DarkSim & 9.3.1 Vista Problem

[joehyde]

Hi,

Has anyone else experienced problems with DarkSims Symbiont7 shader when using Lightwave 9.3.1 on Vista ? I have 9.3 successfully configured, but have recently installed 9.3.1 on the same machine and can't for the life of me get the Symbiont shader to work. It loads OK, but when I render, the rendered surface is covered in red crosses. This is what happens when the Symbiont shader can't find its DLLs. The config file is in the right place (alongside Lightwave exe's in programs folder), and points to the right place (DarkSim installed Components dir), but just can't get it going. Newtek say its OK with 9.3.1 on XP, I have 9.3 on Vista working OK, just 9.3.1 not working. Have re-installed DarkSim, Lightwave & plug-ins - but no joy. Any ideas ?

Thx,

Joe

[RedBull]

I have not tried with recent versions, but one issue i had with Windows 64 (either XP or Vista) is i needed to put the Darksim directory, in the Program Files directory (and not the default Program Files x86 directory)

This ended up giving me no more red crosses...
So persevere because it is just the directory it cannot find.

[joehyde]

Hi,

Not quite sure exactly what you mean - I have the DarkSim folder in C:\Program Files\DarkSim.

As I say, 9.3 seems to find it OK, but 9.3.1 doesn't.

Was your problem a 9.3.1 problem specifically ?

Cheers,

Joe

[joehyde]

Got it - its UAC.

If I disable UAC, Symbiont works fine. If I re-enable, it fails.

Note also, I am running in admin mode ( naughty I know ). If I run from a "normal" account (with UAC enabled) its fine.

So, in summary, the problem only manifests on Vista with 9.3.1 when running in admin mode with UAC enabled.

Fix is easy - don't run in admin mode ( shouldn't be doing anyway ).

Cheers,

Joe