Installation Verification Tool Stuck (Multiple Fixes Attempted)

[Swigert]

I have tried many "fixes" in attempt to make my Verification Tool actually check DirectX.

System Information
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual
Core Processor 5200+
2.61 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM

OS: Windows XP Media Center Edition
Graphic Drivers: NVIDEA GeForce 610

• I have tried moving, copying, and entirely deleting orbiter.bin, renaming it as "orbiter.exe" and "orbiter.exe.bin".
• I have tried renaming the actual ""orbiter.exe" file, renaming it "orbiterold.exe", and copying it as "orbiter.exe".
• I have also tried installing different DirectX versions. So far, I have installed 9.0, 9.0c, 11.0, and 11.2
• One night, I left my desktop running with the verification tool running. I had left it run from about 11:20 PM to 9:50 AM, to see that the tool had made no progress.
• I have tried running the tool with and without other windows running, and with and without the tool having focus.

The beta crashes every time I try to launch a scenario, so I was wondering if it is possible that it could be Orbiter or C++, and not my computer, however, I doubt that.

I was reading other peoples' posts about the Verification Tool being stuck, and saw something about graphic drivers, so I updated mine, so I strongly doubt that it is the driver's fault.

I also saw something about the "testinstall.exe" in the Install folder, but in my installation, I have no such file. If it were required for a proper installation, I'm sure Step 1 of the verification would fail.

As well, I noticed something about "orbiter.cfg", but guess what; I don't have that file either, or if I do, I cannot find it. I came up empty handed in searches for it. All I found was the "Orbiter_NG.cfg". I would suppose this is required for a proper installation, so I'm sure I have it somewhere, I'm just not noticing it in my folder and the search.

I am completely stumped on my problem here. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I haven't played Orbiter in about 2 years now, and I really want it working on my desktop.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I'm afraid I can't help you out much with the beta version of Orbiter. Have you tried the standard Orbiter '10 (P1)?

Orbiter_ng.exe is a "no graphics" version that uses external graphics clients that can result in some eye-popping visuals.

Another question, are you using the msi installer, or did you download and unzip?

 

[Swigert]

I'm afraid I can't help you out much with the beta version of Orbiter. Have you tried the standard Orbiter '10 (P1)?

Orbiter_ng.exe is a "no graphics" version that uses external graphics clients that can result in some eye-popping visuals.

Another question, are you using the msi installer, or did you download and unzip?

I think I used the .MSI, and I'm almost positive I installed 2010 P1. I just tried the beta for test purposes.

 

[Xyon]

Also, while orbiter.cfg is indeed an important file, its absence isn't. Orbiter writes this file when it starts up, if it doesn't exist - since you can't start orbiter, it's not written yet.

I would echo PC - try the stable version first, and see if that's any better. I'm curious about the different directx versions you've installed, too - how did you obtain these, and where from?

 

[Swigert]

Also, while orbiter.cfg is indeed an important file, its absence isn't. Orbiter writes this file when it starts up, if it doesn't exist - since you can't start orbiter, it's not written yet.

I would echo PC - try the stable version first, and see if that's any better. I'm curious about the different directx versions you've installed, too - how did you obtain these, and where from?

I got them from the Microsoft website...

 

[Hielor]

I'm particularly curious how you managed to install DirectX 11 on XP, given that it's only available on Vista and higher...

 

[Swigert]

I'm particularly curious how you managed to install DirectX 11 on XP, given that it's only available on Vista and higher..

Huh. Maybe I misread something or something...

 

[Ripley]

I think I used the .MSI...

Try the zip version then...

 

[Swigert]

Try the zip version then...

Already have, no luck.

 

[martins]

Here is what orbiter.exe does on a fresh installation:

1. it checks the directory structure
2. it checks the presence of the required runtimes
3. it runs dxdiag to check required directx components
4. it renames itself to install/testinstall.exe
5. it renames install/orbiter.bin to ./orbiter.exe

When this hangs, it generally does so on step 3. I'm not sure why this should be. Possibly dxdiag is trying to make a network connection for authentication of components, and that times out (maybe a firewall issue?).

Anyway, you can bypass this problem by performing the last two steps manually (provided the verification didn't already flag up a problem in steps 1 and 2). Your description was not entirely clear on this, but I assume you did try this? What _exactly_ was the outcome?

If orbiter.exe doesn't run after you have copied and renamed it manually, the problem is not (only) the verification procedure. But until you provide a precise postmortem I can't help.

 

[garyw]

Already have, no luck.

Can you post a screenshot of whatever issue you are seeing? It's hard to diagnose with the little information provided.

 

[Swigert]

Here is what orbiter.exe does on a fresh installation:

1. it checks the directory structure
2. it checks the presence of the required runtimes
3. it runs dxdiag to check required directx components
4. it renames itself to install/testinstall.exe
5. it renames install/orbiter.bin to ./orbiter.exe

When this hangs, it generally does so on step 3. I'm not sure why this should be. Possibly dxdiag is trying to make a network connection for authentication of components, and that times out (maybe a firewall issue?).

Anyway, you can bypass this problem by performing the last two steps manually (provided the verification didn't already flag up a problem in steps 1 and 2). Your description was not entirely clear on this, but I assume you did try this? What _exactly_ was the outcome?

If orbiter.exe doesn't run after you have copied and renamed it manually, the problem is not (only) the verification procedure. But until you provide a precise postmortem I can't help.

Paragraph 1: I have had disabled my Firewall since I got the problem in the first place, so I strongly doubt it is the cause to my problem.

Paragraph 2: I did that just now. I'm not sure I did it how you're saying it should be done however. I named orbiter.exe to testinstall.exe and in the Install folder, orbiter.bin is now named orbiter.exe.bin and I copied orbiter.exe and moved it to the Install folder, renaming it as testinstall.exe. Is this correct? No change in the outcome afterwords.

Can you post a screenshot of whatever issue you are seeing? It's hard to diagnose with the little information provided.

 

[orb]

Paragraph 2: I did that just now. I'm not sure I did it how you're saying it should be done however. I named orbiter.exe to testinstall.exe and in the Install folder, orbiter.bin is now named orbiter.exe.bin and I copied orbiter.exe and moved it to the Install folder, renaming it as testinstall.exe. Is this correct? No change in the outcome afterwords.

Wrong. The orbiter.bin file from Install shouldn't be copied/renamed to "orbiter.exe.bin", but to "orbiter.exe" and moved to the root directory of Orbiter (overwriting the original file).

 

[Swigert]

Wrong. The orbiter.bin file from Install shouldn't be copied/renamed to "orbiter.exe.bin", but to "orbiter.exe" and moved to the root directory of Orbiter (overwriting the original file).

So I need to change the format of orbiter.bin to .exe? And overwright the original orbiter.exe? How will I launch Orbiter then?

---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:40 PM ----------

I converted it to .exe, but when I run it, all that happens is a CMD window comes up, for a quick second, closes, and that's it.

 

[meson800]

On a clean (non-verified) install, what we call the normal "Orbiter" executable (what launches and actually lets you fly) resides at Install/orbiter.bin.

The executable located at ./orbiter.exe (again, in the non-verified version), is actually just the verifier; e.g. the program that hangs for you.

To get Orbiter to work, you must rename and move the file Install/orbiter.bin to ./orbiter.exe as martins said. Renaming orbiter.bin to orbiter.exe does not change its format, only its filename.

And overwright the original orbiter.exe

By the above, the "original orbiter.exe" is actual just the verification tool. Actual "Orbiter" is the orbiter.bin file.

---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:59 PM ----------

If you are actually running Orbiter (my orbiter.exe is 2196 KB, is yours?) and it is crashing, it should produce a file named "Orbiter.log".

If that file is there, can you post its contents?

 

[Swigert]

On a clean (non-verified) install, what we call the normal "Orbiter" executable (what opens up and runs) resides at Install/orbiter.bin.

The executable located at ./orbiter.exe (again, in the non-verified version), is actually just the verifier; e.g. the program that hangs for you.

To get Orbiter to work, you must rename and move the file Install/orbiter.bin to ./orbiter.exe as martins said. Renaming orbiter.bin to orbiter.exe does not change its format, only its filename.


By the above, the "original orbiter.exe" is actual just the verification tool. Actual "Orbiter" is the orbiter.bin file.

---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:59 PM ----------

And only my beta is crashing; as above users have suggested, I am going to focus on 2010; because it isn't crashing.

If you are actually running Orbiter (my orbiter.exe is 2196 KB, is yours?) and it is crashing, it should produce a file named "Orbiter.log".

If that file is there, can you post its contents?

Oh, I see. Any idea why my .exe version of the .bin file isn't opening the Launchpad window?

 

[meson800]

No, is there an Orbiter.log? Also, to verify that we're talking about the same file, what is the file size of your ./Orbiter.exe?

---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:09 PM ----------

And only my beta is crashing; as above users have suggested, I am going to focus on 2010; because it isn't crashing.

What exactly is crashing; the beta version or the stable, 2010 version?

 

[Swigert]

No, is there an Orbiter.log? Also, to verify that we're talking about the same file, what is the file size of your ./Orbiter.exe?

What exactly is crashing; the beta version or the stable, 2010 version?

My orbiter.exe is 272 KB. My beta is crashing.

 

[meson800]

There's your issue! :thumbup:

The install verification executable is 272 KB, so the verifier is crashing (which we knew beforehand), not Orbiter. Somewhere in following these steps, the install verification executable and actual Orbiter executable got mixed up.

You should be able to do the following to get it to work.
1. Re-download a clean copy (or just unzip it to a clean folder if you still have the zip file).
2. Delete orbiter.exe in the root folder (remember, this is just the verifier)
3. Rename the file Install/orbiter.bin to Install/orbiter.exe (Make sure that Install/orbiter.bin is beyond 2000 KB)
4. Move/Copy this file into the root folder
5. Run orbiter.exe!

 

[Swigert]

There's your issue! :thumbup:

The install verification executable is 272 KB, so the verifier is crashing (which we knew beforehand), not Orbiter. Somewhere in following these steps, the install verification executable and actual Orbiter executable got mixed up.

You should be able to do the following to get it to work.
1. Re-download a clean copy (or just unzip it to a clean folder if you still have the zip file).
2. Delete orbiter.exe in the root folder (remember, this is just the verifier)
3. Rename the file Install/orbiter.bin to Install/orbiter.exe (Make sure that Install/orbiter.bin is beyond 2000 KB)
4. Move/Copy this file into the root folder
5. Run orbiter.exe!

When I open it, an error box says "...orbiter.exe is not a valid Win32 application."

EDIT: I retried it, and the CMD window appears this time, closes, and again, nothing else happens.