Author Topic: Crash troubleshooting  (Read 3677 times)

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Offline dalekix (OP)

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Crash troubleshooting
« on: March 03, 2020, 10:58:02 AM »
Quote from: Kyle link=topic=10149. msg119215#msg119215 date=1582992272
Quote from: dalekix link=topic=10149. msg119205#msg119205 date=1582915736
I've been trying to run this since I became aware of it, but the game always just stalls on startup, just showing the Godot logo.   I've already got VC 2019 installed, and I've tried repairing the installation, but that hasn't fixed anything. 

Quote
Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-7130U CPU @ 2.  70GHz
Manufacturer
Intel
Speed
2.  7 GHz
Number of Cores
4
RAM
8.  0 GB
Video Card
Intel(R) HD Graphics 620
Manufacturer
Chipset
Intel(R) HD Graphics 620
Dedicated Memory
128 MB
Total Memory
5.  0 GB

Try deleting %APPDATA%\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Quasar4x\quasar4x. sqlite and running the game again.   Save files left behind by very old versions of quasar cause more recent versions to crash.   The game is supposed to detect and replace these super old saves but it obviously isn't working.

If that doesn't work, can you send me your DxDiag output?   (Windows Key + R, dxdiag)   Use pastebin. com if too big an attachment for here.   Thanks

quasar4x. sqlite doesn't even exist for me; it looks like the program is stalling before it makes it? In fact, even the logs are empty.

I'm attaching the DxDiag output.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2020, 04:40:25 PM by Kyle »
 

Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2020, 10:06:32 PM »
Made this a thread of its own if you dont mind, because it might take some back and forth to solve this one.

Can you try updating your graphics driver, yours is at 23.20.16 and the latest driver is 26.20.100.

If that doesn't work, can you try running the game as administrator.

If that doesn't work, can you try copying the quasar4x.sqlite file from the program directory (the one that's sitting next to Quasar4x.exe) over to %APPDATA%\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Quasar4x\quasar4x.sqlite
 
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Offline dalekix (OP)

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2020, 08:42:02 AM »
Quote from: Kyle link=topic=10595. msg119253#msg119253 date=1583294792
Made this a thread of its own if you dont mind, because it might take some back and forth to solve this one. 

Can you try updating your graphics driver, yours is at 23. 20. 16 and the latest driver is 26. 20. 100.

If that doesn't work, can you try running the game as administrator.

If that doesn't work, can you try copying the quasar4x. sqlite file from the program directory (the one that's sitting next to Quasar4x. exe) over to %APPDATA%\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Quasar4x\quasar4x. sqlite

Thank you.  And in order:

For reasons I find difficult to fathom, Dell blocks me from updating my graphics driver.  And the one on the Dell website is a previous version to the one my Laptop is running.  I'll see if I can find a way to force the installation, but I can do the rest of what you say in the meantime.

Running the game as Administrator has no effect.

I copied the quasar4x. sqlite file to %APPDATA%\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Quasar4x\quasar4x. sqlite, and tried again in Administrator mode.  This also had no effect.
 

Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2020, 10:08:37 AM »
Do you happen to remember roughly what date you first tried running the game?  It would help rule out any recent changes such as the new C++ module.

Being prohibited by non-Microsoft software from doing basic things on your computer like updating drivers (without having to force it to work) sounds highly suspect.  Unfortunately this issue might have to sit for awhile until I can find out whether more people are having a similar problem.
 
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Offline Garfunkel

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2020, 12:03:21 PM »
I had a laptop years ago which had a similar thing - in Administrator mode I was able to uninstall the manufacturer's "control panel" bullsmeg malware and then use my laptop the way I wanted. Try that.
 
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Offline dalekix (OP)

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2020, 02:13:55 PM »
Quote from: Kyle link=topic=10595. msg119262#msg119262 date=1583338117
Do you happen to remember roughly what date you first tried running the game?  It would help rule out any recent changes such as the new C++ module.

Being prohibited by non-Microsoft software from doing basic things on your computer like updating drivers (without having to force it to work) sounds highly suspect.   Unfortunately this issue might have to sit for awhile until I can find out whether more people are having a similar problem.

It was roughly on the last two weeks of February that I first tried running the game.

I'll try updating the Intel drivers via the device manager.
 

Offline dalekix (OP)

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #6 on: March 05, 2020, 09:10:11 AM »
Update:

I've updated the drivers using the ones from the Intel page.    This had no effect.    I'll attach the new output from Dxdiag.   

I'll try and see if I can get any previous iteration of the game to run, using the functionality of the itch.  io launcher.   I'll be using the "no-media" version for convenience. 

Edit: Okay, #42 (published on September 3, 2019) works.   That's the very earliest iteration I can find on itch.  io, using the launcher.   One thing that struck me as odd was that the top bar of the game window was way up and to the left, to the point it was off the screen entirely. 

I'll be updating this post with more findings. 

Edit 2: The latest version of Quasar that runs is #60, published on Oct 11, 2019.  The game starts fine, and I can even load the example game, but there's several problems even so.

Clicking on Settings will crash the game.
Clicking on System Map will freeze the game.
Advancing time (via the controls on the Economics screen) will freeze the game for a moment before updating.  Just how long it spends frozen seems dependent on by how much is being advanced, although this particular issue may have more to do with me using an earlier version.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2020, 11:48:18 AM by dalekix »
 

Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #7 on: March 05, 2020, 02:20:00 PM »
Wow, didn't even know Itch had this feature.  Took me a minute to find what you were talking about but sure enough I see where all the past versions are available.

I can confirm Settings crashes in that version and System Map freezed on some graphics cards, both issues were since fixed.  However both #60 and #61 run for me.

So you're quite sure Version #60 runs and Version # 61 crashes on start?  If so then that will help narrow it down a ton.

Also, can you try versions # 65 and # 77 and see if either of those work?
« Last Edit: March 05, 2020, 02:42:32 PM by Kyle »
 

Offline dalekix (OP)

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2020, 10:01:47 PM »
Quote from: Kyle link=topic=10595. msg119297#msg119297 date=1583439600
Wow, didn't even know Itch had this feature.   Took me a minute to find what you were talking about but sure enough I see where all the past versions are available. 

I can confirm Settings crashes in that version and System Map freezed on some graphics cards, both issues were since fixed.   However both #60 and #61 run for me.

So you're quite sure Version #60 runs and Version # 61 crashes on start?  If so then that will help narrow it down a ton.

Also, can you try versions # 65 and # 77 and see if either of those work?

I'm quite sure.  #60 runs, and #61 crashes on start.

#65 freezes just like the current version, and #77 does exactly the same thing.  Neither version responds to running the . exe in Administrator mode, or pasting the quasar4x. sqlite file into the appropiate folder in %APPDATA%.
 

Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2020, 10:52:42 PM »
I just pushed version 94.  Does that one work?
 

Offline dalekix (OP)

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2020, 12:34:07 PM »
Quote from: Kyle link=topic=10595. msg119314#msg119314 date=1583470362
I just pushed version 94.   Does that one work?

It does! Well, to a point; clicking on System Maps still freezes the game.

Looking at the other windows, I noticed that some UI elements flicker in the Galactic Map.

What was the fix, if you don't mind me asking?
 
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Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2020, 01:22:27 PM »
Version 94 of Quasar (and versions below 61) are using OpenGL Shading Language 3.30 (OpenGL 3.3), the versions that were crashing are using OpenGL Shading Language 1.20 (OpenGL 2.1)

The reason I switched to the older version of OpenGL for version 61 was because around October 13, a user on discord reported being unable to run the OpenGL 3 version but the OpenGL 2 version worked fine.  They were on an Intel UHD Graphics 630.

I use GL Shading Language to draw circles on the System Map and the Galaxy map.  I dont have any other choice because the alternative, which is to draw every circle as a series of many straight lines, is drastically slower.  Aurora VB6 (and C# probably?) gets around this because it is not using a 3D engine so it doesn't have to redraw every circle every frame, the OS handles that.  The benefit of using shaders though is that it draws even faster than OS rendering and it can draw perfect circles of any size at the same speed, with anti-aliasing. 

Unfortunately it sounds like your device can't handle OpenGL shaders very well even on the version that runs.  At some point I could probably add a fallback rendering method, but it would be incredibly choppy and I have a lot of other things I need to work on.  If you're able to find any drivers you can find for your device that better support OpenGL shaders let me know!
 
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Offline dalekix (OP)

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2020, 05:31:38 PM »
Quote from: Kyle link=topic=10595. msg119356#msg119356 date=1583522547
Version 94 of Quasar (and versions below 61) are using OpenGL Shading Language 3. 30 (OpenGL 3. 3), the versions that were crashing are using OpenGL Shading Language 1. 20 (OpenGL 2. 1)

The reason I switched to the older version of OpenGL for version 61 was because around October 13, a user on discord reported being unable to run the OpenGL 3 version but the OpenGL 2 version worked fine.   They were on an Intel UHD Graphics 630.

I use GL Shading Language to draw circles on the System Map and the Galaxy map.   I dont have any other choice because the alternative, which is to draw every circle as a series of many straight lines, is drastically slower.   Aurora VB6 (and C# probably?) gets around this because it is not using a 3D engine so it doesn't have to redraw every circle every frame, the OS handles that.   The benefit of using shaders though is that it draws even faster than OS rendering and it can draw perfect circles of any size at the same speed, with anti-aliasing.   

Unfortunately it sounds like your device can't handle OpenGL shaders very well even on the version that runs.   At some point I could probably add a fallback rendering method, but it would be incredibly choppy and I have a lot of other things I need to work on.   If you're able to find any drivers you can find for your device that better support OpenGL shaders let me know!

How would I go about fixing this, then? I'll try and update whatever drivers are out of date on my machine, but is there something specific I can do?
 

Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2020, 08:16:02 PM »
I'm kind of scratching my head because it looks like your card should be fine according to this...

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005524/graphics-drivers.html

There's a video on that page that shows how to see what shader version it supports.  Does it list 3.30.x for you?
 

Offline Kyle

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Re: Crash troubleshooting
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2020, 03:32:40 PM »
New issue to troubleshoot:

So I've been getting semi consistent crashes which involve:
-Crashing on trying to view the system map.
-Crashing when trying to advance time.
-Crashing when moving the window during game startup.
And somewhat less consistent crashes involving
-Starting the game.
-Opening any save.
Is there any way for me to recover useful crash logs of some sort?
This is the one area where Godot fails hard.  For crash reasons to be logged it requires debug mode to be enabled, which would make all my code readable in notepad.  Can you post your save file in the bugs thread?
That's the darndest thing. I'm getting the issues with a practically fresh install, even the pre-made demonstration saves are crashing, with no saving done to them.

Maybe the app doesn't have permissions to write to here:  ......\AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Quasar4x
Crash on viewing system map or galaxy lap points to video drivers, or video card.  The game does use 3D acceleration and a bit of video RAM for these screens, and I haven't gotten around to writing a fallback rendering mode.
Can you try deleting the Godot\app_userdata\Quasar4x folder then running the game via the Itch app?
 
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