[Josephus Holt]

Have had some computer problems and am now getting the following error when starting Rhino:

Maxwell.Rhino.dll load error. Plug-in identified as a .NET plug-in but .NET support not found on this computer.

Can you help me out w/this???

Thx, Joe

[JDHill]

What sort of problems do you mean, and what was required to resolve them? There are quite a few possibilities as to what's wrong, so let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[Josephus Holt]

kind of a long story . I had failed to install an antivirus program w/my new computer build....actually was just hesitant to do it with the nuisance Norton had been...using Kaspersky now, which is all fine. Anyway, in the process of dealing with some virus I had to revert back to an earlier restore point for Vista, but somehow lost some settings in the process.

I'm wondering if maybe I should try to to a Vista re-install to repair whatever the problem is. Uggh, sometimes this computer stuff is extremely tiring . UPDATE: I don't see an option on the install disc to "fix errors" or the like .

I noticed that none of the Rhino plug-ins are showing. UPDATE: I reinstalled Rhino and all the plugins are showing.

I still am not able to load the Maxwell plugin. I did an unistall of Maxwell for Rhino and then a reinstall. Getting an error msg "Unable to load Maxwell.Rhino.dlll plug-in Rhino version not specified". Maxwell does show under the current renderer but can not be selected.

[JDHill]

Tiring? Tell me about it.

Next thing I'd need to know is, since you've re-installed Rhino, which SR did you install? The plugin requires at least SR5, and the error you're getting is one you might see if you try to run it on an earlier Rhino SR.

[Josephus Holt]

SR5b

hope I can get this fixed today...need to do some renders later today (quickies for a client)

[JDHill]

It begins, then, to look more like the .NET Framework is damaged on your machine. You should go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en and follow the instructions there to download and install the latest version. That is .NET 3.5, but it also includes service packs for the framework used by the plugin; hopefully that's the problem, and the installer fixes some things which have become broken on your machine.

[Josephus Holt]

ughhh, still not working. Also downloaded latest plugin release. Same msg: Unable to load Maxwell.Rhino.dll plugin: Rhino version not specified. There was one thing different this time in that anohter dialogue box came up to tell me that there were problems installing a plugin...Maxwell for Rhino.

When I ran the NET framework download, there were 2 options, 1 was to repair, and the other to unintall. I went with the repair and also ran the update.

Wonder if I need to completely uninstall first...hopefully I would have then the option to do a new install.

What do you think?

[JDHill]

I'm going to go on the assumption that .NET is okay for now. Next try this:

1. start Rhino
2. type 'TestDotNetMessages' into the command line and hit enter
3. restart Rhino
4. look at the command line to see what's printed

Maybe Rhino can tell us why it's having a problem here.

[Josephus Holt]

Rhino.NET plug-in manager debug messages disabled
You must restart Rhino for this effect to take place

XError loading - Maxwell for Rhino 4
Details: Unable to load Maxwell.Rhino.dll plugin: Rhino version not specified

[JDHill]

Is this all that was printed to the command line once you restarted Rhino? Once TestDotNetMessages has been enabled and Rhino is restarted, there should be quite alot more printed than that. If that's all we're getting though, then I'm guessing there's still something fundamentally wrong with your Rhino installation. Try this:

1. open Rhino
2. File > Properties > Plug-ins
3. in the plugin list, locate Rhino .NET Manager
4. is this plugin present? Is it loaded? If it's not, then nobody is around to load Maxwell
5. if it is not present, click Install and locate RhinoDotNetManager.rhp in Rhino's Plug-ins directory
6. if it is present, but not loaded, try to load it (right-click > Load)? What happens when you do?
7. is it set to 'Load Protect'? If so, set it so that it's not.
8. if it's 'Load Time' is not set to 'Automatic', can you set it to that?

If you now restart Rhino again, are things working differently than before? Or, just let me know at which point these instructions do not apply.

[Josephus Holt]

all that is in order....it's there, loaded.

clarification??? after typing testdotnetmessages >enter, to "restart" Rhino, I >exit??? and then select the Rhino icon on the desktop???

by the way, this is all I'm seeing in the command line when I close/reopen Rhino (maybe not "restarting"???:

RhinoScript loaded.
Loading Rhino Render, version 1.00, Sep 23 2008, 16:54:18

[JDHill]

Yes, you have to shut down Rhino completely after enabling that feature. After this is all sorted out, and you want to turn it back off, then you repeat the procedure: type TestDotNetMessages, click Enter, shut down Rhino, and restart.

So, where we're at, I'll need you do this:

1. shut down Rhino (look in Task Manager > Processes to make sure there are no Rhino4.exe processes running)
2. start Rhino and note exactly what happens, and in what order

I will have to take this information, along with everything else we've done, and contact the Rhino people to see what they think you ought to do. I think that when you uninstalled Rhino, there were bits and pieces of it left over, and that some of these were not replaced when you reinstalled.

[Josephus Holt]

Can I email you the screenshot of what comes up? It's just that one dialogue box I told you about, and then when I select "details" the other message.

This sounds like it could take some time. In the meantime, should I try a complete uninstall of Rhino, restart computer, and reinstall?

I just tried the testdotnetmessages again and got more info:

RhinoScript loaded.
Rhino.NET::LoadPlugIn - SDK versions do not match
RhinoDotNetManager = 4.0.061206.5
Rhino.NET SDK DLL = 4.0.061206.10
Loading Rhino Render, version 1.00, Sep 23 2008, 16:54:18

[JDHill]

Ah, that's more like what I was looking for. As far as uninstall/reinstall of Rhino, that was what I would ask the McNeel people about. However, we can try this first:

1. make sure Rhino is not running
2. go to the [program files]\Rhinoceros 4.0\System directory and move Rhino_DotNET.dll to your desktop
3. go to the [program files]\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins directory and move RhinoDotNetManager.dll to your desktop
4. in Control Panel > Programs and Features, select Rhinoceros 4.0 SR5b and click Repair

Theoretically, the installer should see that these two files are missing and replace them, this time with the correct, matching versions. Let me know if that corrects it.

[Josephus Holt]

Thank you Dr. Hill We're back up and running again. The repair feature could not find the install files, so I ended up doing a complete uninstall of Rhino and reinstall.

I really messed things up here by not running an antivirus program

When I get caught up w/my work I may just even format the c: drive and do a fresh install of everything including Vista. "My bad"