Installing the toolset

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Revision as of 21:07, 3 July 2009 by BryanDerksen (Talk | contribs) (Troubleshooting)

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The Dragon Age Toolset installer comes with several pieces of third-party software that are needed for the toolset to function. They are:

  • DirectX 9.0c
  • Visual C Runtime Library
  • Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 Edition
  • Nvidia PhysX drivers

These components will be installed along with the toolset by the toolset's installer.

Location

The first screen you'll get to after starting the installer and passing the title page is the install location selector. The default is to install the program into a subdirectory of Program Files\Dragon Age. The install will require about 4.2 GB of disk space.

Components

The next screen after location has been selected is where you can choose which components to install. There are only two selectable components here; Core Resources (the toolset itself) and Microsoft SQL Server Express. To run the toolkit you'll obviously need to install the Core Resources option. SQL Server is presented as a separate option so that if you already have a database server installed on your system you can use that instead of installing a whole new one.

If you don't have an SQL server installed, or if you don't know whether you have one installed, it's safe to go with the default and install SQL Server Express. SQLServer's installer will check the existing components and, finding that all required components are already in place, won't do anything after you click "finish."

Manual database selection

If you choose not to install SQL Server Express, the installer will ask for a database server and database name to install the toolset's resource database to instead. The default server is .\SQLEXPRESS and the default database name is bw_dragonage_content.

Installation

Once you have selected these options the Dragon Age toolset will begin the installation process. This can take a while. When the install process is finished you'll be given the option to read a readme.txt file.

The toolset will create a start menu folder named "Dragon Age". The start menu folder will include a link to start the toolset, a link to the toolset's uninstaller, and a link to the toolset's external configuration utility.

The installer will write a log file in your My Documents folder. If installation fails this log file will be helpful for debugging purposes.

If you are installing over a previous version of the toolset, you may need to update the format of your old database to make it compatible with the new version of the toolset. See database migration for details.

Configuration

The external configuration utility is used to configure the toolset's database connection. You shouldn't need to run the configuration utility during routine usage of the toolset, and if the defaults set up by your installer work you may not need to run it at all.

The default database string is "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;Initial Catalog=bw_dragonage_content;Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS". For advanced configuration, click on the ellipsis button (ellipsis.png) to open the data link properties window.

Note that the configuration utility will first ask where the game build is. The game executable is not currently available for distribution but it is not necessary for the toolset to run so there's no need to be concerned about this.

Uninstallation

An uninstaller shortcut is available from the same start menu folder as the toolset itself. It will autodetect the location you installed the toolset in, display it to you to confirm that this is correct, and then after you click "next" it will ask which components to uninstall.

  • Core Resources - uninstalled by default, this is the toolset itself.
  • Database - Since the uninstaller can't automatically determine if you're using SQLServer Express purposes other than just the Dragon Age toolset, SQLServer is not uninstalled automatically by default. To have the uninstaller remove the database server as well, unselect this checkbox.

The uninstaller is generated on installation and therefore isn't signed. This may cause Vista to complain under some circumstances but shouldn't affect the uninstaller's functioning.

Troubleshooting

  • If you have never installed MSSQLServer Express, check for updates available for it through Windows Update after installing the toolset.
  • "unable to connect to the database"
    • On some systems you may encounter a problem running the toolset if you copy the uninstalled files off of the DVD first before installing them. By default SQLServer doesn't necessarily have permission to read from all of the directories that the user may have put the installation files, so if you install from such a directory it may be unable to import resources into the database. To correct this either change the administrative privileges for the directory you're installing the toolset from or install it directly from DVD.
    • If you already have MSSQLServer Express installed as part of a different program, the toolset may not get the correct configuration to use it. Run the toolset configuration, select "Programmer" as user type, and then click "next" through the configuration wizard until you get to the "Content Database" field. It should read: "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;Initial Catalog=bw_da_content_euts;Data Source=MSSQLDEV"
    • On Vista systems the toolset may need administrator privileges to read the database where it's installed but fail to prompt you for them. Try right-clicking the toolset's shortcut and selecting "Run as Administrator" from the dropdown menu.
    • Some users report that the installer fails to create the SQL database (e.g. your Dragon Age\toolssql\data folder is empty). You can enter the following command to try restoring the database manually (Change the paths to bw_dragonage_content.bak and your Dragon Age folder as appropriate): "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Binn\"sqlcmd -S .\BWDATOOLSET -E -Q "RESTORE DATABASE bw_dragonage_content FROM DISK = 'C:\EUTS_Install\data\bw_dragonage_content.bak' WITH MOVE 'bw_da_content_euts_Data' TO 'C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\toolssql\Data\bw_dragonage_content.mdf', MOVE 'bw_da_content_euts_Log' TO 'C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\toolssql\Data\bw_dragonage_content.ldf'"
    • Some users have been successful simply installing from a more direct path (ie extract rars to a new folder C:\DAInstall and then run the exe file from that location rather than from a MSFT created My Documents path).
  • If the SQL install fails with a crash it is possible that it is conflicting with MSXML6. If you have MSXML6 installed, uninstall it and try reinstalling the toolset.
  • If the toolset cannot find DLLs you may need to run the configuration tool after installation to tell the toolset where to find the Dragon Age build. This can happen if you uninstall the toolset and then reinstall it again in a different location.
  • During the SQL Server Express installation when the installation script attempts to start the database, a message box with the "The SQL Server service failed to start..." error message and options to Retry or Cancel may pop up.
    • Don't hit cancel as it rolls back the installation and you never get the BWDATOOLSET database!
    • Instead navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Application Data\Microsoft\ and right click on the Protect folder and open the Properties window. On the Security tab add NETWORK SERVICE to the list of Groups and User names and grant it Full Permissions.
    • If you don't have a Security tab then close the Properties window and select Tools | Folder Options from Explorer's menu bar. In the Folder Options window click on the View tab, scroll to the last option and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended) option. Now you should be able to do complete the previous step.
    • Finally return to the "The SQL Server service failed to start..." error message and click on the Retry option.

If you experience a crash logs can be found in My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Toolset\logs. The log filenames will include the date on which the log file was created. Sending in a log will help greatly with bug fixing.

Authentication

In its current pre-release version, the end user toolset requires that the user have a valid keyfile and be logged in to a telemetry recording system while using it. This is intended both to limit the distribution of this version (it's not yet even to beta status) and to allow usage telemetry to be gathered so that the toolset's features can be improved.

Your keyfile will be named "dragon.age" and must be put into the "toolset" directory of the end user toolset after it's been installed (the same directory the main executable file is in). Your keyfile is personalized to your specific account, if you have not received a keyfile contact us to have one sent to you.

Firewall issues

In its current pre-release state, the toolset requires constant internet access in order to deliver telemetry. If you use a router or firewall you will need to ensure that the toolset can connect properly with the outside world. If the internet connection is lost the toolset will pop up the authentication window again.

Features included and features not included

The toolset as it currently stands is in a pre-release state. It does not include every component needed to make a full-blown adventure module from scratch.

The toolset also doesn't come with a large selection of pre-created resources since most of these would contain spoilers and other confidential information about Dragon Age's single player campaign. A small set of basic, generic resources have been included to make experimentation possible in the meantime.

Documentation

Documentation is currently provided via the wiki at:

http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/