This seems like a great piece of software and I was really looking forward to trying it out. I downloaded it, scanned it for viruses and did an md5 verification and everything is fine. However, upon installantion and subsequently trying to run the program, all I'm able to see is the splash screen. The program never actually runs nor does it show up in the task manager.
Anyone else experiencing this? I'm running XP Home SP3. (This is the exact same problem that has always plagued me with Atomic Tanks Portable as well.)
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Can you try running the EXE directly for the app? That should let you know what is missing. I'd wager you have outdated C++ runtimes.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
It could be missing OpenGL support too? (though I'd expect a friendly error message in that case)
I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1
Thanks for the quick replies John and Chris.
First of all John, just to clarify, do you want me to try and run the MarblePortable.exe file directly or the marble.exe one? In any case, the former replicates the issue I'm having and the latter gives the following message:
"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."
As for having outdated C++ runtimes, if what I think you're talking about is correct I checked and I have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable package installed. After a little research, I have learned that Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1, Microsoft Visual C++ 2008, Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable packages are now available. Which one of these is it that I actually need?
As for missing OpenGL support Chris, how do I determine if I even have this in the first place?
While these questions may seem simple to you pros, they are certainly not in my area of expertise (if I even have one of those to begin with.)
It would be much more helpful if the friendly error messages gave info as to exactly what was missing or causing the issue.
That indicates there's some DLL it's depending on that it can't find. One way you could check would be to get the Dependency Walker and feed it marble.exe. It will show you which DLLs are missing. If it has an msvc*.dll one it's the Visual C++ runtime, if it's something like OpenGL.dll or OpenAL.dll (not sure of the real filenames) it'll be graphics support. If you want to, try that and see what it says.
I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1
For better or worse, I had never heard of Dependency Walker until right now and what an awesome little utility this is!
As for Marble Portable 0.10.1 not starting, the culprit appears to be a missing msvcp90.dll file which seems to point to the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package. (I also scanned the C: drive and msvcp90.dll is nowhere to be found.) So do I go ahead and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 redistributable package or some other one to resolve this?
Sorry to re-ask this question but I just want to confirm do I go ahead and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 redistributable package or one of the other ones in order to resolve the issue I'm having?
Please forgive my ignorance here but, as I'm sure you can all appreciate, I do not want to install any additional Microsoft programs/files if I do not absolutely have to.
Thanks!
Yes, try that. If not, you can easily uninstall it.
@Chris: Would I be able to include that redistributable with Marble so this just doesn't happen again?
Thanks scriptdaemon!
I installed the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 redistributable package and...
(drum roll please)
Marble Portable 0.10.1 started with no trouble at all. (What a really cool program, BTW!)
The only thing I would like to add is that if it is not possible to include this redistributable with Marble, it would certainly be appreciated if this program could somehow warn a user that they didn't have the necessary software prerequisites to run it. Beyond this, it's been another positive learning experience for me and I'm really looking forward to using Marble Portable.
And, FWIW, the installation of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 redistributable package unfortunately did not solve my purple flash/non-starting issue with Atomic Tanks Portable.
Include the DLL. Most apps include them already, you should suggest to the Marble team that they should include it in their installer.
I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1