max 2017: MR DRB satellite doesn't start!

[jens.diemer]

I can't start the mental ray DBR satellite service !

Can somebody confirm this?!?

In this case, the 2017 release is complete useless 😞

[c0cllc]

Hi! I didn't test it myself, as the german Version of the software is still not available...

But from your screenshot it looks like you have 2 instances of the MR-Sattelite service installed (one 2016 and one 2017)? And the 2016 seems to be running, you might need to deactivate it...

[jens.diemer]

Think that's not needed... You can also have 2015 and 2016 installed and running... Every new version used other ports, so there is no conflict.

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c0cllc schrieb:

Hi! I didn't test it myself, as the german Version of the software is still not available...

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Why not? Just download the "all Language" Version, this include german, too.

[c0cllc]

My product is the Building Design Suite, which contains 3ds max: but there is no other option than "english" for it yet 😞

Maybe you're right about the ports - but if there is a bug it still could be the reason...Especially now, with the new separate install of the MR-Engine there might be some conflicts..

[jens.diemer]

I tested it: It's the same error, while 2016 is deactivated...

[jens.diemer]

nobody with the same problem here?

[jon.bell]

Hi Jens,

Your report was escalated to an internal support case to us, so I'll be following up with you there. I may also be logging a defect report/change request on this, so I'll let you know.

Best regards,

Jon A. Bell

Autodesk Technical Support

[Florian.Coenen]

Hello,

zur Information: Ich kann den Service auf meinem System auch nicht starten.

Deshalb hab ich das an die Entwicklung weitergeleitet um das zu fixen.

Wann allerdings ein Fix zur Verfügung steht, kann ich momentan noch nicht sagen.

Viele Grüsse

[c0cllc]

This is incredibly ridiculous. This is not just a bug. A FINAL PRODUCT fails initializing the RENDERING ENGINE, which was for more than a DECADE the PRIMARY RENDERING ENGINE of the package... And nobody noticed THAT before launching the 2017 rocket. I just can't believe it.  And we pay thousands of dollars to get answers like "we don't know when it will be fixed".

[jon.bell]

Hello,

We're investigating this -- if an issue doesn't manifest in our own internal testing, then we have to go back and work to reproduce this.

I'm talking to some of our internal developers about this and I'll update everyone as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.

Best regards,

Jon A. Bell

Autodesk Technical Support

[Anonymous]

Go to the windows services file and change the text from 2016 to 2017 [just before the port number] to allow launching the satelite service.  After doing this I now get an issue with can't find dll files when actually submitting a dbr for render on satelite machines.  But at least it renders locally.

Appears to be an issue now that the Nvidia files install in the plug ins folder instead of ..3ds max 2017/nvidia.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to add. The OP problem is that the "raysat service" starts then shuts down...even with 2017 eng version......I managed to resolve this issue by editing the [windows\sys32\drivers\etc\services] file. After 2017 install it directs the MR service to 2016......if you change the svc file to call 2017 you can start and run the satelitte service without it shutting down immediately......but.......when submitting a dbr render it still gives me an error of “cannot find dll's“ even if just rendering a cube with no materials applied.

Must be related to the new file path for the separate MR install. All the required files are still installed by the default path but they do seem to link to a “ray3rc“ file that doesn't install...changing the name of “rayrc“ file to "ray3rc" did not resolve the issue either. Apogies to developers reading this if my filee paths are off...don't have access to theactual errors now as my work netwotk is completey offline.

As other posts state....this seems like such an obvious error that I can't understand how it wasn't caught during testing for release of a completely new release of Max 2017.

Side note....my testing was on Win 7 SP1 (with all required updates) fresh install of windows 7 pro with no prior builds ever installed on any of the pc's.

[c0cllc]

I'm absolutely sure this problem is caused by the fact, that Nvidia and Autodesk are sulky with each other. Nvidia maybe wants more money for Mray and iRay and that's why now we got a by far not production-ready beta-ART - and Mray is just kicked out of 3dsmax and has become just another plugin. So nobody cared about Mray anymore - Autodesk focused on Art and Nvidia half-heartedly created that free version of Mray. That's how things got messed up. I'm absolutely sure that's what happened.

Meanwhile of course, Autodesk is happily collecting the quadrupled subscription fees from it's new customers. Now that is efficient business, isn't it?!

[spacefrog_ · Accepted solution]

Hi guys, after some fideling i got a working solution for the satellites to render when using DBR in Mental ray
Please follow the steps exactly and it should work ( at least it does for me )

•  edit the file "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\services" using a text editor
   change "mi-raysat_3dsmax2016_64 7523/tcp" to "mi-raysat_3dsmax2017_64 7526/tcp"
   note the different port (7526) number which seem to be the default port now

• copy the rayrc file from the attached zip to your Max root folder: "rayrc"
  As you might have noticed, the raysat service exe's now sit in the Max root folder, hence you have to give them a rayrc with corrected paths to the MR shader dll's
  
  
• run the following command in the mMaxscript listener ( otherwise the server would not find the dll )
  copyFile ( getdir #maxroot+"Plugins\NVIDIA\Bin\satellite\libmdl.dll" )  ( getdir #maxroot+"libmdl.dll" )

Please report wether this works for you or not

[Anonymous]

Works for me, thanks for the help Spacefrog:)

[lightcube · Accepted solution]

I was talking to @jon.bell  earlier about a separate issue and he asked me about MR satellite working here. I haven't done and network rendering with 2017 yet, but was curious.

@Anonymous mentioned editing the services file. When I looked at my services file, I see this in it:

mi-raysat_3dsmax2016_64 7524/tcp    #mental ray Satellite for Autodesk 3ds Max 2017

It is odd that there is not actual 2017 entry, but the 2016 entry lists 2017 in the comment. Mine may be odd because 2017 MR actually always failed to install and I only got MR working here by manually copying from another installation on another computer ... but there must be some bad logic somewhere to have edited that 2016 line to mention 2017. I'm only sharing this as informational.

[spacefrog_ · Accepted solution]

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@lightcube wrote:

@I was talking to @jon.bell  earlier about a separate issue and he asked me about MR satellite working here. I haven't done and network rendering with 2017 yet, but was curious.

@Anonymous mentioned editing the services file. When I looked at my services file, I see this in it:

mi-raysat_3dsmax2016_64 7524/tcp    #mental ray Satellite for Autodesk 3ds Max 2017

It is odd that there is not actual 2017 entry, but the 2016 entry lists 2017 in the comment. Mine may be odd because 2017 MR actually always failed to install and I only got MR working here by manually copying from another installation on another computer ... but there must be some bad logic somewhere to have edited that 2016 line to mention 2017. I'm only sharing this as informational.

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Yeah - seems that the 2017 MR installer simply has the "2016" instead of "2017" in that string  ("mi-raysat_3dsmax2016_64") by mistake. One thing i failed to mention in my post above is, that if you have had the real Max 2016 mental ray satellite entry in the services file already, you should copy paste the line instead of plain editing. And edit the COPIED line then as i describe above.

I can't remember 100% for sure, but i think the MR 2017 installation has simply overwritten the original 2016 line ,,,

[jens.diemer]

@spacefrog_ great job!

The next bug in max that user fixed faster than AD. Strange, isn't it?!?

...opensource would has advantages...

[jens.diemer]

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spacefrog schrieb:

Please follow the steps exactly and it should work ( at least it does for me )

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I put all together to a "one-click-fix":

Download this .zip: https://gist.github.com/jedie/6a21195f43eebf2c64734776f1633df3/archive/d8b86daf9d2e02188159a233f17ce...

Extract somewhere. It's included two files: max2017_mr_dbr_bugfix.cmd and max2017_mr_dbr_bugfix.py

Start the batch file max2017_mr_dbr_bugfix.cmd with admin rigths!

Source code: https://gist.github.com/jedie/6a21195f43eebf2c64734776f1633df3

(Still untested... Will test it later and add a "start service" later)

[jens.diemer · Accepted solution]

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jens.diemer schrieb:

I put all together to a "one-click-fix":

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I moved the patch to a seperate repository, here: https://github.com/jedie/3dsmax_patches

direct ZIP Download: https://github.com/jedie/3dsmax_patches/archive/master.zip

I also change the script, so that the service will start and set to "auto" at the end.

Now i tested my script and it works fine.

Apply the patch, looks like this: