Lego : Digital Designer MSI

[contink]

Just completed a repack of the Lego Digital Designer (version 2) utility.

 

Took a little doing because Desktop Authority MSI Studio managed to miss out a slew of image files in the capture but got there in the end.

 

Obviously I can't distribute this thing but just a few hints on what I had to resolve to get it working:

 

• Set Directory_Parent for at least one folder under program_files... For some reason it didn't get set (clue: Error 2705)
  
• Copy more than half of the image files from the en and de image directories under /help into source and then add them manually (ICE 3 error)
  
• Set the Sequence value for all the new files loaded
  
• Update the Last Sequence value in the Media Table to the new last Sequence value
  

 

Oh and if you use DAMSIS too, make sure you remember to rebuild the Cab files again... They've updated the functionality in the latest version (4.0.1.1061) so you don't get forced to do it every time you save the project.

 

 

All in all it seems pretty good and it's going to be tempting to play myself but too much other stuff to do now...

[JamesC]

For what its worth I know how your probably feeling right now - relief! But I also use Desktop Authority MSI Studio. I've packaged a hell of a lot of apps over the last 4 years and although it is an awesome tool it is littered with bugs and problems.

 

Of all the different versions over the years that I have tried I find that an old version called Installer Design Studio 3.01 is the best. This was followed by a 3.02 version (absolutely terrible - always giving .net framework errors!) and subsequently renamed to what you now call Desktop Authority MSI Studio. If you can get your hands on that 3.01 version you will save yourself a lot of headaches because that version is the only one I use now and seems to have the least number of bugs/issues in it!!

 

James

[contink]

For what its worth I know how your probably feeling right now - relief! But I also use Desktop Authority MSI Studio. I've packaged a hell of a lot of apps over the last 4 years and although it is an awesome tool it is littered with bugs and problems.

 

Of all the different versions over the years that I have tried I find that an old version called Installer Design Studio 3.01 is the best. This was followed by a 3.02 version (absolutely terrible - always giving .net framework errors!) and subsequently renamed to what you now call Desktop Authority MSI Studio. If you can get your hands on that 3.01 version you will save yourself a lot of headaches because that version is the only one I use now and seems to have the least number of bugs/issues in it!!

bugger... I think I threw out my old versions and I did have a key for that version too...

 

In truth DAMSYS is absolutely f***ing awful rubbish and the cost of it was truly bad too...

 

And as to the MSI I packed... I've since discovered that it still doesn't work properly... install it and it won't run properly... uninstall and then reinstall bizarrely it then works... Going to have to repack it seems...

[contink]

Right... update on this one.

 

Try as I might I couldn't get this little baby to install properly using a repackaged install courtesy of DAMSIS.

 

Instead I realised there was more going on than I first though and extracted the original installer to find a requirements checker which ran in tandem with the main installation. Nice!... This is probably what was fubar'ing the capture... either way it seems to slow the process of "installing bricks" down somewhat so be prepared for the first time it's run to take about 4-5 minutes.

 

Anyway, cut the requirements installer out of the way and just using DAMSIS to wrap the LDDSetup.exe and presto you actually have something that will install...

[PaulBM]

Has anyone managed to get this working on RM CC3?

I built a package, but it stalls without error on a student login, when Installing Bricks. Looks like some more work is required to find out where it's storing it files.

[contink]

Has anyone managed to get this working on RM CC3?

I built a package, but it stalls without error on a student login, when Installing Bricks. Looks like some more work is required to find out where it's storing it files.

 

I've never consistently installed this bl**dy thing because it seems to do a lot of searching for pre-requisites before it installs. I've found it installs perfectly for one machine and then on a clone unit it'll die...

 

Add to that some machines won't even install at all... In a nutshell I'd just ignore the thing until the software designers learn to code.

[X-13]

ARISE DEAD THREAD!

 

There's an outstanding job on the helpdesk here for this...

 

And even 7 years later it's still EXEs packed inside an EXE.

 

Anyone got a working MSI for this?

[moonmonkey121]

I too would appreciate a bump on this. Any legends out there wrestled this abomination into a deployable form? I'm current getting a Win10 deployment ready to go and this is one of the last things I've yet to get to deploy without being baked into an image.

[X-13]

I completely forgot about this thread...

 

 

I heard back from Lego, they said this:

 

After some further research, unfortunately there is no site license available as LEGO® Digital Designer is intended for private use. Although we don't have a site license available for you, we do have a workaround that may help you out a bit. This is an admin job, though and we won't be able to assist you much further than providing you with the information. We hope this helps you out, though!

 

The installer is wrapped in a self-extracting zip archive. But ,you can rename it to zip e.g.:

 

SetupLDD-PC-4_3_5.exe

 

To

 

SetupLDD-PC-4_3_5.zip

 

You can then open/unzip the archive and find:

 

LDDSetup.exe

 

Copy/extract that to a convenient location. Then, use a script or prompt to run it with /S as argument e.g.:

 

LDDSetup.exe /S

 

Note the /S must be a capital S

 

 

We ended up not deploying it due to licensing issues. It's licenced for personal use only, so we aren't using it.

[moonmonkey121]

@X-13! I love you!

 

Admittedly I had a bit of a doh! moment when I read the solution as of course it was something I hadn't tried but have done so in the past with other software! Just tested this now on a Win10 machine and works perfect!

Edited January 13, 2016 by elsiegee40

[elsiegee40]

X-13! I love you!

 

Admittedly I had a bit of a doh! moment when I read the solution as of course it was something I hadn't tried but have done so in the past with other software! Just tested this now on a Win10 machine and works perfect!

 

Don't forget to use the thanks button for him then