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Okay, I'll compose an item for the FAQ.
Petek
Petek
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"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
-- Kosh -
I'm a bit curious - on my XP, the terranx.exe has same timestamp as on the cd wich is normal when copying - is that the case when there are trouble ?
If it is, it may not be a copy problem but some execution right issue.
On unix I often use the sum function to check if two files are the same - is there a similiar under Windows ?
I may sound a bit nitpicking when there apparently is a solution, but I prefer to understand why a "magic" fix works
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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I don't view it as a magic fix. The later versions of Windows may use some type of legacy system to install SMAX, which was designed to be installed by Windows 98. There may be a problem with the installer running properly, which leads to a corrupted terranx.exe file.
Copying the file directly from the CD and overwriting the file fixes the corruption.
One advantage to this solution is that it is very quick (a lot quicker than uninstalling and reinstalling) and if the problem isn't a corrupted file, no harm is done (you're not making the problem worse).Comment
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As long as it isn't known why a fix works, it's a "magic" fix. Understanding what the problem is, may make it easier to solve problems with future versions of MS.With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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This problem and the solution have a complicated history. In this thread on Civ Fanatics, iralastorum was receiving the error message "Terran(x) is not a valid win32 application". He eventually fixed the problem by copying terranx.exe from his CD to his hard drive.Originally posted by BlackCat View PostI'm a bit curious - on my XP, the terranx.exe has same timestamp as on the cd wich is normal when copying - is that the case when there are trouble ?
If it is, it may not be a copy problem but some execution right issue.
On unix I often use the sum function to check if two files are the same - is there a similiar under Windows ?
I may sound a bit nitpicking when there apparently is a solution, but I prefer to understand why a "magic" fix works
Then, in this thread on Apolyton, IsaacDormav reported the same error message. He was advised to copy terranx.exe from his CD to his hard drive. We asked him to report back on the result, but he didn't do so. We reasoned that that if the solution worked for two users, then it probably was a "proven" fix and so could be added to the FAQ. Also, vyen opined, and I agreed, that the problem was being caused by the installation program corrupting the exe file on certain systems.
Then Agent Larkin came along in this thread. After what I thought were some inconsistent statements, he claimed to have solved the problem by copying the exe file from his CD to his hard drive. LoriTX stated that this technique also fixed her problem.
At this point we have only one confirmed instance where the solution fixed the specific error message "Terranx.exe is not a valid Win32 application", but several other instances in which copying the exe file fixed some unspecified problem. So I plan to add an entry to the FAQ that will state that, in cases in which SMAX installed successfully, but won't run, you might want to try copying the exe from the CD to the hard drive.
Is that enough of an explanation?
Petek"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
-- KoshComment
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Well, yes and noOriginally posted by Petek View Post
Is that enough of an explanation?
Petek
I've been a programmer for some 25 years and prefer to know why a fix works - usually it reduces future headeaches.With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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When someone can't get their old copy of SMAX to run on a new system, their main concern is getting SMAX to run. We have a theory why copying the program works and some confirmatory evidence from the fact that modified terranx.exe files also solved the problem.
Whether the theory is correct or not, most FAQ readers will be happy to see a suggestion. And certainly one of the most frequent questions we get from newcomers is on how to get SMAX to work.Comment
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vyeh, I really don't think that we disagree on the point of making things easier for people that just want it to work - my point is that it makes sense for us that cares about how and why things work to know why a fix helps, so we also in the future can help.With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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Well, we have a working hypothesis (the file becomes corrupted during installation). If we can get evidence that the file is corrupted, that would be great.
I just don't see the suggestion of copying the CD file into the installed directory as magic (it was magic when people were reporting that a terranx.exe file modified for an illegal purpose was fixing the problem).Comment
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I also would like to nail down every problem and figure out exactly what's happening. However, we can't force those seeking help to post exact error messages, carry out multiple troubleshooting steps, or to report the results of our troubleshooting efforts. So we do what we can.
Petek"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
-- KoshComment
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I guess that we have a clash on different interpretation of terms.
In my view, any fix that can't be explained but works is "magic" - actually, it's an annoyance since you can't give a sensible explanation to end users.With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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Originally posted by Petek View Post
My experince from my work is that there are nothing called a stupid question, even if the answer should be obvious.
No, I don't think that we should ask ordinary users technical questions they can't answer, but we maybe should think a bit over what could be reasons for problems instead of just record solutions - from time to time a scient appears
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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