If the Revit Materials Dialog will not open, it likely means the Autodesk material library did not install correctly, or has somehow become corrupt. In this case, you should also be getting a warning like this one shown below (unless you checked the box!).
If you search the Autodesk Knowledge Network (AKN) you will find...
several related issues, including:
The next link tells me to delete the four material libraries for 2018. I only had two installed on the computer I was working on. Red flag... I am on the right track. I deleted the two that where there. But then it tells me to run the installer again... I tried via the deployment, both as Repair and as Reinstall, and neither worked (see next two images). Maybe reinstalling for the original download would have worked, but I think I have to manually uninstall Revit 2018 first.
If you search the Autodesk Knowledge Network (AKN) you will find...
several related issues, including:
- Revit Material Library did not install
- Revit material browser does not launch
- How to uninstall and reinstall Autodesk Material Library
The next link tells me to delete the four material libraries for 2018. I only had two installed on the computer I was working on. Red flag... I am on the right track. I deleted the two that where there. But then it tells me to run the installer again... I tried via the deployment, both as Repair and as Reinstall, and neither worked (see next two images). Maybe reinstalling for the original download would have worked, but I think I have to manually uninstall Revit 2018 first.
It is interesting that second link suggested uninstalling the material libraries in a specific order (as shown in the two numbered items below). On a related note, I always uninstall in reverse order, or install from oldest to newest for Revit or AutoCAD itself. First, I uninstall all the add-ins and extras (or use the Autodesk uninstaller).
3.
Uninstall the libraries
in the following order:
· Autodesk Material Library Medium Resolution
Image Library 2016
· Autodesk Material Library Low Resolution Image
Library 2016
· Autodesk Material Library Base Resolution Image
Library 2016
· Autodesk Material Library 2016
4.
Manually reinstall the
material libraries by running the following MSI files:
· (Installation Media)\Content\ADSKMaterials\2016\CM\MaterialLibrary2016.msi
· (Installation Media)\Content\ADSKMaterials\2016\ILB\BaseImageLibrary2016.msi
· (Installation Media)\Content\ADSKMaterials\2016\ILL\LowImageLibrary2016.msi
· (Installation Media)\Content\ADSKMaterials\2016\ILM\MediumImageLibrary2016.msi
Note: If installing from
a download, the installer will be in the C:\Autodesk folder.
The third link was referenced from the second link and is branded as a Autodesk Inventor post, but is still talking about the shared material libraries. This is getting into the "woods" on some Windows UAC stuff (which I did not do). I noticed it talking about manually installing the material libraries from MSI installer files. I was able to search my deployment folder - see image below (you should be able to find this in the c:\autodesk folder if you installed from a download).
After reinstalling all four MSI's listed in the last linked AKN post listed above, all was well. Revit opened without any errors and the material dialog opened as expected.