product library manual downloads, and *_ds.exe files

sriesch

Can somebody clarify part of the rules when manually downloading them from your product library instead of using DIM? Specifically, when do I want / don't want *_ds.exe files?
I had mistakenly thought the .exe files were legacy files that I only wanted if there were no other files to download, and did not want if there were other files to download. However it appears that is incorrect.
For example, for the product pwGhost (see screenshot), for use in DAZ Studio 4.6x only. Apparently pwGhost installs important stuff to the DS folder, not just the content folder, so I have to use a .exe file and not a zip file. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that means I need to download 4345_pwGhost_1.2_ds.exe (even though it does NOT have a green DIM download file). I assume I don't need 4345_pwGhost_1.2_ds.zip because that should be for a Mac (and I'm using a PC), correct? I know I don't need the "pwGhost for DAZ Studio 3" zip since I'm not using DS3. Do I need the "pwGhost for DAZ Studio 4" zip too or not?
Also, I'm wondering what other products I may have mis-downloaded in this same way without knowing. Are there any specific types of products that need to run the .exes instead of using zips that I should double-check (like all shaders or something)?
Thanks!

DZ_jared

4345_pwGhost_1.2_ds.exe and the .zip are installers for the old version of PW Ghost that works with DAZ Studio 2 (If I remember correctly). The reason the installers are included instead of zip files is because they are old haven't been converted for use with DIM yet. If you are using Studio 3 then download the Studio 3 version. If you are using Studio 4 then download the Studio 4 version.

I hope this helps.

sriesch

It appears that the 4345_pwGhost_1.2_ds.exe puts several .sdl files (I think they might have been pwGhost.sdl and pwGhostShadow.sdl) in "C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\shaders" during installation.
If I install using only the “pwGhost for DAZ Studio 4” zip, it doesn't do this, and doesn't appear to work correctly by default. I ran a search and found .sdl files in "\DAZ Studio_4.5;4;4.x Public Build;4.x Private Build\shaders". If you use the zip version, do you need to manually start moving files around to make it work, and if so, how do I determine which files go where (I only noticed these two because of the easily identifiable name and a bit of guesswork.)

DZ_jared

Yes, you'd need to move those .sdl files. DIM automatically puts them where they need to go, but you would need to move them manually. Basically take that DAZ Studio_4.5;4;4.x Public Build and merge it with your existing DAZ Studio 4 folder in the program files folder.

sriesch

Great, thanks.
To identify other and new products where I will have to do this as well, do I just watch for a folder named similarly to
"DAZ Studio_4.5;4"
-or-
"DAZ Studio_4.5;4;4.x Public Build;4.x Private Build"
and always merge it when found, or do I have to worry about a folder with a name like this in some product that should NOT be merged this way?
Should I ever encounter files that are already there that are not identical when trying to merge, does it matter which file I keep and which I discard (or should that never happen, and that would indicate a problem)?

DZ_jared

Yes, anything in that DAZ Studio folder in the .zip you download needs to be merged with your DAZ Studio 4 folder in your program files folder, not with your content.

sriesch

Thanks!

sriesch

I downloaded the updated "Shader Mixer Tutorial I" product, and noticed that it now has a folder called AppData alongside the Content folder, which contains these two files:
DAZ 3D\Studio4\ShaderMixer\Menus\Rotator.dcb
DAZ 3D\Studio4\ShaderMixer\Menus\tiler.dbm
Previously these files were located in a folder called "Shader Mixer Bricks" alongside the Runtime folder. Am I correct in assuming that if one is not using DIM, for this and similar products these files now need to be manually moved to the following folder (assuming Studio4 is the application folder in use in this example), or whatever similar matching subfolder(s) one might find in future products?
WINDOWS 7: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\ShaderMixer\Menus
WINDOWS XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\DAZ 3D\Studio4\ShaderMixer\Menus