any sense. How it got a bad path and why DIM has created PostgreSQL CMS folders all over the computer is beyond comprehension, I gave up telling it where to put them and let it just do what it wanted like three installs ago. The good news is, as of right now, everything appears to be fixed... aside from my entire Daz layout needs a tremendous overhaul... The bad news is, I still don't have a garanteed workflow for fixing this problem for myself or anyone else in the future. Deleting folders and making DIM reinstall everything is not exactly an ideal fix, especially since my viewport isn't even recognizable right now; plus, there really are PostgreSQL CMS folders in lots of places with no ryme or reason and I'm kind of afraid to remove any of them, even though I know several have to be useless duplicates. One thing at a time I guess. Is there a way to mark this issue as resolved? Or does it just slowly move to the back of line as people stop commenting on it?

Like a mojo.... I just presume that your cms clusters were corrupted or sth....