Unable to load Material Library...

[Njen]

I've completely uninstalled, then reinstalled the latest RC-1 build, and I find I'm missing some things:
* I can't find a 'Corona' menu that I've read elsewhere in the forum is supposed to exist on the main menu bar.
* When I attempt to launch the Corona Material Library, I get the following error: "Corona Matlib has failed to load. Material file is missing." I can load the matlib file manually and I see all of the materials, but anything with a bitmap map is failing to load.

I'm running Max 2017.

[Njen]

It might be good to know that I've sent my default program files install directory in the Windows registry to be the D drive, not the C drive. So Corona automatically installs here on my computer:
D:\Program Files\Corona

[Ryuu]

Do you have the D:\Program Files\Corona\materials\library.mat file on the disk? Or perhaps was this file created in the same path on the C drive?

[maru]

I would suggest trying the manual installation from the newest RC: https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=15845.msg110252#msg110252

[Njen]

Manual installation didn't fix this, still no Corona menu in Max and still unable to find the Corona matlib when I attempt to launch the library. It did look like it installed into the correct directory though:
D:\Program Files\Corona\materials\library.mat

Not sure what else to check...

[maru]

Please try the following:
-uninstall Corona from the programs and features list
-go to disk cleanup in Windows, and clear temporary internet files
-open internet explorer and clean browsing cache
-Go to your X:\Users\yournamehere\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2015 - 64bit\ENU\en-US\plugcfg\
and remove the CoronaRendererMenus.ini file. You may also remove anything else with "Corona" in it if you wish.
-In 3ds Max run customize > customize user interface > menus tab > menus at bottom-left > find Corona and delete it (if it's there)

-Install Corona again

If that doesn't help, then I am afraid this will need an intervention from the dev team.

[Njen]

Thanks for the list, unfortunately I am getting the same result, no Corona menu and the Corona Material Library fails to find the appropriate matlib.

[mike288]

Hi, I will look into this issue. Please, could you answer the following questions?

• How do you start Corona MatLib if there is no Corona menu for it?
• Start Corona Image Editor and do not load any image into it. Just expand the LUT panel on the right. What is the path written on the path-selecting button (above the combo box for selecting LUTs)?

[Njen]

1. I manually make my own menu and find the necessary items form the "Corona Renderer" category, then launch it from there.

2. It says "C:\", which leads me to believe there may possibly be some hard coding in the path? I guess the lack of access to LUTs have not been an issue for me, since I never apply LUTs to my renders, preferring to do all comping in Nuke.

[mike288]

1. I manually make my own menu and find the necessary items form the "Corona Renderer" category, then launch it from there.

2. It says "C:\", which leads me to believe there may possibly be some hard coding in the path? I guess the lack of access to LUTs have not been an issue for me, since I never apply LUTs to my renders, preferring to do all comping in Nuke.

OK, thank you. So it has something to do with your change of Program Files path.

Please, can you open command line (press Win+R and type cmd), run echo %ProgramW6432% %ProgramFiles% command, and post here output of it?

Do you remember which registry keys you have changed to move Program Files to D drive?

[Njen]

Running the command gives me:
D:\Program Files D:\Program Files

I modified all keys in the following location that was originally pointing to the C drive:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

CommonFilesDir
CommonFilesDir (x86)
CommonW6432Dir
ProgramFilesDir
ProgramFilesDir (x86)
ProgramW6432Dir

[mike288]

OK, what about HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion, do you see any "C:\Program Files" string values there? Still not sure, if it is the cause of your issues.

[Njen]

Actually, I changed those too. There is nothing there pointing to the C drive, only the D drive.

[mike288]

There must be something. You can try to search for "Program Files" token in registry. Maybe there is something you have left out. Remember there are paths containing "%SystemDrive%" variable so searching for "C:\Program Files" may not be enough.

The thing is that Corona installer is 32bit but Max plugin is 64bit. When asking the system for a path to Program Files, we are getting different paths in your case. That is why your Corona installation cannot find Material Library resources and LUT files. Unfortunately I am unable to find out which registry key the system uses for that (when running a 64bit application). It is probably wrong in your case.

Generally I would rather copy whole Program Files directory to D drive and then use mklink /J "C:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" to create a directory junction. It seems more robust and problem free to me. But I have never tried that. Nevertheless, I would not suggest to do such thing at all. One can almost always install stuff to a different drive.

[Njen]

I attempted a search for "Program Files" in the registry, but it was far too numerous to continue.

I've had this setup (editing the registry for default program files location) working for many years now on a few computers, and this is the first time I've had an issue with a program not finding something on the correct drive. The only thing I keep on my C drive is the operating system. All third party program files and user documents are moved to other (physical) drives to prevent data loss should the operating system falter in any way.

Are you sure there isn't anything in Corona that is specifically looking for a specific drive?