Sigil "not responding - must close" repeatedly

[Trane]

Using Sigil 0.9.7 on W7-64.

The e-book project I am working on is long (74,000 words) with dozens of images.

It only crashes when I am working with the Images folder. It doesn't crash every time I work with the folder, but like every other time I try to insert an image, or add an image to the images folder, it hangs, solarizes, goes into not-responding, then the popup comes up that the program has crashed and needs to be closed.

When I re-open, I have of course lost everything that was changed after the last Save (needless to say I save constantly now). Since I am in the phase of adding pictures to my project, I am constantly working with the Images folder, which means Sigil is crashing 10x a day or more.

I am wondering if there is some kind of memory conflict with Adobe Photoshop CS6, as I have that open at the same time since I am manipulating images in Adobe, then saving to the Sigil Images folder as jpeg or gif... then I go into Sigil and right-click the images folder to Add existing images... and then if it doesn't crash here, I click the icon on the toolbar to Insert image... and this is when it usually crashes, just after the Images folder window opens. Like the event of that window opening causes the crash.

I click the popup to close the program, wait a few secs... and open Sigil again. I have to repeat the last few steps off adding an existing image to the Images folder, then click to insert the image, and THIS TIME ALWAYS WORKS WITHOUT CRASHING. It always works right after I have re-started Sigil. I can insert the picture fine.

And sometimes I can insert two pictures... but then after I copy the next new image I am going to use from Adobe into the Sigil Images folder... and then switch to Sigil to Add existing files... if it doesn't crash there, it crashes after I click the icon to insert an image when that image window opens.

And so it goes... this has been happening for several days like clockwork.

Anyone else have issues with Sigil and Adobe CS6 being open together?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Trane

I am wondering if there is some kind of memory conflict with Adobe Photoshop CS6, as I have that open at the same time since I am manipulating images in Adobe, then saving to the Sigil Images folder as jpeg or gif... then I go into Sigil and right-click the images folder to Add existing images... and then if it doesn't crash here, I click the icon on the toolbar to Insert image... and this is when it usually crashes, just after the Images folder window opens. Like the event of that window opening causes the crash.

I'm not sure if I'm following entirely, but the part I've bolded concerns me. How are you "saving to the Sigil Images folder as jpeg or gif" ? Surely you're not saying you're saving images to the temporary location that Sigil uses as a scratch directory and then using "Add Existing Images" to add images from that same temporary directory? If so, you shouldn't be. Sigil's scratch directory is not meant to be manipulated directly with external programs while Sigil itself is open. There's only two ways you should be manipulating images for use in Sigil:

1) Create/modify/finalize an image in alternate location. When done, use "Add Existing" to add the image to Sigil.
2) After an Image has been added to Sigil, use the "Open with" feature to open a temporary copy of the image in an external editor. It will be safely copied back to Sigil's scratch directory when the external editor is saved/closed.

Saving directly to Sigil's temp/Images folder isn't supported or recommended.

[Trane]

Hello DiapDealer, and yes, that is exactly what I have been doing... saving from Adobe directly to the Sigil/Images folder since that's where it ends up anyway. Was trying to save myself a step. I will do as instructed and see how it goes. That step #2 you have there is handy to know.

As always, you are a fountain of good info. Thank you, my friend.

[DiapDealer]

You're welcome! And keep us posted..

[Trane]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You're welcome! And keep us posted..

I certainly will come back to affirm user error. (Side-tracked today working on another aspect, so might not be reproducing this until later or tomorrow, but will report when I do.)

[Trane]

Just placed two pictures without incident and am pretty sure you nailed it even though it's not much of a test... the way I was doing it prior, one of the two attempts would have crashed it, so I think we're clear. I'll revive the thread if needed, but it looks like we can consider this problem solved and chalked up to user error. My copy of Sigil thanks you for schooling me on how not to make it choke.

[Trane]

Well, it's still happening, but less frequently. I just lost 2.5 hours of painstaking work b/c Sigil hung then insisted on closing when I was trying to place a picture. I am not used to having to manually save every 2 minutes so I don't lose my work. I'm used to Word that has an auto-save feature every few minutes. Does Sigil have any such feature?

EDIT: Please tell me there is a temp folder somewhere where I can manually pull my file from ... I am not opening Sigil again b/c I don't want to overwrite any possibility I could retrieve the file as it was when the program crashed.

EDIT#2: I found the temp folder dated today but the HTML inside is from before I started working. This is enough to make me use another program. I will first see about designing a macro to auto-save every 5 min. I just can't remember to autosave constantly when I'm busy working. This seems like a trivial feature to add to Sigil, but I'm no programmer.

[DiapDealer]

I can assure you that no other reports of Sigil consistently not responding (with regard images or any other repeatable scenario) are currently pending. You're of course free to use any program you like. If, on the other hand, you'd like to figure out what is special about your setup/process, we'll be happy to help track down the problem. Your call.

There is not now (nor likely to ever be) an auto-save feature in Sigil.

As mentioned here and other places, Sigil's scratch areas are not to be trifled with. There's nothing there for a user to make use of. There is only danger.

[Trane]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I can assure you that no other reports of Sigil consistently responding (with regard images or any other repeatable scenario) are currently pending. You're of course free to use any program you like. If, on the other hand, you'd like to figure out what is special about your setup/process, we'll be happy to help track down the problem. Your call.

There is not now (nor likely to ever be) an auto-save feature in Sigil.

As mentioned here and other places, Sigil's scratch areas are not to be trifled with. There's nothing there for a user to make use of. There is only danger.

Thanks for your response. I'm not trifling with anything since your last post enlightened me nearly two weeks ago. I'm just doing the normal things... importing images using the Sigil built-in feature. Adobe wasn't even open and all the pictures are small (~350x350px), normal jpegs.

May I ask why an auto-save feature is not built into this program? If the thought it is could save over work someone wanted, it could be optionally enabled.

[PeterT]

I can see one gigantic issue with autosave, how to determine when it's safe to save a valid epub, one that is not in-flight so to speak

[DiapDealer]

An auto save feature would consistently do more harm than good and would not be the least bit trivial to add as a feature.

As to your "not responding issue" we need to nail down steps to reproduce it, or at the very least, considerably narrow down the variables involved when it happens. Does it happen when you select the image? Does it happen when you right-click on the images folder? At what exact point does Sigil stop responding?

Are you using the official Sigil installer, or are you using a portable version?

Do you have a lot of shell extensions installed? Badly coded shell extensions are notorious crashers of perfectly innocent software on Windows.

Have you tried excluding Sigil's program and scratch directories from your anti-malware programs?

[Trane]

OK, thanks (to Peter too) for explaining why auto-save is neither viable nor trivial.

This is an installed version, not the portable, with only one plugin (URL checker), and I use Sandboxie (runs the browser in a sandbox) so I don't need a real-time AV and don't use one. Happens a couple seconds after clicking the toolbar icon to insert a picture, after the window opens where you would select which picture you want. That window populates, but it freezes at that point, solarizes a second later, and then eventually I get the popup saying the program has stopped responding and needs to be closed.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Trane

OK, thanks (to Peter too) for explaining why auto-save is neither viable nor trivial.

This is an installed version, not the portable, with only one plugin (URL checker), and I use Sandboxie (runs the browser in a sandbox) so I don't need a real-time AV and don't use one. Happens a couple seconds after clicking the toolbar icon to insert a picture, after the window opens where you would select which picture you want. That window populates, but it freezes at that point, solarizes a second later, and then eventually I get the popup saying the program has stopped responding and needs to be closed.

What about shell extension programs? You're describing classic shell extension interference when file-open|select dialogs freeze and Qt programs hang. Perhaps an image-related shell extension?

The ShellExView utility will allow you to temporarily disable/enable shell extensions to trouble-shoot any that might be interfering with Sigil's Qt File Dialogs.

Are there certain file types listed in the folder when Sigil freezes, that when not present, won't cause a Sigil freeze?

Are you running Sigil via Sandboxie?

[Trane]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

What about shell extension programs? You're describing classic shell extension interference when file-open|select dialogs freeze and Qt programs hang.

Well those I have lots of, and use frequently. (Obviously not inside Sigil, and I know that's not what you meant anyway.) But I don't have problems with any other programs. And there is no crapware on this computer. I've been an enthusiast since the late 80s. I don't have anything on here I don't use. And I am not willing to uninstall other programs to test this... I'm up against a deadline and have many other things going on. At another time I would make time to do that, but can't right now.

[Trane]

It sounds like you are highly suspect of shell extensions... could it be anything else? One thing that I am doing that is probably not normal is, I am working with a single HTML file b/c I don't want to split it until I am done placing the pictures. It's too difficult going between files... I need to see the flow from one chapter to the next and it's a PITA to be scrolling up and down every time I have to switch to a new HTML. So I have been working with a single file that has the splitters in, but have not actually split it yet. And the book is fairly long at 70k words or so.