HouseBot

Hi Scott,



Major problem with Win98?



I am using HouseBot V2.00



I was using V1.63 with no problems and installed V2.00 over the top of this.



I now have a fresh install of V2.00 only (not over the top) in case above was problem!



If I try and add a new Interface from the pull down menu and select for example Serial Device, the computer totally locks and have to do CTRL ALT DEL to restart PC.



Any ideas?



Regards,





Gary

Gary,



I wasn't able to reproduce the lock-up on my Win98 system, so I'm not sure what to suggest.



Was the problem with creating an Interface or a Device? Can you create any other types of Interfaces or Devices, or does it lockup for all of them?



If you have any 1.x versions of the plugins running, I would suggest upgrading to the 2.0 versions. If you've downloaded any plugins that were not part of the core package, you may have some old ones. You can check the System Log after HB starts to see the version numbers of the plugins. 2.0 versions are available now.



Also, check to see if there is a dump file (*.dmp) in the HouseBot\Dump directory. If there is a recent one, send it to me.

Hi Scott,



[Was the problem with creating an Interface or a Device? Can you create any other types of Interfaces or Devices, or does it lockup for all of them? ]

It seems to be anything i try to add New?





[If you have any 1.x versions of the plugins running, I would suggest upgrading to the 2.0 versions. If you've downloaded any plugins that were not part of the core package, you may have some old ones. You can check the System Log after HB starts to see the version numbers of the plugins. 2.0 versions are available now. ]



All V2.0





[Also, check to see if there is a dump file (*.dump) in the HouseBot\Dump directory. If there is a recent one, send it to me.]



Sorry no dump file



-----------------------



Just one thought on some other software i tried, it wouldn't run because i didn't have a NIC card on my laptop, is this now required?



Also could I have a dll missing that you assume is on my PC?



Regards,





Gary

Gary,



There are no new DLLs needed.



Can you give me a detailed step-by-step of exactly where it locks up for you? Since I can't reproduce it and there's no dump file, I'll have to try and guess where and why it might be happening. But I'll need a fairly specific scenario to begin my guessing.

Hi Scott,



I click on HouseBot icon to start it



Everything is normal, gets to your new overview page that has descriptions of the Themes Tasks etc, the hover function works showing descriptions





Things that work

-------------------

I select File/New/Interface from pull down menu

Create new Interface window appears, I can select Serial Module, if I exit using Cancel button, no lock up



Also tried this

---------------

I can also create a button in the sample Theme







Things that do not work

-------------------

I select File/New/Interface from pull down menu

Create new Interface window appears, I then select Serial Module. As soon as I go to give it a name screen, it freezes.



The PC then locks, I then have to do "ctrl alt del" a few times and it then goes to boot screen



Clue?

-----

I turned off as much other software that was running in the background, i could then create a serial device, but soon after i got a warning message and PC locked.



" An error occurred in your program etc....... click Close or Ignore"



It does not seem to be any particular piece of software causing it?





Any help?





Regards,





Gary

Gary,



Thanks for the additional info. Unfortunately a LOT of things happen right after you enter the Name for the Interface. That's when it actually creates the Interface in HouseBot.



When you get the system restarted, do you find that the Interface was actually created?



Does it lock if you create another type (not the Generic Serial) Interface?

When you get the system restarted, do you find that the Interface was actually created?

Yes it was



Does it lock if you create another type (not the Generic Serial) Interface

Yes tried X10 and locked also locks if i try and make a new theme with wizard





But can make without crashing

-------------------------------------

New software remote

New Mode





My laptop does run a big swap file about 80Meg normally

Could it be something that your program needs a lot of actual Ram?







Regards,





Gary

Gary,



That helps a little. My first guess is that it's a quirky timing issue when updating the screen after creating the new items. What speed is your CPU and are you getting a lot of paging (you mentioned your large pagefile)?



HouseBot shouldn't crash no matter how much memory it needs. However, excessive paging *may* be bringing some latent timing issue to the surface.



One more thing. Try and create the Interface from the main Hardware Interface screen. If you click on the 'Hardware Interfaces' node in the Tree view, you should have a screen that has a 'Add Interface...' button at the bottom. Does it crash here too?

Hi Scott,



"What speed is your CPU and are you getting a lot of paging (you mentioned your large pagefile)? "



Celeron 300Mhz 64Mb ram

Don't know what a lot og paging is?





"One more thing. Try and create the Interface from the main Hardware Interface screen. If you click on the 'Hardware Interfaces' node in the Tree view, you should have a screen that has a 'Add Interface...' button at the bottom. Does it crash here too?"



Yes crashes as before







I tried to "Add remote" from Remote control llibrary on the main screen, I could enter all the data but as soon as i clicked ok, locked as before



Regards,





Gary

Gary,



The machine sounds fine. If the machine is 'paging' a lot, the hard disk light will be on most of the time.



The fact that it did it when you tried 'Add Remote' is interesting. There is very little new in that area, so that helps to narrow it down a bit.



It seems to be related to when HB redraws the Tree View with the 'new' item. There's not much new in that area other than the addition of 'Views'. I'm wondering if there's something unique in your configuration that could be causing this.



Could you send me (at [email protected]) your HBData.mdb configuration file? It's in the \HouseBot\Config directory. OR You can backup your existing HBData.mdb file and copy the one in NewDB into the Config directory and restart HouseBot. See if it behaves the same.



If I can't find anything wrong with the config or your NewDB test still doesn't work, I'll have to send you some experimental versions to play the hit-and-miss game... If you're up for it.