ActiveMovie window pops up (case 3712)

[rbvance]

Hi Blair,

I've worked on this problem for several more hours and have additional information for you. You had asked about the operating systems on our machines and what version of media player we use. I checked the desktop and all laptops. All have XP operating systems, DirectRT version 2008.1.0.13 and media player 11.

When working on the program, I had a crash on my desktop for the first time. Now it’s crashing more often, which is what happened with the laptops. Once the program started to crash, the crashes occurred more frequently and seemingly more randomly.

So this is what I know:

-The problem occurs on multiple machines (now the desktop as well as the laptops)

-I thought the problem was predictable, but it’s not. When I run different versions of the program (the only difference is in some of the sound files), the crashes occur in different places. Just when I think I’ve gotten past the “usual crash point” (first trial with a .gif file) the program will run another few trials and then crash.



-There is predictability in terms of what is included in the trials where the program crashes, and there is always a .gif file. All trials that have only sound files and .bmps run smoothly. This makes me think it may have something to do with memory. I don’t know enough to understand how this would trigger a second “execute directRT,” but that always causes the crash. I’ve noticed that sometimes the screen flashes before the crash, like it’s trying to upload the files but can’t.


-I looked at the properties of all of the .gifs and they are pretty consistent in terms of size, dpi, color, etc. I don’t see how the images, etc. could be the problem because as I’ve said, these experiments used to run with no problems at all. It’s almost like the program is aging with new bugs or something???


-The 2012 version of DirectRT doesn’t run these experiments at all. Everything crashes immediately (at least on the machine I used).


A few other observations:
-My oldest computer seems to run the programs the best, but everything crashes at some point.
-Sometimes the experiment will run once, but I when I try it again, it will crash. Once the crashes start, they occur more frequently to point that I can’t even launch an experiment.


I hope this new information helps. I simply don't know what to try next...

[jarvis]

These machines may have had an earlier version of the Windows Media Player on them when they were working. IS it possible you could uninstall the WMP and install an earlier version such as version 9 and see if that resolves it? I assume you haven't installed newer versions on most of these machines and then uninstalled them in order to v2008? Also, if you want to zip and attach the experiment, I'll try to run it here. It makes sense that it would only happen with gif studies because bmp's and sound files don't use the "active movie" components.

[rbvance]

Hi Blair,

I'll try installing the old WMP and see what happens. I'm attaching the experiment file. Let me know what you find. Thanks so much! I can't tell if my file is uploading or not--nothing seems to be happening. Please let me know if you don't get it.

Becky

[rbvance]

Hi Blair,

How do I get my experiment to you? The zipped file is 125 MB.

Thanks,
Becky

[jason_reed]

Becky,

Try using a file sharing service like Google Drive or Dropbox.