Blender thumbnail generation for Explorer is broken in 2.9x #84599

New Issue

Alex · 2021-01-11T16:04:40+01:00

Alex commented

2021-01-11 16:04:40 +01:00

System Information
Intel Core 2 Quad, 8 Gb RAM, NVidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
Windows 7 x64

Blender Version
Broken: 2.90, 2.91, 2.92
Worked: 2.83

Short description of error
It seems that thumbnail generation for Explorer for .blend files is broken because I cannot generate thumbnails for my .blend files when thumbnails are registered to Blender 2.9x. When I register my thumbnails to 2.83 or take the BlendThumb.dll file and replace it in my 2.9 folder, thumbnails starts to work again. I have tested this with 2.9, 2.91, 2.92 Alpha as well as 2.83 and I'm absolutely sure that there is nothing wrong with my registry because I have removed Blender 2.83 folder entirely and thumbnails still work but only when I replace BlendThumb.dll in 2.9x folder with the same file taken from 2.83, I've also did a thorough search through my registry to make sure that there is nothing pointing to the wrong place.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

Open cmd, navigate to your Blender 2.9x directory (for example C:\Blender290) and use “blender -R” command to register your thumbnails.
Create a new file, save it, open your Explorer and you will see no thumbnail for it.
Either navigate to your Blender 2.83 directory (for example C:\Blender283) and use “blender -R” command to register your thumbnails again OR copy and paste BlendThumb.dll from that directory to your Blender 2.9x directory.
Refresh your Explorer and you will see thumbnail being generated properly.

**System Information** Intel Core 2 Quad, 8 Gb RAM, NVidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windows 7 x64 **Blender Version** Broken: 2.90, 2.91, 2.92 Worked: 2.83 **Short description of error** It seems that thumbnail generation for Explorer for .blend files is broken because I cannot generate thumbnails for my .blend files when thumbnails are registered to Blender 2.9x. When I register my thumbnails to 2.83 or take the BlendThumb.dll file and replace it in my 2.9 folder, thumbnails starts to work again. I have tested this with 2.9, 2.91, 2.92 Alpha as well as 2.83 and I'm absolutely sure that there is nothing wrong with my registry because I have removed Blender 2.83 folder entirely and thumbnails still work but only when I replace BlendThumb.dll in 2.9x folder with the same file taken from 2.83, I've also did a thorough search through my registry to make sure that there is nothing pointing to the wrong place. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** 1. Open cmd, navigate to your Blender 2.9x directory (for example C:\Blender290) and use “blender -R” command to register your thumbnails. 2. Create a new file, save it, open your Explorer and you will see no thumbnail for it. 3. **Either** navigate to your Blender 2.83 directory (for example C:\Blender283) and use “blender -R” command to register your thumbnails again **OR** copy and paste BlendThumb.dll from that directory to your Blender 2.9x directory. 4. Refresh your Explorer and you will see thumbnail being generated properly.

Alex commented

2021-01-11 16:04:40 +01:00

Added subscriber: @SpectreFirst

Germano Cavalcante commented

2021-01-13 16:02:26 +01:00

Added subscriber: @mano-wii

Germano Cavalcante commented

2021-01-13 16:02:26 +01:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Needs User Info'

Germano Cavalcante commented

2021-01-13 16:02:26 +01:00

I tried with 2.92.0 Alpha, branch: master, commit date: 2021-01-03 01:04, hash: 1e8f266591
But I can't reproduce the problem.

It may be incompatible with the default version of Blender on your computer.
Which directory appears in DefaultIcon in the registry editor (regedit.exe) at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\blendfile\DefaultIcon?

It may also be that you already have another copy of BlendThumb.dll in your system's search path and regsvr32 may be choosing that copy instead of the current directory.

Run the command Regsvr32 /u BlendThumb.dll in the cmd and try again.

I tried with 2.92.0 Alpha, branch: master, commit date: 2021-01-03 01:04, hash: `1e8f266591` But I can't reproduce the problem. It may be incompatible with the default version of Blender on your computer. Which directory appears in DefaultIcon in the registry editor (regedit.exe) at `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\blendfile\DefaultIcon`? It may also be that you already have another copy of `BlendThumb.dll` in your system's search path and `regsvr32` may be choosing that copy instead of the current directory. Run the command `Regsvr32 /u BlendThumb.dll` in the cmd and try again.

Alex commented

2021-01-13 20:51:22 +01:00

I did a search through my registry and there are several places with BlendThumb.dll all pointing to blender-2.91-windows64 folder
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\blendfile\DefaultIcon is also pointing to blender-2.91-windows64\blender.exe", 1
I did Regsvr32 /u BlendThumb.dll and thumbnails stopped working as they should
Registered again with blender -R with original BlendThumb.dll from 2.91 and nothing has changed
Tried BlendThumb.dll from the latest 2.92 and nothing has changed as well
Only when I replaced BlendThumb.dll with the file taken from 2.83 archive my thumbnails have started to work again. If I replace with a file from 2.90, 2.91 or 2.92 they stop, when I replace with 2.83 version they start working again, all in the same blender-2.91-windows64 folder, I don't even have to register anything, I'm just replacing the file and updating my Explorer to see the result so I'm absolutely sure there are no other places or entries in the registry.

I don't have any other folders except blender-2.91-windows64 and I'm always registering to the same blender-2.91-windows64 folder but it only seems to work with the file taken from 2.83. This is the first time I have this problem because prior to 2.9 I was I never had this problem.

- I did a search through my registry and there are several places with BlendThumb.dll all pointing to blender-2.91-windows64 folder - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\blendfile\DefaultIcon is also pointing to blender-2.91-windows64\blender.exe", 1 - I did Regsvr32 /u BlendThumb.dll and thumbnails stopped working as they should - Registered again with blender -R with original BlendThumb.dll from 2.91 and nothing has changed - Tried BlendThumb.dll from the latest 2.92 and nothing has changed as well - Only when I replaced BlendThumb.dll with the file taken from 2.83 archive my thumbnails have started to work again. If I replace with a file from 2.90, 2.91 or 2.92 they stop, when I replace with 2.83 version they start working again, all in the same blender-2.91-windows64 folder, I don't even have to register anything, I'm just replacing the file and updating my Explorer to see the result so I'm absolutely sure there are no other places or entries in the registry. I don't have any other folders except blender-2.91-windows64 and I'm always registering to the same blender-2.91-windows64 folder but it only seems to work with the file taken from 2.83. This is the first time I have this problem because prior to 2.9 I was I never had this problem.

Alex commented

2021-01-13 21:03:04 +01:00

Just in case, I will clarify how I test this:

I have only one folder which is blender-2.91-windows64
I create a new file called test.blend, save it, observe it in Explorer with a thumbnail (currently I have BlendThumb.dll from 2.83 in 2.9 folder).
Take BlendThumb.dll from 2.9 archive and replace it in my blender-2.91-windows64 folder, save the test file, refresh the Explorer and my test.blend file turns into an icon.
Take BlendThumb.dll from 2.91 or 2.92 archive, replace BlendThumb.dll, save the test file, refresh the Explorer and nothing changes.
Take BlendThumb.dll from 2.83, replace BlendThumb.dll, save the test file, refresh the Explorer and test.blend icon turns into a thumbnail as it should.

EDIT:
I have also tried the same thing on another computer with almost identical system as mine which never had Blender before and found out a very peculiar thing - I've registered my Blender 2.83.10 or 2.9 and they have registered file associations but were unable to display thumbnails but when I've added 2.79b and registered it, my thumbnails began to display even after I re-register them to 2.91. I've tried to remove 2.79b folder and thumbnails stopped working again so I've searched my registry and found out that there are several Blender Thumbnail Handler still pointing to 2.79b, I've tried to manually change every entry to 2.91 and it didn't work. My primary computer doesn't even have 2.79b folder or any records of it in my registry but thumbnails still work with 2.83 and don't with 2.9. Frankly I don't understand what's going on but it looks like there is something in new Blender which doesn't get registered with blender -R command that used to register in 2.79b

EDIT2:
I have isolated the the problem between Blender 2.81a which does work and generate thumbnails and Blender 2.82a which do not. When I have both 2.81a and 2.82a folders, thumbnails work even when registered to 2.82 and stop when I remove 2.81, when I use only 2.81 they work.

Just in case, I will clarify how I test this: 1. I have only one folder which is blender-2.91-windows64 2. I create a new file called test.blend, save it, observe it in Explorer with a thumbnail (currently I have BlendThumb.dll from 2.83 in 2.9 folder). 3. Take BlendThumb.dll from 2.9 archive and replace it in my blender-2.91-windows64 folder, save the test file, refresh the Explorer and my test.blend file turns into an icon. 4. Take BlendThumb.dll from 2.91 or 2.92 archive, replace BlendThumb.dll, save the test file, refresh the Explorer and nothing changes. 5. Take BlendThumb.dll from 2.83, replace BlendThumb.dll, save the test file, refresh the Explorer and test.blend icon turns into a thumbnail as it should. EDIT: I have also tried the same thing on another computer with almost identical system as mine which never had Blender before and found out a very peculiar thing - I've registered my Blender 2.83.10 or 2.9 and they have registered file associations but were unable to display thumbnails but when I've added 2.79b and registered it, my thumbnails began to display even after I re-register them to 2.91. I've tried to remove 2.79b folder and thumbnails stopped working again so I've searched my registry and found out that there are several Blender Thumbnail Handler still pointing to 2.79b, I've tried to manually change every entry to 2.91 and it didn't work. My primary computer doesn't even have 2.79b folder or any records of it in my registry but thumbnails still work with 2.83 and don't with 2.9. Frankly I don't understand what's going on but it looks like there is something in new Blender which doesn't get registered with blender -R command that used to register in 2.79b EDIT2: I have isolated the the problem between Blender 2.81a which does work and generate thumbnails and Blender 2.82a which do not. When I have both 2.81a and 2.82a folders, thumbnails work even when registered to 2.82 and stop when I remove 2.81, when I use only 2.81 they work.

Germano Cavalcante commented

2021-01-25 14:27:03 +01:00

Changed status from 'Needs User Info' to: 'Needs Triage'

Alex commented

2021-02-28 20:22:10 +01:00

Today I've got a new computer with Windows 10 on it and the problem was exactly the same - when I've registered to 2.91 or 2.92 it didn't work but registering to 2.79 and 2.81 worked immediately like it should so it seems that this is not exclusive to Windows 7.

Intel i9-10850k, 32 Gb Ram, NVidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB, Windows 10

Today I've got a new computer with Windows 10 on it and the problem was exactly the same - when I've registered to 2.91 or 2.92 it didn't work but registering to 2.79 and 2.81 worked immediately like it should so it seems that this is not exclusive to Windows 7. Intel i9-10850k, 32 Gb Ram, NVidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB, Windows 10

Philipp Oeser commented

2021-09-23 16:34:32 +02:00

Added subscriber: @lichtwerk

Philipp Oeser commented

2021-09-23 16:34:32 +02:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Needs User Info'

Philipp Oeser commented

2021-09-23 16:34:32 +02:00

Iirc, there have been changes again to thumbnail generation [cannot test this myself, I am on linux].

@SpectreFirst : just checking if this is still an issue with fresh builds from https://builder.blender.org/download/daily/?

Iirc, there have been changes again to thumbnail generation [cannot test this myself, I am on linux]. @SpectreFirst : just checking if this is still an issue with fresh builds from https://builder.blender.org/download/daily/?

Ray molenkamp commented

2021-09-23 16:41:59 +02:00

Added subscriber: @LazyDodo

Ray molenkamp commented

2021-09-23 16:41:59 +02:00

Also there's a button in the prefs panel to register the thumb+.blend association give that a try as well

{F10559907, width=100%}

I don't remember exactly when this landed, could be it's only available in the 3.0 daylies

Also there's a button in the prefs panel to register the thumb+.blend association give that a try as well {[F10559907](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F10559907/image.png), width=100%} I don't remember exactly when this landed, could be it's only available in the 3.0 daylies

Alex commented

2021-10-01 20:10:43 +02:00

I have tested the latest stable build 2.93.4 (downloaded archived Blender to a fresh new computer, unpacked, registered with Blender -R command) and thumbnails did showed up right away so it looks like something was indeed fixed in the latest builds.

And speaking of Operating System Settings - yes, it is presented in 3.0 alpha but not presented in 2.93.

I have tested the latest stable build 2.93.4 (downloaded archived Blender to a fresh new computer, unpacked, registered with Blender -R command) and thumbnails did showed up right away so it looks like something was indeed fixed in the latest builds. And speaking of Operating System Settings - yes, it is presented in 3.0 alpha but not presented in 2.93.

Philipp Oeser commented

2021-10-14 10:20:56 +02:00

Changed status from 'Needs User Info' to: 'Resolved'

Philipp Oeser closed this issue

2021-10-14 10:20:56 +02:00

Philipp Oeser self-assigned this 2021-10-14 10:20:56 +02:00

Philipp Oeser commented

2021-10-14 10:20:56 +02:00

In #84599#1229625, @SpectreFirst wrote:
I have tested the latest stable build 2.93.4 (downloaded archived Blender to a fresh new computer, unpacked, registered with Blender -R command) and thumbnails did showed up right away so it looks like something was indeed fixed in the latest builds.

And speaking of Operating System Settings - yes, it is presented in 3.0 alpha but not presented in 2.93.

Guess this can be closed then.

> In #84599#1229625, @SpectreFirst wrote: > I have tested the latest stable build 2.93.4 (downloaded archived Blender to a fresh new computer, unpacked, registered with Blender -R command) and thumbnails did showed up right away so it looks like something was indeed fixed in the latest builds. > > And speaking of Operating System Settings - yes, it is presented in 3.0 alpha but not presented in 2.93. Guess this can be closed then.

Leroy commented

2021-12-04 10:05:34 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Leroy-Xie

Leroy commented

2021-12-04 10:05:34 +01:00

This comment was removed by @Leroy-Xie

*This comment was removed by @Leroy-Xie*

N'guessan leon regis commented

2021-12-29 11:56:14 +01:00

Added subscriber: @DAILUTEN

N'guessan leon regis commented

2021-12-29 11:56:14 +01:00

for blender 3.0 i opened CMD as admin an tap

chdir C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation*Blender 3.0* for me and enter

blender -r and enter again, it load and it was ok

for blender 3.0 i opened CMD as admin an tap chdir C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\**Blender 3.0** for me and enter blender -r and enter again, it load and it was ok ![w.PNG](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F12780310/w.PNG) ![x.PNG](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F12780313/x.PNG)

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Blender thumbnail generation for Explorer is broken in 2.9x #84599