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My lab is having a problem with this. DirectRT (v2010.2.103.1115) also seems to be skipping some input lines randomly. Medialab (v2008.1.33) is also freezing on Windows 7. If we run the scripts on older versions that run on Windows XP, we don't have any problems. Do you have any ideas about what the source of these issues might be?
[I]nickrule[/I]--MediaLab v2010 was recently released (January 2011) and is Windows 7 compatible. It should clear up any freezing issues you've had with earlier versions on Windows 7. It will also be a free upgrade for you as well since you purchased your licenses recently. As far a DirectRT goes--if you run sample files that come with DirectRT v2010, do you get similar results? If they run fine but this one in particular doesn't, can you zip and attach it? Or some version of it that will demonstrate the problem? Also--please read my comments below to [I]SPCL[/I] just in case they spark anything.
[I]SPCL[/I]--this (the above to [I]nickrule[/I]) goes for you also (i.e., posting a sample that demonstrates the problem (assuming you are running the latest 2010.2.103 of DirectRT). When you mention "DirectRT Executable Mode", do you mean also that you do not see "executeDRT.exe" in the list of running processes? If you do see that, it would be really helpful to know! Also--are you running your DirectRT session from within a MediaLab experiment or straight up? If the former--can you replicate if you run the same DirectRT sessions on their own?
Regarding any freezing issues, I'm especially curious to know if MediaLab v2008 is being used while the DirectRT sessions are running. This could possibly explain the problem and offer a solution.
Hi Blair,
Thanks so much for your help. Here's a scenario we're encountering:
I took an experiment that I ran a few years ago--script, stim, and style--that was running just fine in DRT2006. When I run it in DRT2010 (version noted above) on Windows7, I get the following error message (screenshot attached, file=Untitled.jpg). I have never seen an error message like this before and am not sure what to do with it. When I click okay, it presents the first input line (an instructions screen). I enter the response needd to move on (space bar) and I get this error message (screenshot attached, file-Untitled2.jpg). If I click quit, it will force-quit DRT. If I click continue, it does not advance but, rather, the screen freezes and I have to force-quit using the task manager. Now if I go back to the main DRT window (still open, I only force-quitted executeDRT.exe) and try to run it again, executeDRT.exe won't even launch. This persists until I restart the computer entirely, not simply just closing and reopening DirectRT.
Any ideas of what might be going on here?
Meanwhile, we are installing ML2010 and will let you know if it clears up the problem.
Many thanks,
N
Thanks Nick--can you zip and post your session folder so I can try replicate it here? Or send it to the [EMAIL="support@emp"]support@emp[/EMAIL].. email address--I'll get it if I know it's coming. Does this happen with any of the samples or do they run fine?
Hi Blair,
If I restart the computer, I can run the sample scripts (and some other experiments) just fine. But once the error has occurred, not even the sample scripts can generate executeDRT.exe. I am sending the zipped package to the support address, as it's quite large.
N
Hi Blair,
Some more info: I think it might have to do with using open-ended responses (i.e., RT: text). If I delete those lines from the input file, it seems to run okay, though I've noticed in general that it takes a bit of time for ExecuteDRT to load on the Windows7 machines. There's quite a lag.
N
Just as an addendum: One of my students forgot to specify a location and time for the last line of an input file (the debriefing) and ended the line at the stim column (followed by an asterisk, of course). We got the attached error message (see screenshot), which was less explicit than the errors we used to get in previous versions of DirectRT. I mention this as my current other problem gives a programming-script based error message, as well, so this seems to be common to the new DirectRT 2010.2.103.1115. Again, in both cases executeDRT froze, had to be forced to quit, and then we had to restart the computer to be able to run any future input files.
Nick, I experienced the same issues here when running your session (thanks for sending the files). Turns out that you ran into a bug we weren't aware of. Try "rt:text" instead of "rt: text" -- turns out that the added space was causing the error. Also not sure if you have seen the same issue but some users find the background to appear and disappear quickly on an rt:text (i.e., open ended) response item. If you set the time for that previous stimulus to be 1ms instead of 0ms, it seems to stay. I'll look into getting these issues fixed but in the meantime, perhaps these can be workarounds. As for the lag on Windows 7 that you are getting--is this while running it through MediaLab or just on it's own, or both? You mentioned a MediaLab issue a few posts above and we have since posted MediaLab v2010.2.19 which appears to be stable on Windows 7 and does not freeze even under extreme experiments (so far we've seen 600 items no problem on both 7 and an old XP machine).
Finally with respect to the running a few sessions before needing to reboot DirectRT, I have heard of this from a few users now and it's the next issue on our high priority list. SPCL and/or Nick, do you find the same issue no matter what study you run a few times or is it specific to one input file or set of input files? i.e., Can you pick a random sample input file (e.g., C:\DirectRT\Samples\4 - Applications\standard priming) and find a similar result if you run it repeatedly?