Sigil 0.7.2 won't run on Windows 7 64-bit - Page 3

mrmikel · 06-04-2013, 07:06 AM

I agree with cybmole about the 3rd factor. The large amount of software you report may point to a unique interaction in your system.

The issue that always pops up in the background is that with the .7 series they switched, for very good reasons, from QT4 to QT5 for text handling. There are incompatibilities in the configuration files for Sigil for one thing, in some installations.

It is possible that one particular skin or configuration of Winamp is a problem. Try installing Winamp in its default configuration and see if they play well together.

The difficulty may come from the fact that few other developers using QT5 yet, and when the others catch up, this problem may show up in other programs too.

seanos · 06-05-2013, 06:05 AM

Upgraded Sigil on 25 May and it was running fine, but now I'm back to this crashing on startup issue that I've had before. I can't remember how it was resolved last time - either I gave up or it went away with a new version.

I do have xnView installed, but rarely use it and I'm a little sceptical about it being the cause of this.

I also have WinAmp installed, but haven't used it for a long time.

Running as Admin doesn't help. Reinstalling doesn't help either.

seanos · 06-05-2013, 06:20 AM

Solution for me is as bladex01 described.

Delete the configuration files under ...\AppData\Local\sigil-ebook\sigil.

Then Sigil starts fine. It would be nice to know what exactly causes this though.

cybmole · 06-05-2013, 06:34 AM

so the problem is only when winamp is actually running - just have ing it installed but not opn does not prevent sigil from working ?

if so that suggests the following:
sigil needs some qt component - lets call it qt1- & sigil will normally cause that to get loaded somehow - no problem.

winamp needs a different version of the same component - lets call that QT1A

So when winamp is open & you then launch sigil, windows gets too cute for its own good & goes - "aha- I see you need qt1 but there's already an active version of that in RAM so I'll re-use that" - & fobs sigil off with Qt1a, which crashes it.

this could be total rubbish as I know next to nothing about QT ( so much so that I thought it was part of QuickTime! ) but it's a hypothesis to be developed or shot down as others see fit.

mrmikel · 06-05-2013, 07:24 AM

It is exactly the stuff that happens with Windows, whether it is the cause this particular time. Good thought at least.

AnotherCat · 06-05-2013, 05:23 PM

I have never had any problem with Sigil with WinAmp (nor indeed between Sigil with anything else). That on both 32 bit and 64 bit machines, but all now are Windows 8, however I would be surprised if running Win 8 as opposed to Win 7 was the key to no problem.

WinAmp is prone to issues, a common one being it leaving background processes running when closed (which can prevent WinAmp running again unless they are manually closed or the PC restarted). But I have tested to confirm that does not cause Sigil an issue on both 32 and 64 bit machines. Another is some of its plugins are claimed to be problematic, but I personally have not had any issue, however I only run one non standard plugin in WinAmp. But those are only known, as far as I am aware, with causing issues within WinAmp itself.

Until others come up with the same issue of WinAmp vs Sigil as being common and then proven, I would not tend to rush around in circles blaming the applications (nor their developers for lack of concern as has ben inferred

) but rather look to issues of my own in my own local environment.

JSWolf · 06-05-2013, 05:52 PM

Maybe it's one of your Winamp plugins or skins that's causing the problem. Some of the plugins and/or skins are a kludge and should never have been released.

I used to run Winamp a lot, but found Foobar2000 and decided that it just works a heck of a lot better. Plus, the plugins are better (IMHO).

PeterT · 06-05-2013, 06:00 PM

Maybe worthwhile fiddling with some of the SysInternals tools to see what versions of DLLs are being loaded at various times, and under various conditions.

Probably try listdlls at a minimum.

DiapDealer · 06-05-2013, 06:47 PM

Dependency Walker (depends.exe) could also be invaluable.
http://www.dependencywalker.com/

JSWolf · 06-05-2013, 06:50 PM

Those are both very good suggestions to try to debug the problem.

seanos · 06-06-2013, 01:13 AM

I can't see that this mad scramble to blame random other programs is helpful. Yes, it could be a WinAmp skin, but hey maybe it's the CIA too.

I've been spending some time adding lines back into my sigil.ini (from the one that stops Sigil running). This is the culprit for me...

Code:

dictionary_name=en_AU

This is a dictionary copied from LibreOffice 4.0 to ...AppData\Local\sigil-ebook\sigil\hunspell_dictionaries.

After some exploration I found that there were dictionaries in another folder (...Program Files (x86)\Sigil\hunspell_dictionaries) and some of the languages had duplicate files. Australian English wasn't one of them, but it looks like Sigil had created zero-sized versions of the en_AU files in that folder.

After more tests, it seems that attempting to load any dictionary from ...AppData\Local\sigil-ebook\sigil\hunspell_dictionaries will cause Sigil to crash on startup. If they are located in ...Program Files (x86)\Sigil\hunspell_dictionaries then Sigil runs fine.

This is probably not an optimal situation as Windows users won't have direct rights over program folders, but will have full control over AppData folders.

mgabriel · 06-11-2013, 03:22 PM

on my windows 7 x64 box sigil 0.7.x doesnt start as well.
0.6.x works fine.
is it normal that sigil 0.7 gets installed in /program files (x86)/ ?
0.6.x had a 64 bit version wich correctly installed into /program files/.
is 0.7 a dual arch setup and installs the wrong version or was the x64 version dropped ?

Toxaris · 06-11-2013, 03:34 PM

The x64 build is dropped as it didn't use the 64bit architecture at all nor benefited from it.

GrannyGrump · 06-13-2013, 01:15 AM

I don't have Win7 64-bit, but do use Win7 32-bit (also Vista and XP Pro). Having had some other problems of my own, the solution for me is to use Sigil 7-2 as packaged by PortableApps.com.

The PortableApps edition is packaged in a "portable wrapper" to isolate it from the host computer. (As far as I know, John Haller, the owner of the site, is scrupulous about only re-packaging authorized freeware and/or open-source software; they don't pirate other folks' software, and always link back to the home page of the source.)

Perhaps that isolation would enable fung0 to operate the newest version of Sigil.

Please let me know if I am out of line with this suggestion.

fung0 · 06-17-2013, 12:29 PM

Some useful suggestions... thanks!

It's true that my problem could relate to a Winamp skin or plug-in, rather than Winamp itself. If I have time, I might try stripping down Winamp to isolate the problem. Still, I've never had a problem with Winamp, and I've been using it in its current configuration for a lot of years. So my tendency is to believe that this new Sigil problem arises from the one element that has changed: Sigil itself.

For now, I'm simply using Sigil 0.7.2 without background music. Not a huge sacrifice. But I remain hopeful that the issue will ultimately be resolved. I wouldn't be surprised if the next bit of housekeeping in either Sigil or Qt 5 clears the problem up, even if nobody ever truly understands what was causing it.

06-05-2013, 06:20 AM	#33
seanos Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 12 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Aura H2O, LG V20	Solution for me is as bladex01 described. Delete the configuration files under ...\AppData\Local\sigil-ebook\sigil. Then Sigil starts fine. It would be nice to know what exactly causes this though. Last edited by seanos; 06-05-2013 at 07:06 AM.

06-06-2013, 01:13 AM	#41
seanos Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 12 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Aura H2O, LG V20	I can't see that this mad scramble to blame random other programs is helpful. Yes, it could be a WinAmp skin, but hey maybe it's the CIA too. I've been spending some time adding lines back into my sigil.ini (from the one that stops Sigil running). This is the culprit for me... Code: dictionary_name=en_AU This is a dictionary copied from LibreOffice 4.0 to ...AppData\Local\sigil-ebook\sigil\hunspell_dictionaries. After some exploration I found that there were dictionaries in another folder (...Program Files (x86)\Sigil\hunspell_dictionaries) and some of the languages had duplicate files. Australian English wasn't one of them, but it looks like Sigil had created zero-sized versions of the en_AU files in that folder. After more tests, it seems that attempting to load any dictionary from ...AppData\Local\sigil-ebook\sigil\hunspell_dictionaries will cause Sigil to crash on startup. If they are located in ...Program Files (x86)\Sigil\hunspell_dictionaries then Sigil runs fine. This is probably not an optimal situation as Windows users won't have direct rights over program folders, but will have full control over AppData folders. Last edited by seanos; 06-11-2013 at 10:10 PM.

06-13-2013, 01:15 AM	#44
GrannyGrump Obsessively Dedicated... Posts: 3,200 Karma: 34977896 Join Date: May 2011 Location: JAPAN (US expatriate) Device: Sony PRS-T2, ADE on PC	I don't have Win7 64-bit, but do use Win7 32-bit (also Vista and XP Pro). Having had some other problems of my own, the solution for me is to use Sigil 7-2 as packaged by PortableApps.com. The PortableApps edition is packaged in a "portable wrapper" to isolate it from the host computer. (As far as I know, John Haller, the owner of the site, is scrupulous about only re-packaging authorized freeware and/or open-source software; they don't pirate other folks' software, and always link back to the home page of the source.) Perhaps that isolation would enable fung0 to operate the newest version of Sigil. Please let me know if I am out of line with this suggestion. Last edited by GrannyGrump; 06-13-2013 at 01:25 AM.

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06-04-2013, 07:06 AM	#31
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	I agree with cybmole about the 3rd factor. The large amount of software you report may point to a unique interaction in your system. The issue that always pops up in the background is that with the .7 series they switched, for very good reasons, from QT4 to QT5 for text handling. There are incompatibilities in the configuration files for Sigil for one thing, in some installations. It is possible that one particular skin or configuration of Winamp is a problem. Try installing Winamp in its default configuration and see if they play well together. The difficulty may come from the fact that few other developers using QT5 yet, and when the others catch up, this problem may show up in other programs too.

06-05-2013, 06:05 AM	#32
seanos Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 12 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Aura H2O, LG V20	Upgraded Sigil on 25 May and it was running fine, but now I'm back to this crashing on startup issue that I've had before. I can't remember how it was resolved last time - either I gave up or it went away with a new version. I do have xnView installed, but rarely use it and I'm a little sceptical about it being the cause of this. I also have WinAmp installed, but haven't used it for a long time. Running as Admin doesn't help. Reinstalling doesn't help either.

06-05-2013, 06:34 AM	#34
cybmole Wizard Posts: 3,720 Karma: 1759970 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	so the problem is only when winamp is actually running - just have ing it installed but not opn does not prevent sigil from working ? if so that suggests the following: sigil needs some qt component - lets call it qt1- & sigil will normally cause that to get loaded somehow - no problem. winamp needs a different version of the same component - lets call that QT1A So when winamp is open & you then launch sigil, windows gets too cute for its own good & goes - "aha- I see you need qt1 but there's already an active version of that in RAM so I'll re-use that" - & fobs sigil off with Qt1a, which crashes it. this could be total rubbish as I know next to nothing about QT ( so much so that I thought it was part of QuickTime! ) but it's a hypothesis to be developed or shot down as others see fit.

06-05-2013, 07:24 AM	#35
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	It is exactly the stuff that happens with Windows, whether it is the cause this particular time. Good thought at least.

06-05-2013, 05:23 PM	#36
AnotherCat .... Posts: 1,547 Karma: 18068960 Join Date: May 2012 Device: ....	I have never had any problem with Sigil with WinAmp (nor indeed between Sigil with anything else). That on both 32 bit and 64 bit machines, but all now are Windows 8, however I would be surprised if running Win 8 as opposed to Win 7 was the key to no problem. WinAmp is prone to issues, a common one being it leaving background processes running when closed (which can prevent WinAmp running again unless they are manually closed or the PC restarted). But I have tested to confirm that does not cause Sigil an issue on both 32 and 64 bit machines. Another is some of its plugins are claimed to be problematic, but I personally have not had any issue, however I only run one non standard plugin in WinAmp. But those are only known, as far as I am aware, with causing issues within WinAmp itself. Until others come up with the same issue of WinAmp vs Sigil as being common and then proven, I would not tend to rush around in circles blaming the applications (nor their developers for lack of concern as has ben inferred ) but rather look to issues of my own in my own local environment.

06-05-2013, 05:52 PM	#37
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,998 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Maybe it's one of your Winamp plugins or skins that's causing the problem. Some of the plugins and/or skins are a kludge and should never have been released. I used to run Winamp a lot, but found Foobar2000 and decided that it just works a heck of a lot better. Plus, the plugins are better (IMHO).

06-05-2013, 06:00 PM	#38
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,168 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Maybe worthwhile fiddling with some of the SysInternals tools to see what versions of DLLs are being loaded at various times, and under various conditions. Probably try listdlls at a minimum.

06-05-2013, 06:47 PM	#39
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,552 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Dependency Walker (depends.exe) could also be invaluable. http://www.dependencywalker.com/

06-05-2013, 06:50 PM	#40
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,998 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Those are both very good suggestions to try to debug the problem.

06-11-2013, 03:22 PM	#42
mgabriel Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2013 Device: Kindle Keyboard	on my windows 7 x64 box sigil 0.7.x doesnt start as well. 0.6.x works fine. is it normal that sigil 0.7 gets installed in /program files (x86)/ ? 0.6.x had a 64 bit version wich correctly installed into /program files/. is 0.7 a dual arch setup and installs the wrong version or was the x64 version dropped ?

06-11-2013, 03:34 PM	#43
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	The x64 build is dropped as it didn't use the 64bit architecture at all nor benefited from it.

06-17-2013, 12:29 PM	#45
fung0 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2013 Device: Samsung LTE	Some useful suggestions... thanks! It's true that my problem could relate to a Winamp skin or plug-in, rather than Winamp itself. If I have time, I might try stripping down Winamp to isolate the problem. Still, I've never had a problem with Winamp, and I've been using it in its current configuration for a lot of years. So my tendency is to believe that this new Sigil problem arises from the one element that has changed: Sigil itself. For now, I'm simply using Sigil 0.7.2 without background music. Not a huge sacrifice. But I remain hopeful that the issue will ultimately be resolved. I wouldn't be surprised if the next bit of housekeeping in either Sigil or Qt 5 clears the problem up, even if nobody ever truly understands what was causing it.