Corona Simulator crashes 50% of the time

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

50% of the time I open Corona Simulator and go to open a project, it crashes.

It seems to be due to the log below. I always cleanly exit out of Corona, why is it doing this? I’m running Win7 Pro 64bit.

C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Ansca\Corona Simulator\Sandbox\homescreen-0423D98F464DBE96BE267D101933F2F3\tmp\feed.json - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Ansca\Corona Simulator\Sandbox\homescreen-0423D98F464DBE96BE267D101933F2F3\tmp\manualfeed.json - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. [import]uid: 145877 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 325705[/import]

#2

I see this error always since started using Corona. But these error messages do not “crash” my Corona Simulator, is only showed at the Terminal window in my Win7 64bits. :\

Would be these errors really responsible for the “crash”?
Sorry, but I do not know and also would like to be knowing too.
Cheers,
Rodrigo. [import]uid: 89165 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 103917[/import]

#3

Weird. They don’t always appear for me, but when they do Coronoa crashes as soon as I open a project. [import]uid: 145877 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 103922[/import]

#4

Hey Zenoxio, do you have a local proxy? I’ve just asked another member of the team who said they’ve had this reported once before and it turned out the user was using one and it somehow interfered. [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 104031[/import]

#5

I do not use any proxies. :x

My guess is the file stream gets stuck open somehow (even though I know I close Corona Sim cleanly) and something in the program tries to use that again when I open it later, and the entire program crashes because that stream is already open.

I wasn’t sure where to ask this either, as you have to pay for support. I filed a bug report, but I’m not a subscriber (not yet, I want to be… hopefully I can get this crashing fixed) and can’t access it. [import]uid: 145877 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 104086[/import]

#6

Filing a bug report is a good way to go here.

For the record you don’t have to pay for support for this kind of thing; paid support is for one on one services, like debugging, code reviews, snippets, etc. - never, ever for issues like this.

Hopefully someone who works with Windows can check that out and assist you as unfortunately I don’t use a PC and the local proxy suggestion is (at least for now) all I could come up with for you.

Hang tight, hoping you get an answer from support ASAP.

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 104164[/import]

#7

Thanks Peach.

I reported the bug here: http://developer.anscamobile.com/content/bug-submission

And I went to view it here: http://bugs.anscamobile.com/

But I think it says I have to be a subscriber? I’m a bit confused.

I was looking to update the bug report with more information and watch it for any updates. [import]uid: 145877 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 104214[/import]

#8

Hey again,

You can’t view it in there currently, no. (We’re working on that system though.)

You can update the bug by replying to the email you got when it was filed, will automatically add that info to the report.

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 104370[/import]

#9

I’m having that problem, never at home (winXP) a lot in the office (win 7) Unsure about proxies. Another guy with Win 7 having same issue. [import]uid: 120570 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106767[/import]

#10

Problem is getting worse. All operations ceased. Tried in the office on winXP machine with another trial login, hangs on start. Uninstalled and reinstalled on Win7 machine and still nothing. Deleted the .json files when that error came up. They were replaced by Corona and the system hung on terminal window.

Does Corona check for other instances of the SDK running on another machine on same network? [import]uid: 120570 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106778[/import]

#11

Peach: I haven’t heard back at all about the bug report, are they suppose to email me? [import]uid: 145877 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106783[/import]

#12

This is getting weird. The issue is no longer the exact one pointed out by the OP. However, having had that problem, I’m now getting a freeze at the same point. It’s happening on several computers BUT it’s not happening on two computers (so far).

Have tried it in different locations with different connectivity (home, mobile, office network) and same results, so I’m counting out proxy and related issues.

I have to count out windows 7 because it’s failed on my netbook running winXP (previously ran it there for a test).

On main win7 laptop I’ve uninstalled, cleaned out ansca stuff from the drive and installed again. No luck.

Efforts to solve the problem are compromised by the inability to deauthorise computers when the software can’t run. Despite clearing out cookies, the program when re-installed seems to know that there is an account associated with the computer. Perhaps this is the mac address? Although I’ve tried with lan and wifi (different mac addresses) so perhaps this isn’t it. [import]uid: 120570 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106806[/import]

#13

Hey guys - yes, you’d normally get an email back with this kind of thing.

I will try to bring this up again in our next meeting; do you have a bug number I can share, too? [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106860[/import]

#14

I’ve just bought the subscription, a bit ahead of time in the hope of curing the problem.

Now it turns out that my colleague has found out that because he (and I) was using an external monitor, and then ran Corona without the external monitor, the simulator couldn’t be seen. Most software brings all their windows back to the main screen if 2nd screen isn’t available. I guess that’s a bug.

Reason we use 2nd screen: So we can see ipad simulator at full size (after cropping the ipad.png resource). I guess that’s a feature request (allow us dump the big fat ipad graphic in simulator). [import]uid: 120570 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106885[/import]

#15

(Case 13930) Corona Simulator crashes
[import]uid: 145877 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 106928[/import]

#16

@zenoxio, we’re looking at this issue. We think your issue might be a file locking issue that we’ve heard reports about. We are still trying to isolate it precisely.

In the mean time, can you try the following:

* Reboot the computer.
* Launch Corona (should launch this time)
* Disable the welcome screen.
[import]uid: 26 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 107412[/import]

#17

I ran build 704 and the latest build (817) on my Windows 7 machine and don’t see it crashing. I tried it both as a trial user and subscriber. Build 704 does give the “feed.json file used by another process” warning message in the Terminal window, but it doesn’t stop the simulator from running. I see the message about 30% of the time I start the simulator (build 704).

The warning message does not show up in build 817.

I checked our bug database and case #13930 seems to be the only case filed about this problem so I’m not sure if anyone else is seeing the problem or it’s something that is affecting only your computer.

Is it possible to try running Corona on another computer? [import]uid: 7559 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 107450[/import]

#18

Tom,

We’ve seen it using build 704 on more than one machine. As indicated above, both machines (laptop) had been using external monitor and we saw the problem when attempting to restart without the external monitors. The fault that continued wasn’t the json one, but the same end result. Freeze (apparent) on startup.

Could the json error just be the first time corona can’t find the external monitor? [import]uid: 120570 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 107464[/import]

#19

@conor1,

Since you have a pro account, have you tried using the latest build to see if the problem is still there? I found that the “json error” didn’t occur on the later builds.

With that said, I’m thinking the crash you are seeing is because of the external monitors and not related to the file sharing problem. If that’s the case you will find the crash on the current daily build and will not see the json error.

Using external an external monitor on Windows hasn’t been heavy tested so this could be a problem.

Let us know what you find.

Thanks,
Tom [import]uid: 7559 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 108098[/import]

#20

@cornor1,

It turns out the external display problem is a known issue with Window programs. We hope to fix it in the future but until then, here is the solution.

There is a common issue with Windows programs where the window will disappear if it’s on an external display and the program is restarted without the display. The program is not hung, just trying to display the window on a non-existent display. This can occur with the Windows Simulator (this is not an issue with the Mac Simulator) and here are the steps for getting back the window:

  1. Right click on the Corona Simulator tab in the task bar.
  2. Click on “move”
  3. Press an arrow key (left, right, up or down)
  4. Move the move until the missing window is visible on the display
  5. Left click to stop the move.
    [import]uid: 7559 topic_id: 25705 reply_id: 108110[/import]