My program runs on some computers but not on others, help!

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Devil Master
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My program runs on some computers but not on others, help!

Post by Devil Master »

I have worked for months to develop a simulation of an imaginary solar system using Irrlicht. I decided to use Irrlicht 1.5 because I had found custom DLLs that only work with that version and allow me to add DirectX compatibility without installing Microsoft compilers and SDKs.
It works well on my computer, which is rather old (Windows XP, GeForce 6200 Go video card, DirectX 9.0c 4.09.0000.0904) as well on another, newer computer (all I know about that computer is that it runs Windows 7, as I have not run diagnostic programs on it). However, I received an email saying that on another Windows 7 computer (which I cannot reach directly since it's in another country) it gives the following problems:
1) DirectX 8 or 9 modes make it crash, OpenGL is the only mode that works
2) you can walk out of the spaceship while it's flying, even in space

I cannot reproduce these problems on my machine. My only hope to find what's wrong with it is someone else on this forum running it and trying to reproduce the problems. The program, which includes the source in the same archive, can be downloaded from http://devilmaster.altervista.org/tadps ... #downloads . The controls are explained in the included documentation. Please help, I want to solve these compatibility problems!
DJLinux
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by DJLinux »

Is the Win 7 failed box a 64 bit box ?

DJ.
(Sorry about my bad English)
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

Now I have contacted the person who is experiencing the crashes. If I don't answer your question soon, it's not because I'm "being rude", it's just that I haven't received an answer myself.
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

I have not received an answer yet, but I want to know anyway: if it crashed just because it was run on a 64 bit computer, what's the remedy?
rubenwardy
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by rubenwardy »

You can find that out yourself, by testing it on a 64 bit computer.
I would guess one of the libraries (dll) is dependent on 32bit, and you need to get a 64 bit version, and release a 64 bit version.
I will look at the source code to see what I can do, because i have got a 64 bit win7 computer

The best way to solve it is to try and run it in the compatibility packs, and to release a notice on your website
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

rubenwardy wrote:You can find that out yourself, by testing it on a 64 bit computer.
If I had access to a 64 bit computer, I would.
rubenwardy wrote:I will look at the source code to see what I can do, because i have got a 64 bit win7 computer

The best way to solve it is to try and run it in the compatibility packs, and to release a notice on your website
Please do that. I cannot do that myself as I don't have access to a 64 bit computer, but I still want to solve the problem.

In addition, where can I find a version of Irrlicht.dll for the latest version of Irrlicht, to use with non-Microsoft compilers, that includes support for DirectX modes? Maybe that would have 64 bit support.

P.S.
I got the answer. The machine where it fails to run has an AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core CPU, an Nvidia Geforce GTX 550 TI graphics card, 4 GB of RAM and it runs Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit edition.
rubenwardy
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by rubenwardy »

FOR MAC: in the irrlicht source, there should be a MACOS folder. its in there.

Get the person on which computer it crashed on to try different compatibility packs.
Right-click, Properties, Compatibility. (Maybe XP Service Pack 1 if that was where it was created?)
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

FOR MAC: in the irrlicht source, there should be a MACOS folder. its in there.
What about GCC for Windows? I have a package of two custom DLLs: one is a modified version of Irrlicht.dll for Irrlicht 1.5.0, which allows me to compile my code with CodeBlocks and GCC but have DirectX compatibility; the other is called D3DX81ab.dll , but it's needed for DirectX 9 rendering too. Have those files ever been updated?
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

Update: I got feedback saying that XP SP2 compatibility mode makes it run in D3D mode, but the text window keeps displaying the text "Direct3D8 end scene failed" or "Direct3D9 end scene failed", over and over. How do I get rid of that?
At first, I thought about opening one of the DLLs, or the executable itself, with a hex editor, and replacing the characters of that string with 0x00 characters, but that string is not present in either DLL nor in the executable.
hybrid
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by hybrid »

Old version of Irrlicht? We have had numerous problems with depth buffers and vertex buffers in the past which lead to broken reset
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

hybrid wrote:Old version of Irrlicht? We have had numerous problems with depth buffers and vertex buffers in the past which lead to broken reset
Yes, as I wrote in the previous messages, I use Irrlicht 1.5 because there is a modified version of Irrlicht.dll, that comes with another library called D3DX81ab.dll , that lets me compile with GCC and still make the programs use Direct3D modes.
If you point me to a new version of those DLLs, that do the same thing with the latest version of Irrlicht, I'll be glad to upgrade.
hybrid
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by hybrid »

Yes, all stable versions are posted on the FAQ forum with gcc binaries. Just check that forum, the title has something with gcc and DX in its name (supposedly).
Devil Master
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Re: My program runs on some computers but not on others, hel

Post by Devil Master »

Found it. Now I'll switch to Irrlicht 1.7.3 and see how it goes.

P.S.
I got some more feedback from the person who got the crashes with Direct3D: it turned out he just had an incomplete installation of DirectX on his machine. He reinstalled them and now it works as it's supposed to. I'll still stick to the latest version of Irrlicht though.
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