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Fix: "Error loading pidgin.dll" in Pidgin Portable (Testers Needed - even if you don't have the problem)

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John T. Haller
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Fix: "Error loading pidgin.dll" in Pidgin Portable (Testers Needed - even if you don't have the problem)

I've posted a launcher which I believe may fix the "Error loading pidgin.dll" issue that crops up on a small number of PCs. I've posted a test launcher that you can download and place in your PidginPortable directory. You'll then need to browse to the PidginPortable\App\Pidgin directory and rename pidgin.exe to pidgin-portable.exe.

This new fix works in conjunction with Pidgin's ability to work from a self-contained directory but preserves the ability for us to use the CommonFiles shared GTK with GIMP, the ability to use a GTKLegacy for Windows 98/Me/NT and the ability for the data to be stored in the proper place for PortableApps.com Format.

Please give this a test even if you haven't encountered the issue mentioned so we can be sure it works with shared GTK, legacy GTK, aspell, etc.

Thanks,
John

bgillis
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Thanks John

I will test the new launcher at work on Monday and will let you know about the results.

bendre
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Trying to run the test

Worked ok..

Windows 2000 Pro SP4 & Windows XP Pro SP2

jroope
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Wooo Hoooo - It works just fine

Thanks John - I am one of those who has been frustrated until now. The new launcher works fine. I have been installing and deleting Pidgin and GAIM for months. This solves the problem. Now I get to find out if Pidgin will displace Miranda on my thumb drive Wink

Never try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig

Never try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig

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Well...

the new launcher doesn't work for all situations with a fresh install of Pidgin PE (no plugins, no changes, installed on root folder of USB drive).

GTK in folder \PidginPortable\App\Pidgin\GTK -> OK

GTK in folder \CommonFiles\GTK -> KO

New error:

Error loading pidgin.dll
Error: (127) The specified procedure could not be found 
bgillis
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Deep inside Pidgin source code...

When renaming pidgin.exe to pidgin-portable.exe, Pidgin is running in portable mode. Then Pidgin is always assuming GTK folder is "\\path\to\Pidgin\..\GTK" (see source code below). It will work only with a GTK in folder "\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\GTK" because pidgin-portable.exe is located in folder "\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\Pidgin". Then your trick couldn't work with a GTK in folder "\CommonFiles\GTK".

As I can see in the source code, pidgin.exe shoudn't be renamed at all (no more use of portable mode). Instead a registry key must be created in order to setup the path to GTK folder ("\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\GTK" or "\CommonFiles\GTK"): "HKCU\SOFTWARE\\GTK\\2.0" or "HKLM\SOFTWARE\\GTK\\2.0". Then Pidgin could find where the GTK folder is located. In Pidgin PE launcher I didn't see any setup of this registry key. That may cause the pidgin.dll loading error.

winpidgin.c

static void dll_prep() {
	char path[MAX_PATH + 1];
	HMODULE hmod;
	HKEY hkey;
#ifdef PORTABLE
	/* We assume that GTK+ is installed under \\path\to\Pidgin\..\GTK
	 * First we find \\path\to
	 */
	if (GetModuleFileName(NULL, path, MAX_PATH) != 0) {
		char *tmp = path;
		char *prev = NULL;
		char *prev2 = NULL;

		while ((tmp = strchr(tmp, '\\'))) {
			prev2 = prev;
			prev = tmp;
			tmp++;
		}

		if (prev2) {
			prev2[0] = '\0';
		}
	} else {
		printf("Unable to determine current executable path. \n"
			"This will prevent the settings dir from being set.\n"
			"Assuming GTK+ is in the PATH.\n");
	}

	if (path) {
		/* Set up the settings dir base to be \\path\to
		 * The actual settings dir will be \\path\to\.purple */
		char settingsdir[strlen(path) + strlen("PURPLEHOME=") + 1];
		char aspelldir[strlen(path) + strlen("PIDGIN_ASPELL_DIR=\\Aspell\\bin") + 1];

		snprintf(settingsdir, sizeof(settingsdir), "PURPLEHOME=%s", path);
		printf("Setting settings dir: %s\n", settingsdir);
		putenv(settingsdir);

		snprintf(aspelldir, sizeof(aspelldir), "PIDGIN_ASPELL_DIR=%s\\Aspell\\bin", path);
		printf("%s", aspelldir);
		putenv(aspelldir);

		/* set the GTK+ path to be \\path\to\GTK\bin */
		strcat(path, "\\GTK\\bin");
	} else
		return;
#else /* PORTABLE */
	char gtkpath[MAX_PATH + 1];
	DWORD plen;

	plen = sizeof(gtkpath);
	hkey = HKEY_CURRENT_USER;
	if (!read_reg_string(hkey, "SOFTWARE\\GTK\\2.0", "Path",
			(LPBYTE) &gtkpath, &plen)) {
		hkey = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE;
		if (!read_reg_string(hkey, "SOFTWARE\\GTK\\2.0", "Path",
				(LPBYTE) &gtkpath, &plen)) {
			printf("GTK+ Path Registry Key not found. "
				"Assuming GTK+ is in the PATH.\n");
			return;
		}
	}

	/* this value is replaced during a successful RegQueryValueEx() */
	plen = sizeof(path);
	/* Determine GTK+ dll path .. */
	if (!read_reg_string(hkey, "SOFTWARE\\GTK\\2.0", "DllPath",
				(LPBYTE) &path, &plen)) {
		strcpy(path, gtkpath);
		strcat(path, "\\bin");
	}
#endif
	printf("GTK+ path found: %s\n", path);

	if ((hmod = GetModuleHandle("kernel32.dll"))) {
		MySetDllDirectory = (LPFNSETDLLDIRECTORY) GetProcAddress(
			hmod, "SetDllDirectoryA");
		if (!MySetDllDirectory)
			printf("SetDllDirectory not supported\n");
	} else
		printf("Error getting kernel32.dll module handle\n");

	/* For Windows XP SP1+ / Server 2003 we use SetDllDirectory to avoid dll hell */
	if (MySetDllDirectory) {
		printf("Using SetDllDirectory\n");
		MySetDllDirectory(path);
	}

	/* For the rest, we set the current directory and make sure
	 * SafeDllSearch is set to 0 where needed. */
	else {
		OSVERSIONINFO osinfo;

		printf("Setting current directory to GTK+ dll directory\n");
		SetCurrentDirectory(path);
		/* For Windows 2000 (SP3+) / WinXP (No SP):
		 * If SafeDllSearchMode is set to 1, Windows system directories are
		 * searched for dlls before the current directory. Therefore we set it
		 * to 0.
		 */
		osinfo.dwOSVersionInfoSize = sizeof(OSVERSIONINFO);
		GetVersionEx(&osinfo);
		if ((osinfo.dwMajorVersion == 5 &&
			osinfo.dwMinorVersion == 0 &&
			strcmp(osinfo.szCSDVersion, "Service Pack 3") >= 0) ||
			(osinfo.dwMajorVersion == 5 &&
			osinfo.dwMinorVersion == 1 &&
			strcmp(osinfo.szCSDVersion, "") >= 0)
		) {
			DWORD regval = 1;
			DWORD reglen = sizeof(DWORD);

			printf("Using Win2k (SP3+) / WinXP (No SP)... Checking SafeDllSearch\n");
			read_reg_string(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
				"System\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager",
				"SafeDllSearchMode",
				(LPBYTE) &regval,
				&reglen);

			if (regval != 0) {
				printf("Trying to set SafeDllSearchMode to 0\n");
				regval = 0;
				if (RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
					"System\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager",
					0,  KEY_SET_VALUE, &hkey
				) == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
					if (RegSetValueEx(hkey,
						"SafeDllSearchMode", 0,
						REG_DWORD, (LPBYTE) &regval,
						sizeof(DWORD)
					) != ERROR_SUCCESS)
						printf("Error writing SafeDllSearchMode. Error: %u\n",
						(UINT) GetLastError());
					RegCloseKey(hkey);
				} else
					printf("Error opening Session Manager key for writing. Error: %u\n",
						(UINT) GetLastError());
			} else
				printf("SafeDllSearchMode is set to 0\n");
		}/*end else*/
	}
}
John T. Haller
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Nope

That's the global key for all GTK apps. So any app you launched locally would also use the portable GTK (which we don't want).

And the portable mode change does work with the commonfiles path due to the fact that I'm also setting a path to it. Try it.

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bgillis
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I'm sorry John

but renaming pidgin.exe to pidgin-portable.exe works only for a GTK in folder "\PidginPortable\App\Pidgin\GTK". It doesn't work at all for GTK in folder "\CommonFiles\GTK". When I use a common GTK in that directory I've always got the error (127).

gayathri
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Error message

Still the error message as
'error loading pidgin.dll
A device attached to the system is not working properly.
This probably means that gtk+ is not found '

OS W98 SE.

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Different Error

That's a diffferent error. It will pop up once for every card reader you have attached to the system. I think this is fixed in the current GTK release, but that release doesn't work on Windows 98 (which has to use GTK Legacy from 2 years ago which does have this bug).

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Error message in W98SE

Do you mean that there is no way out in this case?

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Nope

You're stuck with it. GTK no longer supports Windows 9x. So, you have to use the old version. Which has the bug. And it's not being updated anymore.

Just click ok and it should continue to load.

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gayathri
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No !!

No, It would not load. The 'flash window' will vanish in to thin air...( on the screen )!

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John T. Haller
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Hmmm

That is odd, then. Did you install the GTK Legacy bits from the main page?

Also, if you did, could you try deleting the contents of PidginPortable\App\gtk and then copying in the contents of gtklegacy and see if that works?

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Error Message

I did a mistake. The error message has a difference. It says that- 'Error loading pidigin.dll
Error (1157) One of the library files needed to run this application cannot be found
This Probabily means that GTK+ can't be found.'

Regarding ur previous advise, I have no such option during installation.The only option is to choose languge pack
As an ordianary end user please do not expect so much expertise to follow your compicated instructions from me. A smooth installation and performance would be more comfortable (like most of your applications except two or three )for a majority of ur fans like me

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

John T. Haller
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Windows 9x

If you double-check the main Pidgin page, you'll see that you have to download an extra item to get it to work on Windows 95/98/Me. It's another installer like Pidgin Portable (so it's just as easy to add). But it won't be bundled with Pidgin or GIMP (both of which will require it from now on) due to size issues and the relatively few people that are now running Windows 9x.

Download GTK Legacy 2.6.10

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gayathri
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Yes I have.

Yes I have already done that sir, but no use. Same error message I mentained above

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Installed to?

You sure you have them installed as follows?

X:\PortableApps
X:\PortableApps\PidginPortable

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gayathri
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GTK

There was not a folder like CommonFiles in between.
Strait X:\PortableApps\GTKLegacy

I changed the route lik this
( X:\PortableApps\CommonFiles\GTKLegacy -downloaded and installed from ur given link ) but no use.

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John T. Haller
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Release or Patch

Are you using the launcher that came with the Pidgin Portable 2.1.1 release or the test launcher I posted above? If one, please try the other (and adjust your pidgin.exe filename accordingly).

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I will try..

I will try sir. I will let you know the result soon.. Thanks for spending your precious time for me..

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No !!

No sir, all my efforts failed. I tried all the way out. But the boat is still in the same shore ! Forget it john, After all an old 'W98 SE system' need not spoil your precious time. It is my test platform and the application works well with all other OSs including windows 2000. The only black sheep i met across is this W98 SE.

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One more try

Let's give it one more try. I specifically test under Windows 98 SE and have no problems, so we need to figure out what's up with your setup.

Please follow these steps:
1. Install Pidgin Portable 2.1.1 from the main page on your portable device into X:\PortableApps\PidginPortable
2. Install Legacy GTK from the main page but select a custom directory of X:\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\GTKLegacy
3. Grab this new test launcher and place it in your X:\PortableApps\PidginPortable directory
4. Rename your X:\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\GTK directory to X:\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\GTKModern
5. Run PidginPortable1511.exe on Windows 98

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Yes.....You did it !!

Yes dear John, you did it. At last Pidgin opened up in my W98SE system!! Your efforts were not in vain. Let me express my hearty congratulations and thanks to you -the master-mind behind portableapps.com.

There was a slight change in configuration. . I strictly followed all your instructions. But when I finally clicked on the launcher an error message came up as 'GTKLegacy not found'.
Then I renamed the folder back to 'GTKLegacy' from 'GTKModern'.
That was it !! Pidgin opened smoothly...
Hats off John, No words to appreciate your devotion to the profession.Three cheers to you.

I am adding these lines since a few hours after installation . Pidgin is working smoothly and I have gone through every points.

But it shows problem at on point. Crashes after showing error message as 'illegal operation' when I go to Tools> Preferences.

I tried so many times till then but the result is the same ( even after restarting the system). Please advice.

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

John T. Haller
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Not Quite

If you re-read my instructions, I never said to rename GTKLegacy to GTKModern. I'm trying to determine what, exactly, is wrong on your system since I can't reproduce it on my Windows 98 SE test system (which works fine with 2.1.1).

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gayathri
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Yep !! Sorry !

Yep !! sorry Mr.John, I did the mistake. You haven't wrote to change the GTKLegacy to GTKModern. I corrected my mistake and changed the Gtk folder to GTKModern now. Pidgin works smoothly, but the 'illegal operation' while going to tools>preferences still persists. All other aspects work well.

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

John T. Haller
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Local?

Does the same issue happen with a locally installed Pidgin on this machine? I think Pidgin dropped support for Win98 a while ago (with the 2.0 release, actually) so it's a bit hit or miss.

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gayathri
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No local copy.

I have not installed Pidgin locally sir, May be the lack of support. Any how I don't prefer to waste your precious time on an issue like this any more. Thanks a lot for the support offered to my '98SE conflict'. Take care.

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gayathri
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I am back again

It's a pleasent surprise to see that Pidgin would run smoothly in my w98SE with its original launcher included in the final version sir, The only modifacation needed was to install Legacy GTK inside the pidgin GTKLegacy folder ( Apps/GTKLegacy )as you have explained above. ( no need to change the folder name also, but i tried both, result same).

The only trouble left ahead is the program crash after showing illegal operation while going to tool>Preferences.

The details of the error message follow:

PIDGIN caused an invalid page fault in
module LIBGLIB-2.0-0.DLL at 016f:00dc117d.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=016f EIP=00dc117d EFLGS=00010297
EBX=011ac187 SS=0177 ESP=0074dd10 EBP=0074e078
ECX=ffffffff DS=0177 ESI=00000000 FS=3cd7
EDX=0098a9a0 ES=0177 EDI=00000000 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
f2 ae f7 d1 49 89 8d e8 fc ff ff eb 11 c7 85 e8
Stack dump:
00000002 00000004 00000002 011ac187 00000000 00989c80 0074e050 00dc0b12 0074e0f4 0074dd88 0074dd88 0074dd58 bff92c68 00000000 00989ae8 0074dde0

Can u help sir?

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Local

Unless you can verify whether or not it occurs with a local install, we're gonna chock it up to no Win98 support. Pidgin, like most apps, has dropped official support for Win98... since GTK did 2 years ago. So, we're still doing what we can, but no guarantees or bending over backward.

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installation failed

Downloaded the latest version ( 2.1.1) of Pedgin for windows from its home page. But the local installation failed and aborted showing the error message as:

Windows 95/98/Me are incompatable with GTK+2.8.0 or newer.
GTK+2.10.13 will not be installed.
If you dont have GTK+2.6.10 or newer
already installed, installation will now abort.

Any hope sir?

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GIMP

You need to get 2.6.10-20050823 from GIMP for Windows:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Keep in mind that 2.6.10 is a dead branch of GTK. Not supported. Has bugs. And probably has security issues. But then, so does Windows 98.

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Thanks

Thanks John, Let us conclude the 'Pidgin for W98SE' topic here becuase I am sure that it would waste ur time and searching for the medicine for an over aged and insupported OS is of no use.
Thanks for ur efforts.

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Give it a shot

If you're willing to give it a shot, I am, too. There are lots of Win98 computers in the world... especially in developing nations... so if it's possible to make it work, I'll do it.

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gayathri
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So let us proceed.....

Sure Sir, I would be happy to participate in the effort to find out a neat soulution for the W98 conflict with Pidgin. So if you r willing to spare your time, i am also ready for a shot. So let us proceed.....
Do you mean that I should download and install the said version of Gimp to acquire the required gtk old version to install the latest version of Pidgin in my W98SE mechine? If your answer is yes, I will proceed. The bugs are not a problem. I will be careful .

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

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Just GTK

Just GTK from that link I gave (it's GIMP's website).

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Installed

Downloaded and installed the said gtk version from the link. Installed the pidgin latest version abtained from its home page. Now Pidgin is running smoothly in my local mechine. But the same illagal operation while going to tools>preferences. All other aspects normal.

The details of illigal operation follow:

PIDGIN caused an invalid page fault in
module LIBGLIB-2.0-0.DLL at 016f:00ca117d.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=016f EIP=00ca117d EFLGS=00210297
EBX=0114c187 SS=0177 ESP=0073dd10 EBP=0073e078
ECX=ffffffff DS=0177 ESI=00000000 FS=0d17
EDX=00988360 ES=0177 EDI=00000000 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
f2 ae f7 d1 49 89 8d e8 fc ff ff eb 11 c7 85 e8
Stack dump:
00000002 00000004 00000002 0114c187 00000000 00987c60 0073e050 00ca0b12 0073e0f4 0073dd88 0073dd88 0073dd58 bff92c68 00000000 009872e8 0073dde0

The program crashes when I click OK

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Pidgin/GTK Bug

That's about what I'd figured. So, we know it's nothing with the portable version... so there's nothing more I can do to fix it. It's either a bug in Pidgin or GTK or an issue with your PC. I'll see if I can reproduce it on my Win98SE test bed as well tomorrow when I get a chance. If it's a bug in GTK, you're dead in the water as GTK dropped support for Windows 95/98/Me over 2 years ago. If it's a bug in Pidgin, you can file a bug report with the Pidgin project, but they may not accept it since they stopped using the old GTK version (and, thus, supporting Win 9x) somewhere around 2.0 Beta 2 or 3 when it used to be called Gaim over a year and a half ago.

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comm
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Yes, it works

Thx John. Finally, Pidgin Portable is running properly from my USB Flash (WinXP SP2) Disk even there is GTK installed locally (Pidgin desktop edition installed in my laptop).
The same problem occurs in GIMP Portable as issued in https://portableapps.com/node/7871. Can you propose the same solution about that?

Thx again.

You did a great job.

regards,

comm

regards,

comm

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works here

Using PidginPortable1511.exe as the launcher works for me. I am on XP Pro SP2...

Thanks!

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Waiting

Yes John, u may be right in either any one of your conclusions. Regarding the bugs with gtk and pidgin versions, we could do nothing as you have maintained but I am really anxious to know if it's a problem with my system and if anything could be done to rectify it. Any how waiting for your final word to quit the issue.( may be when u get enough free time to sort it out)

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

John T. Haller
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Tried and it Crashed / Pigin on Windows 98 SE

I just tried installing legacy GTK and Pidgin 2.1.1 (the standard local installs) on a clean Windows 98 SE box and it crashes when trying to pull up the preferences Window. So, it's a GTK or Pidgin issue.

I ran it in debug mode and captured the error. It's been submitted as a bug to Pidgin. I don't know if they'll address it or not as I don't know if they're worried about supporting Windows 9x, but I've done what I can:
http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/2961

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Patrick Patience
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Answered.

Somebody posted to a ticket that had already been posted, it's the exact same, it looks like there's a work-around.

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gayathri
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The end of the tunnel

So you solved it Sir. Though we have nothing to do with and it's an exclusive gtk-pidgin issue, chasing the reason behind an error was really a wonderful experience to an ordinary end user like me. The deep knowledge, skill and dedication of John was amazing. Hats off !!

One more word John. Hope u will provide an update if the Pidgin people take your submission on the conflict in to account and rectify the problem so that the messenger would run perfectly in a W98Se machine. Thanks John, Also thanks a lot from the W98 users all over the 'portable' world!!

Finally, the duplication of my previous reply which has been mentioned by Mr. Have Some Patience was my own error. I tried to delete the repeated one but there was no way !

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

John T. Haller
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Thanks, Workaround

Thanks, glad to help.

There is a workaround. You have to hand edit your pidgin config file and add a custom font for conversations. It's detailed in the existing bug here:
http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/2353

Pidgin developers won't be fixing it, since it's due to a GTK error and GTK dropped support for Windows 9x a LONG time ago.

I've created a support topic on it and posted it:
https://portableapps.com/support/pidgin_portable#win9x

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

gayathri
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Yes...!!

Yes, John.. That's a neat and perfect soultion. At last Pidgin is running without any error messages smoothly in my W98SE mechine. The preferences showing up normally.

Two points for your kind attention.
1) I think that the pref file should be modified while Pidhin is running. Otherwise the modification will not sustain even after saving. The modified line disappears when pidgin is opened later. i experienced the above problem . You have not mentianined this in the main page.
2) you (re)told me to istall gtk inside pidgin not in portableapps\commonfiles. Is it important and to be followed by all other users?

So we have reached the end solving the issue perfectly.Thanks and regards. May God bless you to explore new horizons.

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

Simeon
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What about having the

config file edited automatically (by the Launcher or so)?
Or having a second config file and tell the program to use this one if run under win98?
“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.” - Richard P. Feynman

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John T. Haller
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Nope

Pidgin's pref file is an absolute mess. Every single node is "pref". So, where the XPath of a well-formed XML file would be: Pidgin\Conversations\custom-font and it would be unique to that setting, Pidgin's path is pref\pref\pref and there are a hundred duplicates of that. It uses the name attribute to distinguish between them. Neither of the XML plugins for NSIS can handle it.

Besides that, it's likely that Win9x support for Pidgin is going to get progressively worse.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

gayathri
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A perfect portable messenger; is it possible?

There are certain things which should be left untold, I know that.
Still I expect some thing great and different from you John. Is it Possible ?
why are you silent sir?

I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!

Inferi0r
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Never had this

Never had this problem...
Then I installed ActivePerl and OpenSA for my work. After that I had the problem. Luckily your patch fixed it.

crishog
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No Luck with Pidgin loader

Admittedly I've just tried it on an oldish Dell PC, but after the spash screen I just get "Pidgin has encountered a problem.." & the details are

AppName: pidgin-portable.exe AppVer: 2.1.1.0 ModName: ntdll.dll
ModVer: 5.1.2600.1217 Offset: 00033905

foxcole
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Before I try this...

... I need to know whether I've got a different problem. I can run Pidgin just fine on WinXP Pro SP2 (the computer my USB was plugged into when I downloaded, installed and set up Pidgin) but switching to Win2K on a different machine, I received two errors. One was the popular:
"Error (1157) One of the library files needed to run this application cannot be found
This Probabily means that GTK+ can't be found."

The other was:
"libatk-1.0-0.dll could not be found in the specified path H:\PortableApps\PidginPortable; C:\ . . ."

(Sorry I don't have the entire list of local paths here, but they're for supposedly portable applications, just to directories on the local drive. If you would like to see those I'll get a screenshot next time.)

If this installer might fix the above problems---does that mean I need to put the GTK in the CommonFiles folder first? I have both GIMP and Pidgin, and they both have GTK files (of course), so what would I need to do to put GTK in CommonFiles for both programs to access? (I'm mainly concerned about GIMP, because if I understand correctly, this installer for Pidgin should do the job, right?)

Cheers!
---Fox

crishog
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Sovled - I think

Still using the test launcher.

I searched the net for "pidgin ntdll.dll" & got pointed to some threads which suggested removing logreader.dll from the plugins directory.

Pidgin now loads ok, but I haven't a clue what it is I've removed....

foxcole
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I tried the launcher...

... and as per instructions, renamed pidgin.exe to pidgin-portable.exe, but I'm getting an error that pidgin-portable.exe can't be found. I tried just running pidgin-portable.exe and again got the error that the application failed to start because libatk-1.0-0.dll was not found, even though it's right there in the directory. I click OK on that message and get the message "Error loading pidgin.dll. Error:(126). The specified module could not be found. This probably means that GTK+ can't be found." That may be slightly different than the error I reported before but this time I'm looking right at it as I type, so there's no mistaking it.d

I'm just going to try deleting pidgin and reinstalling it. Pidgin used to work. It just for some reason quit.

Hmmm.... actually, it used to work on this computer I'm using right now, the WinXP Pro machine. I tried it on the Win2K machine (where the USB key had a different drive letter), where it didn't work, and now suddenly it doesn't work on this one either.

I'd like to delete Pidgin but I'm going to wait, just in case that last paragraph could be at all meaningful and some file in there might contain a clue.

Cheers!
---Fox

jmp1986
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Works

I had a problem with ntdll.dll and using this launcher resolved the issue.

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