Carrara 8.0.1.45 won't start

Hey, all

Up until around November last, I was able to use Carrara 8 in my workflow (rig in Poser, save, open in Carrara, tweak as necessary--when I didn't just do the animation there--save as FBX and open for play in MAX). Along around then, Carrara stopped working; stopped opening at all, truthfully. I double-click on the icon (already long since set to run as Administrator), there's a brief full-screen flash like the program's trying to start, and then nothing.

I tried reinstalling to the same place; no change. Went to secure a fresh copy from My Software of my serial number, and reinstalled the program again; nada. Tried putting it in a different place, and there was no change. Tried double-clicking on a Carrara file to see if it'd open if it had a target; nothing. Tried right-clicking and selecting OPEN WITH... and selecting Carrara as the target. Nothing.

(Haven't even been acknowledged yet by tech support. Guess Carrara really is about to be abandoned, which is a pity; it's more fun than Hexagon or DS (singly or together), and at least 'til now I haven't had to totally say good-bye to my RayDream Studio memories. :)

Only found one thread like this one in the Discussion Forums, and only found one other on, I think, an NVidia forum (the last one actually seemed to be having the same problem, but I'm on an ATI video board, not NVidia).

Running Win 7x64 (no desire to go any further down that steep dirt grade), tons and tons of free space not only on my OS drive but all the varied other drives. All everything's up-to-date.

Anyone have any ideas why this might've just started up? Or things I could check? Is there a log file that might have something I could look at? (I confess to being not-knowledgeable about where Carrara keeps its Needful Files.)

Thanks!

Davey

Comments

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,182
    edited January 2018

    Sorry, I'm at a loss.  I have 8.5 on my main machine and 8.1 on my older machine.  Haven't noticed any trouble recently.  Maybe there is a clue in the thread for the official release?

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27826/official-release-of-carrara-8-5-update-8-5-1-19#latest

     

    EDIT: My old version is 8.1.0.151, if that makes a difference.

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,623
    edited January 2018

    I've seen this before and every single time it's always been the same thing - a plugin that's not loading properly. Here's how I fix it:

    Carrara's Extensions folder includes may extension that are built into Carrara as it has been developed, so we don't want to just remove everything.

    1. Make a temporary folder on your desktop
    2. Open the Extensions folder and look for plugins that you may have installed right around the time Carrara stopped working. If you're not certain, just select all plugins that you recognize as something you've installed - not stuff like "CR2" or "3DS", etc., 
    3. Make sure to select all files of the same name for that extension, like "PyCloid", for example, will have three files to grab.
    4. Move those files to the temporary folder you made on the desktop. Make sure to "Move" not "Copy
    5. Open Carrara
    6. Does it open?
    7. If not, explore the Extensions folder further for more plugin names you might recognize. Be thorough.
    8. Move those to the Temp folder
    9. Open Carrara
    10. When you get Carrara to open, close it again and move the plugins back into the Extensions folder One at a Time, and reopen Carrara each time you do this. Eventually you'll find which plugin isn't working.

    Using a Beta version of Carrara might be the issue, since when plugin makers fix their files to work with new versions, they might no longer be compatible with Beta versions.

     

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • rk66rk66 Posts: 441

    8.1.1.12 is the latest Carrara 8 version.

  • I've seen this before and every single time it's always been the same thing - a plugin that's not loading properly. Here's how I fix it:

    Carrara's Extensions folder includes may extension that are built into Carrara as it has been developed, so we don't want to just remove everything.

    1. <snip>

    Using a Beta version of Carrara might be the issue, since when plugin makers fix their files to work with new versions, they might no longer be compatible with Beta versions.

    Dang. I really wanted this to be the solution.

    Found Extensions. Made the backup directory. I didn't actually see anything that I'd installed (mostly I've just been using it as-is). Moved a couple, tried to start; no joy. Figured "what the heck" and moved all of the extensions. Still no joy; the interface flashes up, but immediately disappears again (if I wasn't looking I'd've missed it)..

    It's not a beta, but I've not gone out looking for the updates to it, either. Grr. That's what I get for not being online more.

    Still gonna keep looking and trying. I just really don't want to have to make a VM just to run Carrara (assuming that even worked).

    Thanks for trying, though; I'll remember this for the future.

    Davey

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,289

    I had this exact thing happen with iClone 4 once and had to clean the registry with Piroform's CCleaner to even uninstall it.

     

  • Well, problem solved, sorta.

    I created a virtual (XPx64SP2... SP3 breaks other things that I'd like to access again. And I may use Win7, but I don't have to like it). Right now, not much but Carrara and Firefox here (I may see if Hexagon'll work, as the Hexagon-to-Carrara flow is something I'd like to see work). Carrara runs beautifully. Mapped a network drive to the 'real' machine (the Graphics drive, instead of being D:, is now G:, which is honestly easier to remember). Added my Poser runtime. Carrara sees everything, opens everything, and exports anything I want it to. Yay.

    Why I had to jump through hoops to do this still beats me. Seems like even a tepid "yeah, we saw your message, we'll get around to it some day, in the meantime go drool over DazStudio or something" from tech support'd've been better than nothing.

    Thanks to those who tried to help, though.

    Davey (now I can try some of those simpler animations I wanted to)(or join a contest!)

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,996

    glad you got it fixed!

     

  • Sorry to revive this topic, but is there a solution to the problem, when no virtual mashine can be set up (due to lack of Windows XP)?

  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,026
    Update all drivers, especially graphics cards. Even Intel integrated GPU. Uninstall tablet drivers and any other special hardware in case that driver causes any issues.
  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,026
    You can also download a virtual Windows image and run it for 90 days with VirtualBox (free) or HyperV (free in Win 10 Pro): https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/
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