Arnold Renderer keeps Failing

[ethan.penn6]

Hello! I am currently running the student licensed version of Maya 2017, and very often (actually, constantly), Arnold does not load. The mtoa.mll plugin will randomly disable itself, and I have to go and click load/auto-load nearly every time that I open up Maya. Also, even when they're enabled, I try and open the render view, and I get this error message:

# Error: AttributeError: file C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2017\Python\lib\site-packages\pymel\core\nodetypes.py line 409: nt.Unknown(u'defaultArnoldRenderOptions') has no attribute or method named 'drivers'

There's no explanation as to why this is happening, and I've searched extensively online for solutions, but I haven't found anyone who is having the same problem as I am with the Arnold Renderer and Maya. I was hoping I could get some help here. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

The Auto-Load setting is saved in your preferences.

For example, on my system it is in this file: C:\Users\blairs\Documents\maya\2017\prefs\pluginPrefs.mel

evalDeferred("autoLoadPlugin(\"\", \"mtoa\", \"mtoa\")");

That error means that the defaultArnoldRenderOptions node is corrupted in that scene.

You can see my suggestion for fixing that at the first two hits:

https://www.google.ca/#q=Unknown(u'defaultArnoldRenderOptions')+has+no+attribute+or+method+named+'dr...'

For example, here: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-forum/arnold-maya-2017-not-working/td-p/6669162

[ethan.penn6]

I've already been through all of the links on that first Google page. Most of the suggestions won't even help me sadly (for instance, I go into the node editor, and the "DAG Objects Only" thing does not even exist!), and everyone else suggests a re-installation. I had to install through their special installer though because I'm running on a Dell piece of crap, and I don't want to have to fight that process again, because I'm guessing this problem will just start happening again. It's clearly something I need to fix in the program itself, not just by blindly reinstalling and hoping that it gets fixed.

[Stephen.Blair]

Outliner, not Node Editor

You can check in the Outliner, just clear Display > DAG Objects Only

And I don't suggest reinstalling. That won't fix a scene with a corrupted node.

[ethan.penn6]

Okay, but it's not just one scene with a corrupted node. I just opened Maya, and I clicked Render View, and it said I was missing aovs....I looked in plugins, and MOTA was disabled AGAIN!!!! I loaded it up, and once again, it gave me the "driver" error.

[Stephen.Blair]

That means the defaultArnoldRenderOptions node is corrupted even in new scenes, so there's something wrong with either the MtoA install or the environment. Whether or not auto-load is enabled doesn't really matter at this point; it's probably cleared for the same reason your nodes are corrupted.

Can you start Maya from the command line, and get a startup log, like this?

set MTOA_STARTUP_LOG_VERBOSITY=3

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2017\bin\maya

Then post that startup log, along with everything that was logged in the Maya script history.

[ethan.penn6]

I really wish I knew what all of that meant, because I'm willing to try anything at this point...can you help me work through those steps? I'm still extremely new to Maya and all of this stuff...

[Anonymous]

hey!! don't know if u still need it but u have to write this

set MTOA_STARTUP_LOG_VERBOSITY=3
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2017\bin\maya

inside the red circle

i got the same trouble and here is mine, i'm gratefull for your help

[Stephen.Blair]

1. Click the Windows Start button
2. In the search box, type cmd.exe 
3. Click cmd.exe or just press ENTER
4. In the command prompt window, type this command and press ENTER
   set MTOA_STARTUP_LOG_VERBOSITY=3
5. Now start Maya, by typing this and pressing ENTER:
   C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2017\bin\maya

The MtoA startup log is in the Output Window.