built project not running

[yosik]

hi,
weird problem:
I built a project on computer1 (win2k, 256mb)with web object, flash and media (mpg video) objects on many pages. Project is 800X600, full screen.
On that computer, which has a 1024X768 resolution, everything works fine.
I checked the built project on 3 other computers:

Comp2 (win98, 2+ years old) - the web objects don't show on the menus and the media objects crash the built project. Checked with res 800X600 and 1024X768

Comp3 (laptop, winXP, new) - everything works perfectly!
both resolutions.

Comp4 (win2k, 256mb) - the project doesn't even open (a flash and that's it). I changed the resolution to 800X600. project opens and runs media(video) objects, but web objects crash the project.

I am very much at a loss.
Need help....
Thanks

Yossi

[Corey]

What happens if you build it from the W2k comp?

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software (http://www.indigorose.com)

[yosik]

I did build it on win2k.
BTW, I forgot to mention that ALL "objects work fine outside AMS (the videos are in menu*.da* format in data folder and the html's are in separate folder inside the distribution folder).
Thanks,
Yossi

[Lorne]

Are the display drivers, windows media player, and internet explorer all up to date on those computers? What versions of each are they running?

[yosik]

Thanks Corey and Lorne.
Let's see:
Comp1 (the "building" comp): IE 5.5, wmp 7, geforce440 card with updated driver

Comp2: IE 5, wmp 6.4, ATI rageII card with updated driver

Comp3: IE 6, wmp 8, onboard card (don't know which one, but this one works ok)

Comp4: IE 5.5, wmp 6.4, ATI radeon 7000 with updated driver.

But, again, even on the machines where AMS built project doesn't work, each component, by itself plays ok.

Thanks again.
Yossi

[Lorne]

Odd. The common denominators would appear to be WMP 6.4, and older ATI cards.

Meanwhile, I have an ATI Rage 128 Pro in this system here at work, and I'm stubbornly still using WMP 6.4 here, too, and yet I've never had any problems like that with AutoPlay (or they would have been fixed for sure /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif).

[yosik]

5th comp: ATI RAge 128 GL , with wmp 7. No problems.
Could the DirectX version be the culprit? (I would have to check at home, where it didn't work). I have directX 8.1 here on the 5th comp.
What about fullscreen mode vs windowed mode? Would that change anything because AMS is not "taking over" the screen?

Yossi

[Lorne]

DirectX shouldn't matter, except in so far as how it affects what version of the msdxm.ocx control is installed.

Since that's installed with:

Windows Media Player (any version)
Windows 98 SE (or newer)
Windows NT4 SP5 (or newer)
Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2 (or newer)
DirectX 6.0 (or newer)...that wouldn't seem to be an issue in this case.

It wouldn't hurt to check the version of that OCX on the 5 different systems, though, to be sure.

As for full screen mode...I doubt it, but at this point you might as well say "what the heck" and give it a try. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif

Wish I had a better answer. There must be some key difference between the systems that work and the ones that don't...you just need to figure out what it is.

[yosik]

Ok Lorne,
Thanks. If you think of anything else, I'd appreciate you let me know.
Yossi

[yosik]

Lorne,
After extensive checks and rechecks, I found the problem. I am using some mp3 files which are played via mediaplayer objects. They are the culprits. Seems that they are in some sort of codec the 2 comps that crashed couldn't play.
1. how come a (simple) mp3 is codec dependant? Isn't the codec part of the basic installation of windows?
2. As this CD will eventually be distributed, how can I make sure this problem won't happen to the end user?

Thanks,
Yossi

[Corey]

I'm not sure about newer versions of windows but MP3 codec is defintely not included in WIN98 SE... As far as I know there is only "one type" of MP3, so I can't imagine why those particular ones crash your system unless the encoder was flawed somehow... Or if your soundcard is buggy...

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software (http://www.indigorose.com)

[yosik]

I know about Lame and Blade, but don't know enough about this subject.
Anyway, thanks for the help and support. Great to know there is an address here with people ready to help.
Yossi

[Corey]

I export from soundforge as MP3 and the files seem to work universally without any hassle.

The odd thing is that for MP3 you can only control bitrate so it's not like there's a sampling rate there to confuse yrou soundcard or anything.

The only other thing I can reccomend is to strip the ID3 tags from your MP3s and see if they still cause problems. A malformed ID3 tag is the only thing I have ever heard of causing an MP3 player to crash.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software (http://www.indigorose.com)

[yosik]

The ID tags is a good idea, Corey. I didn't think about that. Thanks
Yossi