[Iss Mneur]

Straightforward bug I'm running into:

I seem stuck with 16-bit color depth, no matter what I set the "color depth" option to.

Assuming you are using the version that is this thread, because there have been so many bug fixes to the trunk version I would suggest that you try compiling it first.  If you can't compile wxLauncher I can build one tonight.

If it is a trunk version that you are using, I would need a debug log from wxLauncher and the platform you are trying this on. See the instructions in the OP for where to find it.

[jg18]

Straightforward bug I'm running into:

I seem stuck with 16-bit color depth, no matter what I set the "color depth" option to.

This was (or should have been) fixed in revision 5a3bb98a09e5 from last August.

[Iss Mneur]

wxLauncher 0.9.0 alpha has been released.  You can download it from the release post.

Summary of changes since 0.8.0 affecting all platforms:

New look!
  * Replaced big blue icons along the left side with plain tabs along the top
  * Removed components that don't (yet) work or were otherwise unnecessary
  * Removed components from platforms that currently don't support them
  * Reformatted whatever components were left
  * Added spacing and padding around and between components
  * Components that were previously cut off the edge of the launcher window are no longer cut off
  * Launcher is now minimizable
  * Removed status bar fields that are currently unused

Profile changes:
  * Profile cloning is now supported
  * On a profile switch, the newly loaded profile's settings and flags are loaded correctly
  * On profile switch, on profile creation, and on launcher exit, if the current profile has unsaved changes and the "Automatically save profiles" box is unchecked, you'll be asked whether you want to save the changes
  * Global profile (which includes things like last profile used, whether profile autosaving is on, most recently retrieved HLP highlights) is now always saved on launcher exit
  * Default values in the launcher are automatically written to new, uninitialized profiles
  * New profiles are automatically saved to disk right after they are initialized

Welcome page changes:
  * "Automatically save profiles" checkbox now works correctly. If the checkbox is checked, then profiles are automatically saved before a profile switch and on launcher exit, as well as right after you check the checkbox.

Basic Settings page changes:
  * After OpenAL is detected, default sound device is the first device on the list
  * Default video settings are now maximum supported screen resolution and 32-bit color depth
  * List of screen resolutions is now sorted by aspect ratio, then by size, both in descending order, with a header for each aspect ratio category
  * "Force local port:" box no longer displays 0 if no value is entered
  * Refresh buttons for the list of FSO executables (and on Windows, for the list of FRED executables as well)
  * If there is no valid root folder and FSO executable selected, the settings other than root folder/executable selection disappear
  * Various improvements and corrections to FSO filename parsing
  * Better descriptions for "Connection type" and "Connection speed" options (special thanks to KyadCK for help with coming up with them)

Advanced Settings page changes:
  * Lighting presets box added
  * Double-clicking on a flag brings up its online documentation, if available
  * Text in "Current command line" box now wraps properly
  * If the flag list box has an error (invalid root folder, etc.), the other components on the page disappear, and the error text is centered in the flag list box

Other changes:
  * Fix for launcher window expanding if the launcher is started with a profile that doesn't have a valid FS2/TC root folder selected.
  * Some revisions to help system content, although it needs a lot more work
  * Numerous formatting adjustments and text revisions
  * Assorted bug fixes
  * ReadMe.txt updated with improved build instructions for all platforms

Changes affecting Windows only:
- Icon added
- FRED launching!

To enable it, open the file global.ini in the directory %AppData%\wxlauncher in a text editor and then add the following text to the end of the file:

Code: [Select]

[opt]
configfred=1

Be sure to make this change while wxLauncher is not running.
(well, GUI support for FRED launching is available on all platforms, but FRED is currently only available on Windows)
- Improved presentation of the flag list (special thanks to The E for formatting advice)
- Multiplayer now works! (special thanks to KyadCK for help with testing)
- Checkboxes for speech settings now work correctly
- Text-to-speech is now turned off by default

Changes affecting Linux only:
- wxL now generates valid fs2_open.ini files
- "make install" now installs to /usr/local instead of /usr/local/local
- If the "data" folder (for writing cmdline_fso.cfg) in the current FS2/TC root folder doesn't exist, wxL will attempt to automatically create it
- Fixed a false warning when parsing filenames of release builds
- Error text on mods page is now properly centered

Changes affecting OS X only:
- OS X support!


The wxLauncher Team would like to thank our testers since version 0.8.0:

Windows: Axem, BlasterNT, mjn.mixael, Mongoose, pecenipicek, Woolie Wool
Linux: Eli2, niffiwan, qazwsx, r8dhex, Swantz
OS X: Androgeos Exeunt, chief1983, Echelon9, fortozs, swarmster, swashmebuckle

as well as others who helped fix bugs (Halleck, KyadCK) or gave valuable suggestions and feedback (The E, Valathil, and Zacam).

[niffiwan]

nice work guys! 

[The E]

This is great. How far would you say are we from recommending this as the official Launcher over 5.5g?

[Kobrar44]

5.5g works just fine. Does it need to be dropped since it requires no installation to be used?

[FelixJim]

5.5g works just fine. Does it need to be dropped since it requires no installation to be used?

Why is not needing an installation a bad thing? I've been assuming wxLauncher doesn't require one either... am I wrong?

EDIT: I just realised what you meant by "installation" (I was assuming an FS2 install). Ignore me, please.

[The E]

We want to replace the old Launcher as the default option because a) it only works on one platform, b) it's not that friendly for developers, c) it is built for expert FSO users, d) it is not really extendable.

wxLauncher, on the other hand, is much easier for newcomers to learn, and can be easily extended to interface with the next installer version, and is cross-platform of course.

[jg18]

This is great. How far would you say are we from recommending this as the official Launcher over 5.5g?

Thanks. Glad you like the new version.

As for your question, Iss Mneur and I have been discussing it, and we're not entirely sure.

There are several things that we feel are must-haves before we would consider it suitable for wide release: (1) support for the new sound code (currently in progress), (2) automatic self-update (Windows and OS X, plus maybe one or two Linux distros) or automatic update notification (all other Linux distros), possibly (3) a portable version on Windows, and of course (4) more testing.

As someone who spends a lot of time on FSO support, what features would you like to see included before you think it could replace 5.5g?

[totya]

Hi!

I see this application.

1. This app can't works. If I click to "play" I get error messages: "Unable to write FSO2 settings to registry (0x2)
EDIT: See log, created with debug version.
If run this app with admin rights, this app is working, "play" is executed.

2. Basic settings tab / joystick / calibrate don't works. (With  launcher 5.5g this is works)

3. If I click to play, game is started, but language settings in registry is lost.
This is mean: If I set language to German is registry, with wxLauncher game language is english. With launcher 5.5g, language is equal with registry settings.

Thanks.

Win7 x64 FSO2 3.6.12, wxLauncher version is 0.9.0

[attachment deleted by a ninja]

[Iss Mneur]

Hi!

I see this application.

1. This app can't works. If I click to "play" I get error messages: "Unable to write FSO2 settings to registry (0x2)
If run this app with admin rights, this app is working, "play" is executed.

2. Basic settings tab / joystick / calibrate don't works. (With  launcher 5.5g this is works)

3. If I click to play, game is started, but language settings in registry is lost.
This is mean: If I set language to German is registry, with wxLauncher game language is english. With launcher 5.5g, language is equal with registry settings.

Thanks.

Win7 x64 FSO2 3.6.12, wxLauncher version is 0.9.0

Please install the debug version of wxLauncher as linked in the post at the top of this thread.  And reproduce the problems indicated and attach the wxlauncher.log as described in the original post.

I am able to reproduce the calibrate button not working. I will look into why it doesn't work. Has been assigned issue 81.

We should not be setting language whatsoever. The log will probably help here though. I have assigned issue 82 to this problem.

[totya]

(...)
We should not be setting language whatsoever. The log will probably help here though. I have assigned issue 82 to this problem.

Hi!

This report is wrong, bcause launcher 5.5g can't set language.
I wrote this:
I set FS2 language (in registry).
I see this (languages settings) in launcher 5.5g registry tab.
If I click run in launcher 5.5g, game is run with language in registry.
But with wxLauncher, this registry settings is lost.

Well, I think wxLauncher uses wrong registry path of this game, and first and third problem is equal.
Correct registry path on my system (Win7 x64) is: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Volition\Freespace2]

[Iss Mneur]

Okay, issue 82 has been updated to reflect the clarified information.

How FSO interacts with the registry has many flaws and manifests various issues, however, considering that wxLauncher is reported to work for many testers (though I don't think any of them use a non-English install of Freespace 2), I don't see how wxLauncher can be getting the registry path incorrect, however, please get me the wxLauncher.log from a debug install of wxLauncher so that I can see what the problem is and then I can actually help you.

[totya]

Okay, issue 82 has been updated to reflect the clarified information.

How FSO interacts with the registry has many flaws and manifests various issues, however, considering that wxLauncher is reported to work for many testers (though I don't think any of them use a non-English install of Freespace 2), I don't see how wxLauncher can be getting the registry path incorrect, however, please get me the wxLauncher.log from a debug install of wxLauncher so that I can see what the problem is and then I can actually help you.

Hi

See log file in my first post.
My FS2 install is english, but my OS is not english.

Why I think this app uses wrong registry path? Simple.

Without admin rights, this app is crashed, with admin rights, not.
Vista and Win7 limit the registry uses for applications.
See my previous post, and registry key :"VirtualStore"
VirtualStore mean, OS is denided to registry use of applications, and place to under VirtualStore key.
If this app is crashed, then this app can't handle this situation (OS is denided access to required registry key).
With admin rights, I see,  wxLauncher created registry path this: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Volition\Freespace2]
This is different from original registry path, therefore can't use original language registry key (third problem).

[Iss Mneur]

Hi

See log file in my first post.

Oh I see.  In the future when someone asks you for a log, please reply to their post rather than attaching it to a previous one.

My FS2 install is english, but my OS is not english.

Huh?  So then what is the problem?  If your FS2 install is English then it doesn't matter what language is set in the registry for FSO (at least as far as I know, being an English speaker, running an English FS2, on an English Windows 7 x64, but being a wxLauncher dev and a SCP dev, I am fairly familiar with the code that FSO has to deal with languages)?

Why I think this app uses wrong registry path? Simple.

Without admin rights, this app is crashed, with admin rights, not.
Vista and Win7 limit the registry uses for applications.
See my previous post, and registry key :"VirtualStore"
VirtualStore mean, OS is denided to registry use of applications, and place to under VirtualStore key.
If this app is crashed, then this app can't handle this situation (OS is denided access to required registry key).
With admin rights, I see,  wxLauncher created registry path this: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Volition\Freespace2]
This is different from original registry path, therefore can't use original language registry key (third problem).

Indeed. I know this all too well. That is why I am confused, wxLauncher goes to extensive lengths to get this just right becuase of how messed up FS2/FSO and the windows registry virtualization and 32-bit registry virtualization is.  wxLauncher includes a registry_helper.exe whose job it is to make all of the magic happen, so I suppose the real question is, why do you have to run wxLauncher as admin, when everyone else is able to run wxLauncher as a normal user.  registry_helper cannot do its job if wxLauncher has been run as admin.

The log that you attached to the post above does not show the registry helper being invoked, which means either you didn't try to start FSO during that run or you ran wxLauncher as admin.  The log also does not show wxLauncher's shutdown, so please rerun the debug wxLauncher as a regular user, run FSO, and then after it fails exit wxLauncher so that the log gets flushed.

[totya]

My FS2 install is english, but my OS is not english.

Huh?  So then what is the problem?  If your FS2 install is English then it doesn't matter what language is set in the registry for FSO (at least as far as I know, being an English speaker, running an English FS2, on an English Windows 7 x64, but being a wxLauncher dev and a SCP dev, I am fairly familiar with the code that FSO has to deal with languages)?

I have translation (mod).... new version needs change language registry key from default.

(...)
The log that you attached to the post above does not show the registry helper being invoked, which means either you didn't try to start FSO during that run or you ran wxLauncher as admin.  The log also does not show wxLauncher's shutdown, so please rerun the debug wxLauncher as a regular user, run FSO, and then after it fails exit wxLauncher so that the log gets flushed.

Previous log show: wxLauncher run with normal user (not admin), click to play, this app show error window, ask: "do you want stop the program?" I click to yes. After wxLauncher is freeze.

Now this attached log show: wxLauncher run with normal user (not admin), click to play, this app show error window, ask: "do you want stop the program?" I click to No. I get "unable to write registry" messages. After I close this app.

I see log, translate for you (last char is missing from log) :
"a hozzáférés megtagadva" : access denided
"a rendszer nem találja a megadott elérési utat": system can't find the specified path

[attachment deleted by a ninja]

[Iss Mneur]

I have translation (mod).... new version needs change language registry key from default.

Ahh, I see.

Previous log show: wxLauncher run with normal user (not admin), click to play, this app show error window, ask: "do you want stop the program?" I click to yes. After wxLauncher is freeze.

Now this attached log show: wxLauncher run with normal user (not admin), click to play, this app show error window, ask: "do you want stop the program?" I click to No. I get "unable to write registry" messages. After I close this app.

Okay.

Can you please take screenshots of these dialog that pop up?

I have reviewed the log and it is telling me that the access denied error comes from being unable to create a temporary directory, which wxLauncher uses to communicate with the registry_helper. Because this file cannot be created, it then fails to open the non-existent file for writing, obviously this doesn't work so well.

Please generate a wxLauncher.log the same as you did this time, with this new build so we can try and figure out how we are failing to create a temporary directory.

Also, please post or attach the output of the set command when you run it in a command prompt.

[totya]

Can you please take screenshots of these dialog that pop up?

I have reviewed the log and it is telling me that the access denied error comes from being unable to create a temporary directory, which wxLauncher uses to communicate with the registry_helper. Because this file cannot be created, it then fails to open the non-existent file for writing, obviously this doesn't work so well.

Please generate a wxLauncher.log the same as you did this time, with this new build so we can try and figure out how we are failing to create a temporary directory.

Also, please post or attach the output of the set command when you run it in a command prompt.

Okay.

[attachment deleted by a ninja]

[Iss Mneur]

Thank you.

The dialog is because there is no file to open.

Why is TMP and TEMP set to C:\TMP and not a directory in your profile?  If you run

Code: [Select]

echo >C:\TMP\test.file in the same ordinary command prompt, what happens?

From the log it appears that wxLauncher is trying to use C:\TMP as the temporary directory, but your user account does not have access to the directory for some reason.

[totya]

Thank you.

The dialog is because there is no file to open.

Why is TMP and TEMP set to C:\TMP and not a directory in your profile?  If you run

Code: [Select]

echo >C:\TMP\test.file in the same ordinary command prompt, what happens?

From the log it appears that wxLauncher is trying to use C:\TMP as the temporary directory, but your user account does not have access to the directory for some reason.

Hi!

Because this is short path. If I execute this command:

Code: [Select]

echo >C:\TMP\test.fileI get test.file in C:\TMP dir, contain: "ECHO ON".

I see C:\TMP driectory rights, and I see, I have full access to this directory.