Can't get backround images or sounds to work at all on DO9

Help & Support
1

I did clean installs (not upgrade installations) of DO9 on Vista Home Premium and Win2K SP4, and I can't get backround images (Preferences->Display->Images), themes, or sounds (Preferences->File Operations->Sounds) to work on either platform. I make my selections, and then... then... nothing! I've been a long-time user of DO through several versions, so I thought I knew how to do this stuff, but am I missing some new trick in DO9?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Scott

2

Does this FAQ help at all:
[HOW TO: Understand and Configure Background Images)

Probably not if you're used to how it works from Opus 8 as this stuff hasn't changed much (if at all) in 9...

If you want, create a backup of your configuration and attach it to a post or a private message to me and I'll see if anything looks wrong.

3

@sfordin
Are you trying to use *.png images? If it's so, then no way, I got frustrated first time I wanted to use images and opted for the *.png images stocked with DO under the "Images" folder.

@nudel
Is *.png images supported? Vista Ultimate here!

4

@sfordin
Are you trying to use *.png images? If it's so, then no way, I got frustrated first time I wanted to use images and opted for the *.png images stocked with DO under the "Images" folder.

@nudel
Is *.png images supported? Vista Ultimate here!

5

Thanks, all, for your replies.

One interesting thing to note here is that DO9 doesn't seem to remember the locations of the image and sound files I specify in the configuration dialog. For example, when I specify sound files to use for sound events, I'll specify C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\Sounds<filename>.wav, and DO9 will seem to recognize the file when I click the sound preview button in the dialog. However, when I then exit and return to the configuration dialog, DO9 thinks the files are located in C:\Windows\Media. Even so, when I copy those sound files to the C:\Windows\Media directory, DO9 still can't seem to find them, and doesn't play them when I click the preview button.

Thanks again,

Scott

6

Regarding Opus Sounds:

Look in your Settings Menu and ensure that the Enable Sounds item is enabled. It should be checkmarked, depressed, or highlighted, depending on how you have your toolbars configured.

7

...it is already selected.

8

Despite my undeniably aged and addled brain, I figured out -- okay, stumbled upon -- the solution! The trick is to copy the Images and Sounds folders from :\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus to <profile_path>\Application Data\GPSoftware\Directory Opus.

I'm sorry if this is obvious to others, but it was a revelation to me. I wonder though, might this be an installation bug? I mean, when you choose the default installation path of configuring Dopus on a per-user basis, the installer says that numerous configuration files will be copied to your profile directory. I was surprised, however, that Images and Sounds were not copied as part of this process. Moreover, shouldn't the Preferences utility be able to parse any file name path when choosing images or sounds? Clearly this did not work. Just some notes for your reference.

Thanks to all who responded.

Scott

9

@sfordin

Have a look at this Thread.
It may help clear things out.

10

Thanks for the pointer, but I don't think that thread reflects the problem I was having. First of all, the problem occurred both on Windows Vista and Windows 2000 Pro, so UAC was not the issue. Second, I have Administrator privileges, and I did try opening the permissions on the folders in any case. Dunno. What's weird to me as well is that Dopus, when it couldn't find the files in the directory to which I pointed it, reverted to the C:\Windows\Media directory. Also, when previewing the images and sounds, Dopus was able to access them no matter where they were located. It was only after I closed and reopened the Preferences dialog that the files would no longer be recognized. And, of course, Dopus didn't use those files in any case outside the Preferences dialog.

Thanks again,

Scott

11

Opus should find the images in either directory, unless you config has them defined with a full path, pointing to the wrong directory.

My guess is that the config is just pointing to the wrong place for some reason. Remove all the images, then add them back again and it'll probably work okay.