Olympus "Master and Server-rant"

[zippski]

Well, Master v.2.05Win has done it to me again. When I got the "failed to connect to server" error massage for the 50th time when trying to install v.2.04Win last fall, I finally tracked down the phone number for Olympus tech support (being well-buried in the website) and asked what I was doing wrong. This was my discussion with Oly tech support:

OTS: "Are you running Windows XP?"

Me: "Yes, over a small home network with three machines running off a central server."

OTS: "Oh, we've learned that Master updates won't install on home networks with servers. We'll send you a
CD with v.204 on it"

Me: Uhm, Ok, I guess.
.....
MeFour weeks later): Where is that d**n CD?"
MeFive weeks later): Where is that d**n CD? Thank God that someone on this site posted an actual program download link."

The point of this story is that Oly Master will not download across a simple home server network! Once I can locate a link to the program itself, it downloads and installs easily. Once you have the latest version installed, Master will then connect to the supplemental English language updates and installs those easily. It always connects for all hardware firmware upgrades and installs those easily. But it will not upgrade the actual Master program itself. It's very frustrating!

So, has anyone seen a worldwide link with the actual v.205Win program available for download (ie: not just the upgrade link)?


BTW, here is a tip that I've discovered which will allow Master to run about 20 times faster:

Master creates its own temp cache file in two directories located at the following

c:\documents and settings\administrator\local settings\application data\olympus\olympus data\album cache (and also "cache")

If you have installed Master and "registered the files", these cache directories will be huge. They are NOT necessary. Blow the contents away. Completely. The only downside is that you should work in "file view" from that point on, or Master may try to re-register the files in the cache. You will NOT blow away your pictures by doing this. It is similar to clearing the caches on CS3 or Bridge. The improvement in speed is remarkable - it actually turns Master into a fairly speedy and workable program that I now use for my initial ORF conversion.

Leigh

[rkrenn]

Try here
Master 2
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...wareMaster.asp

Studio 2
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...wareStudio.asp

[ditto1958]

Thank you for the links, rkrenn. I was having a similar problem. I have three computers, all of which have both Master 2 and Studio 2 on them. The two desktop machines updated both Master and Studio without problem. The laptop updated Studio, but wouldn't update Master.

I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it again using the link from Oly. The first time the new install ran it checked for updates and told me that the newer version was available. I tried it and the update went perfectly.

[zippski]

Thanks for the link rkenn, but that's the download for v.2.04Win. That one's been around for a while.

The v.2.05Win appears to be fairly elusive...

Leigh

[250swb]

Thanks for the tip about the cache Leigh!

Steve