Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
I would go and get your client's machine. 40 minutes is way too long to test changes! If you can't do that, i would use a remote desktop app. http://www.uvnc.com is a good one as far as i remember, and it's free. Also, replace the huge picture with a little one, and get rid of the video. Basically, for each test you do, remove half of your game till it stops crashing. Good luck, i know the feelin! On 9/4/09, Paul Steven paul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: I have created a game in Flash CS3 which is being published for Flash 8 AS2. My client is reporting it crashing periodically on his XP PC. I have also managed replicate this on my Vista Ultimate PC with the following error: A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available It took me over 40 minutes of continuous play to get the crash. This game is for an exhibition on Monday so I need to sort this pretty quickly. Can anyone suggest any ways to try and pinpoint the problem? The game is being run as a projector packaged with MDM Zinc. My first thoughts were that it was due to Zinc being pants but the same problem occurs with just a plain old Flash projector. The problem also happens in the Flash IDE, and similarly it just crashes Flash completely - there is no message saying a script is causing the movie problems. I am struggling to work out how to find the cause of the problem especially as it can happen pretty much immediately according to the client or after a long period of play. The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Any suggestions what code issues could be causing this or does it sound like something else causing the crash. Are there any tools that can help me track down the problem? Hoping someone can save the day! Thanks Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Sent from my mobile device ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Thanks Mike I am able to replicate it on my PC - well it has happened a few times. I tested for over 2 hours solid last night with no crash and thought it was fixed. But this morning after only about 10 seconds of play it crashed. This is the new version with the large image separated into 4 separate jpgs. Only other large item is a movie clip that is a dotted line that is the same size as the large image - this is a draw object (think this is the right term - basially the built in dotted line) I am trying the fdb command line thingy but of course it won't crash now. Pff!!! Next step is to try taking out bit by bit - so time consuming as a crash can take ages to occur. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of mike donnelly Sent: 06 September 2009 11:17 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash I would go and get your client's machine. 40 minutes is way too long to test changes! If you can't do that, i would use a remote desktop app. http://www.uvnc.com is a good one as far as i remember, and it's free. Also, replace the huge picture with a little one, and get rid of the video. Basically, for each test you do, remove half of your game till it stops crashing. Good luck, i know the feelin! On 9/4/09, Paul Steven paul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: I have created a game in Flash CS3 which is being published for Flash 8 AS2. My client is reporting it crashing periodically on his XP PC. I have also managed replicate this on my Vista Ultimate PC with the following error: A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available It took me over 40 minutes of continuous play to get the crash. This game is for an exhibition on Monday so I need to sort this pretty quickly. Can anyone suggest any ways to try and pinpoint the problem? The game is being run as a projector packaged with MDM Zinc. My first thoughts were that it was due to Zinc being pants but the same problem occurs with just a plain old Flash projector. The problem also happens in the Flash IDE, and similarly it just crashes Flash completely - there is no message saying a script is causing the movie problems. I am struggling to work out how to find the cause of the problem especially as it can happen pretty much immediately according to the client or after a long period of play. The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Any suggestions what code issues could be causing this or does it sound like something else causing the crash. Are there any tools that can help me track down the problem? Hoping someone can save the day! Thanks Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Sent from my mobile device ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
God what a nightmare! If your client's machine reliably crashes quickly, testing on that is *definitely* the way to go. Your bug seems so random, it could be anything. I had something similar once with a font which would randomly bork the flashplayer. It may well be that flash just hates your enormous movieclip, even if it's just a dotted line. My first test would be to remove entirely any huge clips like that. Like i say, don't be meek: rip out half of your game for each test, so you can drill down quick as poss. Sorry i don't have an answer other than plain common sense. Maybe someone out there knows a more technological method? On 9/6/09, Paul Steven paul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: Thanks Mike I am able to replicate it on my PC - well it has happened a few times. I tested for over 2 hours solid last night with no crash and thought it was fixed. But this morning after only about 10 seconds of play it crashed. This is the new version with the large image separated into 4 separate jpgs. Only other large item is a movie clip that is a dotted line that is the same size as the large image - this is a draw object (think this is the right term - basially the built in dotted line) I am trying the fdb command line thingy but of course it won't crash now. Pff!!! Next step is to try taking out bit by bit - so time consuming as a crash can take ages to occur. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of mike donnelly Sent: 06 September 2009 11:17 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash I would go and get your client's machine. 40 minutes is way too long to test changes! If you can't do that, i would use a remote desktop app. http://www.uvnc.com is a good one as far as i remember, and it's free. Also, replace the huge picture with a little one, and get rid of the video. Basically, for each test you do, remove half of your game till it stops crashing. Good luck, i know the feelin! On 9/4/09, Paul Steven paul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: I have created a game in Flash CS3 which is being published for Flash 8 AS2. My client is reporting it crashing periodically on his XP PC. I have also managed replicate this on my Vista Ultimate PC with the following error: A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available It took me over 40 minutes of continuous play to get the crash. This game is for an exhibition on Monday so I need to sort this pretty quickly. Can anyone suggest any ways to try and pinpoint the problem? The game is being run as a projector packaged with MDM Zinc. My first thoughts were that it was due to Zinc being pants but the same problem occurs with just a plain old Flash projector. The problem also happens in the Flash IDE, and similarly it just crashes Flash completely - there is no message saying a script is causing the movie problems. I am struggling to work out how to find the cause of the problem especially as it can happen pretty much immediately according to the client or after a long period of play. The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Any suggestions what code issues could be causing this or does it sound like something else causing the crash. Are there any tools that can help me track down the problem? Hoping someone can save the day! Thanks Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Sent from my mobile device ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Sent from my mobile device ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Paul Steven wrote: Thanks Paul The clients PC is a brand new one with 4gb RAM and I imagine tons of space. Not sure what a stack dump looks like but the client did send this info on the error: Event Type: Error Event Source: Application Error Event Category: None Event ID: 1000 Date: 04/09/2009 Time: 16:42:47 User: N/A Computer: ACER-A881FB79D8 Description: Faulting application blazepointplanegame.exe, version 3.0.0.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0194c07e. For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp. Data: : 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat 0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail 0010: 75 72 65 20 20 62 6c 61 ure bla 0018: 7a 65 70 6f 69 6e 74 70 zepointp 0020: 6c 61 6e 65 67 61 6d 65 lanegame 0028: 2e 65 78 65 20 33 2e 30 .exe 3.0 0030: 2e 30 2e 30 20 69 6e 20 .0.0 in 0038: 75 6e 6b 6e 6f 77 6e 20 unknown 0040: 30 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 0.0.0.0 0048: 61 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 at offse 0050: 74 20 30 31 39 34 63 30 t 0194c0 0058: 37 65 0d 0a 7e.. Not sure if this gives any clues or not? I was hoping it would reveal some routine name and possibly a list of nested routine calls to give a clue, but no. Thanks Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Also, to test for memory leaks, i'd do a test where you automate the intro/playing/end loop of your game, ie. Stick a bit of code in that finishes the game after a second of playing, and just keep going round:intro,playing,end. If it still crashes, you'll know it's probably the creation/destruction that's buggy, and not the main game code itself. On 9/6/09, mike donnelly chichila...@gmail.com wrote: God what a nightmare! If your client's machine reliably crashes quickly, testing on that is *definitely* the way to go. Your bug seems so random, it could be anything. I had something similar once with a font which would randomly bork the flashplayer. It may well be that flash just hates your enormous movieclip, even if it's just a dotted line. My first test would be to remove entirely any huge clips like that. Like i say, don't be meek: rip out half of your game for each test, so you can drill down quick as poss. Sorry i don't have an answer other than plain common sense. Maybe someone out there knows a more technological method? On 9/6/09, Paul Steven paul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: Thanks Mike I am able to replicate it on my PC - well it has happened a few times. I tested for over 2 hours solid last night with no crash and thought it was fixed. But this morning after only about 10 seconds of play it crashed. This is the new version with the large image separated into 4 separate jpgs. Only other large item is a movie clip that is a dotted line that is the same size as the large image - this is a draw object (think this is the right term - basially the built in dotted line) I am trying the fdb command line thingy but of course it won't crash now. Pff!!! Next step is to try taking out bit by bit - so time consuming as a crash can take ages to occur. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of mike donnelly Sent: 06 September 2009 11:17 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash I would go and get your client's machine. 40 minutes is way too long to test changes! If you can't do that, i would use a remote desktop app. http://www.uvnc.com is a good one as far as i remember, and it's free. Also, replace the huge picture with a little one, and get rid of the video. Basically, for each test you do, remove half of your game till it stops crashing. Good luck, i know the feelin! On 9/4/09, Paul Steven paul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: I have created a game in Flash CS3 which is being published for Flash 8 AS2. My client is reporting it crashing periodically on his XP PC. I have also managed replicate this on my Vista Ultimate PC with the following error: A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available It took me over 40 minutes of continuous play to get the crash. This game is for an exhibition on Monday so I need to sort this pretty quickly. Can anyone suggest any ways to try and pinpoint the problem? The game is being run as a projector packaged with MDM Zinc. My first thoughts were that it was due to Zinc being pants but the same problem occurs with just a plain old Flash projector. The problem also happens in the Flash IDE, and similarly it just crashes Flash completely - there is no message saying a script is causing the movie problems. I am struggling to work out how to find the cause of the problem especially as it can happen pretty much immediately according to the client or after a long period of play. The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Any suggestions what code issues could be causing this or does it sound like something else causing the crash. Are there any tools that can help me track down the problem? Hoping someone can save the day! Thanks Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Sent from my mobile device ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Sent from my mobile device -- Sent from my mobile device ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Thanks Jason The weird thing is the client has reported the problem occurring (ie it crashing) within a few seconds of the game starting. It seems to be totally random which is why I wasn't sure if a memory leak could be the cause. Anyway I am commenting out bit by bit and will see if I can pinpoint the issue. Is there a possibility it could be a corrupt graphic or anything unusual like that? Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Merrill, Jason Sent: 04 September 2009 18:25 To: Flash Coders List Subject: RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash It took me over 40 minutes of continuous play to get the crash. This sounds like a memory leak - memory allocations building up for your allotment in RAM over time, until it there is no more available slots - I would check all the usual things to be sure you are garbage collecting, removing listeners, objects no longer needed, etc. Jason Merrill Bank of America Global Learning Learning Performance Soluions Monthly meetings on making the most of the Adobe Flash Platform - presented by bank associates, Adobe engineers, and outside experts in the borader multimedia community - join the Bank of America Flash Platform Community (note: this is for Bank of America employees only) ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Thanks Ian I am not using any bitmap functions. I literally just have the jpg inside a movie clip and move it based on the mouse position in relation to the plane (the plane is centred on the screen). The only other game element really is 20 clouds that randomly move across the screen. I am doing as you suggest and commenting out each potential game element and trying to isolate the problem. I was hoping there was some way of using a debugger version of the flash player to get more information on the problem but this does not seem to be possible. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: 04 September 2009 19:22 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Only immediate thing in that is that bitmaps in Flash Player 8 and 9 need to be less than 2880 x 2880 pixels or bitmap functions will simply fail. (Doesn't apply to Flash 8/9 content being run in Flash Player 10, afaik). Other than that - my normal approach to such things is to find a way to replicate the error if possible, comment out potentially offending code in large chunks until the crashing stops, uncomment code gradually until it starts crashing again. Judiciously combined with trace statements which show you how far along execution has got. That should narrow down the routines causing the problem. Can't think of any immediate solutions other than that, sorry! HTH, Ian ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
You may not be using Bitmap functions - but any filters etc. will use them under-the-hood, and will have the 2880x2880 limits. I'd be tempted to suggest that you break up your large background JPG into four chunks; see if that clears the crash. HTH, Ian On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 4:41 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: Thanks Ian I am not using any bitmap functions. I literally just have the jpg inside a movie clip and move it based on the mouse position in relation to the plane (the plane is centred on the screen). The only other game element really is 20 clouds that randomly move across the screen. I am doing as you suggest and commenting out each potential game element and trying to isolate the problem. I was hoping there was some way of using a debugger version of the flash player to get more information on the problem but this does not seem to be possible. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: 04 September 2009 19:22 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Only immediate thing in that is that bitmaps in Flash Player 8 and 9 need to be less than 2880 x 2880 pixels or bitmap functions will simply fail. (Doesn't apply to Flash 8/9 content being run in Flash Player 10, afaik). Other than that - my normal approach to such things is to find a way to replicate the error if possible, comment out potentially offending code in large chunks until the crashing stops, uncomment code gradually until it starts crashing again. Judiciously combined with trace statements which show you how far along execution has got. That should narrow down the routines causing the problem. Can't think of any immediate solutions other than that, sorry! HTH, Ian ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Hi Ian
Ah I didn't realise that.
I did originally plan to break up the image thinking it would not perform
very well with such a large image but when I tested it, it ran fine. It is
just strange how the game will work for at least 40 minutes (the game only
lasts 2 minutes so I am referring to playing it multiple times).
It is a really annoying bug to isolate as it can take so long to crash.
I just commented out the following updateMouseVisibility() call and have
been playing for about 30 minutes with no crash but I wouldn't have thought
this would cause any crash?
this.onEnterFrame = function() {
// updateMouseVisibility();
... other function calls..
}
function updateMouseVisibility():Void {
if (_ymouse 240) {
Mouse.show();
} else {
Mouse.hide();
}
}
I will keep testing for another hour and if it crashes I will go for the 4
segment option.
Thanks again for your help - feel really up against the clock with this as
the exhibition is on Monday.
Cheers
Paul
-Original Message-
From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com
[mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas
Sent: 05 September 2009 16:49
To: Flash Coders List
Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of
a crash
You may not be using Bitmap functions - but any filters etc. will use
them under-the-hood, and will have the 2880x2880 limits.
I'd be tempted to suggest that you break up your large background JPG
into four chunks; see if that clears the crash.
HTH,
Ian
On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 4:41 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com
wrote:
Thanks Ian
I am not using any bitmap functions. I literally just have the jpg inside
a
movie clip and move it based on the mouse position in relation to the
plane
(the plane is centred on the screen). The only other game element really
is
20 clouds that randomly move across the screen.
I am doing as you suggest and commenting out each potential game element
and
trying to isolate the problem.
I was hoping there was some way of using a debugger version of the flash
player to get more information on the problem but this does not seem to be
possible.
Cheers
Paul
-Original Message-
From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com
[mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas
Sent: 04 September 2009 19:22
To: Flash Coders List
Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause
of
a crash
On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com
wrote:
The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background
(JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It
includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently
639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game.
Only immediate thing in that is that bitmaps in Flash Player 8 and 9
need to be less than 2880 x 2880 pixels or bitmap functions will
simply fail. (Doesn't apply to Flash 8/9 content being run in Flash
Player 10, afaik).
Other than that - my normal approach to such things is to find a way
to replicate the error if possible, comment out potentially offending
code in large chunks until the crashing stops, uncomment code
gradually until it starts crashing again. Judiciously combined with
trace statements which show you how far along execution has got. That
should narrow down the routines causing the problem. Can't think of
any immediate solutions other than that, sorry!
HTH,
Ian
___
Flashcoders mailing list
Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com
http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
___
Flashcoders mailing list
Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com
http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
___
Flashcoders mailing list
Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com
http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
___
Flashcoders mailing list
Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com
http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Quick question. Can I simply break up the jpb into 4 chunks and position them inside one movie clip rather than have to move 4 separate movie clips? If this is the case then it is a really simple fix. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: 05 September 2009 16:49 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash You may not be using Bitmap functions - but any filters etc. will use them under-the-hood, and will have the 2880x2880 limits. I'd be tempted to suggest that you break up your large background JPG into four chunks; see if that clears the crash. HTH, Ian On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 4:41 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: Thanks Ian I am not using any bitmap functions. I literally just have the jpg inside a movie clip and move it based on the mouse position in relation to the plane (the plane is centred on the screen). The only other game element really is 20 clouds that randomly move across the screen. I am doing as you suggest and commenting out each potential game element and trying to isolate the problem. I was hoping there was some way of using a debugger version of the flash player to get more information on the problem but this does not seem to be possible. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: 04 September 2009 19:22 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Only immediate thing in that is that bitmaps in Flash Player 8 and 9 need to be less than 2880 x 2880 pixels or bitmap functions will simply fail. (Doesn't apply to Flash 8/9 content being run in Flash Player 10, afaik). Other than that - my normal approach to such things is to find a way to replicate the error if possible, comment out potentially offending code in large chunks until the crashing stops, uncomment code gradually until it starts crashing again. Judiciously combined with trace statements which show you how far along execution has got. That should narrow down the routines causing the problem. Can't think of any immediate solutions other than that, sorry! HTH, Ian ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Don't see why not, as long as you don't have any effects or cacheAsBitmap being applied to the entire MovieClip. Re your mouse show/hide thing - don't think it should cause a problem, but if it _does_: you are calling mouse show() or hide() every frame, but you could simply set a flag - is the mouse already invisible? If so, don't call Mouse.hide() again... is the mouse already visible? If so, don't call Mouse.show() again. (typed quickly on way out of house so may not make sense!) Hope you get somewhere with it. Cheers, Ian On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: Quick question. Can I simply break up the jpb into 4 chunks and position them inside one movie clip rather than have to move 4 separate movie clips? If this is the case then it is a really simple fix. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: 05 September 2009 16:49 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash You may not be using Bitmap functions - but any filters etc. will use them under-the-hood, and will have the 2880x2880 limits. I'd be tempted to suggest that you break up your large background JPG into four chunks; see if that clears the crash. HTH, Ian On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 4:41 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: Thanks Ian I am not using any bitmap functions. I literally just have the jpg inside a movie clip and move it based on the mouse position in relation to the plane (the plane is centred on the screen). The only other game element really is 20 clouds that randomly move across the screen. I am doing as you suggest and commenting out each potential game element and trying to isolate the problem. I was hoping there was some way of using a debugger version of the flash player to get more information on the problem but this does not seem to be possible. Cheers Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: 04 September 2009 19:22 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Only immediate thing in that is that bitmaps in Flash Player 8 and 9 need to be less than 2880 x 2880 pixels or bitmap functions will simply fail. (Doesn't apply to Flash 8/9 content being run in Flash Player 10, afaik). Other than that - my normal approach to such things is to find a way to replicate the error if possible, comment out potentially offending code in large chunks until the crashing stops, uncomment code gradually until it starts crashing again. Judiciously combined with trace statements which show you how far along execution has got. That should narrow down the routines causing the problem. Can't think of any immediate solutions other than that, sorry! HTH, Ian ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Paul Steven wrote: Thanks Jason The weird thing is the client has reported the problem occurring (ie it crashing) within a few seconds of the game starting. It seems to be totally random which is why I wasn't sure if a memory leak could be the cause. You need to know the spec of that machine and if possible borrow it or duplicate the environment. If nothing else, that would at least shorten your modify/test/debug cycle considerably. You may even discover that it's running windows XP with 128MB of ram and no spare disc space.. ;-) When windows encounters a problem, don't you get a chance to see a stack dump too? If the client is crashing within seconds and you do not, then the environment is clearly having a big difference. It may be something like a video driver or just about anything. Good luck with it - it's a bit of a nightmare scenario. Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
Thanks Paul The clients PC is a brand new one with 4gb RAM and I imagine tons of space. Not sure what a stack dump looks like but the client did send this info on the error: Event Type: Error Event Source: Application Error Event Category: None Event ID: 1000 Date: 04/09/2009 Time: 16:42:47 User: N/A Computer: ACER-A881FB79D8 Description: Faulting application blazepointplanegame.exe, version 3.0.0.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0194c07e. For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp. Data: : 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat 0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail 0010: 75 72 65 20 20 62 6c 61 ure bla 0018: 7a 65 70 6f 69 6e 74 70 zepointp 0020: 6c 61 6e 65 67 61 6d 65 lanegame 0028: 2e 65 78 65 20 33 2e 30 .exe 3.0 0030: 2e 30 2e 30 20 69 6e 20 .0.0 in 0038: 75 6e 6b 6e 6f 77 6e 20 unknown 0040: 30 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 0.0.0.0 0048: 61 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 at offse 0050: 74 20 30 31 39 34 63 30 t 0194c0 0058: 37 65 0d 0a 7e.. Not sure if this gives any clues or not? Thanks Paul -Original Message- From: flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com [mailto:flashcoders-boun...@chattyfig.figleaf.com] On Behalf Of Paul Andrews Sent: 05 September 2009 19:04 To: Flash Coders List Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash Paul Steven wrote: Thanks Jason The weird thing is the client has reported the problem occurring (ie it crashing) within a few seconds of the game starting. It seems to be totally random which is why I wasn't sure if a memory leak could be the cause. You need to know the spec of that machine and if possible borrow it or duplicate the environment. If nothing else, that would at least shorten your modify/test/debug cycle considerably. You may even discover that it's running windows XP with 128MB of ram and no spare disc space.. ;-) When windows encounters a problem, don't you get a chance to see a stack dump too? If the client is crashing within seconds and you do not, then the environment is clearly having a big difference. It may be something like a video driver or just about anything. Good luck with it - it's a bit of a nightmare scenario. Paul ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
RE: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
It took me over 40 minutes of continuous play to get the crash. This sounds like a memory leak - memory allocations building up for your allotment in RAM over time, until it there is no more available slots - I would check all the usual things to be sure you are garbage collecting, removing listeners, objects no longer needed, etc. Jason Merrill Bank of America Global Learning Learning Performance Soluions Monthly meetings on making the most of the Adobe Flash Platform - presented by bank associates, Adobe engineers, and outside experts in the borader multimedia community - join the Bank of America Flash Platform Community (note: this is for Bank of America employees only) ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Rather urgent advice on how to track the cause of a crash
On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Paul Stevenpaul_ste...@btinternet.com wrote: The game is basically a top down flying game with a scrolling background (JPG 5120 X 4320). The flash movie is published at 1600 x 1200 30 FPS. It includes an embedded FLV video on the Splash screen which is apparently 639kb of video data. There are no audio files in the game. Only immediate thing in that is that bitmaps in Flash Player 8 and 9 need to be less than 2880 x 2880 pixels or bitmap functions will simply fail. (Doesn't apply to Flash 8/9 content being run in Flash Player 10, afaik). Other than that - my normal approach to such things is to find a way to replicate the error if possible, comment out potentially offending code in large chunks until the crashing stops, uncomment code gradually until it starts crashing again. Judiciously combined with trace statements which show you how far along execution has got. That should narrow down the routines causing the problem. Can't think of any immediate solutions other than that, sorry! HTH, Ian ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
