Digital Workshop

Hi

I created a product which I've had reports from a number of users of crashing. I'm now looking into this and getting detailed specs of the machines concerned.

The only common part so far is that whilst older PCs can run the application successfully, more modern PCs (mainly running on XP) are getting freezing and crashes repeatedly.

I think in error, when creating teh original install package, I selected the 'Never use DirectX' option.

The latest PCs to crash are HP Compaq Business Desktop dc5100 series PCs - the spec of these is as below. My question is whether recompiling with DirectX is likely to make a difference?

Intel® Pentium® 4 and Celeron™ processors
Choice of operating systems:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Home
Mandrake Linux 9.2 (delivered on CDs with system, not pre-installed)
SuSE Linux Personal 9.2 OEM (delivered on CDs with system, not pre-installed)
Intel 865GV chipset with Intel Extreme 2 integrated graphics
Integrated Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit ethernet
800, 533 and 400-MHz processor front side bus support, depending on processor
Intel HyperThread support
SMART III Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drives
SoundMax Digital AC97 integrated audio with internal speaker
Pre-loaded Manageability tools
Energy Star compliance with energy-saving features
Protected by HP Services, including a 3-3-3 standard warranty. Terms and conditions vary by country. Certain restrictions and exclusions apply.

Hi Paul,

If the spec of these machines is XP why is DX off?

Mack

I turned off DX because I'd previously had the error message when loading an Opus program (the troubleshooting one where there's the option to turn off DX) - and I thought it would minimise the problems if I disabled it (so I hopefully wouldn't get the error message again).

However, I think I may have been misguided here - should I have used DX if available?

The only time I have to select 'Never use DirectX' is because directX enabled in an Opus publication stops Vista Aero from working.
With XP I would leave directX on.

Paul

Hi

Thanks for that, but my product is used by both XP and Vista users. With this in mind, should I use the 'Turn DX on if available' option, or will this cause problems with Vista?

I'd leave it on.
The only annoyance then will be if the user is using Vista and Aero is enabled.
There will be a screen flash as Vista reverts to non Aero mode while the pub starts up, and another flash as the pub finishes.
Business users are unlikely to have Aero switched on, however.

Paul

Is it likely that more modern PCs (mainly running on XP) are getting freezing and crashes repeatedly because they have DirectX and are struggling to cope with graphics that aren't running on DX?

directX has been included as part of every version of Windows since Windows 95. You shouldn't have to turn it off.

Paul

As I mentioned above, when I had problems with Opus pubs crashing and got the troubleshooting screen, one of the options was to disable directx. From this, I thought that not using DirectX might reduce the number of problems. From the information you have supplied, I now understand I was not correct to do this. Thanks very much for your help.

Is it likely that more modern PCs (mainly running on XP) are getting freezing and crashes repeatedly with my software because they have DirectX and are struggling to cope with graphics that aren't running on DX?

"Is it likely that more modern PCs (mainly running on XP) are getting freezing and crashes repeatedly with my software because they have DirectX and are struggling to cope with graphics that aren't running on DX?"

In my opinion -- no.

Paul

Do Digital Workshop offer a facility to look at a software package that is causing the problems I've been experiencing, to ascertain the cause of such crashes?

I know of a number of clients who have the software running fine on older XP machines, but have problems on newer machines with higher specs. Other than this graphics possibility, I'm struggling to think of any other reasons why more modern machines, with more memory, using same operating system, are exhibiting problems.

Software works with Access databases (stored locally), but I'd not have expected this to cause a problem. Other than that, a few screens have drag and drop functionality or moving images with transitions, but nothing that I'd have thought was too out of the ordinary. Some schools have reported the screen only freezing and crashing on the screens with moving images, but not sure this is a common pattern yet. The moving images was what initially got me thinking of the DirectX possibility.

DW used to provide a diagnostic utility called DWInfo.exe, but that hasn't been updated since 2005 and doesn't recognise Vista.
XP has considerable differences depending on whether or not automatic updates are turned on. In my opinion XP without service packs is a different beast than it is when all 3 sp's are installed.

The problem with discussing "crashes" is that it means different things to different people unless we get more specific.

Paul

Thanks for your help.

When asking clients for specific details of crashes & system specifics, what else should I ask to try to narrow down the differences, as well as the follows:

Operating System
Memory
Graphics Card
Which service packs have been installed
What 'crash' occurred
What screen crash occurred on

From what has been described, most crashes involve program freezing, with nothing responsive at all. Clients have stated they need to reboot.

Once I get further details of crashes, I'll post further info here.

In the past, the standard DW reply to any kind of graphics problem, was first to ensure the latest graphics drivers were installed.
What occurs to me is... we have a wide user base for Opus on many different operating systems, but generally speaking, Opus doesn't crash often. You have an application which crashes on many different operating systems, so it points to something you are doing in your application as being the root cause, but unless you can run the application on a machine which repeatedly crashes, it's difficult to find a problem like this. Is it something you can post for others to have a look at?

Sandy

What would you need me to post - the finished sw or the Opus ilm files? I've not posted data before, but could do so - but files are about 120 mb (or 25 mb for finished product) - if someone can tell me how.

Thanks

Paul