LiveCode Forums.

I have had a few reports that my Windows 64 bit standalone app doesn't launch on Windows 11. However, the 32 bit standalone works ok. Is there something I'm missing ? I couldn't find anything in the standalone settings... or is there something the user needs to do in Windows 11 ?

thanks for any suggestions,
Richard

It could very well be this:
https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=23659

Windows = DLL Hell.

As always, keep drivers up to date with the latest from the vendor and many issues go away.

As Dr Raney used to say, "This engine is very good at exposing bugs in device drivers." That would seem arrogant were it not so often proven true.

Thanks Jacque and ForthWorld for the suggestions.

I read the bug report but it seems to be related to printers. Although my app doesn't have any printing features, I suppose it's possible that it has something to do with it. After all it is Windows

The weird thing is that the 32 bit app works fine but the 64 bit version doesn't ? I would have thought it would be the other way around..

Since the app crashes on startup, I'd guess LC loads print drivers as part of the launch process in case they're needed. For my app, the crash happens even if the user has no printer selected at all. Like you, not all users are affected but the workaround has worked in all cases so far.

Maybe one of the affected drivers isn't completely compatible with 64-bit?

hi all. let me add a quick note:
as i wrote @ https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=23659, i did a test on a.brand.new.pc. running win10 (windows 10, not 11). latest version available.

i connected it to my network, i opened the printer settings, it smelled my printer and set it automatically, adding the ms drivers. i don't know if that's the normal behavior in windows world, but it happened.
then i run my "test" app (single card app, with a single "hello!" button).
the bug prevented the app from starting.
i removed the printer.
i run again my app, successfully.

now, if the "workaround" for this is to tell my customers "hey, if you really wish to use my software, please do not install your printers the way microsoft does automatically. instead, remove them, download original drivers, install those one. or live without printing, you'll help to save trees"… well, if this is the suggested "workaround", once again i've got the feeling LC world is away a little from real life.
i don't know.
maybe it's me.

Maybe the following fix works?!

In Settings, go to Printer properties -> Device Settings
and change “spooling@host from “auto” to “enabled”
Hope this helps!

For finding the settings see: https://oip.manual.canon/USRMA-0255-zz- ... 20Host%5D.

Regards,

Paul

We do have to tell our affected customers to change their printer driver settings, but since it doesn't happen on every PC it isn't a frequent issue. The LC team does want to fix this problem but they can't reproduce it in order to see what's happening. At first they thought it was limited to one vendor but it's been appearing on other machines occasionally. If you could add your machine model and other tech specs to the bug report it may help.

jacque wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:08 pm

If you could add your machine model and other tech specs to the bug report it may help.

hi.
i did it. more than 1 month ago. see https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=23659#c29

regards.

Great reports. Now I have two different names for you.

The latest report from a user indicated that both the 32 and 64 bit apps worked in Window 10. But upon a fresh install of Windows 11 Pro, the 64 bit version no longer works. The 32 bit version is OK. He has no printers installed !

Maybe something else is going on in Windows 11, perhaps another setting somewhere. I'm a Mac guy so Windows is not my strong suit..

The problem occurs even with no printers installed, just the existence of the MS drivers is the cause. They need to be deleted or replaced with the manufacturer's driver.

jacque wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:03 pm

The problem occurs even with no printers installed, just the existence of the MS drivers is the cause. They need to be deleted or replaced with the manufacturer's driver.

not in my tests. removing the printer was enough.
i did the trick 3 or 4 times: install printer->run app -> failure ->remove printer -> run app -> good -> install printer->run app-> failure and so on ad libitum. i did not uninstall anything. i had to simply add/remove the printer, letting ms do that automatically regarding the drivers.

time to call hercule poirot. or even insp. clouseau.
regards.

rmuzzini wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:26 pm

not in my tests. removing the printer was enough.
i did the trick 3 or 4 times: install printer->run app -> failure ->remove printer -> run app -> good -> install printer->run app-> failure and so on ad libitum. i did not uninstall anything. i had to simply add/remove the printer, letting ms do that automatically regarding the drivers.

time to call hercule poirot. or even insp. clouseau.
regards.

@rmuzzini : There is a command line program attached to https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=23659 - https://quality.livecode.com/attachment.cgi?id=11184. SInce you seem to be able to reproduce the problem on your machine could you add the printer(s) which cause the problem, then run that command from the command prompt and see if it crashes - posting whatever output it generates into the console to the bug report.

The program does nothing special - it just does exactly the same sequence of Windows API calls which the engine does when it initializes printing (specifically it looks up the default printer and fetches its settings).

As it stands, we have been unable to reproduce the problem - despite trying numerous configurations which makes it almost impossible to figure out *why* the crash on startup occurs.

That being said - there will be a patch in the next 9.6.9 build (rc-2) which attempts to ignore any exceptions which occur when initializing the printer - I'm not sure this will actually work or not, but in the absence of being able to determine the exact cause its worth a try.