Daz Launches minimized and will not maximize
dalehey
Posts: 19
I minimized Daz and now it is like that permenantly. I relaunched Daz, restarted my computer, reinstalled, updated to 4.23...nothing helped. I'm not even getting an error message to point me into the right direction.
Error.jpg
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Comments
You can try pressing : Windows key (Start) + Up Arrow to maximize DS window. See if it works.
It didn't, but I appreciate the attempt.
Also try hiting the Esc key a few times, perhaps a prompt is opening and blocking the UI from responding.
If that fails start a command prompt/Power Shell session (right-click on the WIndows logo button, bottom-left of the screen by default - the "Start" button as-was) and enter
& "c:/program files/daz 3d/dazstudio4/dazstudio.exe" -instanceName cleanlaunch
(adjust the path as needed, this is the default) to run without any UI or other settings (so it will ask for a serial number etc.) - if that works the issue is in the settings, probably the layout. Hit Alt W and if the WIndow menu opens go to Layout>Select Layout to try resetting everything related to that.
Well, entering your command in Power Shell got me into DAZ 4.22, at least. My Content Library is now empty, but I'd been working from an XHD, so I'd probably just have to remap it again. Resetting the layout didn't do anything, though. I can still only get in through that Power Shell cleanlaunch, which I suspect might bring its own problems were I to rely on it.
I don't know if this is significant, but neither version of DAZ that I have currently installed (4.22 or 4.23) shows up in my computer's installed app list. DIM and Daz Central are there and functioning normally, but no sign of DAZ3D itself.
Remapping my content after the clean launch didn't do the trick, either. I can see it in my library, but none of it loads properly. I'm still dead in the water, sadly. I'm able to unistall 4.23 through DIM, but I don't have an option to uninstall 4.22 there, either.
I wasn't suggesting using the cleanlaunch, it was just diagnostic. Could you get the dialogue to seelct layout, or would it not even go that far?
I got to it under Window\workspace\select layout. City Limits Lite was the default. Am I in the wrong spot?
No, that is correct. So you can select the new layout but the window still doesn't open? Does it do the same if you open it by double-clicking in a saved scene?
Daz will open in clean launch and minimize/maximize properly, but it will only load certain assets (as seen in my attached picture). There has been no change if I attempt to open Daz normally; it still opens minimized and stays that way even after switching to default layout.
The ones that don't load may be in a different content directory (possibly Daz Connect installed). We need to fix your egular version if possible.
One thing to try, though it should be the same as loading a layout, is going to
%appdata%/daz 3d/studio4/
and removing (move elsewhere, rather than delete)
actions.dsx
customactions.dsx
layout.dsx
menus.dsx
toolbars.dsx
if that doesn't help you might also try removing
startupscript.dsa
Hmm...I'll be honest, I'm not totally sure how to get to %appdata%/daz 3d/studio4/. Where should I be entering that information?
I just included the picture in case it was helpful straightening this out. My directories were set up correctly before, so if I can get back into DAZ normally, I think they should still be ok (or I can set them up again).
You open a Windows file browser and paste that into the Address bar.
Ah. I was making it way harder than it needed to be! Unfortunately, it didn't work. Daz just created new versions of all the files and the result was the same.
OK, so it isn't the layout that is the issue (I suspected that would be the case). It could be a rogue plug-in, though not single-handedly (or everyone with the plug-in would have the issue) - one way to test that would be to download http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/plugins/plugins_load_config/start and double-click it to launch DS and run the script, then close DS (for the script to take effect) and try restarting - this will disable all non-Daz plug-ins. If DS then opens as it should you can try reenabling plug-ins through Help>About Installed plug-ins and restarting DS until you find one that causes the issue.
Actuslly, before you do that go to
%appdata%/daz 3d/studio4/
again and attach log.txt to a post here - I should have asked you to do that sooner.
This is the log file.
The only difference was that I got the attached error message. It appeared on my desktop, with DAZ still minimized on my taskbar.
Yes, as I said you need to restrt after running the script or manually enabling/disabling plug-ins - their status is checked once, on launch.
The log shows you have nested content directories - a folder and a folder within that folder both seelcted as content directories. That can cause issues when loading saved scenes, or when trying to access your content in another configuration if you don't have the same error - that probably accounts for the issues you were seeing in the clean instance.
It looks as if your GPU driver is too old for the current version of Iray - I would doubt that would cause an issue with opening, but it is worth trying to move to at least 522.06 as requested - if this version is trying to launch with Iray preview on and the clean version isn't that might be the difference.
I meant that I get that "restarting daz is necessary" error each time. I restarted my computer, powered it completely off, and no change. I should have specified. I'm not getting it now...but Daz still won't open.
It's not impossible that I could have bungled the directory setup in the clean version. I didn't remember exactly how I'd set it up before and had to eyeball it. I'm not a particularly technological animal and I brute-force a lot of my setup.
I'm not entirely certain how to update my GPU driver. I took a stab at it but it doesn't seem to have done the trick.
Right-click on the Windows Desktop>nVidia Control panel. The driver version will be just above the card name. in small print, on the home page of the window that opens.
If you are getting the restart message (it isn't an error, and wouldn't stop DS from running) that indicates an issue of some kind - it should be shown only when a plug-in has been enabled or disabled. It could be that something (perhaps your security software) is interfering with updating the list of plug-ins to allow/disallow (which may vitiate some of the previous tests).
The log, assuming it is from the sessions which do not start correctly, indicates an issue with your main content directories - you wouldn't want to reproduce that in the other instance.
I don't get an option for nVidia control panel when I right-click on the desktop. I can update my GPU Driver in the usual way through Device Manager; it just says I already have the best driver installed. I just don't know how to search for and add a specific one or I haven't had any luck doing it yet.
I don't know if this is significant, but this happened right in the middle of a session. I had just finished arranging a scene and done a render of it when DAZ minimized itself and refused to come back out.
One other probably-not-significant thing: I no longer have the option of uninstalling DAZ 4.22 through DIM. I'd been curious if a complete reinstall would help, but all I was able to do was install/uninstall 4.23, which didn't solve my issue.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/drivers/ will let you enter system details and then give a list of available drivers.
Mine isn't on there. I just have a factory-default AMD Radeon card (Device Manager doesn't seem to get more specific than that). It's definitely not powerful, but it has been running DAZ for the past year and a half, only quitting last week.
I also found the steps to uninstall DAZ 4.22 without DIM and installed 4.23 as the only version of DAZ. It didn't help.
Ah, sorry - I saw thew driver version error and didn't check back to see what hardware you have. If you don't have an nVidia card that makes it even harder to see why one instance would start correctly and the other would not.
I agree. Thus far, the only solution has been to stop using DAZ entirely. I'm hoping for a better one, but nothing I've tried has worked.
Well, since the clean start works you could put the main version in that state - not a bad idea since theer are issues with your content directories, though you may then get errors from some saved files.
I feel like it's not a permanent solution, but I suppose I could give straightening out those crossed-up directories a whirl. I goofed it a bit the first time I tried to redo it because I don't remember exactly how I had them set up, but I could go back and try it again.
I remembered I'd used the same mapping on an old computer I had run DAZ on, so I copied it onto this one and everything loaded with no problems. I still can't run DAZ without going through PowerShell, but at least I can run it at all. Thank you, Richard Haseltine.