Author Topic: getting rid of the registry (Read 8616 times)

Bobboau · **Reply #20 on:** August 17, 2003, 03:49:16 pm

is there a bugzila page for the launcher?

and the problem that has caused me to want to totaly get rid of the registry (not the launcher) was that fact that I have had about twenty people come to me with this question

"hey I've been trying to get your new exe working but when it starts up I get an error that says this
'error reading registry, registry string 'VideocardFs2open' not present,
this is why you are crashing,
be sure to use the NEW launcher to set up you're registry,
make sure you run it without internet explorer or windows explorer running'
what can I do to fix this"

to wich I respond

"did you use the new launcher to set up you're registry, and make sure you run it without internet explorer or windows explorer running?'"

after wich they respond

"hey that worked!!"

now I'm happy for these people that they got it to work, but the error mesage I made was just as imformative as the mesage that I gave them.

now saveing to the registry is going to require that the launcher keeps track of everything that is useing the registry and makes sure that it stores the changes that it is going to make, then after you close it it will have to wait untill all other apps useing the registry are done before saveing the registry and actualy closeing, I think makeing these changes will be much harder than altering the medium/low level code that reads/writes the data to put it into a text file, but maybe I'm wrong. maybe it's suposed to do something like this alredy and there is just some simple bug.

as for the operation of the launcher it'self, its not bad, the only bug I have is it not ditecting the 1024X768 options (ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128, athlon xp 3000+, XP home), but the big problem is the registry isn't getting saved, or it's getting overiten by other programs, wich I don't thik is realy you'r falt

now just to make this clear, I am not calling you a bad programer or anything, in fact you're probly the best programer we have, we wouldn't be half way to were we are today without you, and we won't go half as far if you arn't with us. I am mearly sudgesting that there may be a more reliable place to store the configuration settings than the registry. however you probly do know better than me, so if you think you can get this resolved useing the registry then I will accept your conclusion.

(you know now would be a good time to remind me of my file editor, aurora, and it's notorius operation)

Solatar · **Reply #21 on:** August 17, 2003, 04:11:17 pm

Quote

Originally posted by Bobboau
(you know now would be a good time to remind me of my file editor, aurora, and it's notorius operation)

Speaking of which, you finally changed the spelling in your sig.

Goober5000 · **Reply #22 on:** August 17, 2003, 04:13:04 pm

I remember running a buggy version of the launcher several months ago; it screwed up the settings somehow so that nothing worked - either vanilla FS2 or FS2_open. A registry restore fixed it, and the updated launcher released shortly afterwards worked perfectly.

Since not everyone knows how to do this, IMO a "registry reset" button (as was suggested) would probably be a good addition. Something that clears out all the garbage entries and puts things to a pre-SCP state. That way, everyone running the launcher will have a clean base to start from.

Keep the registry. If you know what you're doing, it'll work fine. Adding a CFG file would be more work and require that people keep track of code in two different places.

vyper · **Reply #23 on:** August 17, 2003, 04:14:19 pm

I don't consider what I'm about to describe to be a bug, but thought I'd share -

In the launcher in D3D8 mode, it detects many high resolutions that fs2 can't run. Now, I had the good sense to say - naw jimmy, fs2 cannae run at 1280*1024, but not all fs2 users would know this, they may think fs2_open does so.

Goober5000 · **Reply #24 on:** August 17, 2003, 04:27:16 pm

Anything and everything goes into Bugzilla. The small amount of time lost by marking something "this is not a bug" is nothing compared to the frustration when someone doesn't think to add a genuine bug.

As for your bit, vyper, that sounds like a minor bug in itself. Make a bugzilla entry saying "The launcher detects resolutions that aren't valid."

RandomTiger · **Reply #25 on:** August 17, 2003, 04:39:46 pm

I'm aware of the too many resolutions problem. I messed up somewhere when I was playing with code to run FS2 in different resolutions. It can actually be quite annoying because some gfx cards do so many modes.

I will look into this registry changing thing, it would be a lot easier if someone who has experienced this could replicate it and contact me.

Could people please e-mail bugs to me so I have an offline copy or better, I believe bugzilla has a launcher section and it might even be setup to inform me when a bug is entered.

Until I have write access to the repository though my powers in this matter will be limited.

Sorry if I was a bit cranky earlier but everyone seemed very quick to bash the current system without actually knowing what was exactly going wrong.

Nuke · **Reply #26 on:** August 17, 2003, 04:52:03 pm

when the registry gives me crap, i simply remove the settings from the registry, ron the v launcher then run the new launcher. though i wouldnt mind having a cfg file. i think the idea of having the os store every setting for every program in one file (actually a couple) is kinda dumb. but if it works i dont really care where the settings are.

Taristin · **Reply #27 on:** August 17, 2003, 06:40:19 pm

How do we access bugzilla?

Bobboau · **Reply #28 on:** August 17, 2003, 06:57:56 pm

we should have a stickythread that has links to everything

Goober5000 · **Reply #29 on:** August 17, 2003, 07:05:09 pm

We do.

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,14983.0.html

Bugzilla is in Inquisitor's sig.

kasperl · **Reply #30 on:** August 18, 2003, 08:21:29 am

ok, insert some major cursing here.

my FS2 is a non HOTU rip, and i don't have any registry settings, unless the V launcher makes those. also, i tried running the launcher without IE or windows explorer on, but it didn't work. FYI, it produced a ini file with some wierd text, but didn't do anything usefull. so if the V launcher doesn't make the right settings, i am lost.

and i really do prefer an ini or cfg file above the registry, because you won't rely on windows as much, and to be honest, relying on windows is not good.

Inquisitor · **Reply #31 on:** August 18, 2003, 08:23:48 am

It's a windows game (for now), so, that's just a silly thing to say.

And bugzilla email notifications seem nerfed now, working on that as well.

IceFire · **Reply #32 on:** August 18, 2003, 05:36:56 pm

Quote

Originally posted by kasperl
ok, insert some major cursing here.

my FS2 is a non HOTU rip, and i don't have any registry settings, unless the V launcher makes those. also, i tried running the launcher without IE or windows explorer on, but it didn't work. FYI, it produced a ini file with some wierd text, but didn't do anything usefull. so if the V launcher doesn't make the right settings, i am lost.

and i really do prefer an ini or cfg file above the registry, because you won't rely on windows as much, and to be honest, relying on windows is not good.

The launcher actually reads the registry and gives you a good rundown of every entry that FreeSpace 2 has in its directory. Some are important others are not...the Volition launcher creates its own set and the new SCP launcher has a somewhat separate setup from the Volition one.

Now, make sure that you select your video card, your mode (res and bit depth), and so on and so forth. Apply that...hell, even press OK sometimes....and relaunch the launcher. Check the video settings again and then try and run the EXE (make sure you have the EXE selected). I had trouble...but a bit of fighting helped me....you need to fight more and fret less

RandomTiger · **Reply #33 on:** August 19, 2003, 03:10:41 am

Quote

Originally posted by kasperl
ok, insert some major cursing here.

my FS2 is a non HOTU rip, and i don't have any registry settings, unless the V launcher makes those. also, i tried running the launcher without IE or windows explorer on, but it didn't work. FYI, it produced a ini file with some wierd text, but didn't do anything usefull. so if the V launcher doesn't make the right settings, i am lost.

OK, dont change anything on your system and give me an e-mail. This dont use explorer message is crap and I dont know where thats coming from, probably core OS stuff.

This is a bug, it needs to be fixed thats all.
I wont have time to look at any of this stuff till the weekend.

Unknown Target · **Reply #34 on:** August 19, 2003, 07:34:01 am

my joystick STILL isn't working, even after a reinstall, and it's driving me up a wall. I would LOVE it if someone would PLEASE remove the registry!

Goober5000 · **Reply #35 on:** August 19, 2003, 02:17:40 pm

Then work with someone over IM or whatever until it works. It's called troubleshooting. You can't fix stuff with a snap of your fingers - certainly not something as complicated as re-coding the entire way FS2 handles the registry.

kasperl · **Reply #36 on:** August 20, 2003, 11:18:25 am

Quote

Originally posted by RandomTiger

OK, dont change anything on your system and give me an e-mail. This dont use explorer message is crap and I dont know where thats coming from, probably core OS stuff.

This is a bug, it needs to be fixed thats all.
I wont have time to look at any of this stuff till the weekend.

after slapping my case, cursing windows, and going mad, something worked, and the registry is set up.

i haven't got a clue why.

RandomTiger · **Reply #37 on:** August 20, 2003, 12:24:30 pm

Quote

Originally posted by Unknown Target
my joystick STILL isn't working, even after a reinstall, and it's driving me up a wall. I would LOVE it if someone would PLEASE remove the registry!

Guess I should have mentioned this before but my launcher does not yet cover the full functionality of the old one. Sue me, Im doing 50 hour weeks at work and Im tierd.

Run the original launcher.
See if your joystick works with V's FS2.exe
If it doesnt its nothing to do with me.

Run my launcher and try fs2_open.
Still have problems, then e-mail me with your system specs.

I am taking this all on board and will release a new exe when I can that covers all problems that people e-mail me with. My sister is visiting me this weekend so it may have to wait a bit longer.

Flipside · **Reply #38 on:** August 20, 2003, 12:35:42 pm

Try running UpdateLauncher.exe, this will complain and then start the FS2 setup proggy. Set your Joystick etc, apply but don't run the game.
Now exit the Launcher and run the FS2 open launcher. ONLY set your video with the launcher, and apply, don't touch the registry at all. Now run the game.
Since I did this, I have had NO problems whatsoever with the Launcher, apart from the choosing the resolution thing, but that doesn't really bother me, since 1024 x 768 x 32 is at the bottom of the first page of the list for me, so it's pretty easy to find

Flipside

RandomTiger · **Reply #39 on:** August 20, 2003, 04:45:18 pm

OK, new Launcher is up.
Hopefully should fix the too many modes thing.

Wont fix but might throw some light on the joystick problems.

http://mysite.freeserve.com/thomaswhittaker/c_code/freespace/Launcher.rar

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Author Topic: getting rid of the registry (Read 8616 times)

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