Mb wont load

[scruffbag]

i installed MR's marianas scenery,along with all the other addonds it needs,and now mission builder wont load.any ideas??

[simonu]

When you say MB won't load, does it give an error message or does it just crash?

scenery on its own won't affect MB. It is object DPs that can cause it problems

Next question for you, how many aircraft are in the install?
If 90 plus that will be your problem.

Next, did you add any ships?

The most stuff you have proberbly added is infrastructure.

We can get down to that once plane numbers are ruled out

[scruffbag]

i only have 70 odd aircraft,and it crashes.also when i try to go to advanced info,in game,that will cause a crash too.i havent added any ships.

[simonu]

Have you added object names to mdlnames.txt ?

[scruffbag]

i did,probably 50 or so

[simonu]

Ok what I want you to do is temporarily disable mdlnames.txt, do this by right clicking it select rename, change it to mdlnames.tmp; windows will ask if you are sure you want to do this, you are.
Once you have done this try and start MB and see what happens

[scruffbag]

ok,i tried that but no good

[simonu]

yes I missed a step, now create a false mdlnames.txt
just right click an empty space in the CFS2 folder, select new txt
obviously name it mdlnames.txt
do not worry that it has no bytes in it

[scruffbag]

all i can add is a new folder

[simonu]

task bar,
File New Text Document

[simonu]

We need to establish wether you corrupted mdlnames.txt by deleting or overwritting the end of file marker.
The quickest way would be to replace it with an empty file.
Mission Builder has no problem with an empty file, I just did the same on mine.
It does have a problem whith a missing file, I had a five year old yelling at me as well You will forgive me for forgetting

[scruffbag]

im assuming the task bar is at the top,it says file in the top right?i clicked on that and i can only add new folder.

[scruffbag]

no worries.i cant see an end of file marker,so it msu have been deleted or whatever.bugger.

[simonu]

can you not think of another way to make an empty txt file ?
try using notepad to create it

[simonu]

Did you add airbases to ..\INFO\Airbases.dat ?

[scruffbag]

no,dont know much about pc's.i just copied and pasted the marker form airbase.dat to mdlnames,but that didnt work either.

[scruffbag]

i did add some airbases yes.there is a marker at the end,with a space between the last airbase enrty and the marker.

[simonu]

I have to cook supper for girls now, I may be mistaken about the file marker, My mdlnames doesn't have one But that doesn't help, creating an empty version is a quick way to establish wether that file is the problem.
If you don't know much about PC s, are you ready to change that?

[scruffbag]

yes i am.thanks.catch ya later mate.

[simonu]

What OS are you using? XP Vista or Win7

[scruffbag]

windows 7

[simonu]

Ok, I don't have windows 7 so I am working in the dark here,
I think you are anable to create files like text documents in the program directory because of a thing called UAC.
User Account Controls. it was introduced in Vista as a sort of fool proofing
to prevent people who don't know what they are doing from messing up their systems.
Whilst it is annoying when trouble shooting games mods. It is proberbly a good thing to have.
If your computer is yours alone then you might try deactivating it like this. (http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/12/30/how-to-disable-and-turn-off-uac-in-windows-7/)
Otherwise it maybe wiser to shift the whole CFS2 Folder into your home folder where you should have file writing priviledges.
Your "home" folder is the one that has your logon name in C:\Documents and Settings

CFS2 is not dependent on the windows registry and so it should run from anywhere on your system or network

Some ancillery programs and self installers do look to the registry to find where CFS2 is though, so if you do move it they will need to be told where it is.

The question is will UAC allow you to move CFS2

Are you able to rename your CFS2 folder where it is?

All this is by the by

I have run some experiments on my own install and am unable to stop MB from loading by deliberatly messing with mdlnames.txt or airbases.dat.

So Reinstate your original mdlnames.txt

We have to go back to square one.
I presume you knew all the stuff you needed to install by following MR s readme,
did you add anything else as well or just what it says in the readme.

[scruffbag]

hi, only added what the read me said i needed.

[simonu]

HHmmmm any thoughts, Chris?

[simonu]

I guess not,

Scruff did you make a back up your CFS2.GSL before adding the extras?
Try reinstating the back up but keep the new one in case this is not the problem.

[kdriver]

Hi Scruffbag,

If you added airfield entries to the airbase.dat file, did you check both the airfield numbering and identification numbering for omissions or duplications?

By the way, the mdlnames.txt file does not have a marker at the end, but it is limited in size. I think 38 kb is the maximum size allowed.

Kevin

[MaskRider]

HHmmmm any thoughts, Chris?

Is this query directed at me? :ques:

Hey, I am just a guy trying to eat my lunch! ;)

If you are talking about the concept of not accidentally erasing the end of file marker when editing the airbases.dat file, then yes, that was me that said that. But, no, I do not have any thoughts about any of the rest of this stuff.

I will need to more closely examine the data.

EDITED to add: aaahhh, now I see. I didn't realize that this thread had started with a reference to MR Mariana scenery installation.

Answer: no I can not think of a single thing related to installing the MR Mariana scenery pack that would cause MB to not load and/or CTD. I do remember the other night that we weren't able to work with the airbases.dat file for some reason or other which was never resolved- but that was related to running PH missions by Talon, I think.

[scruffbag]

yeah ,i checked the airbase .dat file.will do another check,just incase.how do i find out how space mdlnames has?

[kdriver]

Just hover the cursor over the mdlnames.txt icon or otherwise right click on the icon and then left click on "properties" (I'm still using Windows XP).

[scruffbag]

70 kb.

[kdriver]

There is the problem - you will have to whittle it down to less than 38 kb.

[mariereid]

Scruff, you must have a ton of duplicates in you mdl files. I have everything but the kitchen sink. I just checked mine and it's 37kb. Hey fellas, is there an easy way to check this file for duplicates?

[simonu]

Sorry MR I saw you were reading this and thought you might be able to assist.

mariereid reading it is quite quick.

I think we should have a look at this mdlnames.txt

Scruff if you right click it and select copy, then right click on your desktop and select paste.

Now when you reply to this see lower down the reply page were it says manage attachments
use the attach file gizmo to attach a copy of mdlnames your post

below is a zip hopefully containing an empty mdlnames.txt

[scruffbag]

hope this helps

[scruffbag]

try this then

[scruffbag]

well i droped the mdlnames file in manage attachments.

[scruffbag]

is this gunna work?

[scruffbag]

yes???

[scruffbag]

nope.grrrr

[simonu]

Oh dear, this must be really frustrating for you.

You cannot just drag and drop to a web page,

to attatch files to a post you have to use the server tools.

click reply to thread at the bottom left.

use the slider on the right to drag the page down a bit
so you can see a box that says Additional Options

There is a big button that says Manage Attachements

Click that
A new box will open that shows your home folder on the SOH server, This is where you can store files that you want to add to posts on the forum
You can store images in various formats
txt files executable files and zips
Your folder will be empty but at the top right is a button called add files
click that
another little box opens that says upload files from your computer click Select Files
Now you get a standard window explorer navigation window focused on your desktop
See the file you want in that window and click it, the filename will appear in the filename box
Click the open button.
The navigation window will close and the file name will be in the upload box which will now have an Upload files button, click it.
After the file has uploaded to the SOH server you will see that it is stored in your home folder and automatically attatched to the thread, there is no need to insert inline in this case, that would be for images you wish to appear in your post. A file like mdlnames will fill the thread and make it look untidy, your done now so click the done button

Man I really hope this file is full of errors

did you manage to unzip that empty mdlnames I attached last night. I see it got 3 hits

The server would not allow me to upload it raw, because it is a false file. i.e. it has no content.

[simonu]

Perhaps Someone with Win7 will step in here and explain how to create new files.

On XP it is so easy I just can't imagine why Microsoft would change it.

We have taken 3 pages of thread and still have not got past first base.

[mariereid]

Let me give it a go in "layman" terms. My geek lingo, she's not so good. I keep cfs2 on an off line pc so I will get my mdl file from there with a usb drive, stick the drive in this pc and try to send the file.
1. Click the "Manage Attachments" box

2. In the new window that opens, click the "+add files" box

3. In the next window, click "Select Files". Then you have to go to wherever the file is.

4. When you get the file select "open"

5. In the next window, select "Upload Files"

6. Now, in the "Additional Options" box, go to the bottom and click "submit Reply".

Here goes, hope it shows up! You have to use the "Submit Reply" in the "ADDITIONAL OPTIONS" box

I hope seeing how this old fart does it, helps ya!:ernae:

[mariereid]

I would guess that you could open the mdl and send the list, but at least this way the pros can have a look at it. As you are finding out Scruff, the guys here are nice guys who have a wealth of info that they are willing to share. Maybe someday guys like us will be able to help others. ( in my case, I kinda doubt it, hee, hee, whoops I mean lol!):ernae: