Sigil 1.8 will only run in a specific folder

[Domenick]

64bit Windows 10 Home

Exactly one month ago, I used Sigil 1.7 to create an EPUB from a manuscript. It worked perfectly, as it has for a few years.

Today I started 1.7 to create an EPUB from another manuscript in a different folder and it crashed repeatedly when trying to /File/add/Existing Files .../.

Played with it for a while changing the SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_FOLDER to no avail. I discovered I could copy the entire HTML manuscript and paste it into the default HTML Section. Sigil crashed when trying to save it as an EPUB. Fussed an farted about a couple more hours and nothing I tried seemed to work.

Finally, I did notice the program kept defaulting to files in the previous manuscript's folder, so in desperation, I transferred all the new manuscript's files into the previous manuscript's folder and the program ran perfectly.

Why is Sigil stubbornly in love with the previous folder, and how do I break its infatuation? Thanks.

[DiapDealer]

No clue. Never had that kind of thing happen with Sigil on Windows 10. Unless your user has restricted permissions in the new folder or something.

The program (Sigil) is only defaulting to the previous manuscript's folder because the crash is preventing the Recent Files (and the routines that save the last folder opened) from ever updating. The same thing happens whenever an epub opened for the very first time crashes. It doesn't appear in the recent files list next time Sigil is run (and the last folder of an epub that was successfully opened will be the one Sigil defaults to when trying to open another one. There is nothing in Sigil itself that would prefer one folder's use over another.

This is the first report I remember seeing of Sigil crashing when trying to add files. But to be clear: your subject specifies Sigil 1.8, but the content of the post says 1.7. Do they both crash?

[KevinH]

Yes this does sound like something specific to your system is having an impact.

This can happen if you set the Sigil default Temp folder to some place that does not exist or have no permissions for write access, etc. My guess is this is the root of your issue.

So you could try the following:

1. Use Windows to create a new folder someplace you have write access to in your home directory.

2. Then fire up Sigil and set the Sigil Default Temp Folder to point to that newly created folder.

3. Immediately exit out of Sigil so that your settings file is properly saved to the Sigil ini file

The next time you start Sigil, try what caused the crash and let us know what your Sigil Default Temp Folder path you set was and if it succeeds or not.

[DiapDealer]

Also consider antimalware settings. Windows' "Controlled Folder Access" is a big offender when it comes to "protecting" Documents & Settings areas from programs it mistakenly deems "potentially unfriendly."

On Windows 10 my personal practice is to exempt programs I trust from Antimalware measures. For Sigil, this includes its program directory and setting a customized temp directory (that my user has full control over) for Sigil that I exempt as well. I also exempt Sigil's preference directory.

I deem those steps safe for anyone to do (but only if they're experiencing trouble using Sigil). If you trust us, you trust us. If you don't, you don't. I also turn off Windows' Controlled Folder Access, but I'm not suggesting that others should take that step. It's just that I find it more trouble than it is worth RE malware prevention.

Also make sure you're not trying to open epubs/documents from synced folders such as Dropbox, One Drive, and the like. These folders often have processes that can partially lock files while monitoring them for changes.

[Domenick]

Thanks for the feedback.

Interestingly, the issue occurred with 1.7, then I uninstalled 1.7 using the Win10 Control Panel, and installed 1.8, so it should have been a clean install.

Also I set both the Sigil temp directory directly to a folder I own, and I set the MSDOS environment variable SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_FOLDER to the same directory.

It seems to me something must have persisted across 1.7, the uninstall, and into 1.8 because when attempting to add existing files in 1.7 and 1.8 it always came up in the previous manuscript's folder.

I'll bang a round a bit more.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Domenick

and I set the MSDOS environment variable SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_FOLDER to the same directory.

That step serves no purpose (though it shouldn't hurt anything). Sigil doesn't use any en var to define its scratch directory location.

<SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_HOME> is just a placeholder we display in Sigil's preferences to mask the location of the default directory from neophytes. For whatever reason, people who didn't know what they were doing felt it was OK to meddle with Sigil temp files while Sigil had them locked. <SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_HOME> was simply a step to discourage that a bit. It's not an environment variable.

Originally Posted by Domenick

It seems to me something must have persisted across 1.7, the uninstall, and into 1.8 because when attempting to add existing files in 1.7 and 1.8 it always came up in the previous manuscript's folder.

Like I said: it's the crash that's preventing the previous manuscript's directory from becoming the new default the next time. We have to figure out why it's crashing and the default folder thing will take care of itself.

Does the crash happen when trying to add ANY file from the location you were previously using. What I'm getting at is; have you ruled out the actual file that's being added as the problem? If other files (or other file types) load without crashing, is it possible there's something about the content of the files you're trying to add that's causing the crash, rather than their location?

[KevinH]

Yes, you can only set the Sigil Temp folder path in Sigil Preferences and it will revert to the default if for any reason the new temp folder does not exist.

[Domenick]

Thanks for the comments, suggestions, and the SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_FOLDER explanation. That simplifies things. The default save location is under the user's profile AppData tree. If on a normal close Sigil cleans up its own temp files (which it does) where is the last folder accessed cached?

Point of information: When Uninstalling Sigil, the <user>/AppData/Local/sigil-ebook directory tree remains. This is likely where some of the program's memory is retained across the Uninstall and Install processes.

After Uninstall and deletion of <user>/AppData/Local/sigil-ebook directory, the program now opens to Sigil's Program Files directory.

Program still crashes upon "Add/Existing Files" from new manuscript folder, but loads okay from previous manuscript's folder. Some other data is still persisting despite the Uninstall, deletion of <user>/AppData/Local/sigil-ebook, deletion of <user>/AppData/Local/Temp/Sigil-xxxxxx, and "fresh" Install.

Registry perhaps?

[KevinH]

What exactly are you setting the Sigil Temp folder to, and what exactly is the full path to where you are trying to open your manuscript from?

[Domenick]

The default temp folder is the default <SIGIL_DEFAULT_TEMP_HOME>. On a hunch I looked in <user>/AppData/Local/Temp and found a Sigil-xxxxxx folder.

There is also the expected <user>/AppData/Local/sigil-ebook folder.

Thinking perhaps a computer shutdown/restart cycle might help:
I uninstalled the program.
Deleted both <user>/AppData/Local/sigil-ebook and all <user>/AppData/Local/Temp/Sigil-xxxxxx.
I shutdown (not restart) then started the computer.
Invoked Sigil and:
"Add Existing Files" starts in Sigil's Program Files dierctory.
The HTML file from the NEW manuscript's folder loads, as does the CSS file and the two JPGs (author photo and cover photo).
For grins I assigned the cover photo, and the author photo incorporates correctly.
"Save as" opens in my profile folder, shows the previous "may need to close" message, identical details, and closes.

Once again, invoked Sigil and:
"Add Existing Files" starts in Sigil's Program Files dierctory.
The HTML file from the PREVIOUS manuscript's folder loads, as does the CSS file and the two JPGs (author photo and cover photo).
For grins again, I assigned the cover photo, and the author photo incorporates correctly.
"Save as" opens in my profile folder. Moving into the PREVIOUS manuscript's folder correctly saves "untitled.epub."

I own the folders in question and run with Admin privileges.

Despite all of this fussing and farting about, Sigil is still passionately in love with that one folder.

I am at a loss. Sigil worked perfectly for 5 e-books now in the Kindle store and one just about ready to go, then suddenly version 1.7 began showing this behavior which continued into version 1.8.

[KevinH]

My guess is you have some anti-virus program interfering with Sigil in some way? Or something is protecting the new folder from Sigil writing to it or reading from it.

Have your tried disabling the Folder control software that DiapDealer mentioned? Have you told your anti-virus / Defender software it can trust Sigil?

No changes to Sigil have been made any of the last couple of releases that would cause what you are seeing.

What is the exact error message?

Please try tellinngWindows that your Sigil app can be trusted:

Use the Windows Defender Security app to allow specific apps

1. Open the Windows Security app by searching the start menu for Security.
Select the Virus & threat protection tile (or the shield icon on the left menu bar) and then select Manage ransomware protection.

2. Under the Controlled folder access section, select Allow an app through Controlled folder access

3. Select Add an allowed app and follow the prompts to add apps.

[Domenick]

Here is the error message and details:
Sigil has encountered a problem.
Sigil may need to close.
Error info: Unknown exception
Sigil version: 1.8.0
Runtime Qt: 5.12.9
Compiled Qt: 5.12.9
System: Windows 10 (10.0)
Architecture: x86_64

/Start/Settings/Update & Security/Windows Security/Virus & Threat Protection/
Microsoft Defender Antivirus options/periodic scanning -- OFF
Sophos Home is snoozed.
--Open app/Real-Time Protection is Disabled

Manage providers:
Microsoft Defender Antivirus is turned off
Windows Firewall is turned on

/Start/Settings/Update & Security/Windows Security/Reputation-based protection:
--Potentially unwanted apps blocking -- OFF
--Check apps and files -- OFF

Program still crashes in the same way.

A month ago, the last normal behavior of Sigil, Sophos Home was ON.


Some background information:
The folder tree in which I am working is years old. Both what I am terming the PREVIOUS folder and what I am terming the NEW folder are in this tree and each is years old. Both manuscripts in their same current locations were converted into EPUBs and published in Amazon's Kindle Store using an earlier version of Sigil probably 1.2.

I am using PREVIOUS in the sense that it was the last easily and successful location for Sigil, and NEW is the now current and unsuccessful location. Again both locations are in the same, years-old folder tree.

Last month I made an editing pass (for a 2nd edition) through the existing manuscript in the PREVIOUS folder, and successfully and easily converted it to an EPUB which is now on Amazon's Kindle Store.

This month I made an editing pass (for a 2nd edition) through the manuscript in the NEW folder. This is where/when Sigil began misbehaving and falling in love with the PREVIOUS folder.

More playing about reveals:
Created a new folder, "GORP", in the same folder tree.
Copied the CSS and HTML files from the NEW manuscript into GORP.
Loaded the HTML and CSS files using "Add Existing Files".
Save as "untitled.epub" crashed with above error message and details.

[Domenick]

For years, I've been running with Microsoft Defender Antivirus off, using Sophos Home instead. In enabling MSA, I see many options, one of which is "Ransomware protection"
Managing ransomware shows a Controlled folder access option which shows a grayed out "Off". I assume that mean "Controlled folder access" is off. It does not respond to a click.

[DiapDealer]

No clue. I've never run into any trouble running Defender-only. I won't install any other AV on my Win7 and higher Windows machines.

[Domenick]

In regards to creating folders and running Sigil on the files. I described the GORP above.

I also created a subfolder in the beloved PREVIOUS folder, copied the CSS and HTML files from the NEW folder, and Sigil loaded, rendered, and created an EPUB. For some reason Sigil is hung up on one specific folder tree.