[jr2]

I don’t have a login or any developer access. Sounds like this may be more complicated than I thought! 

If you're looking to help out, I'm sure someone can get you access.  Not sure who, but good help is always appreciated.

[mjn.mixael]

I'm logged in with dev access to mods and I can use it just fine.

[perihelion]

I’m not sure know enough to be of much help, but I can test things out if someone can tell me how. At this point, I’m even considering a reformat and reinstall of the OS. Just, you know, I’m pretty ignorant where all things code and Linux are concerned. My real job is all based on mechanical engineering design, so I live sleep and breathe AutoCAD and Excel, but my skill set is very... “specialized” let’s say.

[perihelion]

Ok.  So, I bit the bullet and reinstalled my OS.  This time, I'm trying Ubuntu 18.04, just to see if that helps anything.  Got Knossos installed per the instructions at https://fsnebula.org/knossos/.  Had to remove the "override" bit of text per page 32 of this thread.  So far nothing different.  Knossos loads up and goes through the wizard!  Definitely better.  I direct it to my original FS2 files, it says it has managed to install everything successfully, invites me to log in, I pass because I haven't bothered to set one up yet.  I go to the explore tab, and maybe half of the mods show up with posters, and the other half are blank like the images are failing to load.  Then I realize I can't scroll up or down to look at more.  I think I'm probably just being impatient, wait a minute, and then Knossos "unexpectedly aborts."

Code: [Select]

python3: ../nouveau/pushbuf.c:723: nouveau_pushbuf_data: Assertion `kref' failed.
Aborted (core dumped)
That's a new one for me.  Here's the log file.

Code: [Select]

INFO:MainThread:launcher.main: Running Knossos 0.13.3 on PyQt5 and Python 3.6.9 (default, Nov  7 2019, 10:44:02)
[GCC 8.3.0].
INFO:MainThread:launcher.main: OpenSSL version: OpenSSL 1.1.1  11 Sep 2018
WARNING:MainThread:integration.init: Failed to specify Unity version. Most likely Unity is not available.
INFO:MainThread:integration.init: Activating Unity integration...
WARNING:MainThread:tasks.__init__: A LoadLocalModsTask was launched even though no base path was set!
WARNING:MainThread:progress.add_task: Added an empty task of type "LoadLocalModsTask". Ignoring it!
INFO:MainThread:web.searchRetailData: No SteamPath detected!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "Wings of Dawn Builds" 17.0.1 (fso-wod)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20180302 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20180419 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20171029 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20180924 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20180921 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20180929 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190306 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190309 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190313 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190322 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190323 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190324 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190329 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190402 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190406 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190407 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20191104 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
WARNING:Thread-1:repo.add_mod: Mod <Mod "FSO" 3.8.1-20190728 (FSO)> is empty, ignoring it!
INFO:Thread-10:util.download: Downloading "https://fsnebula.global.ssl.fastly.net/storage/ec/cc/0bf23e028c26d5175ff52d003bff85b0a17b0ddfc1130d65bdf6d36f6324.png"...
INFO:Thread-10:util.download: Downloading "https://fsnebula.global.ssl.fastly.net/storage/0d/e7/bf64bcdea9a9c115969cfb784e1ca457d24a7c2da4fc6f213521c3bb6abb.png"...
INFO:Thread-10:util.download: Downloading "https://fsnebula.org/storage/f9/d5/f9a3866fa5e0c5b3a4d9721b49bca35f5597de21f3c466852f74e6bd72db"...I tried opening Knossos again, and the same thing happened minus the new install wizard.  Tried to navigate to the Explore tab, the mods show up, but I can't scroll or actually do anything, and CTD follows.

Is there anything I can try on my end that would be helpful to anyone trying to diagnose this?

[tomimaki]

Code: [Select]

python3: ../nouveau/pushbuf.c:723: nouveau_pushbuf_data: Assertion `kref' failed.
Aborted (core dumped)


Try to install propertiary Nvidia drivers, nouveau (open drivers for Nvidia) is a bit... faulty (in this case).
https://itsfoss.com/install-additional-drivers-ubuntu/

[perihelion]

Drat.  That was dumb, I can't believe I missed that.  I already dumped the Ubuntu installation and switched back to Mint.  Mint prompts me to install those Nvidia drivers straightaway.

I dumped the partition, installed Mint, installed the drivers and relevant updates, then installed Knossos.  I'm more or less back where I started now.  Some of the mods work and some won't download.  I only went as far as installing different OSs because I had some spare time with the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  That time is up now, so I think I'm probably committed to Mint 19.2 for the foreseeable future.  If I can't get Knossos to work, I'll have to try some other ideas.  Is it possible to play mods you download from Nebula the old fashioned way through Knossos?  Is there a text file I have to edit somewhere in the modern equivalent to a mod.ini file?  Or would I be better off trying to get wxLauncher to work for that sort of thing?

[niffiwan]

Technically you can start FSO from a plain old bash script and forget about launchers completely. e.g. add the following to a script and make it executable (for mediavps 3.8.2 (and you can have a separate script for each mod you want to run, with the relevant lighting customisations, etc)

Code: [Select]

cd YOUR_FS2_INSTALL_DIR
PATH_TO_OLD_KNOSSOS/bin/FSO-19.0.0-RC1/linux/fs2_open_19_0_0_RC1_x64.AppImage -mod MVPS-3.8.2 -nomotiondebris -missile_lighting -3dshockwave -post_process -soft_particles -fxaa -dualscanlines -targetinfo -ship_choice_3d -weapon_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -nograb -fullscreen_window -no_unfocused_pause -fxaa_preset 9 -fov 0.5 -ambient_factor 125 -no_emissive_light -spec_point 0.6 -spec_static 0.2 -spec_tube 0.4 -bloom_intensity 25

But using wxLauncher is probably simpler, assuming it still compiles & runs.

[perihelion]

Yep! WxLauncher does work on Mint. I tried and failed building it a couple times, and then finally thought to look through the Synaptic Package Manager. Sure enough, found a copy there although the version seems a little off. 0.11.0+dfsg-1?? Through a bit of mixing and matching between stuff downloaded by the FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.jar, Knossos, downloading mods directly from Nebula, and the wxLauncher I found, I’ve been able to get at least two of the campaigns I couldn’t install before to work!

That should keep me going. I do hope whatever is going on with Knossos gets figured out. It is soooo much easier. Fortunately, I‘m  stubborn. 

Thanks for all the help!

[webbasan]

Hello,

after quite a long break from FreeSpace I wondered about the current state and tried to update my installation (3.7 based) to the current version.
Since Knossos is now the recommended installer/launcher I thought I give it a try and stumbled into various issues...

I'm using macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 on a dated MacPro (3,1) with a Nvidia GTX 680... (therefore, I can't update the OS anymore: bad/no Nvidia support etc.)

First try:
I created a new directory for Knossos to be used for the FSO files and started it.
I tried to point the "first run" wizard to my existing FSO installation to get the "retail files". This didn't give any error, but later on I discovered that it didn't do anything to copy the required files.
I installed some mods (MediaVPs, FSPort) and tried to run it.
When launching the FSO binaries (nightly, 3.8 as well as 19.0) I got an application error, "status: -6".

I opened a shell and tried to start the binaries manually and discovered that they have a strange external dependency: They are compiled to use a freetype library at /usr/local/opt/freetype/lib/libfreetype.6.dylib
I think that is strange not only because it doesn't have this dependency bundled, but also because of that path: I'm used to either use /usr/local or /opt, not having both in the pathname...
Ok, MacPorts nowadays uses /opt/local, but that has some more logic in it...

I installed freetype via MacPorts and linked the library files to the path that these binaries expected.
When trying to launch FSO, I now got an error message about the missing retail files...


Second try:
I deleted the configuration files in ~/Library/Preferences and in ~/Library/Application Support as well as the FSO directory for Knossos and started again.

This time, I pointed the "first run" wizard to the installer from GOG. The "Install Retail" window opened and an error dialog appeared during "Extracting InnoExtract...": "Unpacking the GOG installer failed for unknown reasons! ..."

Closing the dialog and the "Install Retail" got me back to the wizard page and I tried to point the wizard to a Freespace 2 installation in a Parallels VM. That didn't seem to work, so I started all over again.


Third try:
I deleted the configuration files and data files again and started Knossos again.

This time, I pointed the "first run" wizard to the installation directory of Freespace 2 in my Parallels VM. Again, just like with the "first try" it happily claimed to be busy doing it's stuff, but after that, the retail files still can't be found in the FSO directory...


So...
...can I do something, to debug that further? Does it write a log file somewhere? I couldn't find one, but I didn't dive into the system area tp look out for it, either...

Where should the retail files go? The movie files seem quite obvious ("./FS2/data/movies") -- but what about the VPs?


Btw: I also tried 0.14, but that just shows a black content area of the window after initialization, so even less usable for me right now.

Kind regards,
webbasan

[Antares]

Extracting files from the GOG installer won't work; GOG made a change to their installer that breaks the extraction process, and Knossos hasn't been updated to address that change. You have to actually use the GOG installer to install FS2 first, then point Knossos toward the FS2 install directory in the first run wizard.

[Nightmare]

Could a mod edit this into the OP? Afaik, ngld doesn't have time to fix this right now.

[jr2]

Hello,

after quite a long break from FreeSpace I wondered about the current state and tried to update my installation (3.7 based) to the current version.
Since Knossos is now the recommended installer/launcher I thought I give it a try and stumbled into various issues...

I'm using macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 on a dated MacPro (3,1) with a Nvidia GTX 680... (therefore, I can't update the OS anymore: bad/no Nvidia support etc.)

First try:
I created a new directory for Knossos to be used for the FSO files and started it.
I tried to point the "first run" wizard to my existing FSO installation to get the "retail files". This didn't give any error, but later on I discovered that it didn't do anything to copy the required files.
I installed some mods (MediaVPs, FSPort) and tried to run it.
When launching the FSO binaries (nightly, 3.8 as well as 19.0) I got an application error, "status: -6".

I opened a shell and tried to start the binaries manually and discovered that they have a strange external dependency: They are compiled to use a freetype library at /usr/local/opt/freetype/lib/libfreetype.6.dylib
I think that is strange not only because it doesn't have this dependency bundled, but also because of that path: I'm used to either use /usr/local or /opt, not having both in the pathname...
Ok, MacPorts nowadays uses /opt/local, but that has some more logic in it...

I installed freetype via MacPorts and linked the library files to the path that these binaries expected.
When trying to launch FSO, I now got an error message about the missing retail files...


Second try:
I deleted the configuration files in ~/Library/Preferences and in ~/Library/Application Support as well as the FSO directory for Knossos and started again.

This time, I pointed the "first run" wizard to the installer from GOG. The "Install Retail" window opened and an error dialog appeared during "Extracting InnoExtract...": "Unpacking the GOG installer failed for unknown reasons! ..."

Closing the dialog and the "Install Retail" got me back to the wizard page and I tried to point the wizard to a Freespace 2 installation in a Parallels VM. That didn't seem to work, so I started all over again.


Third try:
I deleted the configuration files and data files again and started Knossos again.

This time, I pointed the "first run" wizard to the installation directory of Freespace 2 in my Parallels VM. Again, just like with the "first try" it happily claimed to be busy doing it's stuff, but after that, the retail files still can't be found in the FSO directory...


So...
...can I do something, to debug that further? Does it write a log file somewhere? I couldn't find one, but I didn't dive into the system area tp look out for it, either...

Where should the retail files go? The movie files seem quite obvious ("./FS2/data/movies") -- but what about the VPs?


Btw: I also tried 0.14, but that just shows a black content area of the window after initialization, so even less usable for me right now.

Kind regards,
webbasan

Since hackintoshes are possible, is it possible to hack an actual Mac to update it with unofficial kexts for the nVidia drivers?  I would think so.  Check out tonymacx86, hackint0sh.org etc if you're interested.

[webbasan]

@Antares: That's just what I tried in the run that I named "third try" (I actually experimented much more, but all issues seem to come down to these three variants). Knossos behaved as if it didn't find anything suitable, but it also didn't show any error message.

Maybe pathname to long? Problems with special characters? The pathname looks like this:
/Volumes/[C] Irene - Windows 7/Games/GOGGalaxy/Freespace 2

I will copy that directory to the macOS side and try again, maybe that works better...


@jr2: somewhat off topic, but nevertheless: Yes, there are currently still possibilities, but Apple isn't sailing in a direction where I currently want to go. With Mojave (10.14), Apple already dropped Nvidia support somehow (the internal drivers give poor performance and Apple doesn't let Nvidia deploy their "WebDrivers" anymore). I could use a gfx card with an AMD GPU, but that leads to other driver issues: an 11 year old MacPro doesn't get that much love anymore...    and Catalina (10.15)... dropped 32 bit support, deprecated OpenGL...
For me, it's currently better to keep my system as-is.

[Goober5000]

I recently updated the FSO Installer to be compatible with the most recent version of the GOG installer.  You could use that to install FreeSpace 2, and then use Knossos for the rest.

[jr2]

@jr2: somewhat off topic, but nevertheless: Yes, there are currently still possibilities, but Apple isn't sailing in a direction where I currently want to go. With Mojave (10.14), Apple already dropped Nvidia support somehow (the internal drivers give poor performance and Apple doesn't let Nvidia deploy their "WebDrivers" anymore). I could use a gfx card with an AMD GPU, but that leads to other driver issues: an 11 year old MacPro doesn't get that much love anymore...    and Catalina (10.15)... dropped 32 bit support, deprecated OpenGL...
For me, it's currently better to keep my system as-is.

I suppose before abandoning hope (when it comes down to that) you could try installing Manjaro or MXLinux on it, using (or installing after the fact, yes that's possible, you can even switch between DEs at login) a Mac OS flavored (or not) Desktop Environment:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/best-linux-distributions-for-mac-users/

https://itsfoss.com/macos-like-linux-distros/

https://www.tecmint.com/best-linux-desktop-environments/

[webbasan]

Ok, I copied the Freespace2 installation from the Parallels VM to the Mac side and now Knossos picked up the VPs. But it didn't care to copy the movie files also -- is that to be expected? I manually copied the OGG versions into the movie directory, just in case...

I discovered that I had to move away the stuff from my previous installation at ~/Library/Application Support/HardLightProductions/FreeSpaceOpen, because that seemed to interfere with what Knossos tried to do (where was a "cmdline_fso.cfg" which Knossos didn't overwrite and that pointed to the old port directories).

The next hurdle was, that after all these "reset end retry" cycles, I forgot to turn "nightlies" on again.

After that, I could launch FSPort and and FreeSpace 2! 

But the installed version of FSPort MediaVPs shows some errors about missing "glowpoint textures" and similar stuff. But I could continue so it didn't seem to hurt much...


Just to be clear: I still have my previous installation, I upgraded the binary to FSO 3.8 and even installed the MediaVPs for 3.8. It still works, and therefore I know which files are required from the retail version. (That's the reason that I have the MVE and OGG variants of the movies still at hand...)
I just wanted to try to use Knossos, because it promised to be easier to install mods -- I want to try "Wing Commander Saga" on the Mac, I had to use Bootcamp back in the days when I last played that... 

[Tralba]

Since this seems to be a semiofficial support thread (and  I'm confident this issue is related to knossos), so I guess I'll post my stuff here:

I linked knossos up to my GOG-Installation of FS2, download FS2O and MeiaVPs and some mods and immediately got an error complaining about a missing web cursor related to 2d.cpp line 1395, suggesting I was running FS2O from a different folder than my FS2 installation (as I understand it, that's what you're supposed to do with knossos). Interestingly, this error can be reproduced on windows and linux, but some mods (BP and jad2.21) run fine, while others (jad2.22) and FS2O itself don't. Propably unrelated to this, knossos only let's me use FRED on windows, despite both installations being identical, is that intentional?

Best regards

[Mito [PL]]

That error usually means that some of the retail FS2 .vp archives aren't present. This would mean that Knossos might have somehow "forgot" about them or that you've changed your mod library directory after you've installed FSO, somehow.

Could you check if all .vp files from your original FS2 installation made it to "FS2" folder in your mod library directory? There should be 9 of them.

[Tralba]

For Linux, there are 9 .vp files in "FS2" and the directory is set correctly in Knossos and after rebooting, I can't reproduce the error. In Windows however, despite the installation procedure being identical, there are no .vp files, so either Knossos screwed up there or I made a mistake with the installation. Since I seem to be the only one with that problem, I guess option 2 is more likely. I guess just manually copying the 9 files in the FS2-folder will be sufficient, or can I tell Knossos to take care of that for me?

Thanks for your help

[Mongoose]

Yes, copying the files manually should do the trick.