Digital Workshop

Dear friends and Opus pro creators. Once again a problem has arisen its ugly head and I have to wonder why this has not been fixed.



I’m sure you’re wondering why I just won’t shut up about it, but the people who have my software have written me in the past complaining to me and they say they finally just had to delete my software because they were tired of continually having to deal with this. One thing that is curious is that it will not happen on everyone’s computer which makes me believe it’s not a program problem of mine. I just went back and read the past history of me asking that it be fixed. You people are way too brilliant not to be able to figure out how to fix this, or at least come up with a work around. (that actually works).

I have an address book program and a user of the program started having this problem recently and emailed me about. There have been 11,230 people download and use this program, and only a handful who have had the problem with the troubleshooting window.

I just recently (with the help of Mackavi) developed what I called a repair program. It wipes out all the information in the registry of the program created by me (pd-Base) using Opus Pro. The reason I wrote this small repair program was because ONCE AGAIN this problem popped up. I sent this new repair program to the person using my address book program (pd-base), he uninstalled the address book program completely from his computer, then ran the repair program wiping out all the variables within the registry about the pd-base program. He then reinstalled my address book program pd-Base and the Trouble shooting window came back the first time he opened pd-Base. He said that he had clicked all the boxes including the “Do not show this message again” box and it made no difference. So I am ONCE AGAIN asking that you PLEASE find out what’s causing this to happen and to PLEASE fix it so that when you click on the “Do not show this message again” box that is does indeed not show again.

Is the troubleshooting window created by Opus, or is it a system window? I have to believe it’s the former rather than the latter, because it only shows up when running an Opus program. If you created the window, then I can not believe that you can not keep it from opening even if it does see whatever it’s seeing again. Once you close the troubleshooting window the program (I have created) runs without fault.

My apologies if I seem a little upset about this, but I’ve been living with this off and on for years now, only to find that nothing has been done that I know of to fix the problem.

I was once told to… “Click the shortcut/icon for OPUS, then immediately hold down the ALT and CLT keys until you see a window which asks if you want to RESET the OPUS Registry.”

I did this but when I do as it was suggested a small window popped up very shortly. I had to do it several times to realize that it was the window being referred to, but I didn't have time to click on a button before the window went away, and the program shut down.

However, that information tells me if there is a way to reset something in the registry to stop this problem, I need to be told where it is and what to reset. I can include that in my repair program. That would be a work around I could live with, but what would be even better is for you to fix it so if you click on “Do not show this again”… then it would not continue to pop back up... even if you have to make it delete the trouble shooting window where it could never pop back up again. Please help me with this ongoing nightmare of a problem which will not go away until YOU sit down and take the time to actually fix it. I am not the only person who has had this problem, and priorities should dictate a fix.

Dennis Pitts... a loyal user of and believer in your great and wonderful product... Opus Pro.

Hi Denn,

I'll throw two-cents into the pot, but you may be better either waiting for a response from DW or probably emailing them.

However, from my understanding the troubleshooting window is part of Opus (it's in the help) and not a bug.

All computer programs require both correctly functioning software and hardware to ensure compatibility with any additional software or hardware that a user may decide to add. Unfortunately, a computer may appear to be functioning perfectly well until you try and install said new hardware or software and then it appears that it's the new hardware or software faults when in fact there maybe an underlying problem.

The troubleshooting dialogue is just a warning box that lets the user know that their system caused the software to crash. Yes, it could be a problem with the software - but as you said you've had thousands of successful downloads and therefore the logical place to start would be what about this system is causing it to crash. Personally, that's not entirely a DW issue.

Computer programs crash everyday - some because the program is unstable and some because there is a problem with the machine's other software or hardware. Some of these programs, like Opus record the crash and let the user know and in Opus's case because it can have specific requirements (such as DX), the user is given the opportunity to disable this aspect - but that is just an option not a guarantee that this will fix the problem.

In the UK we have something called an MOT for our cars. It's a test that every year your car must pass to stay on the road and pretty much every year my car, like most other people's cars, fails. It seems perfectly okay and I drive it every day - but apparently it's not running at an acceptable standard. Every time I fix a computer problem, I always think how many computers would fail an computer MOT! Oddly, I must not be alone in this trail of thought, because some companies - such as banks and ISP are now requiring / checking the a user machine / software to reach certain requirements to help limit problems with security.

I know first hand that problems like this are very frustrating, but as they say in medicine - treat the cause not the symptom.


Mack

Mack,

I appreciate you telling me that, but here's my way of thinking be it right or wrong. If the troubleshooting window pops up and tells you there is a problem with your machine and then gives you choices to try and correct it and one of those choices is to not show the troubleshooting window any longer. DW has fulfilled their obligation to tell the user there is a problem. If the user decides that they don't want to see the window again, then I believe that DW should at that point make sure it doesn't open again. Am I wrong?

Morning Denn,

No not wrong. If an option is to 'do not show again' then it shouldn't show again. But is the troubleshooting dialogue the cause or the symptom?

The TSD may well simply just not work. I've just answered a question in the basic section where after a quick test it was clear that the particular function wasn't doing what you'd expect. The other options in the same group work and I'd hope that my machine and the other user's machine where significantly different that it was more likely an Opus bug than an common denominator - but still I'd stress the more likely bit.

The TSD is one of those nasty instances where it's near impossible for the wider community to test unless it's specifically happening to them and unless it's a boo-boo in DW's code - it's difficult for a developer to ascertain what a problem might be without lots and lots of testing which is why they, me and lots of others around here are always harping on about what system specification something is run on because, while it not might solve a problem, information helps narrow down where to test.

As I said above, I'd send DW an email. If you're lucky and the TSD is the cause then you may get a simple fix. If it's just a symptom, then you may get enough information to help us test the problem, narrow down the problem or offer a workable solution

Mack

Actually, I did ask them one time to please fix the problem so it would not show once you clicked in the "Do not show again" box. It's been a very long time and I have no idea where that email is now, nor do I remember how they answered back to me. I've looked for it, but it's probably lost. Since I can’t remember what thier answer was I will pass this along to them. I too feel that once you click on something that says don’t show this message again, it should never show again even if they had to include a “Are you sure you want to do this” window, and as I said in this post, those guys are surely bright enough to fix this problem to keep it from opening again once you tell it not to.

And by the way, my software does not seem to be crashing on their system because all of them said that once they clicked out of the trouble shooting window everything worked in pd-Base and it ran with no problems.

Even though only a handful perhaps 15 or 20 out of thousands have written me and told me about having this problem it certainly makes me look bad when they email me and tell me that they just deleted my software because they got tired of closing that window every time they ran my software, whether it was my fault or their equipment, they will just think it’s my software. Also, as you well know, everyone will not take the time to write you and tell you of a problem. They will just delete the software and find other software they don’t have problems with, so there is no way of telling how many people this actually happened to. It could be one or two hundred people since I have no way of knowing. It’s sort of like the old saying, if you see one roach, there maybe another hundred hiding in the walls.

I know that I have personally used this particular software (pd-Base) on 5 different computers at home and at work, and I have relative’s and friends who have used it who wouldn’t hesitate to let me know if they have had problems with it, and they haven’t said anything, and I haven’t had any problems with it so I have to think it’s not my software’s fault. I have had the trouble shooting window pop up on my machine with other software I’ve created in the past while it was still under production so I worked with it until the window didn’t pop up any longer, but this is different. It doesn’t pop up on my computer or anyone else’s I know of accept for those who have emailed me about it.

Thanks once again for replying Mack. I consider you at genius level with this software, and since they created it, they should be at least one grade above you and be able to fix it. I just don’t understand why they will not take the time to do so. I cannot accept the answer that they can’t… more than likely to them it seems to be a problem only a few people have had, but I am only one of possibly thousands of Opus Pro users. Surely there are quite a few of us who have had this problem. This is the only problem I know of that they won’t take the time to fix. I guess it’s just too much trouble and it’s something they are willing to live with

I understand this dialog was removed in v7 - please can you confirm that you have had these problems with publications created in v7 or v8 so we can investigate further.

Thanks.

Paul

Yes Paul,

I have used every version from Illuminatus 4.5 to my present version 7.06. Obviously it was not removed in version 7... don't know about version 8. I can't afford to upgrade to version 9 or higher because I'm retired now and living off Social Security, so I hope if there is a fix I can get an update for my version 7.06.

Thanks for the reply
Dennis Pitts

Mr. Harris,

I have not heard back from you. You said above that it was your understanding that the trouble shooting window was removed from V7 and for me to confirm that I was having this problem with Ver 7, which I did. Is there a fix for what is going on with my software?

Thank You...
Dennis Pitts

Denn, this is not an Opus problem in itself. The problem is that those computers experiencing crashes need to be updated on their video cards / graphic cards drivers.
I have done a lot of research on this particular problem since I have encountered many time in the past and every time I have gone to check my client's system I have found out that they have not updated their systems for a long time and particularly the video cards / graphic cards drivers and as soon as I done it for them (as a courtesy call to keep them as my clients!) the problem is fixed.
Perhaps is not something you wanted to hear but this has been my experience.
Cheers and good luck!

G.Silva

G.Silva, I must respectfully disagree. While I do agree that the problem for the TroubleShooting screen that pops up is more than likely caused by the users hardware, or lack of software updates however, once you click into the “do not show this message again”, then it becomes an Opus problem. If the TroubleShooting window is created by Opus, then once you tic the “do not show this message again” box, then that is what should happen… don’t show it again… period. Do you feel that I am wrong in this assessment?

Here's something to try:

Create a new blank publication, and save it as something. Publish it as a standalone exe, and test. Then whilst it's running, find the EXE in task manager and choose end process - this will kill it as if it had crashed. Then test it again. In the old pre v7 versions, this would then come up with a troubleshooting box.

When I try in 7.06, I don't get the error. Maybe somebody else can try it too.

Are the people who are reporting the problem definitely running publications that were published with v7.06?

Hi Dave,

I tried it in v7.05 and v7.03 under W7x64 / XP and it did not display the dialogue box. I then tried it with v6.4 and it did display the dialogue box. I also saved the 6.4 file and loaded it into 7.03 and again it did not display the box.

Mack

Dave Emberton & Mackavi,

I think I have figured out the problem. I have programs that I have been working on for years… and I mean YEARS. It is possible that some of the programs that are giving the problems were built with older versions of Opus that had the troubleshooting window. In other words, when someone emails me and tells me that they are having a problem with the TroubleShooting window, I will tell them to get the newer version, which would have been built with the later version (7.06) of Opus Pro… also, If the program they are having problems with has not been updated, then it would probably be a good time for me to update that program. I know that in the past I have tried to update older programs and could not, and some I had to update with a version between what I have and what version the program was originally built with. Has that problem ever been fixed? Perhaps a conversion program that would allow someone to have their older programs converted to an updated imp that would work with whatever version they have now.

This is the only explanation I can come up with since some of the people have had that problem, but most have not. If I get a definite answer I will come back and post it.

Thank you both for taking the time to look into this problem