WinXP - Win 8 --- something I need to know ?!?

[Drnkhobo]

You know, I really hope we can get this fixed because its essential in vst production. Take my example, I use the save/load for registering and keeping a plugin unlocked (once successful registration, write file so that it can be loaded every time and unlock the plugin). However this is turning to quite the hunt! Ill explain. . .

So as I said, once you register the vst writes a "unlock" file to Appdata/Roaming. Now when you load the vst, it checks if file is there, if so, unlock. Simple. . . hah, well I have found out that the vst writes the file no problem, but when it comes to loading it up. . . nope! (huh? I thought we had a folder access problem?) This doesnt make sense!

Maybe we are the only ones who need something like this to work on many different machines. Maybe not, but either way its gotta get right.

My whole issue is why do we need to find another way of writing/loading files when they work perfect on certain machines? This leads me to believe that its NOT our code, or the way we have done things but rather something that lies with the multitude of different systems and setups.

Hmmm... its hard to test too because while you have tested on 5-6 machines and all OK, you will get some coming back saying its not working. And on top of that one user will report it ONLY works in Live and another saying it doesnt work at all in Live. . . there is no resolve from this.

More and more I am thinking it is down to individual user systems but there still lies the problem!


Im off to try some Marshalling and see if that helps. . . .

[Drnkhobo]

Ok, I tried the Marshall method (I like it better) but its still not playing ball . . .

I have tested on my machine & its working nicely then, as usual, try it on another then its not!!



Im getting tired of this now.

[RJHollins]

Drnkhobo .... did you do the 'wb' & 'rb' for the binary status ??

[RJHollins]

aaaggg ...

hearing back from beta tester on Win 8.1 ... the VST version is NOT loading up the config file.

I've just sent him the same app, but as an EXE. I want to see if there is any change, as we seemed to have the stand alone working.

I want to verify now with identical schematic [VST/EXE].

will report back.

[trogluddite]

If it's any consolation...
I went and visited the forum for Sketchup that I used to frequent - I'm using other 3D software mostly now, so hadn't been there for a while.
Sketchup also uses Ruby as a plugin API - and it seems the folks there are having exactly the same kind of problems.

From the little I've read there, it seems that the problem has mostly to do with read/write Admin' settings etc. - i.e. Windoze being a PITA. Choose the right location, and Ruby is quite happy to read/write files in whatever format is required. Note that most of the posts are about Vista/Win7, but seems that Win8 is very similar. By default, you get pretty much only your "roaming" folder with all permissions - you have to mess about to use anything else.
App's written in the last few years for Win7 compatibility know this already and just deal with it - but as coders, we're expected to just magically know all this stuff - thanks Micro$oft!!

One problem I saw there is that being Admin is not always enough - files and folders also have an "owner", and that has to be you too. Here's an extract from a post about sorting this out...

To fix this problem with the folders, takeownership of the folders or the drive (as an administrator) and give yourself full rights. Right click the folder/drive, click on properties, go to the security tab and click on Advanced and then click on the Owner tab. Click edit and then click the name of the person you want to give ownership to (you may need to add it if it isn't there - or it may be yourself). If you want it to apply to sub-folders and files within that folder/drive, then check the box for replace owner on sub-containers and objects and click OK.

...note that this was about Vista and win7, so I don't know for sure that Win8 is the same.

Another problem is that sometimes the file is saved - but Windoze decides to hide the file. This seems to hit 32bit app's a lot. To try find them, go to the folder where you thought they would be, then look for the menu item "Compatibility Files" - from here you should be able to reveal the files and tell Windoze to stop being so damned silly! Seems that sometimes files saved by 32bit app's are just assumed to be "Compatibility Files" for no good reason, and Windoze doesn't even bother to return an error code or display a warning message.

The forum is called "SketchUcation" BTW - even if you don't use the software, it might be worth a visit just to check out some of the "Why can't I install this plugin" threads - the guys there REALLY know their Ruby; I have them to thank for getting up to speed with it so quickly.

Hope some of this helps - I'm still all XP myself, so I haven't had a chance to check any of this stuff out.

[RJHollins]

Thanks TROG !!!

By default, you get pretty much only your "roaming" folder with all permissions -

The big, 1st question on my side ... What/ Where is this "roaming" folder ?!?!? Is this location call available from one of the 'primitives' ???

thanks for all your help ! My project is dead till I get this working

[Drnkhobo]

Mr Hollins, the Roaming folder is in AppData, simply add it to your save/load file folder.... ie.

Appdata\Roaming. . . .


But I use it for my projects and I STILL get problems with windows 7/8, but mostly the 64bit versions. hmmm, jbridge & cubase wrapper im lookin at you!

[RJHollins]

hmmm ... do we have this on XP ???

I've looked all over ... even changed to 'UN-hide' all files/folders ... I don't see it

[trogluddite]

hmmm ... do we have this on XP ???

No - the "roaming" thing was added with Vista. That's when things all got messed up!

Another problem that I've seen is that having Admin permission for a file/folder won't always work because the application checks who asked it to run - if the app doesn't have the same level of permission, or the same owner, as the folder it still won't save. So might be worth checking if your app's are set to "Run as Administrator" too. So long as you are logged in as Admin, you should be able to do this by r-clicking the .exe file, or its Start menu button.
From what I gather, there are fair a few rogue app's that make these settings wrong due to poor coding of the installer - especially if you do a 'quick wizard install' without reading the small-print.

BTW - another things to watch out for...
If you're building folder/file paths inside Ruby, you can't use the backslash character '\' inside "double quoted" strings - it gets interpreted as a special escape character. So if you're writing a pathname always use 'single quotes'. If in doubt "watch" the pathname before passing it to "File.open".

[RJHollins]

oh boy ...

alright ... I'll try not to complain [too much], as that won't help ... i know

At the moment, the head is spinning.

I've just now found a C:\Users folder on my drive. Inside that is 1 folder called 'Public'.
There is one program that I had installed long time ago that has its folder with an .ini file in there.

Am I close to finding the right spot .... [he asked her]